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You feel it ahead of a big exam. Your stomach churns before a job interview. Your heart races before you board a plane. Stress is something everyone is likely to experience at some point. But stress doesn’t have to be an obstacle. In fact, it can be a useful tool. A recent study from the University of Rochester found that re-evaluating perceptions of stress can improve mental health, wellbeing and ultimately, success. [More]

Refugees who wish to settle in Western countries are less likely to have extreme political and religious views. A study published in Psychological Science surveyed 1000 Syrian refugees living in Turkey, Iraq, Lebanon and Jordan. The researchers found that the majority of refugees were more motivated to return home to Syria than to migrate to Western countries, but those who did want to move to the West were less likely to hold extremist views. [More]

Misophonia is a neurological disorder characterized by negative emotional reactions to ordinary sounds, like chewing, eating, and breathing. People with misophonia experience strong feelings of anxiety, disgust, or anger towards these harmless noises. [More]

As the COVID-19 pandemic spread across the world, an interesting phenomenon was playing out in grocery stores. Panic buying. As the COVID-19 pandemic spread across the world, an interesting phenomenon was playing out in grocery stores. Panic buying. Consumers, in the face of increasing uncertainty, began stockpiling in a buying frenzy that left the shelves bare. Now a study from the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia may have an explanation for the behaviour. Unexpected certainty can cause us to change our behavior even if it isn't helpful. [More]

Nearly half of staff working in the intensive care unit during COVID-19 show signs of mental health conditions. A study from Imperial College London found that 48 percent of healthcare staff showed signs of depression, insomnia and post-traumatic stress disorder. [More]

Parents experiencing financial hardship may talk less with their kids. Recent research from the University of California Berkeley found that economic context may be to blame for the “word gap”, where children from lower income households have heard millions of fewer words than their more affluent peers by kindergarten. [More]

Women at increased risk of postpartum psychosis show altered connectivity in networks of the brain responsible for planning, organisation and the completion of short and long-term tasks. Currently, there are no biological markers that identify who will develop postpartum psychosis. But researchers from King’s College London have identified altered connectivity in the brain networks of women with postpartum psychosis, which could pave the way for better identifying women at risk of the condition. [More]

Bipolar disorder is a mental illness that includes depressive and manic episodes. It affects about two per cent of people around the globe. The first line of treatment for bipolar disorder is a drug called lithium. Unfortunately, about 70 per cent of bipolar disorder patients don’t respond to it. A new study looked at whether genes had a role to play in lithium response in bipolar disorder patients. [More]

Emotional support animals can have proven mental health benefits for those experiencing mental illness. Researchers from The University of Toledo published the first empirical evidence that shows emotional support animals (ESAs) are beneficial for those experiencing anxiety, depression and loneliness. [More]

A recent study found that BPD diagnosis was higher for the LGB community than heterosexual individuals. “Health care professionals evaluating patients for factors linked to BPD might ignore environmental stressors that LGB persons face or be unable to competently assess the extent to which the behaviors signify BPD or normative reactions to stress.” [More]