Long-term treatment increases chances of response and remission.

For most patients, episodes of major depression last a limited amount of time. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) specifies that symptoms last at least two weeks, and treatment studies report a median duration of about 20 weeks. But for some patients, the condition becomes chronic — with symptoms lasting at least two years.

The differences between episodic and chronic depression encompass more than just duration. Studies show that, compared with episodic major depression, chronic depression causes more functional impairment, increases risk of suicide, and is ...

A major hurdle is identifying those at risk for developing psychosis in the future.

One of the reasons schizophrenia is so disabling is that obvious psychotic symptoms — which are what usually prompt treatment — occur relatively late in the disease process. By then, cognitive function, as measured by various neuropsychological tests, is already lower on average than in healthy individuals.

Neuroimaging studies have revealed that patients in this earlier "prodromal" phase have lost gray matter (neurons and other brain cells) when compared with controls — indicating that some underlying brain damage has occurred. And a preliminary study suggests ...

Questions remain about what causes this disorder and how best to intervene.

Piles of newspapers stacked in the living room, leaving only a narrow path to the kitchen. Dozens of cats living in filthy conditions in a tiny house. Debris spilling out into the yard, prompting complaints from neighbors. All of these are signs of compulsive hoarding.

Although the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) does not list compulsive hoarding as a disorder, as we've reported in the past, this type of behavior traditionally has been viewed as a subtype of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). About ...

An intervention program intended to reduce dating violence among high school students was effective in boys but not girls.

A large study found that middle-aged people with elevated or high cholesterol were more likely to develop dementia later in life.

The fifteenth-century English King Henry felt the burden of leadership. In Henry IV, Part 2, Shakespeare showed the king yearning for sleep, "Nature's soft nurse," while ruing an irony: although thousands of his poor subjects were sleeping soundly, the power of his crown was no match for his insomnia.

If King Henry were alive today, he would have no shortage of health care providers offering to help him with this problem. But most people nowadays don't get the royal treatment. Although symptoms of insomnia are very common (one in three U.S. adults has them), relatively few Americans seek professional help. ...