Don’t want to learn an instrument? Just turn on the radio. From the L.A. Times: “Music is sort of the perfect activity that people can engage in from young to older years. It affects how the brain develops and affects how the brain changes in structure” at any age, Schlaug says. For the mature brain, […]
Music is Brain Food Read More »
A massive NYT Magazine piece explores “Depression’s Upside,” as hypothesized by evolutionary and social psychologists. [T]heir speculation is part of a larger scientific re-evaluation of negative moods, which have long been seen as emotional states to avoid. The dismissal of sadness and its synonyms is perhaps best exemplified by the rise of positive psychology, a
Depression is Good For You…Maybe Read More »
Another study, again posted by the New York Times, suggests a little bit of physical contact does big things. [I]n recent years some researchers have begun to focus on a different, often more subtle kind of wordless communication: physical contact. Momentary touches, they say — whether an exuberant high five, a warm hand on the
Touching Recommended Read More »
Study of the day, as posted by the New York Times: Up to a quarter of all women suffer from depression during pregnancy, and many are reluctant to take antidepressants. Now a new study suggests that acupuncture may provide some relief during pregnancy, even though it has not been found to be an effective treatment
Pins and Needles: Acupuncture v. Depression During Pregnancy Read More »
An NPR story about a report that details how little the facts matter to people–beliefs trump science again and again. “People tend to conform their factual beliefs to ones that are consistent with their cultural outlook, their world view,” Braman says. The Cultural Cognition Project has conducted several experiments to back that up…
A study shows exercise decreases anxiety in people suffering from chronic illnesses. Ill or not, try testing out the difference between a day with exercise and a day without. Exercise usually equals less worry, more sleep. From the L.A. Times: [I]f you exercise regularly, you will likely feel much less anxious — regardless of the
Exercise More, Worry Less Read More »
The L.A. Times reports on a study about how people present themselves on social networking sites: A prevailing theory in psychology has been that people use their social-networking pages to protect an idealized version of themselves, not the person they really are. That may not be so. [A] study, published recently in the journal Psychological
Unless 2012 turns out like the movie (“2012,” that is), the year that follows should see the release of the latest version of the DSM, the big book of psychiatric diagnoses that mental health pros use as a guide to thinking about what’s going on with clients. You’re not your diagnosis, and you’re really not
Back at Where the Client Is, a new interview with psychoanalyst Frances Sommer Anderson, PhD about treating pain the Dr. John Sarno way: By getting at underlying, unfelt emotion. Not mainstream at the moment, but look out. (The interview is intended for therapists, but is still readable.) Key: For people who have great difficulty being
Treating Chronic Pain Read More »
Another in case you missed it, this one from the New Yorker: “Good Grief: Is there a better way to be bereaved?” looks at how we cope with death and loss. One autumn day in 1964, Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, a Swiss-born psychiatrist, was working in her garden and fretting about a lecture she had to give.
On “On Death and Dying” (and Others) Read More »