Oxytocin Found to Stimulate Social Brain Regions in Children With Autism
New York Times, December 2, 2013
The results of a small study of children with mild autism given oxytocin suggests that their brains' social regions are not irrevocably damaged. “Think of this as possibly priming the brain to make it more receptive to social information,” she said. “This may help to enhance that child’s response to behavioral therapy and early intervention, and may not have to be used long term," shares Geraldine Dawson, PhD, director of Duke's Center for Autism Diagnosis and Treatment.

Curing Insomnia to Treat Depression
New York Times, November 23, 2013
Research is being conducted at Duke, Stanford, and the University of Pittsburgh to determine if cognitive behavioral therapy to treat insomnia, when added to a standard antidepressant pill to treat depression, can help cure both insomnia and depression. Results are expected to be published next year.

Sleep Therapy Seen as an Aid for Depression
New York Times, November 18, 2013
Andrew Krystal, MD discusses the important link between insomnia and depression and how sleep therapy might improve patient outcomes.

Exercise Not Only Treats, But Prevents Depression
Everyday Health, November 7, 2013
James Blumenthal, PhD and his team discovered that, among the 202 depressed people randomly assigned to various treatments, three sessions of vigorous aerobic exercise were approximately as effective at treating depression as daily doses of an antidepressant.

NFL Incident Shines Light on Bullying at Work
MedPage Today, November 7, 2013
William Copeland, PhD, associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, explained that compared with children, "adults are often less likely to admit bullying involvement or to use the same terminology to describe their experience" when questioned.

The Next Generation of Neuropsychiatric Diagnostics & Therapeutics
International Mental Health Research Organization, November 1, 2013
Rising Star Awardee Dr. Kafui Dzirasa, MD, PhD discusses his cutting-edge proposal to research and develop a new type of “pacemaker for the brain” as a future therapy for mental illnesses in this 10 minute video.

Stimulation treatment uses mild electric current to jump-start your brain
CBS This Morning, October 30, 2013
Dr. Lisanby talks to the "CBS This Morning" co-hosts about an experimental technique being tested as a treatment for depression and autism.

Jump-Starter Kits for the Mind
New York Times, October 28, 2013
Because studies have shown that tDCS may be useful in treating people debilitated by stroke, Parkinson’s disease, depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder, clinicians fear that in addition to competitive healthy people, severely compromised people may be tempted to experiment with brain stimulation at home. “There’s a growing body of literature about tDCS, but there’s still so much to learn,” shares Duke Psychiatry's Dr. Sarah Lisanby.

How A Sugar Pill Can Treat Mental Illness
WUNC, October 28, 2013
Duke Psychiatry's Alison Adcock discusses how understanding the placebo effect can lead to innovations in medicine.

An Alternative to Leaving College for Treatment
Psychology Today, October 16, 2013
Duke's Center for Eating Disorders just launched an intensive evening treatment program. The idea is to try to help students and professionals get their disorder under control while still being able to maintain their daily commitments to work and school.

Duke School of Medicine to Offer Free Depression Screenings Thursday
Durham Herald Sun, October 8, 2013
As part of National Depression Screening Day on Thursday, October 10, Duke Psychiatry has coordinated two free screening sites on campus. Come out and join us!

Signs May Be Evident in Hindsight, but Predicting Violent Behavior Is Tough
New York Times, September 18, 2013
Duke Psychiatry's Dr. Jeffrey Swanson comments on the recent shooting at the Washington Navy Yard and our ability to detect violent behavior.

Could Humans Hibernate? Lemurs Give Clues
Time, September 4, 2013
Exciting new research on hibernating lemurs by Andrew Krystal, MD give clues into metabolism and human's need for sleep.

Video Games Help Battle Addictions
ABC News, September 5, 2013
Virtual reality therapy, developed in a study led by M. Zachary Rosenthal, puts addicts in tempting situations so they can learn how to control their drug cravings.

Electro-shock treatment makes medical comeback: Barbaric or therapeutic?
CBS This Morning, August 28, 2013
Once seen as outdated and barbaric, electro-convulsive therapy (ECT) is currently being prescribed for 100,000 Americans a year with hard-to-treat depression. Dr. Sarah Lisanby joins "CBS This Morning" to discuss the safety and effectiveness of ECT.

Childhood Bullying’s Lasting Impact on Employment
Time, August 19, 2013
A team of researchers from the University of Warwick and Duke University Medical Center found that people who were bullied were two times less likely to hold down a job and also had difficulty maintaining meaningful social relationships compared to those who did not experience bullying.

Program Compelling Outpatient Treatment for Mental Illness Is Working, Study Says
New York Times, July 30, 2013
An analysis by Duke researchers shows that Kendra’s Law in New York has had positive results for some of the most difficult and expensive patients to care for.

Biochemical mapping helps explain who will respond to antidepressants
Duke News & Communications, July 18, 2013
New research by Dr. Kaddurah-Daouk could help us better target therapies for patients suffering from depression.

Best Hospitals Rankings 2013-2014
U.S. News & World Report, July 16, 2013
The US News and World Report just released their Best Hospital Rankings. Duke University Medical Center was ranked #1 in the state, 12th nationally, and Psychiatry was ranked as High-Performing. We are proud to offer our patients world-class mental health care!

Bullying Exerts Psychiatric Effects into Adulthood
National Institute of Mental Health Science Update, June 11, 2013
Once considered a childhood rite of passage, bullying lingers well into adulthood. Bullies and victims alike are at risk for psychiatric problems such as anxiety, depression, substance abuse, and suicide when they become adults according to findings by Duke researchers.

What is PTSD...And Who Is It For?
Time, June 26, 2013
Dr. Harold Kudler, associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Duke, discusses the relationship between PTSD research and patient care.

Video Gamers Really Do See More
Duke Today, June 11, 2013
Research by Duke Psychiatry's Greg Appelbaum, PhD shows that "Gamers see the world differently...they are able to extract more information from a visual scene." This research was also featured in Time, Wired, WRAL, and WUNC.

Yoga for Kids
Ivanhoe Broadcast News, May 28, 2013
Researchers at Duke are studying whether a program that combines mindfulness and yoga techniques can improve children's physical and mental health.

Antidepressant reduces stress-induced heart condition
JAMA, May 22, 2013
Dr. Wei Jiang published a breakthrough study in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) that found that using an antidepressant could help a stress-related heart condition. The study also appeared on WRAL, HealthDay, Live Science, Daily Rx, Cardiology Today, ABC News Radio, Medical Daily and Reuters Health.

What are Teens Thinking?
PsychTalk Radio, May 15, 2013
In this podcast, Scott Swartzwelder, PhD, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, discusses what makes the teen brain different from an adult's, and how parents can help teenagers develop into healthy adults.

Dr. Allen Frances on The Diane Rehm Show
NPR, May 14, 2013
Professor Emeritus Dr. Frances discusses his opinion on the over-diagnosis and over-prescription of medications to treat mental illness.

Magnets Used To Treat Depression at Duke
ABC Eyewitness News, May 7, 2013
Dr. Lisanby appeared on ABC News to talk about a form of magnetic brain stimulation, sTMS, currently being tested at Duke to treat major depression. "It's a really exciting time to be in the field because of this growth in new technologies that help us to interact with the brain in ways that were not possible 10 years ago."

Duke Researcher Brings Electricity, Magnetism to Depression Treatment
North Carolina Health News, April 25, 2013
"The brain is an organ that responds to electricity,” said Sarah Lisbany, Chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. Dr. Lisbany spoke to 50 people from the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) of Wake County on Monday about ongoing studies and clinical opportunities at Duke.

Can Virtual Reality Treat Addiction?
Popular Science, April 19, 2013
M. Zachary Rosenthal, PhD and his team are using psychology virtual reality software to mimic relapse environments so that patients trying to overcome addiction can learn how to resist their cravings.

Family history of Alzheimer’s associated with abnormal brain pathology
Duke News and Communication, April 17, 2013
Close family members of people with Alzheimer’s disease are more than twice as likely as those without a family history to develop silent buildup of brain plaques associated with Alzheimer’s disease, according to researchers at Duke Medicine.

The Psychology of Terror Can Be Resisted
DukeToday, April 16, 2013
Duke's Timothy Strauman, Professor of Psychology & Neuroscience, commented that tragedies like the explosions in Boston remind us that "the world is never going to be a completely safe and benign place...But we also know that we will continue to survive and thrive as a community and that we will not let our way of life be fundamentally altered."

How many beds are enough?
News & Observer, March 31, 2013
NC has lost over 50% of state hospital beds and about 500 community psych beds from the twin forces of state cutbacks and behavioral health managed care pressures.

People with depression may not reap the full benefits of healthy behaviors
Duke News & Communication, March 26, 2013
Depression may inhibit the anti-inflammatory effects typically associated with physical activity and light-to-moderate alcohol consumption, according to researchers at Duke Medicine.

Hospital emergency rooms are on front lines during mental health crisis
Charlotte Observer, March 10, 2013
With an increasing number of mental health patients seeking care from the ER, Dr. Marvin Swartz, head of our Division of Social and Community Psychiatry, states that "hospitals have been left in a terrible squeeze.”

Mental Health Laws Failing, Experts Say
The Leaf Chronicle, March 3, 2013
Federal law prevents people from legally purchasing guns if they have been judged “mentally defective” or if they have been involuntarily committed to a psychiatric hospital. "That casts a wide but porous net — identifying lots of people with mental disorders who are not violent, while often missing the few who do pose a significant risk," says Duke Psychiatry's Jeffrey Swanson.

Effects of Bullying Last Into Adulthood, Study Finds
New York Times, February 20, 2013
Exciting new research, the most comprehensive effort to date, on the long-term effects of bullying by some of our child and adolescent experts, Drs. Copeland, Angold, and Costello.

ADHD Story not the Norm
News & Observer, February 16, 2013
Dr. Scott Kollins, Director of the Duke ADHD Program, contributed a Letter to the Editor in response to a Feb. 2 article in the NYT depicting the sad story of Richard Fee, a 24-year old who was addicted to Adderall and ended up taking his own life. Dr. Kollins shares that this story does not reflect recommended routine care for people with ADHD.

Promising Depression Therapy
New York Times, February 11, 2013
Dr. Lisanby discusses transcranial direct current stimulation, a milder and less expensive form of brain stimulation that recent studies show is a safe alternative for medication and psychotherapy-resistant depression.

Number of Alzheimer's patients could triple by 2050
CBS This Morning, February 7, 2013
Dr. Doraiswamy said that the expectation is based on three things: more people getting tested, better diagnosis, and an increase in life expectancy.

Electrical Stimulation Plus Drug Fights Depression: Study Finds
US News, February 6, 2013
Duke Psychiatry Chair, Dr. Lisanby shares that electrical brain stimulation techniques "offer great promise for people with depression, because we know, unfortunately, medications aren't always effective, and psychotherapy isn't always effective, so having effective alternatives is important."

Duke study shows magnet therapy can help depression
WRAL-TV, February 5, 2013
Dr. Lisanby and Dr. Krystal were featured in a short television segment on their translational research using a new form of magnetic therapy to treat depression. The new magentic coil used in their clinical study was recently approved by the FDA and now offers a broader spectrum of treatment options for depression.

Mysteries of the Mind: Researchers take aim at schizophrenia's thinking problems
Post-Gazette, January 28, 2013
The cognitive challenges people with schizophrenia face are the result of fundamental wiring and biochemical problems in their brains that scientists are still trying to unravel, and they are the biggest obstacle to being able to live a somewhat normal life, shares Richard Keefe, PhD, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences.

Yoga and the Mind: Can Yoga Reduce Symptoms of Major Psychiatric Disorders?
Time, January 28, 2013
In order to explore the widely held belief that practicing yoga can relieve mental stress, a team of Duke researchers reviewed more than 100 studies on the effect of yoga and mental health

Durham mental health initiative strives to address treatment gaps
News and Observer, January 19, 2013
Duke Psychiatry's Helen Egger, MD is heading a community effort that the News & Observer called an "ambitious new project...striving to make a lasting difference" in access to quality mental health care for children and young adults.

Gun Policy Summit Video Archive
Johns Hopkins University, January 14-15, 2013
Duke Psychiatry's Jeff Swanson, PhD presented as an expert at a gun policy summit convened by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Gun Policy and Research and the Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Putting Faith in Medicine
Deseret News, January 12, 2013
There are "now close to 2,000 quantitative, original studies that show that religious involvement is related to better health," shares Harold Koenig, MD, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, and director of the Duke Center for Spirituality, Theology.

Marriage Might Lengthen Life
Health Magazine and The Telegraph, January 11, 2013
Research conducted by Ilene Siegler, PhD, MPH, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, suggests that being single during midlife may raise the risk for premature death.