Mindfully Healing

The common signs of anxiety disorders are both psychological and physical. Anxiety comes in many forms, but all the different types often have certain core features. Like many mental health problems, almost everyone experiences anxiety from time-to-time. Whether it is a problem all depends on the amount and nature of the anxiety. Everyday anxiety in response to stressful events is normal, but severe anxiety in response to relatively minor events can be seriously disabling. Bear that in mind when reading the signs of anxiety. For example, a lot of people

Better emotional control is linked to lower levels of depression and anxiety. The key to healthy emotional control is to be flexible, new research finds. People with lower levels of depression and anxiety tend to vary their emotional control strategy successfully depending on whether the situation can be explained. Dr Peter Koval, one of the study’s authors, said: “Our results caution against a ‘one strategy fits all’ approach, which may be tempting to recommend based on many previous findings regarding reappraisal as a strategy for regulating emotion. Simply using any

Let’s face it, many people seem to have no clue how to pick their own profile picture. You should let someone else choose your online profile picture, new research suggests. The advice is sound whether it is for a dating profile, LinkedIn, or just for Facebook. Other people pick more flattering profile pictures for us than we select for ourselves, it emerges. Others seem to know better which pictures make us look more attractive, competent or trustworthy — whichever the context requires. Dr David White, the study’s first author, said:

Thinking like a five-year-old can help you learn more in a new environment. Young children have one cognitive talent that most adults have forgotten. That is the ability to pay attention to everything. As adults we learn to focus our attention and block out distractions. But, sometimes being distracted means noticing and learning more. Professor Vladimir Sloutsky, study co-author, explained: “We often think of children as deficient in many skills when compared to adults. But sometimes what seems like a deficiency can actually be an advantage. That’s what we found

The Swedish research included 215 patients with anxiety, depression and stress-related problems. Learning mindfulness in a group can be just as effective as individual cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT), new research finds. Professor Jan Sundquist, who led the research, said: “Our new research shows that mindfulness group therapy has the equivalent effect as individual CBT for a wide range of psychiatric symptoms that are common among this patient group, We have shown in a previous study that mindfulness group therapy is just as effective as individual CBT for the treatment of typical

You say ‘thank you’, but do you really mean it? Time for a gratitude tune-up. Most people have heard about the psychological benefits of expressing gratitude. But, admit it, do you really keep up with this sort of thing? Here to help you top-up on gratitude are five little things you can try today. 1. Appreciate your partner Gratitude can work like a kind of glue for your relationship. Saying thanks for the small things that partners do for each other can work wonders. It is especially true if they