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Gone fishing
Continuing on our diet and cognition theme (see recent post on the brain benefits of green tea), new research showcased at Experimental Biology 2014 (San Diego, California) has found that low consumption of fish may be a risk factor for cognitive decline. Which is good news for those of us who don’t need much of…
Make mine a green tea
You’ve probably heard that green tea is an excellent source of antioxidants, and so it is. Unlike other types of tea, it is made from unoxidised leaves and is minimally processed. This may account for its association with various health benefits, including reduction in stroke and heart disease risk and anti-cancer efficacy. Researchers in Switzerland…
The power of gratitude
In the Western world, we live with an unprecedented level of material abundance. You just need to take a look down the high street at the preponderance of coffee shops and nail bars (alongside the ever-increasing army of estate agents) to gauge the generalised decadence of our way of life. Most of us want for…
FAB memories
Fading Affect Bias (FAB) is a term which applies to the way we remember autobiographical events, with positive affect being shown to persist for longer than negative. You can understand why this might be the case – by holding onto the rose-tinted view we may, arguably, be protecting our mental health and allowing ourselves to…
Therapists spreading greater appiness
Have you noticed how many adults seem to be playing games on their mobiles? I’m constantly amazed at the numbers I see wildly flicking their thumbs across phone screens, apparently trying to beat whichever imaginary opponent they’re up against. I have no idea what the popular games are right now, but I’m sure there are…
The spirit of our times
How many people do you know who claim to be ‘spiritual but not religious’? Anecdotally at least, it would seem this category accounts for an increasing proportion among our number, with membership derived from those who formerly belonged to (or at least whose families formerly belonged to) religious denominations. I recently came across a fascinating…
Don’t be fooled by the DSM-V
We can pretty much take it as read – indeed many of us may know first hand – that as we get older our brains start to slow down a little. Losing a name here and there, being a little slower to pick up on a complicated idea – this is known as par for…
Mental health, global style
It can’t have escaped anyone’s notice that we are now living in a global world, driven by international directives, legislation and so-called ‘thought leadership’. It does make me wonder, where exactly HQ is and, more importantly, who’s the boss. Mental health has now come under global scrutiny, with a new report published jointly by Mind…
