People with OCD have a 31% increased risk of death from natural causes and a 230% increased risk of death from unnatural causes compared to those without the disorder.
Research decisions made by clinical psychologists in the 1970s can help explain why so many people, myself included, struggle to make sense of our obsessional thoughts.
Deep brain stimulation and trasncranial magnetic stimulation treat mental illness by sending electrical currents into parts of the brain. Every new patient provides researchers with a wealth of information. Listen to The Conversation Weekly podcast.
Rachel A. Davis, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
This rare procedure is offered by only a handful of centers in the US and around the world and should be used only when less invasive treatment options for OCD have been tried.
Carey Wilson, The University of Melbourne and Thibault Renoir, Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health
Early reports suggested an apparent increase in OCD relapse rates and symptom severity during the pandemic. But a year on, we’re learning this may not be the case.
Amy Dawel, Australian National University; Eryn Newman, Australian National University, and Sonia McCallum, Australian National University
Particularly for people with social anxiety, the prospect of reconnecting with the outside world could be daunting. But there are things you can do to make the transition a little easier.
We manage our fear of death by creating a sense of permanence and meaning in life. But for some people, death anxiety results in pathological coping mechanisms, such as being afraid of spiders.
While the global health community has made mental healthcare a priority, South Africa is not following suite. The impact is felt most acutely by poor people suffering from mental health disorders.
At a recent talk I gave as a Sheffield NeuroGirl, a group of three female PhD students who aim to bring interesting and exciting research on the brain to the public, I carried out a little experiment…
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is an anxiety-related mental condition that affects 1-2% of the population. It is severely debilitating and can strike anyone regardless of age, gender and cultural…
A new study of brain activity in patients with hoarding disorder has found they exhibit abnormal activity in regions of their brain when deciding whether to keep or discard things. The study findings…