Psychiatry

The willful distortion of reality to extremes can be harmful

Books and recommendations from Scientific American

Two recent studies find that dehydration not only affects your body but your mood as well. Christie Nicholson reports

Chromosome-protecting telomeres are shorter in people with depression--which has been linked to irregular stress hormone levels. Katherine Harmon reports

A team of psychologists reviewed online dating sites and their conclusions are not promising. Christie Nicholson reports

If we think of time as money, we might be undermining our ability to enjoy free time. Christie Nicholson reports

Prisoners suffer disproportionately from past traumatic brain injuries. Researchers are hunting for the best tools to treat this population in an effort to help them reintegrate into society--and avoid re-incarceration

Diagnoses could rise significantly next year due to weak comparisons of old and new diagnostic criteria, not due to prevalence, critics say

Roosevelt Island was once home to the founders of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), not to mention important studies of malaria, frostbite and saltwater consumption

Experts call for small and easy changes to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, the "bible" of psychiatry, so that everyone with autism spectrum disorder qualifies for a diagnosis

Research finds that where the itch begins says a lot about how bad it is--and how pleasurable the scratch. Christie Nicholson reports