News & Headlines

Although service members know they may lose their lives in combat in service of their country, they may not expect to lose their lives – or those they love – to suicide. A 2021 study estimated that four times as many active duty service members and veterans died by suicide as died in battle since 9/11.

Military families are working to solve the "greatest challenge"—preventing veteran suicide—to commemorate Memorial Day this year. An average of 17 veterans died from suicide each day in 2020, according to a 2022 report from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). While this number has dropped in recent years, advocates say more work needs to be done to properly address mental health among veterans, whose experience overseas can cause lifelong challenges.

A comprehensive approach that examines the intersection of multiple biological processes is necessary to elucidate the development of stress-related disorders. In a new study, investigators from McLean Hospital, a member of the  Mass General Brigham healthcare system, working with colleagues at The University of Texas at Austin and Lieber Institute for Brain Development, uncovered both shared and distinct molecular changes across brain regions, genomic layers, cell types, and blood in individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depressive disorder (MDD). These results, published May 24th in Science , could provide potential avenues for novel therapeutics and biomarkers.

MDMA — the chemical found in the drug ecstasy — has appeared effective for treating PTSD in clinical trials. But there are concerns about the quality of the research. Later this summer, the Food and Drug Administration is expected to decide whether the chemical found in the drug ecstasy can be used as a treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder. FDA approval of MDMA would be a milestone for the movement to bring psychedelics into the mainstream of mental health care, but now there are questions about the research suggesting MDMA is effective for PTSD. 

A team of researchers from Wayne State University was awarded a $1.3 million, three-year grant from the U.S. Department of Defense to study “Advanced wireless augmented reality-enhanced exposure therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder.” The project will be led by Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences Arash Javanbakht, M.D., who directs the Stress, Trauma and Anxiety Research Clinic, or STARC, and invented the technology. Javanbakht, a clinical psychiatrist whose work focuses on anxiety, trauma and PTSD, often helps civilians, refugees and first responders with mental health disorders.

Relatives of the man responsible for the mass shootings in last October blame themselves for not doing more to stop him. And in emotional testimony before the commission investigating the tragedy, they also called on law enforcement, the media, the Army and others to do better in the future. Chief among those calls is for better access to mental health treatment and protections from traumatic brain injuries for soldiers who are exposed to blasts and sonic booms during training.

An ‘acute brain failure’ jettisons a patient, their doctors and families into an anxious twilight zone. How aware is a person in a coma? And how are decisions made in the face of uncertainty?

Clinical trials using the drug known as ecstasy to treat PTSD may have been tainted by investigator biases and understated possible harmful effects, the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review said in a report on Tuesday. Why it matters: The influential nonprofit's assessment could complicate prospects for the therapy, which has been touted as a treatment for veterans with PTSD and is part of a cohort of psychedelic drugs that has shown promise for treating addictions and mental health disorders.

A study by researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) found that a generative artificial intelligence (AI) model can accurately screen for post-traumatic stress disorder following recent childbirth (CB-PTSD). The study explored the capabilities—as well as weaknesses—of different models from OpenAI, including ChatGPT, to identify a version that can offer insights into maternal health following a traumatic childbirth.

Severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major cause of hospitalizations and deaths around the world, affecting more than five million people each year. Predicting outcomes following a brain injury can be challenging, yet families are asked to make decisions about continuing or withdrawing life-sustaining treatment within days of injury. In a new study, Mass General Brigham investigators analyzed potential clinical outcomes for TBI patients enrolled in the Transforming Research and Clinical Knowledge in TBI (TRACK-TBI) study for whom life support was withdrawn. The investigators found that some patients for whom life support was withdrawn may have survived and recovered some level of independence a few months after injury. These findings suggest that delaying decisions on withdrawing life support might be beneficial for some patients.

Concussion management often involves physical and mental rest until symptoms go away. This can help you prevent second injuries and allow injured tissues to heal. However, research is starting to show that some physical and cognitive activity may help promote recovery. “What we’ve seen over the last few years is a progressive pushback in the literature on this idea of rest, rest, rest. There’s evidence that introduction of early physical activity promotes recovery,” says Ross Zafonte, DO, a Mass General Brigham sports medicine specialist and an expert in concussion care. “What’s really exciting is that [new research now shows that] early cognitive activity of a moderate intensity (in other words, returning to school earlier or returning to other mild activities) is associated with a better outcome.”