Happier People Are Raised By Parents Who Do These Two Things

Poor parenting still resonating with people now in their 60s as much as the death of a loved one. Children of parents who are warmer and less controlling grow up happier, a new study finds. In contrast, parents who are overly controlling tend to bring up children with worse mental well-being. Dr Mai Stafford, one of the study’s authors, said: “We found that people whose parents showed warmth and responsiveness had higher life satisfaction and better mental wellbeing throughout early, middle and late adulthood.” The study tracked 5,362 people from

The Personality Traits That Protect Against Depression

Study finds beneficial effect of these two personality traits together on depression. Being extraverted and conscientious helps to reduce the risk of depression in neurotic people, new research finds. People who are highly neurotic typically look at the world in a negative way. They also find it hard to deal with stress and can experience a lot of negative emotions. However, it seems being social and organised helps to ameliorate the effect. Dr Kristin Naragon-Gainey, the study’s first author, explained: “If someone has high levels of extraversion they might be

This Psychological Epidemic Is Killing Millions Worldwide

One-third of people over 45 have this chronic psychological problem — as do many who are younger. Chronic loneliness affects 42.6 million people over 45-years-old in the United States, research finds. That is one-third of people in the age-group. Being socially isolated and lonely could be worse for public health than obesity. Over 100 studies have found that being lonely is linked to a 50% increase in risk of death. The danger to health of being lonely is similar or greater than that of being overweight. Professor Julianne Holt-Lunstad, was

The Classic Sign Of A Social Anxiety Disorder

Are you just shy or is it a social anxiety disorder? The classic sign of a social anxiety disorder is a strong fear of embarrassment or humiliation in social situations, research finds. Bear in mind that many people are apprehensive in unfamiliar social situations or with those they do not know. Social anxiety disorder is more than being shy. To be a social anxiety disorder, the fear should be so great that the social situation can only be born with considerable distress. Either that or social situations are often avoided

How Children Inherit Anxiety And Depression From Their Parents

How Children Inherit Anxiety And Depression From Their Parents

New study provides insights into how parents pass anxiety and depression onto their children. An over-active network of brain areas is central to how children inherit anxiety and depression from their parents. The network consists of three regions in the brain which work together to control the fear-response. Genes passed down from parents to children influence how these three regions function together, the new study finds. Professor Ned Kalin, one of the study’s authors, said: “Over-activity of these three brain regions are inherited brain alterations that are directly linked to

Top 3 Signs People Are Falling Out Of Love

Top 3 Signs People Are Falling Out Of Love

What makes people stay in relationships and what makes them want to leave? People who are married or just dating give similar reasons for wanting to leave their partner. These are (1) issues with their partner’s personality, (2) a breach of trust (often, cheating) and (3) partner becoming distant or disconnected. People give slightly different reasons for wanting to stay together. For people who are married, the top reasons to stay together are the investment they have already made in the relationship, family responsibilities and the barriers to leaving (e.g.

A Surprising Sign Of High Intelligence

A Surprising Sign Of High Intelligence

The link to intelligence is especially strong in women. People with higher intelligence are more likely to use drugs, research finds. The link is particularly strong for women. This is despite the fact that higher IQ is often linked to living a healthier lifestyle. The study’s authors write: “In this, the largest study to date to examine the relationship between childhood IQ and illegal drug use, high IQ scores were associated with increased illegal drug use in adolescence and adulthood. These associations were independent from life-coursesocial position, and associations were

The Simplest Way To Help Someone In Pain

The Simplest Way To Help Someone In Pain

It has incredible psychological and physiological power. Holding someone’s hand is enough to reduce their pain and even synchronise breathing and heart rates, new research finds. Dr Pavel Goldstein, the study’s first author, said: “The more empathic the partner and the stronger the analgesic effect, the higher the synchronization between the two when they are touching.” The study is the latest in the area of interpersonal synchronisation. This is how people’s physiological measures automatically synchronise to those who are around them. People automatically synchronise their footsteps when walking together and

2 Personality Traits That Make Depression Hard To Spot

2 Personality Traits That Make Depression Hard To Spot

The signs of depression are hidden in these type of people. It is harder to spot depression in people who are outgoing and fun-loving, research finds. Indeed, people who are extroverted may find it hard to spot the signs of depression in themselves. People who are highly agreeable are also harder to diagnose with depression, the study found. Professor Paul R. Duberstein, the study’s first author, said: “When a person who has enjoyed socializing and whose mood normally is positive becomes depressed, friends and family often don’t recognize it. Depression

People With Poor Memories Have One Major Advantage, Study Finds

People With Poor Memories Have One Major Advantage, Study Finds

Why you should celebrate your poor memory. People with worse memories can enjoy the same experiences more often, new research finds. In contrast, those with the best memories may quickly get tired of the same music, books, places and even people. Dr Noelle Nelson, the study’s first author, said: “People with larger working memory capacities actually encode information more deeply. They remember more details about the things they’ve experienced, and that leads them to feel like they’ve had it more. That feeling then leads to the ‘large-capacity’ people getting tired

How Family Problems In Childhood Affect Brain Development

How Family Problems In Childhood Affect Brain Development

Early life stress has this worrying effect on the brain. Stress in childhood can put you at greater risk of depression later on, new research finds. Early life stress can affect how DNA is expressed and make an organism more susceptible to stress in adult life. The conclusions come from an epigenetic study of mice. The study looked at the effect of molecules that regulate our DNA. Researchers found that mice exposed to stress early in life were more likely to show signs of depression when stressed as adults. These

Simple Test Predicts Alzheimer’s 18 Year Before Diagnosis

Simple Test Predicts Alzheimer’s 18 Year Before Diagnosis

Tests predict ten-fold increase in Alzheimer’s risk 18 years in advance. Low scores on memory and thinking tests could signal Alzheimer’s 18 years in advance, a new study finds. Dr Kumar B. Rajan, the study’s lead author, said: “The changes in thinking and memory that precede obvious symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease begin decades before. While we cannot currently detect such changes in individuals at risk, we were able to observe them among a group of individuals who eventually developed dementia due to Alzheimer’s.” In the study, over two thousand people

The Type of Music That Boosts Creativity

The Type of Music That Boosts Creativity

This type of music helps you search longer and harder for a creative solution. Listening to happy, energetic music increases people’s creativity, a new study finds. Researchers found that listening to the violin concerto “The Four Seasons” by Antonio Vivaldi helped their divergent creativity. Divergent creativity refers to creating lots of potential answers to a problem. For example, try to think of as many uses as you can for a brick. Building a house is the obvious one, but you might also list sitting on it, using it to smash

3 Simple Steps That Really Help Depressed People

3 Simple Steps That Really Help Depressed People

Three steps that will help you stop brooding. Repetitive negative thoughts are at the heart of the depressive experience. There are three steps vital to reducing repetitive negative thoughts, according to Professor Hans M. Nordahl, an expert on psychological therapy. These are (1) realising that brooding is a waste of time, (2) focus on the here-and-now rather than the past and (3) be wary of habitual distractions like drinking. 1. Brooding is a waste of time Professor Nordahl said that people… “…often confuse ruminative brooding with problem solving, analysis or