January 31, 2025
by Elizabeth Pratt
More than 18 thousand structures were destroyed and 29 people killed in the Eaton and Palisades fires in southern California.
Whilst the fires burned for 24 days, the recovery efforts are just beginning and experts say the mental health impacts could be long lasting.
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January 31, 2025
by Elizabeth Pratt
People aged 50 and older find with poor or fair health are twice as likely to report not having any close friends.
Data from the University of Michigan National Poll on Healthy Aging found that friends can play a key role for people over the age of 50, but that those with mental or physical health problems can experience challenges in this area.
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December 18, 2024
by Elizabeth Pratt
Feeling lonely has a greater impact on sleep for college students than too much screen time.
Research from Oregon State University found that students with high levels of loneliness were more likely to have difficulties sleeping compared with less lonely students, regardless of their level of screen time.
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December 11, 2024
by Elizabeth Pratt
More than 33% of people aged between 50 to 80 feel lonely.
Loneliness and isolation among this group has mostly returned to pre pandemic levels, but remains high.
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October 31, 2024
by Elizabeth Pratt
If you want to cheer up a friend or loved one, consider giving them a small gift.
Research suggests that gift giving may lift their mood faster and more effectively than a conversation.
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October 29, 2024
by Patricia Tomasi
A new study published in the Journal of Nature looked at how dopamine dynamics are dispensable for movement but promote reward responses. “We tested whether rapid dopamine dynamics are necessary for the behavioral functions of dopamine,” study author Pascal S. Kaeser told us. “There is conflicting literature on each dopamine function as to whether it is mediated by fast and precise signalling or by slower, tonic signaling.”
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September 15, 2024
by Elizabeth Pratt
COVID-19 vaccination mitigates adverse effects of SARS-CoV-2 on mental illness.
Research published in JAMA Psychiatry found that the COVID-19 vaccination may help protect against the adverse mental health impacts of the virus by preventing severe infection.
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September 3, 2024
by Patricia Tomasi
A new study published in the Psychological Bulletin looked at a meta-analytic review of the association between mental effort and negative affect. “In psychology, there is a decades-long controversy about the nature of mental effort,” study author Erik Bijleveld told us. “On the one hand, psychologists often assume that people avoid mental effort whenever they can.” Bijleveld cites an example of this when people make daily-life decisions such as what restaurant to go to, they are usually not going to process all relevant information that is available to them.
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August 27, 2024
by Elizabeth Pratt
Even as little as ten minutes spent in nature can have short term benefits for adults living with mental illness.
Research published in Ecopsychology found that any form of nature exposure, including to urban nature, could have benefits.
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August 26, 2024
by Elizabeth Pratt
Resilient people are more mindful and show neural activity in the brain regions associated with improved cognition and the regulation of emotions.
UCLA researchers found resilient people were also better at describing their feelings and had gut microbiome activity associated with a healthy gut.
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