Mental Health - PsyBlog

How To Boost Your Mental Health In Only 10 Minutes

It boosts our ability to regulate our emotions, avoid temptations and control bad habits.

Just ten minutes of moderate-intensity exercise, like running, is enough to improve mental health, a study finds.

This amount of exercise is enough to boost blood flow to various areas of the bilateral prefrontal cortex.

These areas of the brain are important to how we feel and control our actions.

The study suggests that even this small amount of exercise boosts our ability to regulate our emotions, avoid temptations and control bad habits.

Professor Hideaki Soya, study co-author, said:

“Given the extent of executive control required in coordinating balance, movement, and propulsion during running, it is logical that there would be increased neuronal activation in the prefrontal cortex and that other functions in this region would benefit from this increase in brain resources.”

For the study 26 people were given tests of their mood and brain function before and after they did 10 minutes on a treadmill.

The results showed that people felt better after running,

Chorphaka Damrongthai, the study’s first author, said:

“This was supported by findings of coincident activations in the prefrontal cortical regions involved in mood regulation.”

Not only this, but their brains demonstrated improved performance in areas related to mood and inhibitory control.

Inhibitory control is people’s ability to stop themselves from temptations, such as eating unhealthy food or any other habits that might otherwise be difficult to avoid.

It is also involved in controlling unwanted thoughts and directing attention efficiently.

The mental benefits of exercise

Exercise has been linked to a huge range of mental benefits, including that it:

increases stress resilience,
reduces anxiety,
lowers the risk of dementia,
speeds up the mind,
fights depression,
consolidates long-term memory,
and much more…

→ Related: Exercise: 20 Mental Benefits Of Physical Activity

The study was published in the journal Scientific Reports (Damrongthai et al., 2021).

The Personality Trait Linked To Good Mental Health

The personality trait associated with less depression and anxiety.

People whose emotions are more stable have better mental health, research finds.

Stable emotions are linked to low levels of neuroticism, one of the five major personality traits.

People low in neuroticism report frequently feeling calm, unstressed and satisfied.

Indeed, people generally report feeling even more content, positive and cheerful in their middle and later years.

In other words, most people become more satisfied with their lives with age — and that is linked to good mental health.

However, people who are high in neuroticism tend to have more mental health problems, explained Dr Rebecca Ready, the study’s first author:

“People who score high on a neuroticism scale had less mental well-being over time and this pattern was stronger for older and midlife adults than for younger persons.”

The results come from 1,503 people who were followed over 10 years.

People whose personality was most stable at the start of the decade were least likely to experience common mental health problems like depression and anxiety at the end of the period.

The results showed that being neurotic was particularly problematic for older people.

Dr Ready said:

“On average, neuroticism tends to decrease during adult development, but not at the same rate for everyone.
Such decreases may result in better, broader and richer emotional experiences in later life.
This hypothesis is supported by results of the current study.”

Many people incorrectly think personality traits cannot change.

However, people can become significantly less neurotic after undergoing therapy, research finds.

Dr Ready said:

“We did not assess risk for future depressive disorders but it is reasonable to speculate that older and midlife adults high in neuroticism are at greater risk for depressive symptoms in the future than are persons lower in neuroticism.
They may also experience less well-being and may have less tolerance for complex emotions.”

The study was published in the journal Aging and Mental Health (Ready et al., 2012).

2 Positive Personality Traits That Support Good Mental Health

Both personality traits can be increased with practice.

Working towards long-term goals is a trainable key to good mental health, research finds.

People who keep following their dreams are less likely to suffer from depression, anxiety or panic attacks.

The other trait that helps people maintain good mental health is being optimistic.

Both being optimistic and persistent can be increased with practice.

Ms Nur Hani Zainal, the study’s first author, said:

“Perseverance cultivates a sense of purposefulness that can create resilience against or decrease current levels of major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder and panic disorder.
Looking on the bright side of unfortunate events has the same effect because people feel that life is meaningful, understandable and manageable.”

The study included 3,294 people who were surveyed three times over 18 years.

Each time they were asked about their goal persistence and positive reappraisals.

Along with other questions, they were asked if they agreed with statements like:

“When I encounter problems, I don’t give up until I solve them.”
“I can find something positive, even in the worst situations.”

People who agreed with these statements early in the study had a reduced incidence of depression, anxiety and panic disorders 18 years on.

Those who had better mental health at the start of the study also found it easier to focus on the positive and keep working at their long-term goals, the researchers found.

Ms Zainal said:

“Our findings suggest that people can improve their mental health by raising or maintaining high levels of tenacity, resilience and optimism.
Aspiring toward personal and career goals can make people feel like their lives have meaning.
On the other hand, disengaging from striving toward those aims or having a cynical attitude can have high mental health costs.”

Self-mastery, which the researchers also measured, was not linked to mental health.

Dr Michelle G. Newman, study co-author, said:

“This could have been because the participants, on average, did not show any changes in their use of self-mastery over time.
It is possible that self-mastery is a relatively stable part of a person’s character that does not easily change.”

Giving up can lead to vicious circle, said Ms Zainal:

“Clinicians can help their clients understand the vicious cycle caused by giving up on professional and personal aspirations.
Giving up may offer temporary emotional relief but can increase the risk of setbacks as regret and disappointment set in.
Boosting a patient’s optimism and resilience by committing to specific courses of actions to make dreams come to full fruition despite obstacles can generate more positive moods and a sense of purpose.”

The study was published in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology (Zainal et al., 2019).

The Relationship Pattern Linked To Poor Mental Health

These types of relationships are linked to higher anxiety and depression.

On-off relationships are linked to worse mental health, research finds.

These types of cycling relationships involve couples repeatedly breaking up and then getting back together later on.

Psychologists have found that on-off relationships are linked to higher anxiety and depression.

These couples are also likely to experience lower commitment, worse communication and higher levels of abuse.

As many as 60 percent of adults have had a relationship like this in the past, or are currently involved in one.

They can be caused by a variety of things such as jobs or homes in different locations or having little in common outside the bedroom.

Often couples like this return to each other for comfort and in the hope that the relationship will eventually become more stable.

Dr Kale Monk, the study’s first author, thinks that this pattern is not always a bad omen for a couple.

Breaking up can sometimes eventually cause the couple to realise what they have been missing and commit to the relationship.

However, couples that repeatedly break up and get back together should consider whether the relationship is toxic in the long run.

The study involved 545 couples, some of whom were heterosexual and others homosexual.

The results showed that about one-third of couples that lived together had broken up and got back together again.

The researchers also found that male-male relationships had the highest rate of cycling (on-off relationships).

Both heterosexual and female-female couples had lower, but similar, levels of cycling.

Dr Monk said:

“The findings suggest that people who find themselves regularly breaking up and getting back together with their partners need to ‘look under the hood’ of their relationships to determine what’s going on.
If partners are honest about the pattern, they can take the necessary steps to maintain their relationships or safely end them.
This is vital for preserving their well-being.”

The study was published in the journal Family Relations (Monk et al., 2018).

How Dad’s Age Is Linked To Children’s Mental Illness (M)

A surprising link between a father’s age and a child’s chance of developing bipolar disorder, ADHD and autism.

A surprising link between a father's age and a child's chance of developing bipolar disorder, ADHD and autism.

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One Portion Of These Foods Boosts Mental Health

Just one portion has the same positive effect as going for a walk on 8 extra days a month.

People who eat more fruit and vegetables have better mental health, research finds.

Indeed, the more fruit and vegetables people eat, the better their state of mind.

Eating just one extra portion of fruit and vegetables per day is enough to measurably improve mental well-being.

Just one portion has the same positive effect as going for a walk on 8 extra days a month.

Only around one-in-ten people in the US eat the recommended amount of fruit and vegetables.

The recommended amount in the US is 1½ to 2 cups per day of fruit and 2 to 3 cups per day of vegetables.

Dr Neel Ocean, the study’s first author, said:

“It’s well-established that eating fruit and vegetables can benefit physical health.
Recently, newer studies have suggested that it may also benefit psychological well-being.
Our research builds on previous work in Australia and New Zealand by verifying this relationship using a much bigger UK sample.
While further work is needed to demonstrate cause and effect, the results are clear: people who do eat more fruit and vegetables report a higher level of mental well-being and life satisfaction than those who eat less.”

The study followed many thousands of people across seven years.

The study controlled for other factors, like lifestyle, education, health status and other aspects of the diet.

Dr Peter Howley, study co-author, said:

“There appears to be accumulating evidence for the psychological benefits of fruits and vegetables.
Despite this, the data show that the vast majority of people in the UK still consume less than their five-a-day.
Encouraging better dietary habits may not just be beneficial to physical health in the long run but may also improve mental well-being in the shorter term.”

The study was published in the journal Social Science & Medicine (Ocean et al., 2019).

The ‘Big 5’ Key Activities That Block Depression And Anxiety (P)

Most people are depressed within two weeks if they stop these five key types of activities.

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The Kind of Stress That Makes You Appear Older

One particular type of stress takes the greatest toll on your appearance.

Financial stress takes the greatest toll on your appearance, a study concludes.

People who have experienced the most financial stress across a decade looked the oldest, researchers found.

Professor Margie Lachman, who led the research, said:

“It may be that people who are under a lot of financial stress do not pay much attention to their appearance.
Stress can also accelerate the aging process.”

The study tracked 200 people from the mid-1990s for a decade.

Each had their photo taken before and after.

Their photos were judged for apparent age by 19 reviewers.

The results showed that people with the greatest financial stress over the decade looked the oldest.

Financial stress had the greatest impact on apparent ageing, in comparison to other sources.

This is consistent with the finding that people say that financial stresses are the most problematic in their lives.

Financial and work stress also makes people feel older themselves.

The study also revealed that:

Most people believed that they looked younger than they were.
People who felt healthier also felt younger.
Women were more likely to think they looked younger than they actually did.
Younger people felt much the same age as they appeared to others.
Older people generally felt younger than they looked.

The study was published in the journal of Research on Aging (Agrigoroaei et al., 2016).

People Are Happier After Revealing Secret Problems

Revealing a stigmatised identity is linked to reduced psychological stress.

Telling other people about a hidden mental health problem has broadly positive consequences, research finds.

The same is true of a hidden disability or other stigmatised identity.

People who revealed experiencing depression, being gay or a physical health problem that was not obvious, reported increased satisfaction with life.

Those expressing non-visible stigmas felt less anxiety at work, more certainty and greater job satisfaction in the long-run.

Outside work, people revealing a stigmatised identity felt less psychological stress.

Hidden identities

However, the same was not true for people who had stigmatised identities that were clearly visible.

It seems there is something particularly damaging about hidden identities.

Dr Eden King, the study’s co-author, said:

“Identities that are immediately observable operate differently than those that are concealable.
The same kinds of difficult decisions about whether or not to disclose the identity — not to mention the questions of to whom, how, when and where to disclose those identities — are probably less central to their psychological experiences.”

The conclusions come from a review of 65 separate studies that examined what happened after people revealed their mental illness, sexual orientation, pregnancy or physical disability to others.

The results showed that most people were supportive of hidden stigmas.

The same positive boost was not seen for identities that were clearly visible, Dr King said:

“People react negatively to those who express or call attention to stigmas that are clearly visible to others, such as race or gender, as this may be seen as a form of advocacy or heightened pride in one’s identity.”

The study was published in the Journal of Business and Psychology (Sabat et al., 2019).

Very Popular Food Linked To Anxiety And Depression

Average intakes of this food exceed the level linked to common mental health problems.

A high sugar intake is linked to anxiety and depression, research finds.

The study found the link only in men who consumed over 67 grams of sugar per day.

After five years, their risk of developing common mental health disorders like depression and anxiety was increased by 23 percent.

Worryingly the average amount of sugar consumed by men in the UK is 68.4 grams.

Average intake levels in the US are even higher: around 77 grams per day.

Ms Anika Knüppel, the study’s first author, said:

“High sugar diets have a number of influences on our health but our study shows that there might also be a link between sugar and mood disorders, particularly among men.
There are numerous factors that influence chances for mood disorders, but having a diet high in sugary foods and drinks might be the straw that breaks the camel’s back.
The study found no link between sugar intake and new mood disorders in women and it is unclear why.
More research is needed to test the sugar-depression effect in large population samples.

The results come from analysing data from over 5,000 men and 2,000 women.

Ms Knüppel said:

“There is increasing evidence for the physical damage sugar has on our health.
Our work suggests an additional mental health effect.
This further supports the evidence for policy action such as the new sugar levy in the UK, but this is not addressed in many other European countries.”

Ms Knüppel continued:

“Sweet food has been found to induce positive feelings in the short-term.
People experiencing low mood may eat sugary foods in the hope of alleviating negative feelings.
Our study suggests a high intake of sugary foods is more likely to have the opposite effect on mental health in the long-term.”

Professor Eric Brunner, who co-authored the paper, said:

“Our findings provide yet further evidence that sugary foods and drinks are best avoided.
The new sugar tax on soft drinks, which will take effect in April 2018, is a step in the right direction.
The physical and mental health of British people deserves some protection from the commercial forces which exploit the human ‘sweet tooth’”.

The study was published in the journal Scientific Reports (Knüppel et al., 2017).