Mindfully Healing

Now we know why some men undo more shirt buttons than they should. A hairy chest signals higher intelligence in a man, research finds. Dr Aikarakudy Alias, a psychiatrist, has found that hairy chests are more frequent among men who are highly educated, such as doctors. Dr Alias surveyed male trainee doctors in the US and found that 45% of them were ‘very hairy’. This is in comparison to the 10% of men in the general population who are very hairy. The same was also true when Dr Alias looked

The smouldering regret that is most widespread won’t surprise you. Romantic regrets are the most common type, research finds. Among women, regrets about romance were twice as common as among men. For men, work regrets were most widespread. Other common areas of regret included financial decisions, parenting mistakes, missed educational opportunities and family arguments. Professor Neal Roese, an author of this study, said: “We found that one’s life circumstances, such as accomplishments or shortcomings, inject considerable fuel into the fires of regret. Although regret is painful, it is an essential

Here are two trainable personal qualities which predict success four times more than intelligence. Being open to experience and conscientious is four times more important than intelligence in predicting academic success, a new research review finds. People who are open to experience are more likely to be imaginative, sensitive to their feelings, intellectually curious and seekers of variety. Conscientious people, meanwhile, are disciplined, dutiful and good at planning ahead. Dr Arthur Poropat, the study’s author and an expert on personality and performance, thinks the current emphasis on intelligence is misplaced:

Antidepressants may give the brain a chance to recover from depression, but more is needed. It is well-known that common antidepressants have little to no effect for up to 50% of people. Ms Silvia Poggini, author of a new study on the subject, said: “There is no doubt that antidepressants work for many people, but for between 30 percent and 50 percent of depressed people, antidepressants don’t work. No one knows why. This work may explain part of the reason. The new research suggests it is at least partly down