PSYREFLECT

Issue #39

May 18, 2026

#1Research

Oxytocin Carries the Orphanage Forward: How a Mother's Early Institutional Care Shapes Her Child's Neuroendocrine Response

A mother's institutional childhood does not leave a static deficit — it leaves a muted dynamic response to her own child's call, and the child's oxytocin appears to learn the muting.

intergenerational traumaoxytocinattachmentearly adversity
3 minRead analysis
#2Research

Maternal Perinatal Depression and Daughter-Specific Autism Risk: A 23,000-Pair Japanese Cohort with a Mechanism

Maternal perinatal depression does not load risk uniformly onto offspring — in this cohort it specifically marks daughters, through a mid-gestation and a postnatal bonding window, with prefrontal oxytocin receptors as a candidate mediator.

perinatal depressionautism spectrumEPDSoxytocin receptor
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#3Research

Chronic Depression Has Its Own Brain: Inflammation Carves a Distinct Circuit Signature

Chronic depression is not acute depression running longer; in the brain it is increasingly a different condition, and CRP only finds its target once the clock has been running long enough.

depressionchronic MDDinflammationCRP
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#4Research

EMDR for Binge-Eating Disorder: First Pilot RCT Tests a Trauma-Pathway Bet

EMDR moved the affective and intrusive-cognition core of binge eating; it did not move restraint or body image — which is exactly what mechanism would predict.

eating disordersEMDRbinge-eating disordertrauma-informed care
2 minRead analysis
#5Tool

DSS-20: a 20-item dissociation screener you can actually run on a Monday morning

A 20-item questionnaire will not diagnose dissociation, but it will stop you missing it — and missing it is the most common error in trauma-adjacent practice.

dissociationscreeningDSS-20trauma assessment
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#6Industry

The EU AI Act lands on mental health: what changes on 2 August 2026

From 2 August 2026, an AI tool that infers emotion in the workplace or classroom is not "controversial" in the EU — it is illegal.

AI regulationEU AI Actmental health policyemotion recognition
3 minRead analysis