A person's socioeconomic background may impact how well they respond to treatments for depression. Depressed people without a college degree had 9.8% less improvement in symptoms following treatment compared to graduates, and those who were unemployed had 6.6% less improvement than those with a steady job.
When a mouse senses a threat, neurons in the ventromedial hypothalamus become activated and remain active for ten seconds after the threat is removed. Fear responses could be induced by artificially stimulating these neurons. Artificially silencing the neurons reduced fear behavior.
Researchers link the rise in acute stress and depression rates in the U.S to multiple stressors, such as unemployment and coronavirus-related media consumption.
A new study reports greater vulnerability to mental health problems and higher rates of substance abuse in unemployed young adults.