Stress: Life’s Unwelcome and Dangerous Companion

Stress is an uninvited guest that often mars the holiday season and is a regular companion of national recessions. But stress is more than a simple nuisance. At Yale, researchers are discovering how stress is linked to depression, addiction and even causes the loss of cells in key areas of the brain.

As more people face increased economic fear and anxiety, several Yale researchers are available to discuss the huge medical burdens created by stress – and some of ways to combat it.

Several Yale scientists with expertise in this area are available for comment: Professor Rajta Sinha, a clinical neuroscientist, heads the Yale Stress Center, which conducts cutting edge, interdisciplinary research to examine the mechanisms underlying human response to stress, the role of self-control, and how compulsion drives addictive behavior.

Professor Ronald Duman is an expert on genetic and cellular activity of psychotropic drugs and stress. Duman’s lab has studied the physiological changes in the brain that accompany stress and depression.

Psychologist Douglas Mennin is director of the Yale Anxiety and Mood Services Clinic, which serves patients suffering from chronic worry and depression.

Research scientist Tibor Hajszan with the department of obstetrics, gynecology & reproductive sciences is an expert on post-partum depression and has been studying synaptic connections between brain cells, and how they are modified by stress and antidepressant treatment
For more information on Yale stress research, contact Bill Hathaway at 203-432-1322 or William.hathaway@yale.edu or Sheila McCreven at 203-737-5489.

 The work above was funded, fully or in part, by the Yale Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) grant from the National Center for Research Resources at the National Institutes of Health.