Research Review – MGH Center of Excellence for Psychosocial and Systemic Research

“Subclinical” Psychotic Symptoms in Adolescents: What Do They Mean?

Mental health disorders such as ADHD, depression, and anxiety are routinely screened for in pediatric practices (1), so that children and adolescents who may have these conditions receive the help they need as soon as possible. However, psychotic symptoms that are “subclinical” – that are not severe enough to be considered a true psychotic symptom but are similar in content to a psychotic symptom—are not typically assessed by pediatricians…

Prevention in Psychiatry: Why Now?

Advances in the prevention of medical illnesses have transformed the human experience and lengthened the human life span by several decades during the past two centuries (1). Examples of these advances include modern sanitation and clean water initiatives, early childhood and adult vaccines, antibiotics, and more recently, the range of clinical tools used for the early detection and prevention of heart disease and many types of cancer (2).

Psychiatry, however, has lagged behind other fields of medicine in the domain of prevention, despite the fact that psychiatric disorders are extremely common…

How Racism Affects Mental Health, Policing, and Incarceration

In October 2016, a resident in New York City (NYC) called 911 stating that their neighbor, Ms. Deborah Danner, was acting “erratic”, by yelling and screaming. The NY Police Department sent over an officer…

Primary Prevention for Criminal Justice System Involvement

Desiderius Erasmus, a Dutch philosopher, describes the principle which is at the core of modern medicine: preventing an illness, called primary prevention, is better than curing an illness once it has begun, called secondary prevention…

Research Review: Opioid Overdose During the COVID-19 Pandemic

A recent research study (1) aimed to describe the frequency and characteristics of individuals in San Francisco who experienced poor outcomes (e.g., those resulting in ED visits and accidental death) following opioid use during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods:
The authors reviewed…

Research Review: Psychological Adjustment During COVID-19

As we surpass the 6-month mark of the COVID-19 pandemic, some people’s lives are affected to a small degree while others are facing serious social, emotional, and/or health challenges. For all of us, there is uncertainty with no clear “end date.” A key task during the pandemic has been, and will continue to be, minimizing distress and maximizing resilience. Resilience refers to the ability to mentally and emotionally cope with a crisis, such as COVID-19. With this in mind, people have started to ask: “What can we do to build and maintain resilience over the long-term?”…

Research Review: Stress and Self-Care During COVID-19

When we perceive a threat to our wellbeing, our bodies activate the acute stress response, also known as the “fight or flight” response. This is designed to give us a burst of strength and energy, and impacts systems in our bodies. For example:

Our heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing increase, to deliver oxygenated blood to our muscles…

Research Review: Benefits and barriers to virtual mental health care

Digital health has increased the range of mental health care options and offers promise as healthcare enters a digital age. However, when considering virtual mental health care, both benefits and/or barriers must be considered. We have outlined the commonly described benefits and barriers to virtual mental health care based on the existing research and our own clinical experiences…

Research Review: Rise in digital health during COVID-19

COVID-19 has increased the need for persons with mental health challenges to receive care. The use of digital health during a global health crisis is critical for access to urgent care (Torous & Wykes, 2020). Telehealth enables clinicians to continue providing treatment for persons in need of mental health care during a time when in-person visits are very limited. Telehealth helps people remain in contact with clinicians and peer support networks, while they navigate the difficulties generated by COVID-19…