Transform Your Mood In 4 Days With This Surprising Fruit Hack (M)

In just four days, this fuzzy fruit demonstrated notable improvements in vitality and mood.

In just four days, this fuzzy fruit demonstrated notable improvements in vitality and mood.


Keep reading with a membership

• Adverts removed
• Cancel at any time
• 14 day money-back guarantee


Members can sign in below:

More Siblings, More Misery? Study Reveals Truth About Family Size (M)

Attention and resources matter: research shows how siblings can impact your mental health.

Attention and resources matter: research shows how siblings can impact your mental health.


Keep reading with a membership

• Adverts removed
• Cancel at any time
• 14 day money-back guarantee


Members can sign in below:

The Healing Power Of Urban Green And Blue Spaces (M)

As little as ten percent more green spaces in urban areas could be the key to reducing psychological distress.

As little as ten percent more green spaces in urban areas could be the key to reducing psychological distress.


Keep reading with a membership

• Adverts removed
• Cancel at any time
• 14 day money-back guarantee


Members can sign in below:

The Personality Trait That Is A Sign Of Poor Mental Health

This personality trait is linked to mental health problems.

This personality trait is linked to mental health problems.

Being impulsive can be a sign of poor mental health, research finds.

People who are impulsive tend to prefer a small immediate reward over a larger reward later on.

Impulsive people tend to act on their immediate thoughts and emotions without thinking about the consequences.

In other words, impulsive people want to have fun now, not later — even if waiting is more sensible.

People who are depressed, have bipolar disorder, schizophrenia or some eating disorders are more likely to be impulsive.

Psychologists can measure this type of impulsivity with a test of  ‘delay discounting’.

Delay discounting is the idea that people tend to discount a reward more, the longer the delay until they receive it.

So, psychologically, $5 right now is worth more than $10 in three weeks time.

Or, as the proverb has it: a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.

People who can delay their gratification find it easier to wait for their rewards.

However, people with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and borderline personality disorder find it particularly hard to delay gratification.

The conclusions come from a review of 43 separate studies.

Dr Michael Amlung, the study’s first author, said:

“The revelation that delay discounting is one of these ‘trans-diagnostic’ processes will have a significant effect on the future of psychiatric diagnosis and treatment.”

Among people with mental health problems, though, anorexia was the exception.

People with anorexia tend to make excessively self-controlling decisions.

This makes sense given that anorexia is a disorder characterised by a very high level of self-control over eating behaviours.

Professor Randi McCabe, study co-author, said:

“Examining factors that cut across psychiatric disorders, such as delay discounting, helps to illuminate commonalities and distinguishing characteristics amongst disorders that then guide further research on treatment and prevention.”

The study was published in JAMA Psychiatry (Amlung et al., 2019).

The Impact Of Forest Therapy On Anxiety And Depression Revealed (M)

Nature transcends the purely physical, providing a deeper connection to a larger natural world.

Nature transcends the purely physical, providing a deeper connection to a larger natural world.


Keep reading with a membership

• Adverts removed
• Cancel at any time
• 14 day money-back guarantee


Members can sign in below:

Has 20 Years Of The Internet Made Us More Miserable? (M)

Human beings have a tremendous propensity for misusing almost any and every technology ever invented.

Human beings have a tremendous propensity for misusing almost any and every technology ever invented.


Keep reading with a membership

• Adverts removed
• Cancel at any time
• 14 day money-back guarantee


Members can sign in below:

The Dramatic Effect Of Light Exposure On Mental Health (M)

How people are exposed to light over the day and night can increase depression risk by 30 percent — and decrease it by 20 percent.

How people are exposed to light over the day and night can increase depression risk by 30 percent -- and decrease it by 20 percent.


Keep reading with a membership

• Adverts removed
• Cancel at any time
• 14 day money-back guarantee


Members can sign in below:

This Question Quickly Predicts A Person’s Risk Of Serious Mental Illness

The question predicts depression, anxiety and substance abuse risk.

The question predicts depression, anxiety and substance abuse risk.

Questions about a person’s family history of mental illness are one of the quickest ways of predicting their risk of mental illness.

A 30-minute questionnaire about family history of depression, anxiety and substance abuse can predict approximate risk and severity for people, research finds.

Mental illnesses are among the most heritable disorders, so the result comes as no surprise.

However, the fact that the severity of people’s mental illness could be predicted is more novel.

Professor Terrie Moffitt, the study’s first author, said:

“There are lots of kids with behavior problems who may outgrow them on their own without medication, versus the minority with mental illnesses that need treatment.

Family history is the quickest and cheapest way to sort that out.”

The study examined 981 New Zealanders born in a single hospital in 1972 and 1973.

In what is known as the ‘Dunedin study’, these children have been tracked since they were 3-years-old.

The researchers found that more severe family histories of depression, anxiety, and substance dependence predicted worse mental health problems in the future.

The more severe the family history, the more severe the children’s problems.

Because of the stigma attached to mental health problems, it can be difficult to get someone’s family history.

The study’s authors suggest a more indirect line of questioning:

“Has anyone on the list of family members ever had a sudden spell or attack in which they felt panicked?” If the interviewee came up with a name, they were then asked, “Did this person have several attacks of extreme fear or panic, even though there was nothing to be afraid of?”

The study was published in the journal Psychological Medicine (Moffitt et al., 2007).

The Personality Trait Linked To Good Mental Health

Personality, though, changes how people interpret and deal with the things that happen to them.

Personality, though, changes how people interpret and deal with the things that happen to them.

People who are extraverted are less likely to suffer mental health problems, personality research finds.

Extraverts are typically outgoing, talkative and energetic and they tend to have more positive emotions.

However, people who are aggressive and neurotic — a tendency to worry and be emotionally unstable — are at higher risk of mental health problems.

Neuroticism is characterised by negative thinking in a range of areas.

Neurotic people are more likely to suffer from depression and anxiety, as well as drink and drug problems.

Neuroticism, like other aspects of personality, is highly heritable — in other words, it is in a person’s genes.

However, neuroticism can be reduced by psychotherapy.

Neurotic people can learn to think differently, use their neuroticism creatively and perhaps reduce their neuroticism by falling in love.

The conclusions come from almost 600 participants in Switzerland.

They were regularly interviewed from the age of around 19 in 1979, until they were in their fifties in 2008.

The researchers asked them about their families, mental health, personality, any problems with drugs and major life events like relationship break-ups, job losses and so on.

People who are aggressive, neurotic and introverted are particularly at risk, the study’s authors write:

“…persons scoring high on aggressiveness and neuroticism and low on extraversion had an approximately 6 times increased risk for internalising disorder [like depression and anxiety] compared to persons scoring low on aggressiveness and neuroticism and high on extraversion.”

Of course, personality is only one factor that affects whether a person might experience a mental health problem.

Some people’s lives are much more difficult than others.

The researchers found that people who experienced job losses and relationship break-ups were more likely to suffer from depression and anxiety.

Personality, though, changes how people interpret and deal with the things that happen to them.

The study’s authors conclude:

“Our findings stress the fundamental role of personality, mainly neuroticism, for the occurrence, persistence and severity of psychopathology.”

The study was published in the journal European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience (Hengartner et al., 2017).