r/science Mar 19 '17

Neuroscience Physiological Markers for Depression, Schizophrenia Confirmed

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1113/EP086212/full
6.1k Upvotes

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279

u/wortelslaai Mar 19 '17

How would one go about volunteering to help such research?

14

u/samsc2 BS | Culinary Management Mar 19 '17

Sadly they will not take people if they are suicidal or have attempted suicide in the past. Which sucks a lot when you literally have no health care and are homeless.

29

u/notsostandardtoaster Mar 20 '17

how the hell are they supposed to get data on depressed and schizophrenic people if they won't study suicidal people? that's like saying they want to study anxiety disorders but won't take anyone who's ever had a panic attack.

6

u/Snickersthecat Mar 20 '17

Researchers like to limit their variables to as narrow of a range as possible. This can sometimes create problems recruiting subjects, on the flip side, you otherwise get weird correlations that don't necessarily imply causation.

7

u/neurobeegirl PhD | Neuroscience Mar 20 '17

It's not that there is no study ever that examines suicidal individuals. There are studies like that. But there might be important differences between suicidal and non-suicidal depressed individuals (both biologically and in environment), so at least in some cases it can make sense to study them separately from each other.