Hidden Links Between Common Mental Illnesses Are Found (M)

Genetic analysis reveals the hidden links between multiple mental disorders.

Genetic analysis reveals the hidden links between multiple mental disorders.


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Why Some People React More Emotionally To Life’s Ups and Downs (M)

The novelist Marcel Proust, famous for his emotional sensitivity, probably carried this genetic variation.

The novelist Marcel Proust, famous for his emotional sensitivity, probably carried this genetic variation.


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The Best Way To Limit Phone Use And Improve Mental Well-Being (M)

Cutting back on phone usage also led to greater physical activity, reduced nicotine intake and fewer symptoms of depression and anxiety.

Cutting back on phone usage also led to greater physical activity, reduced nicotine intake and fewer symptoms of depression and anxiety.


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How To Boost Your Mental Health In Only 10 Minutes

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

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).

3 Charming Pastimes Linked To Better Mental Health

Adult learners reported feeling greater satisfaction with their lives along with improved mental and physical health.

Adult learners reported feeling greater satisfaction with their lives along with improved mental and physical health.

Classes in singing, crafts and creative writing all boost wellbeing, a series of three studies concludes.

Weekly sessions over seven months at all three subjects left people feeling in better mental and physical health.

Dr Eiluned Pearce, the first author of all three studies, said:

“The students reported benefits including increased self-confidence, a greater feeling of control over their lives and more willingness to take on new challenges.

Some said the classes made them more motivated to be more active, despite the classes not specifically involving physical activity.

Participants also said that the classes broadened their networks of friends and gave them an increased sense of belonging.

We also found that the more someone felt part of their group, the more their health and wellbeing improved.”

Participants in the study attended seven different day-time adult education classes in the UK.

While the results were positive, the classes did not all have the same benefits, Dr Pearce explained:

“The results showed that those in the singing and creative writing groups built up relationships with other individuals more quickly than the crafters, and singers felt more connected to the class as a whole more quickly than both the other groups.

‘While this confirms our earlier finding that singing has an ‘ice-breaker effect’ compared to other activities, it shows that other activities may enable people to increase their social networks just as much, even if it takes them longer to feel connected to their group as a whole.”

Howard Croft, the Worker’s Educational Association Regional Education Manager, said:

“The findings reiterate the feedback that we have had from our students over the years: learning is a fantastic way to boost your self-esteem and confidence.

Also of note, is its therapeutic effect.

For many students, creative courses are a means of finding a new outlet for expressing their feelings.

This can be of immense help during times of personal difficulty or emotional upheaval, such as divorce or bereavement.

Simply going to a course can offer much-needed respite.

For others, learning can be an opportunity to reignite a former passion.

This could be anything from a subject which you enjoyed at school to an area which you are interested in.

Whatever your reason, there are so many benefits to be gained by signing up to a course.”

The studies were published in the journals Arts & Health, The Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology and Psychology of Music (Pearce et al., 2016Pearce et al. 2016; Pearce et al. 2016).

Coffee Has Surprising Effect On Mental Health

How coffee consumption is linked to both mental and physical health.

How coffee consumption is linked to both mental and physical health.

Moderate coffee consumption is linked to reduced depression risk and lower levels of Parkinson’s and dementia, research finds.

Not only that, but the review of more than 200 studies found that drinking 3 to 4 cups of coffee a day is linked to many other benefits.

These include lower levels of heart disease, reduced risk of some cancers, diabetes and liver disease.

The study’s authors write:

“Coffee consumption was consistently associated with a lower risk of Parkinson’s disease, even after adjustment for smoking, and across all categories of exposure.

Decaffeinated coffee was associated with a lower risk of Parkinson’s disease, which did not reach significance.

Consumption had a consistent association with lower risk of depression and cognitive disorders, especially for Alzheimer’s disease.”

Coffee was also associated with a lower risk of several cancers:

  • prostate cancer,
  • endometrial cancer,
  • skin cancer,
  • and liver cancer,

Risk of type 2 diabetes, gallstones and gout was lower in those drinking coffee as well.

Coffee’s apparent effect was particularly strong for liver conditions, such as cirrhosis.

The evidence for drinking decaffeinated coffee was not as strong.

So, if you don’t drink coffee already, should you start?

Writing in a linked commentary, Professor Eliseo Guallar, an expert in public health, gives the answer:

“Should doctors recommend drinking coffee to prevent disease?

Should people start drinking coffee for health reasons?

The answer to both questions is “no.” “

But if you do already drink coffee, then how much should you drink?

Professor Guallar explained:

“…the lowest risk of disease is associated with drinking three to five cups of coffee a day.

Higher intake may reduce or reverse the potential benefit, and there is substantial uncertainty, both in individual studies and in meta-analyses, about the effects of higher levels of intake.

Conclusions on the safety of coffee should thus be restricted to moderate intake, generally considered as ≤400 mg of caffeine a day (about four or five coffee drinks).”

The research was an ‘umbrella review’ which is a kind of review of the reviews.

It aggregates data from lots of different studies including many participants.

However, the way the studies were designed, it cannot tell us that drinking coffee causethese health benefits.

It just tells us there is a link to be explained.

The study was published in The British Medical Journal (Poole et al., 2017).

The Personality Trait Linked To Good Mental Health

The personality trait associated with less depression and anxiety.

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).