Death and life in downtown L.A.

Pros and cons of screening teens for depression

By the time a teenager graduates high school, about one out of nine of his or her peers has attempted suicide. Suicide is the third...

Fort Hood tragedy rocks military as it grapples with mental health issues

The U.S. military's culture of silence about troops' mental health had finally begun to change.

Suicides force French to confront rise in work-related stress

A short workweek and the prospect of early retirement. Job-protection laws that make it almost impossible to get fired. Seven weeks of...

Ruling deals a blow to denials of autism treatment

A tactic used by insurance companies to deny expensive behavioral therapy to autistic children has been deemed illegal by a Los Angeles...

Anatomy of a concussion

The human brain has roughly the consistency of barely congealed jelly, encased in a bony helmet with just a little room to move.

Do Brain Workouts Sharpen Thinking?

If you're spending more and more of your time each day fumbling for names, looking for your keys and lamenting your lost youth, you probably...

Feel better -- go volunteer

For more than 20 years, Penny and Ted Landreth have been feeding the hungry and homeless. It's not glamorous work. Afternoons, they -- along...

Exercise Helps Fight Depression

When Gaetano Vaccaro meets with depressed patients at Moonview Sanctuary in Santa Monica, California, he sometimes moves part of the session...

Study finds antidepressant doesn't help autistic children

An antidepressant commonly prescribed to help autistic children control their repetitive behaviors is actually no better than a placebo,...

Dear, I love you with all my brain

For centuries, love has been probed -- and of course celebrated -- mostly by poets, artists and balladeers. But now its mysteries are...

Deep brain stimulation being tested with brain injury, Alzheimer's, obesity and more

Other conditions

With deep brain stimulation, experts want to tread carefully

With the flurry of tests being done on deep brain stimulation for a variety of conditions, some warn that the field is moving too fast.

Deep brain stimulation: Expanding its reach to new patients

Under the skin, a battery is surgically implanted -- generally within the upper chest. From the battery, wires snake up to the head, to...

Sleep deprived pay the price for shift work

AT 6 a.m., the hospital's bright hallway lights flicker on, signaling the start of a new day. Doctors in crisp business clothes appear on...

Nothing sweet about this type of bitter

You know them. I know them. And, increasingly, psychiatrists know them. People who feel they have been wronged by someone and are so...