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A therapeutic boarding school may prevent depression relapse

By Staff Writer

A recent study by researchers from the University of Toronto shows that the brain response of individuals who were formerly depressed can predict their chances of developing the disorder again in the future.

In order to conduct the study, researcher showed 16 formerly depressed individuals sad video clips and tracked their brain activity. About 16 months later, nine of these people had become depressed again. The researchers were then able to compare the brain activity of those individuals who relapsed and that of those who did not.

Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, researchers were able to find that when formerly depressed individuals faced sadness, those who were at risk for a relapse had more activity in the medial prefrontal gyrus area of the brain.

Norman Farb, lead author of the study, said that one of the worst parts of depression is the high rate of relapse in people who have the disorder. However, better understanding how people react to sadness can help prevent them from sinking back into depression.

Parents who believe that their teen may relapse into depression may want to consider enrolling him or her in a therapeutic boarding school.

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