Mental health difficulties affect the well-being of doctors and compromise the delivery of healthcare. However, large-scale data on doctors’ mental health needs are limited.

Describe patterns of self-referrals for mental health support among doctors in England and explore associations with demographic factors, speciality, neurodevelopmental and mental health indicators.

Observational study using data from doctors who self-referred for mental health difficulties to a national service in England over a 4-year period. Logistic regression was used to explore associations between speciality and mental health indicators.

Of the 16 815 doctors who self-referred during the study period, 80% were under the age of 49 and 70.6% were female with the two largest ethnicities being 65.1% White and 22.7% Asian. Women were more likely to report higher scores for depression (odds ratio 0.90, 95% CI = 0.84 to 0.97), anxiety (odds ratio 0.78, 95% CI = 0.72 to 0.84) and psychological distress (odds ratio 0.78, 95% CI = 0.70 to 0.87), but males were more likely to screen positive for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms. Doctors in general practice accounted for 46.3% of referrals. Compared with them, doctors in most other specialities had higher odds of elevated mental health scores across all measures, including ADHD.

The findings highlight a significant mental health burden among self-referring doctors, particularly for females and doctors in non-general practice specialities. Tailored and easily accessible support strategies that account for both demographic and professional contexts are essential to address the diverse mental health needs of the medical workforce.

During the pivotal college years, mental health emerges as a paramount concern, with implications for academic success, personal growth and overall well-being.

To investigate the dynamics of mindfulness and self-compassion, exploring their roles in enhancing the mental well-being of 246 young Iranian adults in full-time university study during the academic year of 2022–2023.

Utilising standardised questionnaires and structural equation modelling, we examined the relationships between participants’ mindfulness, self-compassion and cognitive emotion regulation and their mental health.

Mindfulness, self-compassion and adaptive cognitive emotion regulation showed positive correlations with mental health. Adaptive cognitive emotion regulation emerged as a key mediator in the relationship between self-compassion and mental health (P < 0.05). However, maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation showed no significant relation.

Interventions aimed at enhancing mindfulness, self-compassion and adaptive cognitive emotion regulation hold promise in improving the mental health of young adults in full-time study.

The January 2025 Los Angeles wildland-urban interface wildfires represent a significant environmental disaster, resulting in widespread evacuations. Beyond the immediate physical and economic devastation, wildfires can have profound and lasting impacts on the mental well-being of affected populations. This study compared mental health outcomes between Southern California residents who evacuated due to the fires and those who did not evacuate.

Southern California residents (N = 739) were surveyed 2-3 months after the January 2025 wildfires. Logistic regression models assessed the association of evacuation status with depression, anxiety, and PTSD, adjusting for demographics and baseline pre-fire levels of depression and anxiety.

Evacuating was significantly associated with higher odds of depression (AOR = 1.75 [1.08-2.85]) and PTSD (AOR = 2.44 [1.36-4.35]), after controlling for pre-fire mental health status and other demographic covariates. Evacuation status was not associated with anxiety.

These findings support previous research linking wildfire exposure to adverse mental health outcomes and highlight the importance of targeted mental health screening and support for wildfire evacuees, who are at increased risk for depression and PTSD.

For patients with primary malignant brain tumors, cognitive decline is incredibly common and contributes to reduced independence in daily functioning. These patients often rely on informal caregivers (e.g., family, friends) for functional support, shown to increase caregiver distress in other neurologic populations. However, few studies have investigated this relationship in neuro-oncology; thus, we explored whether neuro-oncology patients’ neurocognitive function was associated with caregiver burden.

Neuro-oncology patients completed neuropsychological tests assessing commonly affected cognitive domains, and caregivers completed a validated measure of caregiver burden including impact on daily schedule, self-esteem, and availability of family support. Dyads were selected from a previous randomized-controlled trial (SmartCare) for distressed neuro-oncology caregivers. Independent samples t-tests and hierarchical regressions were used to evaluate the relationship between patients’ neurocognitive performance and caregiver burden.

Seventy-eight neuro-oncology dyads were included for analyses (Patients: Mage = 53.4, 65.4% male, Caregivers: Mage = 52.5, 71.8% female, 84.6% spouse). Caregiver schedule burden, but not self-esteem or family support, was significantly higher for caregivers of patients with deficits in verbal memory and divided attention (p < .05). After controlling for disease-specific characteristics and motor dexterity, only patient verbal memory performance remained a significant predictor of caregiver burden (p < .05). Inhibition and verbal fluency were not related to caregiver burden domains (ps > .05).

Patients’ verbal memory performance appears to be indicative of cognitive changes that contribute to increased caregiver demands on their daily schedule and time burden. Maximizing patients’ functioning through leveraging their continued cognitive strengths and implementing individualized cognitive rehabilitation programs may improve caregiver burden.

As populations age rapidly, understanding the psychological benefits of sustained employment has become increasingly important. In South Korea, where the suicide rate among older adults is one of the highest among Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, identifying modifiable social determinants, such as employment, may inform effective prevention strategies.

This retrospective cohort study used data from the Korean Welfare Panel Study (2009–2024), a nationally representative longitudinal survey. Individuals with depressive symptoms or suicidal ideation at baseline were excluded. The main exposure was participation in a government-led senior employment program. We employed discrete-time survival analysis using a generalized linear model with a complementary log–log link function, which appropriately handled the interval-censored structure of the panel data.

Older adults who participated in the employment program had a significantly lower risk of developing depressive symptoms (adjusted hazard ratio [HR] = 0.76, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.67–0.86) and suicidal ideation (adjusted HR = 0.60, 95% CI: 0.45–0.81) compared to those who did not participate. Subgroup analyses revealed that the strength of the association was particularly strong among individuals aged ≥80 years, those with chronic illness, poor self-rated health, and those who were previously or never married.

Structured government-supported employment may mitigate the risk of depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation in later life. These findings support the potential of senior employment programs as effective mental health promotion and suicide prevention strategies for aging populations.

Depression rates are higher in women, especially during periods of hormonal fluctuation. Reproductive system disorders (RSDs), which often disrupt hormonal balance, may contribute to this mental health burden. Despite their prevalence and significant health implications, the link between RSDs and depression remains underexplored, leaving a gap in understanding these women’s mental health risks.

Using Danish nationwide health registers (2005–2018), we conducted a cohort study of 2,295,824 women aged 15–49, examining depression outcomes in 265,891 women diagnosed with 24 RSDs, including endometriosis, polycystic ovary syndrome, and pain-related diagnoses. For each RSD, age-matched controls were selected. We calculated incidence rates, incidence rate ratios, and prevalence proportions of depression diagnoses or antidepressant use around RSD diagnosis.

Across all RSD subtypes, women demonstrated higher rates of depression both before and after diagnosis, with a peak within the year following diagnosis. Incidence rate ratios within 1 year of RSD diagnosis ranged from 1.15 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.06–1.25) to 2.09 (95% CI 1.98–2.21), depending on RSD subtype. Elevated depression prevalence was observed 3 years before diagnosis, suggesting mental health impacts may have preceded clinical RSD identification.

This study reveals a striking association between RSDs and depression. Women with RSDs are more likely to suffer from depression, before and after RSD diagnosis, highlighting the need for integrated mental health screening and intervention. With over 10% of women affected by RSDs, addressing this overlooked mental health burden is imperative for improving well-being in a significant portion of the population.

The COVID-19 pandemic has placed unprecedented strain on global health systems, significantly affecting both the physical and emotional well-being of populations. Nursing students represent a particularly vulnerable group due to the pandemic’s impact on their mental health and academic progression. This study aims to assess the level of resilience among Spanish university nursing students during the pandemic.

A longitudinal study was conducted with 361 nursing students from March to October 2020. Self-report questionnaires measured emotional intelligence, resilience, anxiety, depression, optimism, and self-efficacy during the first and second COVID-19 waves. Analyses included descriptive statistics, Spearman’s correlations, and hierarchical multiple regression.

Resilience slightly decreased from March to October 2020, while anxiety increased and depression remained stable. Resilience was positively correlated with optimism, self-efficacy, and emotional intelligence, particularly emotion regulation. Higher resilience was predicted by not living alone, greater optimism, and stronger emotion regulation skills.

Spanish nursing students showed variable resilience during COVID-19, positively associated with optimism, self-efficacy, emotional intelligence, and mental health factors like anxiety and depression. Findings highlight the psychological impact of the pandemic and support resilience-focused interventions in nursing education.

Ethnic inequalities in compulsory psychiatric hospital detentions are well-documented in the UK and internationally. It is unknown how UK coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) lockdown measures, which led to restrictions in public movement, gatherings, in-person health service delivery and changes to police powers, further impacted inequalities.

In this study, we assessed whether national lockdown measures impacted ethnic inequalities in voluntary and compulsory psychiatric hospital admissions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Daily counts of admissions and detentions to psychiatric hospitals were extracted from a large population-level sample of secondary mental health service users in South East London. Changes during two COVID-19 lockdown periods, over 2020–2021, were compared with pre-pandemic periods (2016–2019) with the use of a regression discontinuity in time design to assess ethnic inequalities in voluntary and compulsory mental health admissions.

Compared to the pre-pandemic reference (2016–2019), after adjusting for seasonal and weekly trends, overall admissions to mental health units dropped during the first COVID-19 lockdown (incidence rate ratio (IRR) 0.87 (95% CI: 0.75–1.00)), but compulsory detentions rose (IRR 1.25 (1.05–1.54)). This was mostly due to higher compulsory detentions in the Black Caribbean group (IRR 1.54 (1.08–2.19)). During the second COVID-19 lockdown, whereas total daily admissions remained similar to the pre-pandemic reference (IRR 1.03 (0.92–1.15)), total new daily detentions was elevated (IRR 1.28 (1.11–1.49)), specifically in Black Caribbean (IRR 1.53 (1.14–2.06)) and Black African (IRR 1.57 (1.06–2.34)) groups.

COVID-19 lockdown measures exacerbated pre-existing ethnic inequalities in compulsory psychiatric detention, particularly for those from Black Caribbean and Black African backgrounds. There is a need to address ethnic inequalities in compulsory psychiatric detentions and attend to exacerbations of pre-existing inequalities during health emergencies like the COVID-19 pandemic. This cannot be achieved without addressing systemic racism within criminal justice and healthcare systems and tackling inequalities in wider social and economic determinants of mental health.

Suicide is a significant global public health problem, with a disproportionately large burden among youth in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Despite growing awareness of the problem, evidence-based interventions in these settings are scarce.

This systematic review aims to identify and synthesise the evidence-based literature on the effectiveness of psychosocial-interventions to prevent suicide among young people aged 10–24 years in LMICs to reduce the risk of suicide and improve their mental-wellbeing.

After registering protocol with the PROSPERO database of systematic reviews (CRD 420251016364), we searched electronic databases (e.g., PubMed, Medline, Cochrane Library, APA PsycINFO, Scopus, EMBASE, Web of Science and Google Scholar) for potential studies. We considered relevant literature in the English language and published from January 2000 to March 2025. Studies eligible for inclusion were psychosocial interventions compared with a control group, conducted on adolescents in LMICs, and with suicidal-ideation and suicide attempt as primary outcome. Reducing symptoms of anxiety and depression as well as improvements in quality of life were considered as secondary outcomes.

Among 1,223 identified studies, only four met the inclusion criteria. Despite the limited evidence base, all included trials reported reductions in suicidal ideation and improvements in emotional well-being, suggesting the potential effectiveness of culturally adapted psychosocial approaches. Estimated intervention effect sizes ranged from large to extremely large (Cohen’s d = 1.46, 2.08, 1.30 and 3.02, respectively), compared with small-to-moderate effect sizes from high-income countries (d ≈ 0.24 to 0.54). Secondary benefits were noted for hopelessness, depressive symptoms and quality of life. However, interpretation is limited by small samples and inconsistent methods, reducing comparability with high-income data.

The review highlights major gaps in youth suicide prevention within LMICs, emphasising the urgent need for contextually relevant, evidence-based psychosocial interventions and policy frameworks. Findings suggest moderate effectiveness of current interventions, underscoring the importance of culturally tailored implementation to enhance impact.