MentalHealthDaily

STAIR-R Did Not Beat Supportive Care for Refugee PTSD

by GLOOM

A pilot randomized trial involving 71 refugees with posttraumatic stress disorder found large symptom improvement after narrative exposure therapy-based care, but adding refugee-adapted emotion-regulation training before narrative exposure therapy did not outperform supportive problem-solving before narrative exposure therapy in the full sample.1 Research Highlights 71 refugees were randomized: 35 received STAIR-R plus narrative exposure therapy, …

AI Therapy Chatbot and ChatGPT Both Reduced PHQ-9 Depression Scores

by GLOOM

MHD featured image for AI therapy chatbot versus ChatGPT depression trial.

A 147-person feasibility randomized trial found that both a structured AI therapy chatbot and general ChatGPT reduced PHQ-9 depression scores compared with assessment-only control, with effect sizes of d = −0.47 and d = −0.44.1 The purpose-built therapy bot did not significantly outperform ChatGPT on depression, anxiety, impairment, or wellbeing. Research Highlights Both chatbots reduced …

Major Upper-Extremity Amputation Raised Mental Health Odds

by GLOOM

Major upper-extremity amputation was linked to substantially higher odds of new mental-health diagnosis, antidepressant initiation, and psychotherapy claims than minor upper-extremity amputation in a matched national database study. The clearest clinical implication is early mental-health screening after major limb loss, not waiting for distress to surface months later.1 Research Highlights 2,452 matched patients were analyzed: …

Dementia Caregiver Intervention Needed 24 Cultural Adaptations

by GLOOM

A 2026 descriptive study documented 24 major cultural adaptations to the New York University Caregiver Intervention-Enhanced Support (NYUCI-ES) for Chinese and Korean American dementia caregivers. The work is not an outcomes report yet; it is a careful map of how an evidence-based caregiver intervention had to change before it could plausibly fit East Asian immigrant …

Seletracetam for Seizure Rescue: Non-Benzodiazepine Alternative Revisited

by GLOOM

MHD featured image for seletracetam as a possible non-benzodiazepine seizure rescue therapy.

A 2026 CNS Drugs review argues that seletracetam, an abandoned second-generation racetam antiseizure drug, may be unusually well suited for seizure rescue: early oral studies involved 171 participants, photosensitivity responses occurred in 32 of 36 exposures, and one intranasal named-patient use reduced reading-induced spike rate from 3.1/min to 1.6/min without sedation. Research Highlights Rescue-therapy rationale: …

CBT-I Outperformed Added Sleep Medication in 15 RCTs

by GLOOM

Stylized illustration of a CBT-I therapy session and a pill bottle with arrows indicating combined treatment, representing the AASM systematic review on whether to combine cognitive behavioral therapy and sleep medication.

Patients with chronic insomnia frequently end up on both a sleep medication and cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I), and a 2026 AASM meta-analysis of 15 RCTs from Buysse et al. found a clear asymmetry: adding CBT-I to medication helps, while adding medication to CBT-I adds little and may even worsen daytime depression scores.1 Research …

Hwa-Byung Digital ACT Therapy Improved Anger and Depression

by GLOOM

A single-arm Hwa-byung digital therapeutic pilot found good app engagement and large pre-post symptom changes, but the absence of a control group keeps the result in feasibility territory. The ACT-based Hwa-free app improved Hwa-byung symptoms, depression, state anger, psychological flexibility, and quality-of-life scores over 4 weeks, with some gains maintained at 8 weeks.1 Research Highlights …