About one-third of children in pediatric intensive care units experience frightening delusions that stay with them for a longer time, a new study has found. Powerful hallucinations where children reported seeing various animals like cats and spiders were most common in children who had to be sedated for more than two days, and in youngsters who were admitted on an emergency basis.

According to a study in the first May issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, these delusional memories put the children at far higher risk of post traumatic stress disorder

The U.S. Defense Department has amended its regulations for obtaining and maintaining security clearance levels in an effort to end the stigma attached to mental health care.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced former and current military and civilian personnel who received mental health counseling while on active duty no longer have to acknowledge that fact when they fill out security clearance forms. The only exception to this rule is if the treatment was court ordered or if the problem involved violence

The U.S. breastfeeding rate has hit an all time high in the past 20 years, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday.

More than three out of four new moms now breast-feed their infants, the report said. About 77 percent of new mothers breast feed, at least briefly, up from 60 percent in 1993-1994, a survey found

A study by RAND Corporation said 300,000 American soldiers who served in Iraq and Afghanistan are suffering from mental problems such as depression or post traumatic stress. Another 320,000 sustained brain injuries.

But only half of the troops sought treatment for their psychological and physical ailments, said the study released Thursday

Tidying the house as little as 20 minutes a week can give mental health benefits.

Mark Hamer, Ph.D. of the University College London and his colleagues in the British Journal of Sports Medicine said that 20 minutes of constant exercise every week, be it cleaning or jogging, can impact upon depression