UCSF Psychiatry News

Schizophrenia affects 1% of the global population and is caused by a complex interplay between at least 280 genes and environmental factors like childhood trauma and early cannabis use. Patients with good support and treatment can do well. But those suffering from the disease’s most disabling symptoms — psychosis together with cognitive impairment — often experience fractured relationships, joblessness, homelessness, and a revolving door of 72-hour psychiatric holds and incarcerations.

Longtime UCSF clinical professor, mental health advocate, and community leader Joanne R. Wile, MSW, LCSW, passed away on June 4, 2025. She was 79 years old.

New UCSF research reveals that child-parent psychotherapy doesn’t just heal emotional wounds — it repairs a biological process that could benefit kids for life.

UCSF review is the largest to distill how stress affects all areas of a child’s health, starting in the womb through adolescence.

UCSF researchers recently became the first to clinically document a case of AI-associated psychosis in an academic journal. One question still haunts them.

Combining genetic risk with cardiovascular disease risk factors — such as high LDL cholesterol, obesity, and hypertension — may predict who is more likely to develop dementia, according to a new study led by UC San Francisco.

The UC San Francisco Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, in partnership with the Greater San Francisco Bay Area chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP), will host a morning of reflection, discussion, and support on Saturday, November 22, 2025, for International Survivors of Suicide Loss Day.

Generalized anxiety disorder affects 1 in 20 U.S. adults. Those with serious symptoms may isolate themselves to the point they rarely leave their home and are unable to work and build meaningful relationships. Standard medications may make little difference.

More than 100 researchers from around the world are expected to attend a multi-day conference devoted to researching the best ways to use brief intervention for alcohol and drug use.

In a post-truth world, this false belief researcher offers a simple three-step recipe for building trust and finding common ground. Hint: It starts by recognizing you might be wrong.