Mindfully Healing

A behaviour you’re probably doing right now has been consistently linked to anxiety. Sitting down all day has been linked to increased anxiety, a new study finds. Low energy activities like watching TV, working at a computer or playing electronic games may all be linked to anxiety. The link between sedentary behaviours and worse physical health is well-established. This study is the first to review the evidence on sedentary behaviours and the psychological impact on anxiety. Dr Megan Teychenne, who led the study, said: “Anecdotally — we are seeing an

Largest study to date builds evidence that vitamin deficiency is linked to chronic headaches. Low levels of vitamin D are linked to chronic headaches, finds the largest ever study on the subject to date. A Finnish study of 2,601 men found that 68% had deficient vitamin D levels. Those reporting chronic headaches had lower levels of vitamin D than those who did not. Men with the lowest levels of vitamin D had twice the risk of chronic headaches as those with high levels of vitamin D. Chronic headaches were also

Which spouse’s happiness is most important for marital satisfaction? When the wife is happy with a long-term partnership, the husband is happier, no matter how he feels about the marriage. For marital quality, it seems the wife’s happiness matters more than the husband’s. The conclusion comes from a new study published in the Journal of Marriage and Family, which looked at the marital satisfaction and happiness of older adults (Carr et al., 2014). Professor Deborah Carr, the study’s first author said: “I think it comes down to the fact that

How to promote the pleasure of uncertainty in romantic attraction. Women are more attracted to men when they are uncertain of his feelings, research finds. So, the old dating advice about ‘playing hard-to-get’ may have some scientific basis. It all comes down to how much we are thinking about the other person. The study’s authors explain: “If we want to know how much Sarah likes Bob, a good predictor is how much she thinks Bob likes her. But what if Sarah is not sure how much Bob likes her? They

Risks of spanking children confirmed by 50 years of research. The more children are spanked, the more aggressive and anti-social they are. What is termed ‘spanking’ has similar effects on children as physical abuse. The conclusions come from studies conducted over 50 years which included more than 160,000 children. The researchers also found that being spanked was linked to more mental health problems and cognitive difficulties later on. Dr Elizabeth Gershoff, the study’s first author, said: “Our analysis focuses on what most Americans would recognize as spanking and not on

Although few people know this depression symptom, it’s frequently reported by sufferers. People experiencing mood disorders like depression often say their thinking has become ‘fuzzy’. Now a large study has shown that the effect is real. Published in the journal Brain, the study tested the concentration of 612 women, two-thirds of whom had been clinically depressed or had bipolar disorder (Ryan et al., 2015). The results showed that women with mood disorders did worse on the test. Almost all those who performed in the bottom 5% had mood disorders. Brain

Psychopaths naturally excel in one dark skill. Psychopaths are much better at learning to lie than the rest of us, new research finds. It is a natural capacity just waiting to be tapped. The research compared people with high and low psychopathic traits. The results showed that psychopaths learned to lie quicker. Dr Tatia Lee, study co-author, said: “The stark contrast between individuals with high and low levels of psychopathic traits in lying performance following two training sessions is remarkable, given that there were no significant differences in lying performance

Why early life stress causes depression. Early life stress decreases the adult ability to feel enthusiasm and experience pleasure. This is one of the reasons that experiencing stress early in life is a major risk factor for depression. Studies show that neglected or abused children are almost twice as likely to experience depression later in life. One of the causes is thought to be how neglect and abuse affects the way the brain processes reward. Dr. Jamie Hanson, the study’s first author, explained: “Our analyses revealed that over a two-year

Back pain treatment could also help treat depression, fatigue and common digestive disorders. Taking a placebo — a fake pill — reduces back pain 30% even when people know it is fake. Professor Ted Kaptchuk, one of the study’s authors, explained: “These findings turn our understanding of the placebo effect on its head. This new research demonstrates that the placebo effect is not necessarily elicited by patients’ conscious expectation that they are getting an active medicine, as long thought. Taking a pill in the context of a patient-clinician relationship —

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