Around one-fifth of the world’s population live with mental illness.
The sign is linked to fewer symptoms of depression and anxiety.
The sign is linked to fewer symptoms of depression and anxiety.
Having strong hand-grip strength is a sign of good mental health, new research finds.
People who have greater upper and lower body fitness in general are at a lower risk of depression and anxiety.
Indeed, strength training can lead to reductions in depressive symptoms, previous studies have shown.
The reason may be that exercise releases endorphins and increases blood flow to the brain.
The conclusions come from a study of 1,159 middle-aged women in Singapore.
Fully 15 percent were suffering depression and/or anxiety.
The results showed that women with weaker hand-grip strength were more likely to have depression and anxiety symptoms.
The longer it took women to perform a simple exercise involving repeatedly getting out of a chair, the worse their mental health was.
Dr JoAnn Pinkerton, the study’s first author, said:
“Strength training has been shown to lead to a significant reduction in depressive symptoms.
Both strength training and aerobic exercise appear to improve depression, possibly as a result of increased blood flow to the brain or improved coping with stress from the release of endorphins such as norepinephrine and dopamine.”
The study was published in the journal Menopause (Ganasarajah et al., 2019).
Psychiatric labels create “stigma and prejudice”.
People used the app for an average of just under one hour a day.
The minimum amount of time to spend in nature each week to boost mental and physical health.
The real cause of a mid-life crisis.
A person diagnosed with one is highly likely to be diagnosed with the other within six months.
One question can diagnose your future mental health.
One question can diagnose your future mental health.
Just one question is enough to get a general idea of someone’s future mental health.
It is: “In general, would you say that your mental health is excellent, very good, good, fair, or poor?”
Surprisingly, around 60% of people who are depressed nevertheless rate their mental health as ‘good’.
One year later people who were positive about their mental health were less likely to be in serious psychological distress, even without any treatment.
Good mental health is about more than just a lack of symptoms, it includes being able to cope with life, having meaningful relationships and feeling purposeful.
A rating of ‘fair’ or ‘poor’ could suggest that some help would be beneficial.
Dr Sirry Alang, study co-author, said:
“Self-rated mental health is a very powerful construct that can be useful in clinical practice if we consider it a potential screener for mental health.
Positive ratings of mental health even in the face of symptoms might not be a result of denial but may offer valuable insights about a person’s ability to cope with their symptoms.”
The study was published in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior (McAlpine et al., 2018).
The pet carries the parasite Toxoplasma gondii in its guts.
People felt their pets could tell when they were in trouble.
People felt their pets could tell when they were in trouble.
Pets can help people manage mental health conditions, particularly in times of crisis, new research finds.
People’s emotional relationship with their animals can be intense and they can provide welcome support.
The review of 17 different studies found that people living with mental illness reported a variety of different benefits to having pets:
Some moving examples of how pets helped people were revealed.
In one study, Karin, a child with autism, was comforted by the dog when no one else was available:
“The dog approaches Karin when she’s crying and comforts her by lying next to her and licking away her tears.
The dog hears her, and wherever he is in the
house, he comes to her.We can’t always comfort her.
Sometimes Karin has said, ‘It’s a good thing we have the dog, otherwise no one would be able to comfort me”
Others talked about the benefits of talking to their cat:
“Sometimes if I talk to the cat, perhaps it’s like being in a confessional, I find I can address things that perhaps I wouldn’t have done normally if I hadn’t have had the cat to talk to.”
Another woman talked about the being suicidal and how her rabbits had helped:
“They are something that is very important in my recovery and helping me not get too depressed.
Even when I was so depressed, I was kind of suicidal.
I never got really bad, but I was suicidal at one time.
The thing that made me stop was wondering what the rabbits would do.
That was the first thing I thought of and I thought, oh yeah, I can’t leave because the rabbits need me.
So they were playing a really big role in that.”
Some disadvantages to pets were also identified, including the cost and emotional burden of looking after an animal.
Dr Helen Brooks, the study’s first author, said:
“Our review suggests that pets provide benefits to those with mental health conditions.
Further research is required to test the nature and extent of this relationship, incorporating outcomes that cover the range of roles and types of support pets confer in relation to mental health and the means by which these can be incorporated into the mainstay of support for people experiencing a mental health problem.”
The study was published in the journal BMC Psychiatry (Brooks et al., 2018).
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