First Person: Asperger’s is a label worth keeping

If current plans hold, my 16-year-old son will turn autistic about the time he's old enough to vote. To my mind — and to his —...

Screening, care for parental depression recommended

Not only should parents and children be screened more routinely for depression, they also need access to care, says last year's report by...

Tears for more than fears

I cry.

Depressed parents’ negative effects on kids are combatable

Gary McMane, 50, of Fontana, is convinced that his own depression has taken a toll on the three children he adores. "They're all good kids,...

Resources for depressed parents

One Los Angeles parent who says a sudden, unexpected depression nearly cost her her life has created a local group to help other parents.

'Vaccines court' rejects mercury-autism link in 3 test cases

The federal "vaccines court" ruled Friday in three separate cases that the mercury-containing preservative thimerosal does not cause autism,...

In Seattle, a suicide barrier for a deadly bridge

The lonely heights of bridges have often been magnets for suicide -- San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge, the Clifton Suspension Bridge in...

Robert E. Litman dies at 88; co-founder of suicide prevention center

Dr. Robert E. Litman, a psychiatrist who co-founded the nation's first comprehensive suicide prevention center more than 50 years ago in Los...

Aurora Las Encinas Hospital faces renewed scrutiny

A high-end psychiatric hospital in Pasadena where four patients died and one was raped in recent years is facing renewed scrutiny after...

Sex addiction divides mental health experts

Tiger Woods, who recently admitted to multiple extramarital affairs, said he is receiving treatment. David Duchovny, who plays a sex-...

Effect of music on cognitive function

Taylor Bredberg is an ardent fan of the indie band Grizzly Bear and the TV series "Lost," an amateur filmmaker and a doodler of figures that...

Music is good for you at any age

Let's face it: Many of us looking to sharpen our intellectual edges have already passed the age when becoming a prodigy is an option. We...

Naps can refresh brain power

Leonardo da Vinci took them, as did Napoleon Bonaparte, Johannes Brahms and Winston Churchill. You could probably use one right now.

Playing along with the Mozart effect

Five months after we are conceived, music begins to capture our attention and wire our brains for a lifetime of aural experience. At the...

Orange County high school mourns softball star

Orange County students on Friday were grieving the death of softball standout Nadia Brianne Matthews, who, according to the county coroner's...

U.S. closes case on anthrax letters

The FBI and Justice Department on Friday officially closed their investigation into the 2001 mailings of anthrax-contaminated letters to...

Suicide pilot crashes into building in Texas housing IRS offices

He was a 53-year-old software engineer who played bass in a local band and lived what by all appearances was a quiet suburban life here with...

Chronic health conditions increasing in children, study finds

More than a quarter of all U.S. children have a chronic health condition, new research suggests, a significant increase from the rate seen...

Study sheds light on 'teenage night owl syndrome'

Riding in school buses in the early morning, then sitting in poorly lighted classrooms are the main reasons students have trouble getting to...

Hormone oxytocin may help Asperger's patients

People with Asperger's syndrome, a mild form of autism, dramatically improve their social learning skills and spend more time gazing at...

Imaging helps diagnosis of severity of brain injuries

In the last 20 years, it's become more likely that a patient will survive an injury to the brain. But with better lifesaving techniques...

Alexander McQueen dies at 40; iconoclastic fashion designer

The Briton was known for his technical and creative prowess and unconventional, sometimes macabre, work. The death was an apparent suicide,...

Genes linked to stuttering identified

Government researchers have discovered the first genes linked to stuttering -- a complex of three mutated genes that may be responsible...

Revising the book on mental illness

After years of research, professional infighting and maneuvering from various interest groups, the nation's psychiatrists Tuesday...

Study links mother's age to child's risk of autism

Women who give birth after age 40 are nearly twice as likely to have a child with autism as those under 25, but it is unlikely that...

Heavy Web users likely to be depressed, study says

People who are addictive Internet searchers should probably browse for a phone number to the nearest therapist. Though almost everyone...

Brains of vegetative patients show life

In a study certain to rekindle debate over life-sustaining care for those with grievous brain injuries, researchers report that five...