Low treatment rates imperil workers’ careers and companies’ productivity.

Mental health problems affect many employees — a fact that is usually overlooked because these disorders tend to be hidden at work. Researchers analyzing results from the U.S. National Comorbidity Survey, a nationally representative study of Americans ages 15 to 54, reported that 18% of those who were employed said they experienced symptoms of a mental health disorder in the previous month.

But the stigma attached to having a psychiatric disorder is such that employees may be reluctant to seek treatment — especially in the current economic climate — out of ...

There is little proof that taking supplements prevents cognitive decline or dementia.

As people age, they tend to suffer from vitamin deficiencies. The elderly are commonly deficient in vitamin B12, for example, because they produce less stomach acid than younger people, and therefore are not as able to metabolize this vitamin from food sources. Age-related changes also make older adults less efficient at producing vitamin D following sun exposure.

Certain vitamin deficiencies can impair brain functioning. Probably the best known example is vitamin B12 deficiency, which can mimic symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia by causing disorientation ...

Consensus emerges about how best to apply this investigational technique.

It is sometimes described as a pacemaker for the brain. Yet deep brain stimulation (DBS) is not yet ready for widespread use. Unlike cardiac pacemakers, DBS does not have an established track record of success or clear guidelines for its use.

The research on DBS is at a much earlier stage — known in the research literature as “proof of principle.” Although small preliminary studies suggest that DBS appears safe and may be effective for some patients, questions remain about its applicability and long-term effects.

In DBS, a surgeon implants ...

A smoking-cessation study found that the combination of a nicotine patch and a nicotine lozenge achieved the best results.

Cognitive behavioral therapy may be an effective treatment option for people with seasonal affective disorder who do not respond to light therapy.

Q. What is the difference between the “unconscious” and the “subconscious?”

A. My close friend got caught up in a debate about these terms during a holiday dinner. And then he contacted me by e-mail when he discovered that it is hard to find a definition agreeable to all mental health professionals, let alone others — for example, neuroscientists or journalists — who also write about mental phenomena.

The term “unconscious” or “unconscious mind” is most closely associated with Freud and psychoanalysis, but the general notion pre-dates Freud by hundreds if not thousands of years. For Freud, however, the idea ...