January 30, 2023
by Elizabeth Pratt
Feeling low? Performing a good deed for others may help.
Research published in The Journal of Positive Psychology found that people experiencing symptoms of depression and anxiety saw improvements in their symptoms when they performed acts of kindness.
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December 22, 2022
by Elizabeth Pratt
Everyone needs some time alone.
But for those who seek time alone out of fear of social interactions, spending more time alone than usual can actually cause greater anxiety when socializing.
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December 20, 2022
by Patricia Tomasi
A new study published in Scientific Reports looked at whether birdsongs can alleviate anxiety and paranoia in health participants. “The study is on the effects of environmental sounds on mental well-being,” study author Emil Stobbe told us. “Our physical environment can be categorized into natural and human-made (built/ urban) environments. Both of these surroundings contain auditory information that humans process in their daily life.”
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December 6, 2022
by Patricia Tomasi
A new study in the Journal of Child Development looked at whether more hours in center-based care cause more externalizing problems. “This study revisits the question of whether increasing a child’s time in center-based care leads to increases in problem behaviors,” study author Catalina Rey-Guerra told us. “We decided to revisit this topic because, for the last four decades, there have been a lot of disagreements around the answer to this question.”
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October 31, 2022
by Elizabeth Pratt
27% of Americans say they are so stressed they can’t function.
A poll from the American Psychological Association (APA) found that more than a quarter of Americans are facing significant stressors due to external stressors that are beyond their personal control.
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October 4, 2022
by Patricia Tomasi
A new study published in Health Services Research looked at whether Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) work requirements in the U.S. increased mental health care use. “We wanted to determine whether imposing work requirement policies on SNAP (food stamp) enrollees increased their levels of depression and anxiety,” study author Lindsay Allen told us.
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September 30, 2022
by Elizabeth Pratt
50% of people who are pregnant or postpartum report feeling dissatisfied with their bodies.
A small survey of 161 women aged between 18 and 45 who were either pregnant or postpartum found that more than half were unhappy with how they looked either during or following pregnancy.
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September 20, 2022
by Patricia Tomasi
A new study published in Science Direct looked at how different dimensions of precarious employment affects mental health. “This is a study that analyzes the relationship between job insecurity and mental health in a Spanish territory (the Basque Country),” study author Erika Valero told us. “Considering the importance of paid work as a social determinant of health, we expected that also in our context, this problem could be related to mental health.”
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August 30, 2022
by Elizabeth Pratt
Fatigue is associated with anxiety and depression in patients with long COVID.
Research published in the Journal of Neurology found that fatigue was correlated with cognitive deficits as well as neuropsychiatric conditions, like depression.
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August 23, 2022
by Patricia Tomasi
A new study published in the American Society for Microbiology Journal looked at the long-term effects of developmental exposure to oxycodone on gut microbiota and the relationship to adult behaviors and metabolism. “In this study, we sought to determine whether exposure of mouse moms to a widely prescribed and abuse opioid drug, oxycodone, would lead to longstanding effects on the bacteria in the gut and whether such changes might be associated with behavioral and metabolic alterations also seen in these adult sons and daughters,” study author Cheryl S. Rosenfeld told us.
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