Tanya

Joshua

Mental Health Advocacy Group: Cats to Cats

Stephen

Isha

The Link Between Schizophrenia and Neuroplasticity

Sophie

Medha

Research Paper Discussing the Use of CRISPR to Target GABA Receptors in Treatment for Depression

Psychiatry is a branch of medicine which focuses on the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of mental disorders such as depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and obsessive compulsive disorder. Researchers in Psychiatry work to deepen our understanding of the biological and neurochemical mechanisms responsible for mental illnesses in order to develop novel treatments in the form of drugs and therapeutic interventions. Researchers in psychiatry may treat patients in a clinical practice, do lab research, or both.

As COVID-19, social media, and other factors of modern life have increased the rates of mental illnesses across our society, better understanding their scientific basis and developing more effective, inclusive treatment plans is crucial work for improving our collective quality of life.

Psychiatry

PhD candidate

This review paper will discuss the effects of pharmacological and physiological treatments on the cellular mechanisms responsible for Multiple Sclerosis. Notably, the demyelination of axons. This topic will be greatly explored and thoroughly explained throughout the paper as well as the purpose of the treatments to hinder these mechanisms.
In this comprehensive review, several treatments for Multiple Sclerosis, both physiological and pharmacological, will be analyzed compared in terms of effectiveness. Demyelination of the axon caused by the immune system is the main factor causing Multiple Sclerosis and most physiological treatments such as cognitive behavioral therapy and physiotherapy have little to no effect on such mechanisms. Corticosteroids and plasmapheresis, however, have a more direct impact on the demyelinating mechanism and are therefore more effective in slowing the progression of Multiple Sclerosis.  

Pharmacological and Physiological Treatment and their Effects on Axon Demyelination of Multiple Sclerosis

Selective mutism (SM) is a rare pediatric anxiety disorder in which a child fails to speak in specific social situations. Due to its classification as a rare disorder that affects less than 1% of the world’s population, research on this disorder is limited, inhibiting available treatment options for SM patients. Thus, it is critical to research more on this relatively unexplored disorder. Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is a prevalent anxiety disorder characterized by the fear, self-consciousness, and embarrassment in social situations in which a person may be judged or evaluated negatively. SM is known to present with other anxiety disorders, primarily SAD. The main treatment for SM is cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), followed by pharmacological interventions such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). With limited knowledge of this rare disorder, this paper attempts to suggest a potential novel treatment for SM, serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) which are a common treatment option for SAD. SNRIs are a class of antidepressants used to increase both an individual’s serotonin and norepinephrine levels in the brain. Previous case studies of SM and research on these specific antidepressants used commonly to treat comorbid SAD elucidate the antidepressant’s potential on SM. With its strong usage in the treatment of SAD, SNRIs may also be effective as a treatment for SM, a disorder that has similar clinical presentations and therapeutic approaches to SAD. In conclusion, this review paper calls to attention the lack of research on selective mutism and identifies a novel alternative approach for its effective treatment.

A Prospective Treatment for Selective Mutism through an Analysis of Social Anxiety Disorder

A Prospective Treatment for Selective Mutism (SM) through an Association Analysis on Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD)

Specific phobia is a psychological disorder characterized by the exaggerated fear of a specific object or situation that cannot be reasoned away. High distress and great lengths of avoidance towards this object or situation are common symptoms. Natural-environment phobia, blood-injury-injection phobia, and animal phobia are the three varieties of specific phobias that symptoms tend to group into. The present review summarizes four attributes of the development and current research in the field of specific phobias in children. First, the review considers the neurobiological origins of specific phobias with a particular focus on the involvement of the amygdala in fear conditioning and sensitization. The altered activity of the medial prefrontal cortex in subjects with specific phobia is also discussed. Second, it surveys how parenting techniques and behaviors can influence the development and maintenance of symptoms of children’s phobias. Parenting practices such as hypervigilance, overinvovlement, and overprotection can have negative effects on a child’s behavior, thoughts, feelings, and ability to be independent. Next, the review explores the prevalence, productiveness, and cost-efficiency of one session treatments (OST) for specific phobias in children and adolescents. These treatments demonstrate direct conditioning as one of the promising methods in reducing symptoms of a specific phobia. Finally, the review criticizes the lack of heterogeneous sample groups, as well as subjects' unwillingness to participate in current research for treatment of the disorder, questioning whether present treatments are indeed effective at all. This systematic review ends by introducing potential future directions for treatment to eliminate specific phobias in children.

Specific phobias in children: Etiology, treatment, and directions for future research

Did you know that as of 2022, nearly 1 in 4 Americans are taking at least one prescription psychiatric medication?

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