News Archives | Emory School of Medicine

2022

Neuroscientists Have Created a Mood Decoder that can Measure Depression
12/14/22
“Depression is a complex illness,” says Patricio Riva Posse, a neurologist at the Emory School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia, who was not involved in the trial. “It’s not like trying to correct one tremor—there’s a whole universe of symptoms.” These include low mood, suicidality, inability to experience pleasure, and changes in motivation, sleep, and appetite.

Aerobic Exercise Augments PTSD Therapy
12/6/22
A brief aerobic exercise intervention can augment the benefits of exposure therapy for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), new research suggests.

New Virtual Reality Apps Focus on Mental Health, but Their Effectiveness Isn't Known
11/25/22
Gathering robust, long-term data is crucial to evaluating this or any similar program, said Barbara Rothbaum, a psychologist at the Emory University School of Medicine. Rothbaum published a paper on the use of VR to treat a fear of heights in 1995.

Is Trauma Actually Stored in Our Hips?
11/15/22
If you’ve scrolled through TikTok recently, you might’ve heard the desperate “where is it?” audio play on loop over a video of a woman struggling to stretch out her hips. She grimaces, lunging deeper into the movement, and the caption reads, “trying to find and release the stored trauma in my hips so I can be healed.”

Metro Atlanta Opens Addiction Center to Help Those Impacted by the Opioid Epidemic
10/28/22
The new Emory Addiction Center sits on the campus of Emory University Hospital at Wesley Woods. It offers outpatient and intensive-outpatient addiction treatment and co-occurring mental health care for adolescents and adults.

Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta to Open Pediatric Mental Health Center Through Major Donation
10/27/22
There are so much unmet mental health needs of children, and there are excellent treatments that are available that a majority of children are not getting access to until it’s too late and their conditions have worsened, and they’re reaching crisis proportions.

Addiction Alliance of Georgia Opens New Treatment Center in Atlanta
10/27/22
Two years after launching the Addiction Alliance of Georgia, partners Emory Healthcare and the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation are celebrating the official opening this week of the Emory Addiction Center. A formal ribbon cutting ceremony was held on Oct. 26.

Looking at the Future of Bipolar: Moods that Swing from Mania to Misery
10/17/22
Experts dive into the two poles of this mood disorder – mania and depression. Bipolar is often misdiagnosed because of the wide range of symptoms.

Looking at the Future of Bipolar: Mood Stabilizers for Highs and Lows
10/17/22
With bipolar disorder, doctors are treating two extremes of highs and lows, and interestingly enough, the oldest mood stabilizer is still the first line of defense.

A Professor Reveals 5 Surprising Facts We Never Knew About PTSD
10/3/22
Last week, Interesting Engineering organized the first Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything) with Dr. Sanne J.H. Van Rooij, an assistant professor in Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Georgia's Emory University.

Veteran Deaths by Suicide Decline Over Pandemic as 'Invisible Wounds of War' are Addressed
9/29/22
Air Force veteran Sam Hargrove of Columbus suffered a traumatic brain injury from a bomb explosion while serving in Tallil, Iraq. But she didn't know that until an evaluation by the Emory Healthcare Veterans Program years later.

Adderall Shortage in US Spreads to Two More Drug Suppliers, Impacting Consumer Demand
9/21/22
A growing U.S. shortage of Adderall, a prescription drug taken to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, has spread to two more makers of the drug.

VR-Assisted Healing
9/1/22
Exposure therapy is about learning through experience that the thoughts, memories, and situations that one may avoid — such as due to their PTSD — are safe, says Dr. Andrew M. Sherrill.

Is a Fast-Acting Pill for Depression the Holy Grail That Patients Have Been Waiting For?
8/29/22
Andrew Miller, a professor of psychiatry and behavioural sciences at Emory University School of Medicine in the U.S., told Good Health caution is advisable. ‘It’s a little early to tell, but unfortunately the study and the pharmaceutical industry continue to make the same mistakes: they assume depressed patients are a homogeneous group, which they are not, and that medications should work across all patients, which they don’t.’

Patients with Cancer Should Speak Up About Mental Health Struggles if They Don’t Feel Heard, Expert Says
8/15/22
Patients with cancer who have mental health struggles during treatment should not wait to reach out to their health care providers, according to Dr. Wendy Baer, a psychiatrist at the Winship Cancer Institute at Emory University in Atlanta.

Promising Research for Bipolar Treatment
8/15/22
The latest science shines light on gene-targeting drugs, ketamine and transcranial magnetic stimulation.

A Growing Psychiatrist Shortage and an Enormous Demand for Mental Health Services
8/9/22
At Emory Healthcare in Atlanta, Brandon Kitay, MD, PhD, hopes to combine access and quality by bringing a mental health app in-house. The digital platform — which Emory is implementing with the help of an external tech company — will capture patient data to monitor need, provide self-directed therapy, and allow providers to offer brief online support, among other services.

This Brain Surgery Shows Potential to Treat Epilepsy, PTSD and Even Fear?
7/29/22
Patient S.M. does not like snakes and spiders, but she can easily handle them. Ask her to walk through a haunted attraction (Waverly Hills Sanatorium, specifically) or sit through reels of scary footage.

Exposure to Racism Linked to Brain Changes That May Affect Health
7/25/22
Experiencing racism can impact both physical and mental health, and with this in mind, researchers from Emory University in Atlanta wanted to find out how this form of discrimination impacts the brain’s microstructures.

How Racism Affects the Brain
7/25/22
Like sexual assault, bullying and other violent or traumatic experiences, racial discrimination takes a long-term toll on its victim’s mental health.

Veteran Mental Health Program, Bill Discussed at Emory Brain Health Center
7/11/22
Senator Jon Ossoff (D-GA) was at Emory's Brain Health Center recently to promote the center's free mental health program for veterans and to announce a bipartisan bill that, if passed, will expand free mental health care to veterans and their families.

Pysch Meds and Fertility Treatments…Are they Safe?
6/29/22
As an infertility organization that supports individuals in every stage of their family-building journeys, we know the emotional roller coaster that potentially awaits. Therefore, we feel passionate about ensuring you, our community, have the information necessary to take control of your mental health.

Emory School of Medicine Welcomes New Leader in Children’s Behavioral and Mental Health
6/24/22
John Constantino, MD, is joining Emory University School of Medicine as a professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, with a secondary appointment in the Department of Pediatrics. Constantino will serve as Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta’s first system chief of Behavioral and Mental Health, leading efforts to address the growing epidemic of behavioral and mental health issues in children and adolescents in Georgia.

William McDonald Named Chair of Emory’s Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
6/13/22
William M. McDonald, MD, has been appointed chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine.

Social Activities May Offset Psychosis Risk in Poor Communities
6/6/22
Social engagement such as participation in community or school-based activities may mitigate psychosis risk in susceptible youth living in disadvantaged communities, new research suggests.

Therapy by and for Black Women
6/6/22
The study also confirmed what Negar Fani, lead author on the study and professor at Emory University, has been observing in her career: Trauma does not necessarily lead, as researchers have long accepted, to less ability to pay attention.

Virtual Reality Makes Real Impact: How Emory Healthcare Veterans Program Uses Technology to Heal Invisible Wounds
6/3/22
“Virtual reality” often conjures images of video games and simulations or digital worlds in science fiction stories, but it’s also a tool that can be used in therapy.

When Traditional Antidepressants Fail, Some Depressed Patients Seek Relief with Ketamine
6/1/22
Dr. Boadie Dunlop, the director of the Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program at Emory University, said ketamine works differently than medications that target the neurotransmitter serotonin.

Stress, Pandemic Could Spur Road Rage Increase, Researchers Say
5/17/22
Dr. Liza Zwiebach, a clinical psychologist and assistant professor of the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Emory University, said stressed people are more likely to snap, even at the smallest thing such as being cut off in traffic, honking or a rude gesture.

Inside the Effort to Expand Virtual Reality Treatments for Mental Health
5/6/22
A June 21, 1995, headline on page 11 of the New York Times read: “‘Virtual Reality’ Conquers Fear of Heights.” The article told the story of Chris Klock, a junior at Georgia Tech, who donned a head-mounted display once a week for seven weeks, and was transported to a 3-D environment simulating various altitudes.

A Nurse's Death Raises the Alarm About the Profession's Mental Health Crisis
3/31/22
Most nurses and other frontline health workers worked relentlessly over the past two years, surge after surge, through countless deaths and severe staffing shortages. And now, a majority are struggling with psychiatric symptoms.

Oxytocin: Why the "Love Hormone" Could Lead to New Forms of Therapy
2/27/22
When love is in the air, what’s happening in the brain? For many years, biologists would answer, “Oxytocin!” This small protein — just nine amino acids long — has sometimes been called “the love hormone” because it has been implicated in pair-bonding, maternal care, and other positive, love-like social behaviors.

Parenting During a Pandemic
2/16/22
The pandemic has been stressful for children and families. Some have endured great losses, including the death of a loved one. Fears of getting sick from the virus, or of a family member getting sick, have been ever present.

Oxytocin’s Effects Aren’t Just About Love
2/11/22
“There’s a lot of noise in the brain,” says Larry Young, a behavioral neuroscientist at Emory University who, with coauthor Robert Froemke, explores our new understanding of oxytocin in the 2021 Annual Review of Neuroscience. “But when oxytocin is released, it turns down the static so the signal comes in much more clearly.”

Drug Overdose Suicides Rising Among Young Americans and Seniors
2/2/22
Suicides by drug overdose have increased among teens, young adults and seniors, even as they declined for the overall population, US federal researchers say.

Emory-Georgia Tech Project Studying PTSD Receives FDA Breakthrough Device Designation
1/24/22
Research from a study by Emory University-Georgia Institute of Technology on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) using transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (tcVNS) has led to a Breakthrough Device Designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the gammaCore nVNS device.

FDA Grants Breakthrough Designation for Device to Treat PTSD
1/14/22
The FDA has granted breakthrough device designation to electroCore Inc. for its gammaCore device to be used in the treatment of PTSD in military personnel, according to a company release.

9 Signs You Need to Break Up with Your Therapist
1/13/22
Breakups are a fact of life. Whether your connection is friendly, romantic or professional, many relationships run their course. But what happens when the person you need to cut ties with is your therapist?