Posts by swsweb
The latest weapon in the war on mental disorders
With the prevalence of mental disorders at an all-time high in the general population, any measure which promises to alleviate symptoms has to be worthy of attention. Recently, a woman I know who has spent time in a psychiatric hospital, mentioned, in passing, that she had been greatly helped by a therapist who had followed…
Read MoreGive thanks for a happy heart
All too often, it’s the simple, commonsense practices which turn out to deliver genuine therapeutic benefits, with little recognition. That’s why this latest piece of research, published by the American Psychological Association, is highly deserving of attention and should warm the cockles of all our hearts. Because what it demonstrates is the power of that…
Read MoreTime to get your house in order
We all know that housework, no matter how tiresome it may be, usually leaves us feeling a lot better than when we started. According to a new piece of research, older adults who keep their homes clean and tidy feel emotionally better than those living in a chaotic environment. Kathy Wright and her team from…
Read MoreGive your brain a proper workout
Everywhere you look nowadays, there are businesses touting the means to extend your brain power. One that is clearly courting favour, judging by their advertising campaign, is ‘Lumosity’, which describes itself as a ‘leader in the science of brain training’. It brings us a slew of apparently much-needed digital games in the areas of memory,…
Read MoreThe trauma of war
It seems that, despite all hopes to the contrary, we are ever more embroiled in war. And while physical casualties are often thoroughly reported, what commonly goes unreported are the emotional and mental effects which also carry the potential to devastate lives. In recent years, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) has received a lot of attention…
Read MoreThe remarkable case of the shrinking brain
Last week, we took a broad look at the relationship between chronic back pain (CBP) and depression. While you don’t need to be Einstein to deduce a potential relationship between the two, what might be less obvious is the significant extent to which such chronic pain can affect the structure and chemistry of the brain.…
Read MoreThe link between depression and back pain
When it comes to depression, we seem to spend a lot of time, collectively, trying to figure out the cause. But there is a group of patients for whom the cause might readily be identified – those with chronic back pain. Depression is easily the most common emotion associated with back pain. In fact, research…
Read MoreExercise is good for your brain
We all know the benefits of physical exercise, such as sustaining and improving muscle tone, increasing circulation, keeping tissues well oxygenated and a myriad of positive long-term effects. But do we know the impact of exercise on the brain? A recent study, published in Neurology, found that exercise has a very distinct neurological benefit which…
Read MoreWhen is depression not depression?
No one can dispute that depression is now a major public health issue, with incidences skyrocketing all over the Western world. A new piece of research by Fried et al., published in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology, seems to offer a glimmer of hope by suggesting that depression is being over-diagnosed among the bereaved. In…
Read MoreConcerning children’s mental health
A recent government task-force review sheds some rather disturbing light on the state of child mental health services in England. The review focuses on concerns highlighted by a survey of Clinical Psychologists working across 43 separate specialist Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) in 2014. According to the Psychologists, in the last three years…
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