Mindfully Healing

The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex is involved in planning, reasoning and decision-making. Improving general cognitive functioning could help to reduce anxiety, new research suggests. This area is highly involved in planning, reasoning and decision-making. Increasing brain activity in areas related to thinking and problem solving is linked to reduced anxiety, the study found. People at risk for anxiety were less likely to develop the disorder when they had more activity in brain areas related to complex mental operations. Memory and brain training, along with psychological therapies could all help to boost

Certain types of anxiety can cause massive ups and downs in relationships. Partners who have attachment issues cause considerable instability in their relationship, research finds. One type, known as ‘attachment anxiety’ by psychologists, involves see-sawing feelings. It is the same reason that babies cry when they are taken from their mothers. Around one in five people have an anxious attachment style. A classic sign is wildly have varying feelings about the relationship from one day to the next. People experiencing attachment anxiety spend a lot of time thinking about what

Why depressed people cannot hold on to positive memories and emotions. Depressed people have 30% worse memory on certain tasks, research finds. Depressed mood stops people from holding information in their memory. This may be why depressed people can find it hard to hold on to positive memories and emotions. It can also help to explain how depression develops and persists over time. In depressed people, memory is easily ‘hijacked’ by depressing thoughts, to the exclusion of all else. Professor Bart Rypma, who led the study, said: “People with depression

Depressed people experienced feelings of unity, transcendence of space and time and a loss of boundaries. Psilocybin – the active part of magic mushrooms — can help reduce depression symptoms and reawaken the emotions, new research finds. The stronger the ‘mystical experience’, the more the hallucinogenic drug helped. People whose depression was most improved reported a more mystical experience, including feelings of unity and transcendence. Although antidepressants like Prozac can often help those who are depressed, they reduce both positive and negative emotions. Psilocybin therapy, though, may revive brain activity

It provides an extra layer of protection against dementias like Alzheimer’s disease. Being married or in a close relationship almost halves the risk of developing dementia, new research finds. It is likely because those in close relationships have an extra layer of protection against depression. Depression is a known risk factor for dementia. Professor Eef Hogervorst, who led the study, explained it could also be down to a healthier lifestyle: “It might be because other studies often found that married men on average have healthier lifestyles than single men –

Being a loner for the right reason can have surprising advantages. Spending time alone is linked to increased creativity among some people, research finds. Not all forms of social withdrawal are unhealthy, it seems. However, it depends on the reason for the withdrawal. Social withdrawal related to anxiety and fear is linked to negative outcomes, but social withdrawal without this feature is linked to creativity. Dr Julie Bowker, the study’s first author, said: “Motivation matters. We have to understand why someone is withdrawing to understand the associated risks and benefits.

Without stem cells, new brain cells cannot be produced. Alcohol kills stem cells in the brain, new research finds. Stem cells are responsible for making new cells — known as neurogenesis — and are key to maintaining normal cognitive function. Females are particularly vulnerable to the effects of alcohol, the study on mice found. Chronic alcohol abuse is known to cause severe brain damage and neurodegenration. It was thought for a long time that the body did not produce any new brain cells after early life, but relatively recently it

Missing out these simple parenting behaviours increases suicide risk in adolescents. Children who are not shown by their parents that they care are significantly more likely to contemplate suicide, research shows. The study’s authors identified three behaviours which, when lacking, were linked to suicidal thoughts in adolescence: Telling the child they are proud of them. Telling the child they have done a good job. Helping them with their homework. Adolescents who were rarely or never told by their parents they were proud of them were five times more likely to