Mental Health

January 31, 2019

Study explores genetic risk for suicide attempt

Using data from the UK Biobank and Vanderbilt’s BioVU, a new study in the journal Molecular Psychiatry finds that approximately 4 percent of suicide attempt risk is captured by genotype data.

By Paul Govern
January 3, 2019

Adolescent Partial Hospitalization Program provides alternative to inpatient psychiatric care

Adolescents who are struggling with intense emotional, behavioral and social difficulties may find an alternate care path to an inpatient stay through Vanderbilt Psychiatric Hospital’s Adolescent Partial Hospitalization Program.

By Kelsey Herbers
December 20, 2018

2018 a year of growth, achievement for VUMC

The following is a roundup of the news that made headlines at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in 2018.

By Doug Campbell
December 20, 2018

Cirpili returns as CNO for Psychiatric Hospital

Avni Cirpili, DNP, RN, has returned as Chief Nursing Officer for Vanderbilt Psychiatric Hospital (VPH) and Vanderbilt Behavioral Health (VBH) after nearly three years as senior vice president and chief nursing officer at the Menninger Clinic in Houston.

By Matt Batcheldor
December 12, 2018

High-dose antipsychotics place children at increased risk of unexpected death

Children and young adults without psychosis who are prescribed high-dose antipsychotic medications are at increased risk of unexpected death, despite the availability of other medications to treat their conditions, according to a Vanderbilt University Medical Center study published today in JAMA Psychiatry.
Unexpected death includes deaths due to unintentional drug overdose or cardiovascular/metabolic causes.

By Craig Boerner
November 1, 2018

Heckers honored by National Alliance on Mental Illness

Stephan Heckers, MD, MSc, William P. and Henry B. Test Professor of Schizophrenia Research and chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, was recently recognized by the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) with a 2018 Exemplary Psychiatrist Award.

By Kelsey Herbers
September 20, 2018

Fibromyalgia: More doctor visits mean fewer suicide attempts

Fibromyalgia patients who regularly visit their physicians are much less likely to attempt suicide than those who do not, according to a new Vanderbilt University Medical Center study published in Arthritis Care & Research.
By Craig Boerner
July 19, 2018

Awards bolster investigators’ bipolar disorders research

Two Vanderbilt University researchers have been awarded Blake A. Jenkins Discovery Awards in support of basic and/or translational research into bipolar disorder and related conditions with an emphasis on early detection, intervention and utilizing brain imaging.
By Nancy Humphrey
June 14, 2018

Shared genetics may shape treatment options for certain brain disorders

Symptoms of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, including psychosis, depression and manic behavior, have both shared and distinguishing genetic factors, an international consortium led by researchers from Vanderbilt University and Virginia Commonwealth University is reporting.
By Bill Snyder
June 7, 2018

Environmental Health and Safety’s Wheaton retires

If you chat with Bob Wheaton, executive director of Vanderbilt Environmental Health and Safety, for a few minutes, it quickly becomes clear he’s not from around here.
By Kathy Whitney
October 26, 2017

School of Nursing receives HRSA grant for Clinic at Mercury Courts mental health providers

The two-year Title VIII grant from the Health and Human Services Administration allows the Clinic at Mercury Courts, a nurse-managed primary care clinic located in one of Nashville’s most economically depressed areas, to add a psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner, social worker and psychiatrist to its existing primary care team.
By VUMC News and Communications
October 12, 2017

Award honors Conn’s mental health research contributions

P. Jeffrey Conn, Ph.D., founding director of the Vanderbilt Center for Neuroscience Drug Discovery, has won a 2017 Research & Hope Award from the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) for outstanding research in the area of mental health.
By Bill Snyder
August 21, 2015

Brain circuitry in psychosis

Functional magnetic resonance imaging has revealed faulty circuits between the thalamus – a central hub of brain activity – and other brain regions.
By Leigh MacMillan