Anxiety News

August 5, 2025

Top Headlines

This New Drug Could Help PTSD Patients Finally Let Go of Trauma

Aug. 3, 2025 — Researchers discovered that PTSD may be driven by excess GABA from astrocytes, not neurons. This chemical imbalance disrupts the brain’s ability to forget fear. A new drug, KDS2010, reverses this effect in mice and is already in human trials. It ...

Science Tested 64 Natural Remedies for Depression—only a Few Actually Work

July 28, 2025 — Over-the-counter (OTC) products like St John’s Wort and omega-3s have long been touted for helping with depression, but new research reveals that 64 different OTC products have been tested in ...

Tai Chi, Yoga, and Jogging Rival Pills for Beating Insomnia

July 17, 2025 — Yoga, Tai Chi, walking, and jogging may be some of the best natural remedies for improving sleep and tackling insomnia, according to a large analysis comparing various treatments. While cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) remains effective, ...

Can’t Sleep, Can’t Focus, Can’t Thrive? ADHD and Insomnia May Be a Vicious Cycle

July 16, 2025 — Struggling to sleep might be the hidden reason why adults with ADHD traits often feel less satisfied with life. New research reveals a strong link between insomnia and reduced well-being in people ...

How a Hidden Brain Circuit Fuels Fibromyalgia, Migraines, and PTSD

July 10, 2025 — What if your brain is the reason some pain feels unbearable? Scientists at the Salk Institute have discovered a hidden brain circuit that gives pain its emotional punch—essentially transforming ordinary discomfort into lasting misery. This ...

New Research Shows Monday Stress Is Etched Into Your Biology

July 7, 2025 — Feeling jittery as the week kicks off isn’t just a mood—it leaves a biochemical footprint. Researchers tracked thousands of older adults and found those who dread Mondays carry elevated cortisol in their hair for months, a stress echo that may ...

The Surprising Link Between Hearing Loss, Loneliness, and Lifespan

July 5, 2025 — People who treat hearing loss with hearing aids or cochlear implants regain rich conversations, escape isolation, and may even protect their brains and lifespans—proof that better hearing translates into fuller ...

The Gene That Hijacks Fear: How PTEN Rewires the Brain’s Anxiety Circuit

June 29, 2025 — Deleting a gene called PTEN in certain brain cells disrupts the brain’s fear circuitry and triggers anxiety-like behavior in mice — key traits seen in autism. Researchers mapped how this genetic tweak throws off the brain's delicate balance of ...

USC's New AI Implant Promises Drug-Free Relief for Chronic Pain

June 24, 2025 — A groundbreaking wireless implant promises real-time, personalized pain relief using AI and ultrasound power no batteries, no wires, and no opioids. Designed by USC and UCLA engineers, it reads brain signals, adapts on the fly, and bends naturally ...

Humans Are Seasonal Creatures, According to Our Circadian Rhythms

May 30, 2025 — It's tempting to think that, with our fancy electric lights and indoor bedrooms, humanity has evolved beyond the natural influence of sunlight when it comes to our sleep routines. But new research shows that our circadian rhythms are still wild at ...

Sustained in the Brain: How Lasting Emotions Arise from Brief Stimuli, in Humans and Mice

May 29, 2025 — Humans and mice share persistent brain-activity patterns in response to adverse sensory experience, scientists find, opening a window to our emotions and, perhaps, neuropsychiatric ...

PREVENT Equation Accurately Estimated 10-Year CVD Risk and Those With Calcium Buildup

May 23, 2025 — A new risk calculator accurately identified participants who had calcium buildup in their heart arteries and those who had a higher future heart attack risk, in an analysis of about 7,000 adults in ...

Latest Headlines

updated 12:16pm EDT

Promising New Way to Modulate Brain Cell Activity to Potentially Treat Major Depressive Disorder in Adults

May 21, 2025 — A mechanism involving potassium channels in the brain that control brain cell activity could provide a new and fundamentally different way of ...

Landmark Report Reveals Key Challenges Facing Adolescents

May 20, 2025 — Poor mental health, rising obesity rates, exposure to violence and climate change are among the key challenges facing our adolescents today, according to a global ...

How Serious Is Your Brain Injury? New Criteria Will Reveal More

May 20, 2025 — Trauma centers nationwide will begin to test a new approach for assessing traumatic brain injury (TBI) that is expected to lead to more accurate diagnoses and more appropriate treatment and follow-up ...

Could Personality Tests Help Make Bipolar Disorder Treatment More Precise?

May 19, 2025 — A new study suggests that it might be possible to personalize care for people with bipolar disorder, using the results of detailed personality tests. It finds that such tests might help identify ...

People With Critical Cardiovascular Disease May Benefit from Palliative Care

May 16, 2025 — Palliative care is specialized medical care focused on easing symptoms, addressing psychological and spiritual needs, and helping patients and ...

How the Brain Allows Us to Infer Emotions

May 16, 2025 — Researchers have discovered how inferred emotions are learned. The study shows that the frontal part of the brain coordinates with the amygdala -- a brain region important for simple forms of ...

Cyberbullying in Any Form Can Be Traumatizing for Kids

May 15, 2025 — New research shows that cyberbullying should be classified as an adverse childhood experience due to its strong link to trauma. Even subtle forms -- like exclusion from group chats -- can trigger ...

Combinations of Chronic Illnesses Could Double Risk of Depression

May 13, 2025 — People with multiple long-term physical health conditions are at a significantly greater risk of developing depression, a study ...

New Chronic Pain Therapy Retrains the Brain to Process Emotions

May 7, 2025 — Researchers have created an effective therapy for chronic pain that reduces pain intensity by focusing on emotional ...

Social Drinking Also a Well-Worn Path to Alcohol Use Disorder

May 6, 2025 — When picturing a 'typical' alcoholic, people tend to imagine a person drinking at home alone. But that focus overlooks the social origins of many serious alcohol ...

PTSD Patients Show Long-Term Benefits With Vagus Nerve Stimulation

May 5, 2025 — In a recent clinical study, patients with treatment-resistant post-traumatic stress disorder were symptom-free up to six months after completing traditional therapy paired with vagus nerve ...

Spanking and Other Physical Discipline Lead to Exclusively Negative Outcomes for Children in Low And Middle-Income Countries

May 5, 2025 — Physically punishing children in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) has exclusively negative outcomes -- including poor health, lower academic performance, and impaired social-emotional ...

Teens With Mental Health Conditions Use Social Media Differently Than Their Peers, Study Suggests

May 5, 2025 — One of the first studies in this area to use clinical-level diagnoses reveals a range of differences between young people with and without mental health conditions when it comes to social media -- ...

Study Links Childhood Trauma to Increased Substance Use and Unexpected Effects on Heart Rate and Blood Pressure in Adolescents

Apr. 30, 2025 — Childhood trauma significantly increases the likelihood of engaging in harmful alcohol consumption, smoking and illicit drug use, by the age of ...

Seasonal Changes Affect Alcohol Tolerance and Your Waistline

Apr. 30, 2025 — Researchers have found that drug effectiveness, alcohol tolerance, and carbohydrate metabolism change with the seasons. Their findings are based on a comprehensive seasonal gene expression map, which ...

Dopamine Signals When a Fear Can Be Forgotten

Apr. 28, 2025 — A new study shows how a dopamine circuit between two brain regions enables mice to extinguish fear after a peril has ...

Vision Loss Fear May Keep Some from Having Cataract Surgery

Apr. 23, 2025 — A new study finds vision loss fears may deter some patients from cataract surgery, despite it being the only effective treatment. The research underscores the role of doctor-patient relationships in ...

How a Smartphone App Could Transform Mental Health Care

Apr. 23, 2025 — Smartphones may often feel like a source of stress, feeding us an endless stream of bad news and social comparison. But what if they could also be the solution? A team of researchers believes they ...

Psychedelics Can Reverse Neuroimmune Interactions That Boost Fear

Apr. 23, 2025 — A new study suggests that fear and the immune system are connected in previously unknown ways. Researchers found that the immune system can influence stress and fear behaviors by changing how brain ...

Temporary Anxiety Impacts Learning

Apr. 22, 2025 — Researchers found that a brief episode of anxiety may have a bigger influence on a person's ability to learn what is safe and what is not. A new study used a virtual reality game that involved ...

Insomnia and Sleep Medication Use Connected to Disability in Older Adults

Apr. 18, 2025 — For adults over the age of 65, higher levels of both insomnia symptoms and sleep medication use were associated with higher risk of disability a year later, according to a new ...

Apr. 16, 2025 — A new study suggests that climate trauma -- such as experiencing a devastating wildfire -- can have lasting effects on cognitive ...

Stress, Depression Factor Into Link Between Insomnia, Heavy Drinking

Apr. 14, 2025 — A new study suggests that perceived stress and depression factor into the relationship between insomnia and hazardous drinking -- perhaps not a surprise. But because the relationship between insomnia ...

Police Officers Face Twice the Risk of Traumatic Brain Injuries and PTSD, Survey Finds

Apr. 11, 2025 — Police officers are more than twice as likely to have traumatic brain injuries compared to the general ...

Even Under Stress, Male-Female Pairs Had Each Other's Backs

Apr. 8, 2025 — When faced with a potential threat, mice often freeze in place. Moreover, when two animals are together, they typically freeze at the same time, matching each other's periods of immobility. In a ...

Mindfulness and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Improve Chronic Low Back Pain

Apr. 7, 2025 — Eight weeks of mindfulness or cognitive behavioral therapy were associated with improved pain, physical function and quality of life and reduced daily opioid dose in adults with chronic low back pain ...

Fear of Rejection Influences How Children Conform to Peers

Apr. 4, 2025 — The fear of rejection -- familiar to many children and adults -- can significantly impact how kids behave in their peer groups, according to new ...

Medicinal Cannabis Is Linked to Long-Term Benefits in Health-Related Quality of Life, Study Finds

Apr. 2, 2025 — Patients prescribed medicinal cannabis in Australia maintained improvements in overall health-related quality of life (HRQL), fatigue, and sleep disturbance across a one-year period, according to a ...

PTSD Can Undermine Healthy Couple Communication When People Fear Their Emotions

Mar. 31, 2025 — Fear of emotions among couples with PTSD is associated with unproductive communication, according to a new ...

Change in Oxygen Standards for Trauma Patients?

Mar. 31, 2025 — A recent study finds most critically injured patients can recover with less supplemental oxygen than has previously been ...