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UT Attention Bias Study Participants Needed
Major Depressive Disorder Resources
MDL Open Resources
Current Research
Welcome to the MDL
The mission of the Mood Disorders Laboratory (MDL) is to advance our understanding of mood disorders, such as Major Depressive Disorder, through scientific research. Our research focuses on three related questions:
1. What factors lead a person to become depressed?
2. What factors maintain depression?
3. Do current treatments alter factors that maintain depression?
By answering these questions with thoughtful research, we hope to improve existing treatments and reduce suffering caused by depression.
Depression is one of the most serious mental health problems in the United States. Approximately 10 to 25 percent of adults will experience an episode of depression in their lifetime. In the United States alone, the annual cost of treatment and lost productivity due to depression is $44 billion. Depression is a pervasive and costly mental health problem because it is not well understood. Research at the Mood Disorders Laboratory is devoted to improving our understanding of depression so that more effective treatments can be developed. This critical goal cannot be reached without help from many people. In particular, people willing to participate in our research and colleagues who help us complete this work make extremely important contributions. The content on this website is primarily for these individuals—it describes who we are and what we do. If you would like more information about us and our work, beyond what our website provides, feel free to contact us via email at mdl@utexas.edu.
Sincerely,
Christopher G. Beevers, Ph.D.
Please note that the MDL is unable to provide immediate assistance or advice to individuals about their depression, nor to family members or friends of individuals with depression. This web site was primarily created to provide background information about research conducted at the MDL. If you are in need of immediate assistance, please call your health care provider. If it is an emergency, please call 911 (in the U.S.) or go to a hospital emergency room.