Mindfully Healing

The funniest sign of high intelligence. People who appreciate dark humour are likely to be more intelligent, research finds. Those who prefer twisted comedy also score higher on tests of emotional stability. To get twisted humour, it seems you need to be laidback and clever. The study’s authors write that dark humour is… “…a kind of humour that treats sinister subjects like death, disease, deformity, handicap or warfare with bitter amusement and presents such tragic, distressing or morbid topics in humorous terms. Black humour, often called grotesque, morbid, gallows or

Effects of the drug last up to five weeks on people who have not responded to other treatments. Psilocybin — the psychedelic component of magic mushrooms — ‘resets’ the brains of people with severe depression, new research finds. The small trial found that the positive effects of two doses of psilocybin lasted up to five weeks. The depressed people who took part in the study had tried all kinds of other treatments, and none had worked. Dr Robin Carhart-Harris, the study’s first author, said: “We have shown for the first

Some types of alcohol make people feel aggressive and confident, others make them feel relaxed. Different types of alcohol are linked to different emotions, a new survey about alcohol finds. Liquor makes people feel more aggressive, while wine is linked to feeling relaxed. Liquor (spirits) were linked in people’s minds to feeling energetic, confident and sexy. Like wine, beer was also linked to feeling relaxed. Professor Mark Bellis, who led the study, said: “For centuries, the history of rum, gin, vodka and other spirits has been laced with violence. This

Some children are at a higher risk of developing psychopathy. Boys with psychopathic tendencies report less desire to fit in with the laughter of other children, research finds. Unlike most children, and adults, boys at risk of psychopathy do not find laughter contagious. Brain scans also showed they had a lower response to the laughter of others. Professor Essi Viding, study author, said: “It is not appropriate to label children psychopaths. Psychopathy is an adult personality disorder. However, we do know from longitudinal research that there are certain children who

Despite being perceived as safe by the general public, herbal medicines actually carry considerable risks. St John’s Wort — a popular herbal treatment for depression — can have serious side-effects, research finds. These include dangerous changes in body temperature and blood pressure. The research compared the side-effects of St John’s Wort with those of fluoxetine — an antidepressant also known as Prozac, Animex-On, Sarafem, Adofen and Deprex. The side-effects of St John’s Wort were just as serious as for the antidepressant. These included: anxiety, panic attacks, dizziness, vomiting, amnesia and

How to tell if someone has bipolar disorder (manic depression). Bipolar disorder — which used to be known as manic depression — affects upwards of 1 in 100 adults at some point in their lives. Its most obvious symptom is very severe mood swings; it is a condition of extreme emotional states. Someone experiencing the disorder will have periods of great energy and exhilaration at times. These could last weeks or often several months. At other times they will experience very deep depressions (there’s more on how mania and depression

People in the study were encouraged to think about conflicts in their relationships in a new way. “How will I feel in one year about this current conflict in my relationship?” Asking a question with a future-orientation helps people feel more positive about their relationship, a study finds. People feel more forgiving and interpret their relationship in a more positive light when they think about it from a future perspective. Mr Alex Huynh, the study’s first author, said: “When romantic partners argue over things like finances, jealousy, or other interpersonal

Doing this exercise for 20 minutes can improve your long-term memory by 20%. One single workout with weights can immediately enhance long-term memory by around 20%, according to a new study. While it’s now well-established that months of aerobic exercise can enhance memory, this is the first study examining the effects of a relatively short amount of resistance training. In the study, people were shown a series of pictures which they were not asked to memorise (Weinberg et al., 2014). Then half the participants did 50 leg extensions in a

It is a way of expressing universal, shared experience and creating some emotional distance. People use the word ‘you’ when they really mean ‘I’. It helps to distance them from negative emotional experiences, new research finds. For example, the expression “you win some, you lose some” probably means the person has failed, but that it could happen to anyone. The pronoun, therefore, helps you to feel better about the experience. Ariana Orvell, the study’s first author, explained: “When people use “you” to make meaning from negative experiences, it allows them

• Next article in this series: 4 Qualities of Truly Horrible Managers• Previous article: 10 Keys to Building Great TeamsAre there ‘successful psychopaths’ amongst us? According to a survey conducted by psychologist Kevin Dutton—called the Great British Psychopath Survey—here are the top 10 professions with the most psychopaths: CEO Lawyer Media (TV/Radio) Salesperson Surgeon Journalist Police Officer Clergyperson Chef Civil Servant And here are the professions with the least psychopaths: Care Aide Nurse Therapist Craftsperson Beautician/Stylist Charity Worker Teacher Creative Artist Doctor Accountant Although people tend to think of psychopaths