Mental & Emotional Health – Page 4

Perceiving Support — Not Receiving It — Helps People Cope with Worry and Waiting

Feeling like your partner cares about your stress helps you cope, according to 2018 research done at University of California – Riverside. It may even help you sleep better, and may be beneficial to your health. A release from the university notes that Kate Sweeny’s “worry and waiting” research has contributed much to our understanding… Continue reading Perceiving Support — Not Receiving It — Helps People Cope with Worry and Waiting

4 Reasons Being Creative Will Make You Happier as You Grow Older

We don’t all age like fine wine, but there’s plenty of proof that the creative juices can keep flowing well into the twilight years. Oscar-nominated screenwriter Millard Kaufman wrote his first novel, Bowl of Cherries, at the age of 90. Benjamin Franklin was 78 when he invented the bifocal lens. Frank Lloyd Wright completed… Continue reading 4 Reasons Being Creative Will Make You Happier as You Grow Older

How Our Brains and Personalities Protect Against Emotional Distress

Researchers at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Illinois recently examined a sample of 85 healthy college students to see how a number of personality traits can protect an individual’s brain against symptoms of emotional distress, namely depression and anxiety. A release from the institute quotes Matt Moore, a… Continue reading How Our Brains and Personalities Protect Against Emotional Distress

Anxiety, Depression May Increase Heart Attack and Stroke Risk in People Over 45

Adults ages 45 or older who experience psychological distress such as depression and anxiety may have an increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease, according to new research in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes, an American Heart Association journal. In a study of 221,677 participants from Australia, researchers found that: among women, high/very high psychological distress… Continue reading Anxiety, Depression May Increase Heart Attack and Stroke Risk in People Over 45

Peace of Mind = Sweet Dreams

What do dreams have to do with our state of mind? According to a news release from the University of Turku in Finland, it has “long been assumed that the content of dreams can tell us something about the person’s well-being.” But, the investigators said, so far “dream researchers” have paid more attention to the… Continue reading Peace of Mind = Sweet Dreams

16 Going on 66: Will You Be the Same Person 50 Years from Now?

How much do you change between high school and retirement? The answer depends on whether you’re comparing yourself to others or to your younger self. The results of a 2018 study done at the University of Houston, the first to test how personality might change over 50 years and relying on the same data source… Continue reading 16 Going on 66: Will You Be the Same Person 50 Years from Now?

When Your Partner Struggles with Mental Health

We create dynamics in all the relationships we have. Relationship dynamics can develop from the ways in which we relate with others and with ourselves. How do we express our feelings? Are there any feelings we tend to express more than others? How do we communicate our needs? How do we respond to our partner’s… Continue reading When Your Partner Struggles with Mental Health

It’s OK When You’re Not OK: A Look at Emotional Resilience

Research on how adults deal with adversity has been dominated by studies claiming the most common response is uninterrupted, stable psychological functioning. In other words, this research suggests that most adults are essentially unfazed by major life events such as the loss of a loved one. These provocative findings have also received widespread attention in… Continue reading It’s OK When You’re Not OK: A Look at Emotional Resilience

Three Tips for Making Better Ethical Decisions Every Day

Today’s reports bring us plenty of examples of poor professional ethics being practiced in business, entertainment, and government. But in terms of personal ethics as applied to everyday choices that we don’t read about, what percentage of people lie, cheat, steal, cut corners, or take advantage of others? Some studies show over 50 percent would… Continue reading Three Tips for Making Better Ethical Decisions Every Day

Sit Up and Be Smarter

The classic advice to “sit (or stand) up straight” may actually help your performance in academic or other areas, researchers say. As part of a study by investigators at San Francisco State University, 125 college students were tested to see how well they could perform simple math — subtracting 7 from 843 sequentially for 15… Continue reading Sit Up and Be Smarter

How Selfies and Filters Affect Body Image

With the spread of photo-editing technology through applications like Snapchat and Facetune, the level of physical “perfection” previously seen only on celebrity or beauty magazines is now all over social media. As these images become the norm, people’s perceptions of beauty worldwide are changing, which can take a toll on a person’s self-esteem and can… Continue reading How Selfies and Filters Affect Body Image

Am I Sleep-Deprived and Tired – or Depressed?

Sleep-deprived? It’s common sense that being fatigued generally leaves us in a foul mood. But how can we tell when we’re sleep-deprived and merely tired – or if we’re actually depressed? I frequently speak to curious patients about this issue. Since exhaustion, irritability, lack of motivation, anxiety and tearfulness are all symptoms of sleep deprivation… Continue reading Am I Sleep-Deprived and Tired – or Depressed?

Why Stress Is a Beauty Buster

Stress. We all have it but some of us deal with it better than others. If you look at any recent United States President from their first day in office until their last, you will see that all aged appreciably in only four years. Why? Because carrying the weight of the world on their shoulders… Continue reading Why Stress Is a Beauty Buster

The Heritability of Anxiety

Individual differences in the connectivity between regions of the brain involved in fear and anxiety are heritable, according to a large study of hundreds of related monkeys published in July 2018 n JNeurosci. The research provides new insights into the risk and development of anxiety disorders. A release from the Society of Neuroscience explains that… Continue reading The Heritability of Anxiety

4 Steps to Blow Away Blocks to Abundance

Why do some people struggle financially, as well as in their health and relationships? It comes down to how you think about abundance. Your beliefs about money and wealth can sabotage your efforts to get ahead, causing you to: Work hard but not achieve the rewards you deserve. Feel stuck in your life, career, and… Continue reading 4 Steps to Blow Away Blocks to Abundance

4 Steps to Get out of Your Own Way and Be Happy

Our modern world seems increasingly obsessed with happiness, and like any fashionable item people are scrambling to obtain it. However, the only thing standing between us and happiness is our own damaging points of view. A whole lot of people learn unhappiness from their family. We are handed a point of view at a young… Continue reading 4 Steps to Get out of Your Own Way and Be Happy

Is It the Blues or Is It Clinical Depression?

We all feel down, or blue, or sad, at times. Sadness is a natural human emotion, usually triggered by a loss, disappointment, or major life change. This sadness is generally short-lived and dissipates over time as we adjust to a new situation. We often casually refer to this situational sadness as depression, but it is… Continue reading Is It the Blues or Is It Clinical Depression?

Expecting A Stressful Day May Temporarily Lower Cognitive Abilities

Focusing on how stressful your day will be may hurt your mindset for the whole day, according to new research. Investigators from Penn State found that when study participants woke up feeling like the day ahead would be stressful, their working memory, which helps people learn and retain information even when they’re distracted, was lower… Continue reading Expecting A Stressful Day May Temporarily Lower Cognitive Abilities