The Conversation organised a public question-and-answer session on Reddit in which Barbara Sahakian, professor of Clinical Neuropsychology at Cambridge University, discussed subjects from depression to…
Thoughts in my mind look like a black rainbow.
itstom
The words we use help shape how we think. Poets choose their words carefully and deliberately for their emotional impact. The way we conceptualise psychological problems in therapy has echoes of the choice…
Our use of anti-depressants continues to rise. Figures from the Health and Social Care Information Centre revealed that in just three years – between 2010 and 2013 – prescribing in England rose by 25…
“Arthritis is for old people, right?” This is an outdated view of a spectrum of diseases that affect people of all ages in the population. In the past decade, there has been a revolution in the understanding…
An unfortunate myth about Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is that diagnosed individuals have no emotions, that they are somehow a bit like Spock from Star Trek: analytical, logical but not very emotional…
It seems intuitive that many of us would fear and avoid emotions such as anger and anxiety. But some people fear positive emotions such as happiness and contentment, and of accepting the compassion, kindness…
A health crisis in Greece brought on by national austerity measures has driven up cases of HIV, suicide, major depression, and infant death, and left hundreds of thousands locked out the health system…
The research debunks the ‘smoking makes you relaxed’ myth.
ydhsu/Flickr
Quitting smoking is associated with reduced depression and anxiety, and has a similar effect to antidepressant drugs for mood disorders, British researchers have found. Published today in the journal BMJ…
Men needn’t be at loggerheads over their identity.
Eoin Gardiner
Every generation declares some kind of crisis in masculinity. And women today aren’t shy of pronouncing a masculine emergency: Hannah Rosin did so in her book The End of Men while MP Diane Abbott warned…
Teen mental health problems are not a ‘life sentence’.
Image from shutterstock.com
Around half of teens who experience a brief episode of depression or anxiety do not go on to have a mental illness in adulthood, according to a study from the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute. Half…
We’ve all felt sad, anxious or down at one time or another, but where does the normal experience of emotion end and the clinical picture of a mood or anxiety disorder begin? Psychiatry has two widely used…
For managers, the challenge is in trying to motivate and engage stressed staff.
Image from shutterstock.com
Common mental health disorders, including depression and anxiety disorders, are the second leading cause of disability in Australia and affect around 20% of the working age population at any one moment…
Addressing contrary patterns of thinking, or cognitive biases, could help ameliorate negative feelings.
Mira Manns
Cognitive bias modification is a new approach to treating emotional problems. It holds considerable promise for the remote delivery of mental health interventions. The story of how this new approach came…
For people with depression or anxiety, finding an effective medication can be a difficult task.
Eddi van W.
Three million Australians are currently living with depression or anxiety, and antidepressants are now the third most commonly prescribed class of medication in Australia, after antibiotics and cholesterol-lowering…
Trott has been open about why he left the Ashes.
Travis Hayto/AP
Cricketer Jonathan Trott went home early from the Ashes last week citing a stress-related condition. While the Australian team said they would not use his illness as a sledging opportunity, Trott’s illness…
The NHS is funding a pilot programme that prescribes surfing lessons for young people with depression and low self-esteem. Based in Dorset, the Wave Project is open to people aged between eight and 21…