Mental and behavioral health
Bipolar Disorder: Recognition and When Primary Care Refers
How to recognize bipolar disorder, tell bipolar from unipolar depression, spot hypomania, and know when primary care refers to psychiatry.
Health & Evidence Library
Mental and behavioral health
Evidence-informed guides to mental health, behavior change, substance use, sleep, safety, stigma, and integrated care.
27 guides · Page 1 of 1
Mental and behavioral health
Alcohol Use Disorder: The Evidence for Naltrexone and Acamprosate
Naltrexone and acamprosate are non-controlled medicines that help many people drink less or stop. Here is what the evidence shows.
Mental and behavioral health
Antidepressants Can Start Working Before Week Four
Antidepressant effects can begin in the first weeks, while full response takes longer. Learn what early change means and when treatment needs review.
Mental and behavioral health
Zuranolone for Postpartum Depression: How to Read the FDA Approval
What the narrow FDA approval establishes about a 14-day oral treatment, and what its trials, label, and safety limits do not establish.
Mental and behavioral health
Why Suicide-Risk Scores Miss the Individual
Why rare outcomes, changing circumstances, false positives, and false negatives prevent risk categories from deciding one person's care.
Mental and behavioral health
The Serotonin Hypothesis of Depression Reappraised
A 2022 umbrella review challenged the simple low-serotonin theory. Learn why causation, drug mechanism, and antidepressant efficacy are separate questions.
Mental and behavioral health
Sleep and Mental Health: What the Causal Evidence Shows
Sleep and mental health influence each other. Randomized trials show what improving sleep can change, while clarifying important limits.
Mental and behavioral health
How to Read Psilocybin Depression Trials Without the Hype
Psilocybin depression trials show a signal, but masking, support, selection, short follow-up, and safety shape what that signal means.
Mental and behavioral health
Therapy, Medication, or Both for Depression: Reading the Comparative Evidence
What effect sizes, number needed to treat, and network meta-analyses actually say about therapy, medication, and combined care for depression.
Mental and behavioral health
The Pharmacology of Coming Off an Antidepressant Slowly
Why equal antidepressant dose cuts have unequal effects, what receptor-occupancy math predicts, and where the tapering evidence is still thin.
Mental and behavioral health
The Antidepressant Boxed Warning for Young People, and What Followed
Why the FDA pooled 24 pediatric trials into a suicidality boxed warning, what the absolute risks actually were, and how researchers study the aftermath.
Mental and behavioral health
Prescription Digital Therapeutics for Mental Health: What FDA Clearance Does and Does Not Mean
What FDA clearance of a prescription digital therapeutic like Rejoyn actually certifies, what its depression trial measured, and why cleared is not approved.
Mental and behavioral health
Measurement-Based Care: What Repeated Symptom Scores Add to Treatment
What the trial evidence really shows about tracking PHQ-9 and GAD-7 scores in depression and anxiety care, and where that evidence is strong or thin.
Mental and behavioral health
Loneliness and Health: How Strong Is the Mortality Evidence
What loneliness research actually shows about mortality, where the smoking comparison came from, and why the causal size stays uncertain.
Mental and behavioral health
Involuntary Psychiatric Care: How the Ethics and Evidence Are Weighed
How liberty and safety trade off in involuntary psychiatric care, what human-rights guidance now recommends, and why the outcome evidence stays thin.
Mental and behavioral health
How the PTSD Treatment Guideline Ranks the Therapies
How the 2023 VA/DoD PTSD guideline used GRADE to rank therapies, why several were downgraded, and what a strong recommendation actually requires.
Mental and behavioral health
How Mental Health Apps Are, and Are Not, Regulated
Most mental health apps are not FDA-reviewed. Here is why, what that means for evidence, and how to judge an app.
Mental and behavioral health
How a Network Meta-Analysis Ranks 21 Antidepressants
How network meta-analysis links trials to compare 21 antidepressants on efficacy and acceptability, and why a single best drug never emerges.
Mental and behavioral health
Exercise for Depression: How Strong Is the Evidence Really?
A large 2024 BMJ meta-analysis found exercise eased depression, but low confidence and the impossibility of blinding make it an adjunct, not a swap.
Mental and behavioral health
Adult ADHD and the Overdiagnosis Debate, Explained by the Evidence
What overdiagnosis really means, why adult ADHD prevalence estimates range so widely, and how shifting criteria and context drive the disagreement.
Mental and behavioral health
When to Seek Help for a Mental Health Concern
Not sure when to seek help for a mental health concern? Learn the signs worth attention, the red flags that need urgent care, first steps, and 988.
Mental and behavioral health
Types of Therapy Explained: CBT, DBT, ACT, IPT
A plain-language guide to the main types of therapy (CBT, DBT, ACT, IPT), what each one treats, and how to find the right fit for your concern.
Mental and behavioral health
Mental Health Screening Tools: PHQ-9 and GAD-7 Explained
How mental health screening tools like the PHQ-9 and GAD-7 work, what your score really means, and why a positive screen starts a conversation, not a label.
Mental and behavioral health
How to Support a Loved One's Mental Health
How to support a loved one's mental health: what to say, warning signs to watch for, how to ask about safety and 988, and how to protect your own wellbeing.
Mental and behavioral health
Depression and Anxiety in Primary Care: What to Expect
How primary care handles depression and anxiety: what screening involves, how the PHQ-9 and GAD-7 work, treatment options, and how to get help (including 988).
Mental and behavioral health
Chronic Stress and Burnout: What the Evidence Actually Shows
Chronic stress and burnout are not the same thing. Here is what the research shows, where it stops short of proof, and practical first steps that hold up.
Mental and behavioral health
Alcohol and Health Risks: What 'Moderate' Really Means
A calm, evidence-based look at alcohol and health risks: what a standard drink is, whether "moderate" is safe, and how primary care can help you cut back.