Share me on…Ghosting and online relationship breakup There are many ways to end a romantic relationship, but one method that has become common in the era of technology-enabled constant connection is to abruptly cut off that connection. This is known as ghosting. Ghosting refers to suddenly stopping contact with a partner and ignoring their calls, …
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Month:May 2021
Empathy: cognitive, affective and compassionate
Share me on…Empathy: cognitive, affective and compassionate Putting ourselves into another’s shoes might seem simple to some, but for others it’s no walk in the park. Here, we explore the two ends of the empathy scale Possessing empathy is a significant human capability that allows us to connect with one another, as well as to …
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Late nights and the risk of depression
Share me on…Late nights and the risk of depression If Benjamin Franklin were alive today and read the latest science-based sleep news, he might be inclined to update his “early to bed and early to rise” prescriptive advice from Poor Richard’s Almanac to include “less likely to become clinically depressed.” A new genetic study (Daghlas …
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New Data Hub for Wellbeing Research
Share me on… New Data Hub for Wellbeing Research With mental health being the UK’s leading cause of disability, the new hub will use data science to help speed up research. Scientists from the University of Edinburgh will help create a new data hub for mental health research. The UK-wide hub – called DATAMIND – …
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Genetic risk factors and depression
Share me on…Genetic risk factors and depression Several new gene variants have been identified as increasing the risk factor for depression, in the largest genetic analysis of the condition to date. The study, carried out by Veterans Affairs (VA) researchers, provides a better understanding of the biological basis of depression, which could lead to better …
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Time with nature and your mental health
Share me on…Time with nature and your mental health In the UK, where the economic and social cost of mental health has grown in the past decade to almost $168 billion a year, the Mental Health Foundation has now teamed up with the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT) to offer a new water-based scheme. “Blue …
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Could technology be good for our mental health?
Share me on…Could technology be good for our mental health? Brendan Street, Professional Head of Emotional Wellbeing, Nuffield Health, explores whether technology can have a positive effect on our mental health While some forms of technology may have made positive changes in the world of work, there is evidence for the negative effects of technology …
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Women regret drinking more than men
Share me on…Women regret drinking more than men “As a woman, you grow up being taught to be polite and respectful. To behave a particular way, listen as much as you talk and act a certain way in conversation. But alcohol does not abide by those rules. It totally uproots those norms.” Emma Tilley is …
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Are friends and family as happy as we think?
Share me on…Are friends and family as happy as we think? Have you ever scrolled through social media in an effort to lift your spirits, only to find yourself feeling worse? One reason for this is that social media tends to paint an unrealistically rosy picture of other people’s lives, which can make ours seem …
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Inflammatory food is a diet for depression
Share me on…Inflammatory food is a diet for depression Feeling gloomy? Look to your diet. When you eat, you feed yourself—but you also feed your gut microbes. There are trillions of them in your gut and they make up a thriving community called the microbiota. Like you, they have their own favorite foods. Amazingly, they …
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Men will do anything to avoid therapy
Share me on…Men will do anything to avoid therapy The pandemic has driven many people into — or back into — therapy. We’ve probably all noticed this — if not because of the experiences of people we know, then from the sheer volume of people tweeting about being in therapy. On our feeds, we’ve seen …
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Mental health memes and distress
Share me on…Mental health memes and distress Richard Dawkins was the first person to float the term ‘meme’. In his 1976 book The Selfish Gene, the controversial evolutionary biologist wrote that a meme was “a unit of cultural transmission – the cultural equivalent of a gene”. In Dawkins’ mind, memes referred to “tunes, ideas, catchphrases, …
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Shaping the future of epilepsy research
Share me on…Shaping the future of epilepsy research There are 21 epilepsy-related deaths every week in the UK – here, Maxine Smeaton, Chief Executive of Epilepsy Research UK discusses what the future holds for essential epilepsy treatment research Epilepsy is a neurological condition characterised by seizures which are caused by excessive electrical activity within networks …
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Lithium concentration connected to depression
Share me on…Lithium concentration connected to depression Researchers believe that they have a breakthrough – finding that lithium concentrations in the brain are connected to depression Lithium is an antique way that mental disturbances would be treated. For decades, depression resulted in doctors assigning high concentrations of lithium salts as a ‘cure’. However, even now, …
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Cannabis helps anxiety and sleep
Share me on…Cannabis helps anxiety and sleep The outcomes of the first cohort of medical cannabis patients in the UK have demonstrated significant improvements in anxiety, pain, and sleep for medical cannabis patients. Analysis of patient-reported outcome measures of patients captured in the UK Medical Cannabis Registry, published in Neuropsychopharmacology Reports, found statistically significant improvements …
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Floatation, sensory deprivation and anxiety
Share me on…Floatation, sensory deprivation and anxiety What happens when your mind disconnects from all outside sensations? First, you undress, put in earplugs, and step into a floatation tank, the water warmed to the temperature of your skin and saturated with Epsom salt. You hardly feel the water and you float effortlessly given its high …
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Intuitive eating and mental health
Share me on…Intuitive eating and mental health Psychological scientists have excelled at documenting the more negative or painful parts of the human condition. In the domain of eating, that has meant focusing on eating disorders and related unhealthy behaviors like bingeing, restricting, or obsessive exercise. In recent years, a wave of research has moved away …
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Lockdown improved mental health
Share me on…Lockdown improved mental health LOCKDOWN has had a catastrophic impact on so many aspects of our lives, not least in terms of mental health. For some, depression has been triggered or exacerbated by worries – a study this year by Exeter University and King’s College London found loneliness emerging as a key factor …
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