https://phys.org/ en-us Latest news from Centre for Addiction and Mental Health A first-of-its-kind study led by researchers at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) has found that artificial intelligence (AI) models used to predict aggressive incidents in acute psychiatric care can reinforce and amplify existing social and structural inequities by overestimating the likelihood of aggression among already marginalized groups. The findings, published in npj Mental Health Research, underscore the importance of careful evaluation to ensure AI tools don't perpetuate harm in clinical settings but promote more equitable care. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-ai-tools-psychiatry-bias.html Tue, 07 Apr 2026 17:10:07 EDT news694799102 Researchers from the Center for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) and the Institute of Neurophysiology at Uniklinik RWTH Aachen in Germany have deciphered the molecular signature of so-called sleeping nociceptors—a type of pain-sensing nerve cell that normally remains quiet and does not respond to touch or pressure, but can become overactive and drive chronic pain. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02-scientists-rosetta-stone-decode-chronic.html Neuroscience Wed, 04 Feb 2026 11:00:21 EST news689320861 Finding the right antidepressant treatment can be a frustrating, time-consuming process—one that often requires individuals to endure weeks of ineffective medication before trying something new. Now, a new study offers hope for a more personalized approach. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-04-brain-patterns-antidepressant-response-depression.html Psychology & Psychiatry Wed, 23 Apr 2025 15:05:14 EDT news664639508 A paradigm-shifting study from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) shows an experimental drug, GL-II-73, has the potential to restore memory and cognitive function in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-02-experimental-drug-reversing-memory-loss.html Medications Tue, 04 Feb 2025 16:11:21 EST news657907873 In the first study of its kind, research led by Canada's Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) sheds light on the ethical complexities and systemic barriers facing scientists conducting cannabis research funded by the for-profit cannabis industry. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-12-highlights-ethical-cannabis-canada.html Medical research Thu, 19 Dec 2024 15:54:31 EST news653846066 Opioid use disorder (OUD), which contributes to the ongoing overdose crisis claiming over 21 lives across Canada a day, is even more severe within correctional settings. In North America, OUD is a critical public health concern among incarcerated populations, with individuals being up to 129 times more likely to die from an overdose within the first two weeks of release from custody than the general population. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-11-buprenorphine-opioid-disorder.html Medications Wed, 27 Nov 2024 15:50:01 EST news651944614 An new study led by the Center for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), and with partnership across several Toronto Dementia Research Alliance (TDRA) sites—Baycrest, Sunnybrook Health Science Center, Unity Health Toronto, and University Health Network—has demonstrated that a combination therapy can slow cognitive decline in older adults at risk for dementia. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-10-combination-therapy-cognitive-decline-populations.html Alzheimer's disease & dementia Wed, 30 Oct 2024 11:00:01 EDT news649501982 A new study from the Center for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), in collaboration with leading researchers in Pakistan, has demonstrated the effectiveness of an integrated psychosocial intervention aimed at improving parenting skills and symptoms of depression. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-10-scalable-intervention-male-postpartum-depression.html Psychology & Psychiatry Wed, 02 Oct 2024 11:00:01 EDT news647082754 A new study conducted by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), Bordeaux University Hospital, France, and the World Health Organization (WHO) has found that individuals with alcohol dependence who undergo rehabilitation or maintain abstinence experience significantly lower risks of developing alcohol-associated cancers. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-06-alcohol-abstinence-cancers.html Oncology & Cancer Wed, 26 Jun 2024 18:30:01 EDT news638639395 A new study by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), titled "Mental health service use before first diagnosis of a psychotic disorder" and published in JAMA Psychiatry, found that nearly 75% of young Ontarians with a psychotic disorder had at least one mental health service visit within the three years prior to their first diagnosis of the disorder. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-06-potential-early-identification-psychotic-disorders.html Addiction Fri, 21 Jun 2024 14:22:01 EDT news638198518 A new study published in eClinicalMedicine has confirmed that a novel natural supplement—invented, researched, developed and commercialized at the Center for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH)—prevents postpartum blues, and reduces symptoms of postpartum depression over the following six months after giving birth. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-04-clinically-validated-natural-supplement-postpartum.html Psychology & Psychiatry Wed, 10 Apr 2024 09:55:04 EDT news631961701 CAMH-led pre-clinical studies using a small molecule drug have shown promise as a potential new treatment for multiple sclerosis (MS). The results have been published in the journal Science Advances. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-12-scientists-potential-drug-treatment-multiple.html Medical research Fri, 08 Dec 2023 14:00:01 EST news621247659 A new CAMH study published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry found elevated levels of inflammation in the brain of patients who report persistent symptoms of long COVID. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-06-ongoing-brain-inflammation-covid.html Psychology & Psychiatry Mon, 05 Jun 2023 10:21:33 EDT news605179290 A CAMH-led study just published in the journal JAMA Network Open has found that the probability of using a gun as a means of suicide among Americans increases the more alcohol they drink. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-03-alcohol-gun-involved-suicide-americans.html Addiction Thu, 30 Mar 2023 16:36:03 EDT news599412961 A CAMH-led study of national suicide rates in 33 countries in the Americas over the past 20 years has found several key contextual factors associated with national rates of suicide. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-02-contextual-factors-higher-suicide-americas.html Psychology & Psychiatry Thu, 23 Feb 2023 17:09:53 EST news596394591 The chances that police will become involved in the care of a student who seeks help for their mental health on campus at an Ontario university health clinic depends on which university they attend, according to a new CAMH-led qualitative study published today in the journal CMAJ Open. The study is believed to be the first in the world to conduct in-depth interviews with physicians to examine policies and processes for transferring students experiencing mental health emergencies from university clinics to hospital. Investigators found that some Ontario universities mandate the use of police restraints in all circumstances when students need emergency mental health hospital care, while others have policies that handcuffs only be used in rare circumstances as a last resort. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-policies-police-involvement-students-mental.html Psychology & Psychiatry Tue, 21 Jun 2022 13:34:27 EDT news575037264 Pharmacogenetic testing was associated with nearly a two-fold (89%) increase in remission rates compared to treatment as usual in a Centre for Addiction and Mental Health- (CAMH-)led clinical study just published in the journal Translational Psychiatry. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-03-pharmacogenetic-symptoms-patients-treatment-resistant-depression.html Psychology & Psychiatry Tue, 29 Mar 2022 13:58:39 EDT news567781116 Smoking-cessation drugs prescribed exclusively over the internet in a clinical trial were as safe and effective as when prescribed in a clinician's office, according to a newly published CAMH study in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-02-cessation-drugs-internet-safe-effective.html Medications Wed, 09 Feb 2022 10:12:01 EST news563623918 Transgender individuals who access acute mental health care are more likely to experience marginalization, present with mood disorders and are twice more likely to be diagnosed with personality disorders than the general population accessing these services. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-12-trans-people-accessing-acute-mental.html Psychology & Psychiatry Wed, 08 Dec 2021 11:57:29 EST news558187045 CAMH has launched a new free online tool to help improve the standard of care for youth living with depression. The first-of-its-kind Cundill Centre Online Tool for the Treatment of Youth Depression summarizes best care practices for supporting youth as they manage their depression, and is now available for primary care providers and other frontline clinicians everywhere. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-10-children-youth-depression-online-tool.html Psychology & Psychiatry Tue, 26 Oct 2021 10:13:16 EDT news554461993 More than one-third (36 percent) of Toronto-area LGBTQ2S youth experiencing homelessness have attempted suicide since the COVID-19 pandemic began and 82 percent have engaged in self-harm, according to a new CAMH-led study. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-09-lgbtq2s-homeless-youth-suicide-pandemic.html Psychology & Psychiatry Tue, 21 Sep 2021 14:00:01 EDT news551439681 Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a medically safe mental health intervention, according to a new study led by CAMH researcher Dr. Tyler Kaster as part of his doctoral studies at ICES and the University of Toronto. The study was published today in the journal The Lancet Psychiatry, and is among the largest and most comprehensive to compare the safety of ECT with standard treatment amongst individuals with depression. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-07-medical-safety-electroconvulsive-therapy-ect.html Psychology & Psychiatry Mon, 12 Jul 2021 18:30:02 EDT news545321989 As more evidence emerges that opioid overdose deaths have increased dramatically since the onset of COVID-19, the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), in collaboration with subject matter experts and medical regulatory authorities across Canada, have now released updated national clinical guidelines for the treatment of opioid use disorder. "Opioid Agonist Therapy: A Synthesis of Canadian Guidelines for Treating Opioid Use Disorder" harmonizes existing provincial and national guidelines, evidence-based practices, and expert opinions into one document aimed at providing consistent and high-quality care to people with opioid use disorder. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-07-center-national-clinical-guidelines-treatment.html Addiction Wed, 07 Jul 2021 16:18:39 EDT news544893516 People who regularly use psychoactive substances report experiencing a variety of negative impacts since the COVID-19 pandemic began, including increased use and fear of relapse or overdose, highlighting the need for improved supports and services, including better access to safe supply programs, according to a new CAMH survey published in the International Journal of Drug Policy. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-04-large-regular-drug-users-substance.html Health Wed, 21 Apr 2021 07:47:20 EDT news538210036 It has been long been known that cannabis users develop psychosis more often than non-users, but what is still not fully clear is whether cannabis actually causes psychosis and, if so, who is most at risk. A new study published in Translational Psychiatry by researchers at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) and King's College London helps shed light on both questions. The research shows that while cannabis users had higher rates of psychotic experiences than non-users across the board, the difference was especially pronounced among those with high genetic predisposition to schizophrenia. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-04-genetic-predisposition-schizophrenia-psychosis-cannabis.html Psychology & Psychiatry Tue, 13 Apr 2021 12:11:15 EDT news537534671 One of the biggest longitudinal research studies of its kind in the world led by The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) suggests that positive outcomes for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are more common than previously thought. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-03-majority-children-autism.html Autism spectrum disorders Tue, 30 Mar 2021 02:52:48 EDT news536291562 The suicide rate for people with schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSD) is 170 times higher than the general population according a study just published in the journal Schizophrenia Research, a figure the authors call "tragically high." https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-06-suicide-people-schizophrenia-spectrum-disorders.html Psychology & Psychiatry Thu, 18 Jun 2020 03:19:59 EDT news511669191 Publicly-funded physician psychotherapy is only available to a fraction of those with urgent mental health needs in Ontario, according to a joint study by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) and ICES published today in CMAJ Open. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-03-physician-psychotherapy-unavailable-people-urgent.html Psychology & Psychiatry Wed, 11 Mar 2020 04:05:48 EDT news503118345 In a first-of-its-kind study using advanced brain imaging techniques, a commonly used anti-psychotic medication was associated with potentially adverse changes in brain structure. This study was the first in humans to evaluate the effects of this type of medication on the brain using a gold-standard design: a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-02-anti-psychotic-medication-linked-adverse-brain.html Psychology & Psychiatry Wed, 26 Feb 2020 11:00:03 EST news501934083 Research led by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation points to a groundbreaking discovery about a new potential treatment and prevention for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-01-potential-treatment-ptsd.html Psychology & Psychiatry Mon, 13 Jan 2020 16:00:01 EST news498135974