News Mentions for the week of February 6, 2023

Personalized medicine is a pursuit in basically all medical spaces, including psychiatry. This is particularly challenging in psychiatry because many of the diseases manifest differently individual patients. If you take a disease like ADHD, for example, some patients are more attuned to the hyperactivity symptoms, while other patients can regularly lack focus because of the condition. In this interview, Manpreet Singh, assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, talks about how the different ADHD subtypes are different and similar to the symptoms of mood disorders, such as bipolar disorder.

Stanford Medicine researchers showed that five minutes a day of breathing exercises can reduce overall anxiety and improve mood. David Spiegel, the Jack, Lulu, and Sam Willson Professor and associate chair of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, who co-led the study with Stanford Medicine neurobiologist Andrew Huberman, is featured in this post.

Good Morning America's Becky Worley looks into how some long COVID sufferers can develop significant sleep disruptions and what they can do about it. Oliver Sum-Ping, clinical assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, is interviewed.

In this episode, PsychCast Podcast interviews Rafael Pelayo, clinical professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, about his experience in the sleep medicine field, how he chose the relatively unknown path of sleep medicine, and how it has evolved into what it is today.

On January 23, a 66-year-old Chinese employee killed seven fellow workers; a case of humiliation and revenge that brought to light the living conditions of these immigrant workers in one of the richest localities in the San Francisco area. Rona Hu, clinical professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, who has been working with farmworkers in Half Moon Bay, provides comment.

America’s latest spate of mass shootings, including a number perpetrated by individuals with long criminal records, is fuel for a long-running debate. On one side are those pointing at the overall rise in homicides and decrying a lack of toughness in the criminal justice system. On the other side are those who see the criminal justice system as inherently unjust and want it cut back or even abolished. Both camps are, in some ways, correct, and they are also, in some ways, wrong about America’s challenges regarding violent crime and incarceration. To appreciate this, it helps to consider both outcomes (violent crime and incarceration) simultaneously rather than try to interpret them without context. Keith Humphreys, the Esther Ting Memorial professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, writes this Politics article for the Washington Monthly.

Devices might be able to reset circadian clocks the right way, but scientists say users should take all promises with a grain of salt. Jamie Zeitzer, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, provides comment.

Research on sleep disorders and the importance of regular shut-eye has deepened our understanding of the link between sleep and brain health. Rafael Pelayo, clinical professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, provides comment.

How young is too young? Following the warning from the U.S. Surgeon General, CBS News Bay Area anchor Ryan Yamamoto asks Vicki Harrison, program director for the Stanford Medicine Center for Youth Mental Health and Wellbeing, about the appropriate age to use social media, and the potential consequences of using them at a younger age.

Given that the symptoms of eating disorders may emerge over time and stay undetected even by loved ones and friends, early identification and treatment of children and adolescents are imperative. James Lock, the Eric Rothenberg Professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, writes this piece with department colleagues Brittany Matheson and Nandini Datta, of the Eating Disorders Research Team.

Nearly two-thirds of young adults report having either depression or anxiety. In California, Connecticut, Illinois, and other states, lawmakers are considering their options for psychedelics legalization. Robert Malenka, Pritzker Professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and a Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute deputy director, is quoted.