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Category: Mental Health
An Early Childhood Indicator Of Poor Mental Health Later On
A common childhood complaint that hints at depression and anxiety later on.
A common childhood complaint that hints at depression and anxiety later on.
Stomach aches, nausea and other gut problems in childhood could indicate mental health problems later on.
The study of children who were separated from their biological parents at a young age found they experienced more gut problems.
Brain scans revealed that gut problems were also linked to abnormal activity in parts of the brain that process emotions.
The finding raises the prospect that probiotics may help treat some people.
The gut-brain link is underlined by the fact that over half of adults with irritable bowel syndrome have a history of trauma or abuse.
This is twice the rate of those without childhood traumas.
Professor Nim Tottenham, study co-author, said:
“One common reason children show up at doctors’ offices is intestinal complaints.
Our findings indicate that gastrointestinal symptoms in young children could be a red flag to primary care physicians for future emotional health problems.”
The study included 115 adopted children and 229 children raised by their biological parents.
The results showed that children with disrupted childhoods were more likely to suffer from constipation, stomach aches, nausea and vomiting.
Dr Bridget Callaghan, the study’s first author, said:
“Our study is among the first to link disruption of a child’s gastrointestinal microbiome triggered by early-life adversity with brain activity in regions associated with emotional health.”
The researchers took a closer look at 8 children from each group, carrying out brain scans and gene sequencing.
These demonstrated that those with disrupted childhoods had less diversity of bacteria in their gut.
Brain scans showed that patterns of activity were also linked to the types of bacteria in their gut.
Professor Tottenham explained:
“It is too early to say anything conclusive, but our study indicates that adversity-associated changes in the gut microbiome are related to brain function, including differences in the regions of the brain associated with emotional processing.”
The research suggests probiotics may help some people, said Dr Callaghan:
“Animal studies tell us that dietary interventions and probiotics can manipulate the gut microbiome and ameliorate the effects of adversity on the central nervous system, especially during the first years of life when the developing brain and microbiome are more plastic.
It is possible that this type of research will help us to know if and how to best intervene in humans, and when.”
The study was published in the journal Development and Psychopathology (Callaghan et al., 2019).
These Childhood Memories Are Signs Of Good Adult Mental Health
These memories are linked to good mental health.
These memories are linked to good mental health.
Fond memories of childhood are a sign of good mental health in adulthood.
In particular, memories of warm parental relationships are linked to lower depression and fewer chronic illnesses in adulthood.
Dr William J. Chopik, the study’s first author, said:
“We know that memory plays a huge part in how we make sense of the world—how we organize our past experiences and how we judge how we should act in the future.
As a result, there are a lot of different ways that our memories of the past can guide us.
We found that good memories seem to have a positive effect on health and well-being, possibly through the ways that they reduce stress or help us maintain healthy choices in life.”
Affection and support
For the study, data was taken from two large samples, including over 22,000 people.
The results showed that people who remembered more affection from their mothers experienced less depression in later life, along with fewer physical problems.
Those that remembered more support from their fathers had lower depressive symptoms in adulthood.
Dr Chopik said:
“The most surprising finding was that we thought the effects would fade over time because participants were trying to recall things that happened sometimes over 50 years ago.
One might expect childhood memories to matter less and less over time, but these memories still predicted better physical and mental health when people were in middle age and older adulthood.”
A loving relationship with your mother was especially important, said Dr Chopik:
“These results may reflect the broader cultural circumstances of the time when the participants were raised because mothers were most likely the primary caregivers.
With shifting cultural norms about the role of fathers in caregiving, it is possible that results from future studies of people born in more recent years will focus more on relationships with their fathers.”
Related
The study was published in the journal Health Psychology (Chopik & Edelstein, 2018).
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The Simple Instruction That Reduces Stress & Increases Optimism
Energy, optimism and the sense of feeling alive are all boosted by this mindset.
Energy, optimism and the sense of feeling alive are all boosted by this mindset.
The easiest way to kill stress and tension is to not be so hard on yourself.
People who are more compassionate towards themselves experience less stress.
Self-compassion is also linked to more:
- optimism,
- feeling alive,
- and energy.
The conclusions come from a study of students coping with their first year at college.
Dr Katie Gunnell, the study’s first author, said:
“Our study suggests the psychological stress students may experience during the transition between high school and university can be mitigated with self-compassion because it enhances the psychological needs of autonomy, competence, and relatedness, which in turn, enriches well-being.”
Self-compassion has three components, the study’s authors explain:
(1) self-kindness, which represents the ability to be caring and kind to ourselves rather than excessively critical,
(2) common humanity, which represents an understanding that everyone makes mistakes and fails and our experience is part of a larger common experience,
and (3) mindfulness, which represents being present and aware while keeping thoughts in balance rather than overidentifying.”
Professor Peter Crocker, a study co-author, said:
“Research shows first-year university is stressful.
Students who are used to getting high grades may be shocked to not do as well in university, feel challenged living away from home, and are often missing important social support they had in high school.
Self-compassion appears to be an effective strategy or resource to cope with these types of issues.”
Develop self-compassion
One way to increase this sense of self-compassion is to carry out a writing exercise.
Think about a recent negative experience and write about it.
Crucially, though, you need to write about it while being compassionate towards yourself.
In other words: don’t be too critical and recognise that everyone makes mistakes.
The study was published in the journal Personality and Individual Differences (Gunnell et al., 2017).
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