Mindfully Healing

Face shape is linked to sex drive in men and women and also how likely a man is to cheat on his partner. People with shorter and wider faces have a higher sex drive, new research finds. Men with wider, shorter faces are also more likely to report intending to cheat on their partner. For the research, almost 500 people were asked about their sexual orientation, their relationships and whether they would consider being unfaithful to their partner. It is the latest in a line of studies that have linked

Is there really a ‘narcissism epidemic’ among young people? People are at their most narcissistic when they are college-age, new research shows. Then, people’s narcissism slowly reduces over the years, on average. Professor Brent Roberts, who led the research, said: “The average college student scores 15 to 16 on the NPI scale, out of a possible 40. The average grandparent scores about 12. Based on that, if you use that as a natural metric, most people are not narcissists. And, perhaps most interestingly, narcissism declines with age.” The study found

People weigh up all sorts of qualities in potential partners, like intelligence, health, kindness and sexual appeal. It is better to settle for the best relationship available than to hold out for a perfect match, a new study suggests. Our satisfaction with our partners depends on the other relationships available to us — or as psychologists call it: the ‘dating pool’. Dr Daniel Conroy-Beam, the study’s first author, said: “Satisfaction and happiness are not as clear cut as we think they are. We do not need ideal partners for relationship

Even relatively small amounts of exercise can help reduce the risk of developing depression. Only one hour of exercise per week is enough to help prevent depression, new research finds. In the largest survey of its kind, the anxiety and depression levels of 33,908 Norwegians were monitored for more than 11 years. The researchers concluded that just one hour of exercise a week reduced the chances of developing depression by a massive 44%. Dr Samuel Harvey, the study’s lead author, said: “We’ve known for some time that exercise has a

Drug thought safe for teenagers linked to suicidal and self-harming behaviours. A common antidepressant thought safe for adolescents is actually ineffective, new research finds. Worse, it has been linked to serious side-effects. The drug is called paroxetine, which is marketed as Paxil, Seroxat and Aropax. The conclusions come from a re-evaluation of a study — known as ‘Study 329’ — carried out in 2001 . Study 329, which was funded by the pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline, originally claimed paroxetine was effective and safe. Not only were these conclusions wrong, the new

Spice extract has fewer side effects than pharmaceutical antidepressants (includes suggested supplements and dosage). Extract of saffron, the exotic spice, is a safer alternative to pharmaceutical antidepressants in mild to moderate depression, recent studies find. Saffron has fewer side effects and is just as effective in some cases. The conclusions come from a review of six separate studies that included 230 clinically depressed patients. Using saffron as an antidepressant was compared with both Prozac and Tofranil (generically known as fluoxetine and imipramine). All the studies were high-quality randomised controlled trials

Not all depression symptoms are easy to spot. When depressed, people have a distorted view of the past, new research finds. When they look back, people experiencing depression feel that the bad things that happened to them were inevitable. Worse, they feel there was nothing they could do about them. Dr Hartmut Blank, one of the study’s authors, said: “Depression is not only associated with a negative view of the world, the self and the future, but we now know with a negative view of the past.” What people feeling

…and the 12 linked to the least satisfaction with life. The clergy are the happiest and most satisfied workers in America, a large US survey finds. 87% of them reported being very satisfied with their work. They are closely followed by physical therapists, 80% of whom were very satisfied with their work and firefighters, 78% of whom were very satisfied. Dr Tom W. Smith, the study’s author, explained the common thread in these different jobs: “The most satisfying jobs are mostly professions, especially those involving caring for, teaching, and protecting

Psychopaths do not particularly like classical music — no matter what film portrayals of psychopaths like Hannibal Lecter might suggest. Psychopaths prefer rap music, a new study finds. Songs like “No Diggity” by Blackstreet and “Lose Yourself” by Eminem were both linked to higher psychopathy scores. In contrast, pop songs like “My Sharona” by The Knack and “Titanium” by Sia were linked to the lowest levels of psychopathy. The conclusions come from research in which 200 people were played 260 songs, along with taking tests of psychopathy. Psychopaths are actually

The face shape is also linked to being more aggressive and higher survival of hand-to-hand combat! For short-term relationships, women are most attracted to wider faces, research finds. Men with wider faces are seen as more dominant and aggressive. Dr Katherine Valentine, the study’s first author, said: “Our study shows that within three minutes of meeting in real life, women find more dominant, wider-faced men attractive for short-term relationships, and want to go on another date with them.” For the study, the researchers measured men’s facial width to height ratio,