Virginia Commonwealth University researchers believe genetics have a lot to do with the risk of depression in women.

Kenneth S. Kendler, M.D., a professor of psychiatry and human genetics in VCU's School of Medicine and lead author on the study says, "Our work, together with colleagues at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, represents the largest epidemiological study of depression in twins done to date. In addition, it broadly replicates what has been shown by our earlier work using the Virginia Twin Registry. In particular, we have shown that depression is a moderately heritable disorder, suggesting that genetic factors are important, but by no means overwhelming

A study examining veterans deployed in the first Persian Gulf War and elsewhere at the same time has revealed soldiers who served in the Persian Gulf have nearly twice the instance of chronic multi-symptom illness (CMI), which is a combination of symptoms often called Gulf War Syndrome

A new study finds that children may experience emotional and behavioral problems after witnessing their mothers getting physically abused.

Researchers say the study is further evidence that seeing violence in the home can lead to serious mental health issues in children and hamper their ability to lead a normal life

According to Government statistics, nearly one in ten American teenagers experienced major depression last year. The results also show that depressed youths are more likely to smoke, drink alcohol or abuse drugs.

The survey showed that fewer than half received treatment for depression

About 2.2 million adolescents ages 12 to 17 (9 percent) suffered at least one major depressive episode in the past year. These adolescents were more than twice as likely to have used illicit drugs in the past month than their peers who had not experienced a major depressive episode.

For the survey that asked respondents questions about lifetime and past major depressive episodes or experiences, researchers used Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV)