Thursday 31 May 2018

Boy, 12, helps father fight anxiety and depression

Stuart Gumm often suffers panic attacks, no longer drives, and rarely leaves the house. via BBC News - Health Read More Here..

Wednesday 30 May 2018

How Self-Compassion Can Fight Perfectionism

“Be kind to one another.”

You don’t need to be a die-hard Ellen DeGeneres fan to appreciate the value of that motto. And while we’re reminded how kindness goes a long way in our everyday interactions with others, we often forget to apply it to those who need it most: ourselves.

Whether it’s setting a personal weight-loss goal, or believing that we can ace a final exam—all of us are familiar with the experience of setting high standards. We’re even more familiar with the inevitable let-down that comes from not living up to those very standards.

Enter, the life of a perfectionist.

But, importantly, not all perfectionists operate the same. There are different types that are associated with different psychological outcomes.

On the one hand, if you strive to attain your ambitious goals and prevent yourself from being overly self-critical, you might be a personal strivings perfectionist. This isn’t so bad. In fact, this type of perfectionism is more likely to lead to relatively higher levels of self-esteem and decreased levels of negative affect.

On the other hand, if you constantly believe that you are not good enough, if you judge yourself by your shortcomings, and if you are constantly worried that other people won’t approve of you, then you might be more on the side of maladaptive perfectionism. This form of perfectionism has been linked to depressive symptoms in both adolescents and adults.

It’s no wonder then that researchers are curious to know more about interventions that help buffer against this maladaptive perfectionism. In one recent study, researchers examined the possibility that self-compassion can protect us against the negative effects of maladaptive perfectionism. The questions is, can self-directed kindness increase our chances of living a full, healthy life? Can it combat the symptoms of depression that come from this less ideal version of perfectionism?

Understanding self-compassion

You may ask, “What exactly is self-compassion? And is it something that can be cultivated by anyone, or is a skill that is only available to some of us?” To shed some light on these questions, researchers have broken down self-compassion into three main components: self-kindness, common humanity, and mindfulness.

While the first component is self-explanatory, the other two require careful consideration. When something terrible happens to us, often the initial reaction is to sit and wallow in our grief and self-pity. We convince ourselves that no one else is going through similar problems in their lives. But that is simply not true. Statistically speaking, it’s an erroneous judgment.

In order to be more accepting of ourselves, we need to realize that we are never as alone and isolated as we think we are. This is at the heart of common humanity.

At the same time, many of us are prone to over-analyzing painful experiences, or trying to avoid negative feelings altogether. Mindfulness then, is about acknowledging our thoughts, feelings, and emotions without judgement, and accepting them as part of the common human experience.

Back to our study. Taking into account these three sub-components, the researchers in the present investigation set out to predict that self-compassion would weaken the relationship between perfectionism and depression in both adolescent and adult populations.

The study

541 adolescents from grades 7 to 10 were recruited for the first study. Participants were asked to complete three online questionnaires during school hours, as part of a larger well-being intervention study. The questionnaires tapped into perfectionism, mood/feelings, self-worth and self-esteem, as well as reported self-compassion.

As predicted, self-compassion was found to moderate, or weaken, the relationship between maladaptive perfectionism and depression in this sample of adolescents. Next, the researchers wanted to see if the results would hold for adults.

515 adults from the general population were recruited through online advertisements. Again, participants were asked to complete the same questionnaires. Once again in line with the researchers’ predictions, self-compassion was found to weaken the relationship between perfectionism and depression in the adult sample. What was true for teens was also true for adults later on in life.

Why it matters

It seems that more than anything, today’s culture values perfection. Parents and teachers may push us towards excellence at school, our friends may judge us by how we dress and act in their company, and perhaps worst of all, our social media accounts constantly fool us into thinking that there are people out there who actually have perfect lives.

Good news, bad news. The bad news is that we can’t completely eradicate perfectionistic thoughts. Good news is that we can try to change our relationship to those thoughts through self-compassion. If we learn to cultivate self-kindness, connection, and mindfulness as we strive toward achieving our goals, any setback we face along the way will be met with greater resilience and mental strength. As a result, we are less likely to fall victim to the debilitating effects of depression, and more likely to live a happy, balanced life.

So, as Ellen DeGeneres reminds us, always be kind to others. But before you do, be sure to look after yourself first. In this case, it’s okay to be a little selfish.

References

Ferrari, M., Yap, K., Scott, N., Einstein, D., & Ciarrochi, J. (2018). Self-compassion moderates the perfectionism and depression link in both adolescence and adulthood. PLOS ONE, 13(2), e0192022. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0192022

Hill, R., Huelsman, T., & Araujo, G. (2010). Perfectionistic concerns suppress associations between perfectionistic strivings and positive life outcomes. Personality And Individual Differences, 48(5), 584-589. doi: 10.1016/j.paid.2009.12.011

NEFF, K. (2003). The Development and Validation of a Scale to Measure Self-Compassion. Self And Identity, 2(3), 223-250. doi: 10.1080/15298860309027

Stoeber, J., & Otto, K. (2006). Positive Conceptions of Perfectionism: Approaches, Evidence, Challenges. Personality And Social Psychology Review, 10(4), 295-319. doi: 10.1207/s15327957pspr1004_2

Image via nandhukumar/Pixabay.

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Friday 25 May 2018

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How Misreading Bodily Signals Causes Anxiety

It’s 9 AM Monday morning. You’ve just pulled into work and are ready to pitch your presentation to the senior management team. Your PowerPoint slides are damn near perfect and you’ve gone over the script dozens of times. You’ve got this.

As everyone gathers in the room, you’re suddenly flooded with a hit of adrenaline. The bad kind. In a flash you become acutely aware of what your body is doing: beads of sweat forming on your brow, a dry mouth that no amount of water can fix, and a steadily increasing heart rate thumping inside your chest.

This ability to perceive the signals of your body is known as interoceptive accuracy (IAc). There are, as the example demonstrated, different psychosomatic cues that you pick up within yourself during states of anxiety. But above all, a beating heart is the hardest one to ignore.

It’s for this reason that heartbeat perception, as brain scientists call it, is a direct proxy for measuring people’s IAc and reported anxiety and stress levels.

IAc and a beating heart

Having the ability to accurately detect your own heartbeat is critical for reappraising your anxiety on a moment to moment basis. We know that anxiety is as much in the body as it is in the mind, and that a (mis)perception of a fast heart rate can easily contribute to the catastrophization of a panicked state.

It’s why some of the most effective anxiety-related therapies, like progressive muscle relaxation and deep breathing, tend to focus on muting a physiological response followed by a cognitive reappraisal technique.

Now in terms of IAc, the longstanding view was that it is an inherited trait, similar to eye color or height. Your IAc is immutable, unchanging. But now there’s new evidence suggesting that the situation matters just as much as the person: While some people may have inherently bad interoceptive ability, we can’t ignore the influence of the broader context. And this, if it turns out to be true, is a definite win for anyone looking to reverse a certain anxiety-based predisposition.

The study and findings

A team of researchers led by Martin F. Whittkamp out of the University of Luxembourg  set out to investigate just how much of a role the environment plays in determining our ability to self-reflect on accurate biofeedback.

The researchers relied on two methods to measure IAc via heartbeat perception. The first, called the counting task is simply a comparison between actual measures of your heartbeat with your self-reported measures. Another method, called the heartbeat discrimination task, measures how accurately you can rate whether or not your heartbeat is in sync with an external stimulus such as a blinking light on a computer screen.

The team in this newest study compared the results of both a heartbeat counting task and discrimination task in two conditions: a resting state and a stress state. Mental stress was induced by having participants match the color of a flashing light bulb with a corresponding button as fast and accurately as possible. If this wasn’t stressful enough, the experimenter also chimed in with a few verbal cues urging the participant to perform better so as to not ruin the entire experiment.

In addition to comparing stress state IAc with resting state IAc, the researchers also designed a number of computational models. These models aimed to measure how much of one’s interoceptive accuracy is owed to individual ability versus the situation.

The results found that about 40% of a person’s IAc can be explained by his/her individual traits, while around 30% can be explained by the changing situation, leaving the remaining 30% to measurement error.

What this says is that your ability to detect and therefore modulate your bodily responses during an anxious state is not fixed. These signals are amenable to change. You can learn to more accurately perceive your beating heart in a high-stress environment. You can apply reappraisal techniques in mitigating your anxiety.

The findings of this study have the potential to inform research on stress and anxiety management. For example, having a general idea of how much your IAc is dependent on biological predisposition could provide leeway to pharmaceutical interventions to help combat debilitating responses to stressful situations.

For now there’s therapeutic power in knowing you can improve your IAc and work towards minimizing your anxiety.

References

Feldman, G., Greeson, J., & Senville, J. (2010). Differential effects of mindful breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, and loving-kindness meditation on decentering and negative reactions to repetitive thoughts. Behaviour Research And Therapy, 48(10), 1002-1011. doi: 10.1016/j.brat.2010.06.006

Knoll, J., & Hodapp, V. (1992). A Comparison between Two Methods for Assessing Heartbeat Perception. Psychophysiology, 29(2), 218-222. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-8986.1992.tb01689.x

Richter, D., Manzke, T., Wilken, B., & Ponimaskin, E. (2003). Serotonin receptors: guardians of stable breathing. Trends In Molecular Medicine, 9(12), 542-548. doi: 10.1016/j.molmed.2003.10.010

Wittkamp, M., Bertsch, K., Vögele, C., & Schulz, A. (2018). A latent state-trait analysis of interoceptive accuracy. Psychophysiology, 55(6), e13055. doi: 10.1111/psyp.13055

Image via mohamed_hassan/Pixabay.

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Thursday 24 May 2018

Why We Don’t Remember Early Childhood?

Although early experiences are important for personal development and future life, as adults we recall nothing or very little of those early formative events, such as making first steps or learning first words. In fact, when adults are asked about their first memories they usually don’t recall events before the age of 2-3, with only fragmented recollection of events that happened between the age of 3 and 7. This phenomenon is often called childhood or infantile amnesia. It represents an inability of both children and adults to recall episodic memories (i.e., memories for particular events or stimuli that occur in a particular context) from infancy and early childhood, before the age 2-4.

Sigmund Freud was the first researcher to develop the theory of infantile amnesia, as he had observed that his patients rarely had been able to recall memories of events that took place during the first years of life. He believed that childhood memories are being repressed and thus forgotten. Still, modern theories focus on cognitive and social development as an important predictor of childhood amnesia. One possible explanation of childhood amnesia is the lack of neurological development, i.e., the development of brain parts that are in charge of storage and retrieval of episodic memories. For instance, some researchers believe that the development and functioning of the prefrontal cortex (cortex area at the front of the brain) is crucial for the creation of contextualized memories. Moreover, the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus are assumed to be crucial for the development of autobiographical memories. Importantly, these two brain structures develop around the age of 3 or 4.

The lack of neurological maturation, i.e., maturation of brain structures required for creation, storage, and recall of memories during infancy and early childhood might explain the phenomenon of childhood amnesia. According to this explanation, childhood amnesia occurs not due to the loss of memories over time (the forgetting explanation), as Freud had suggested, but rather due to the lack of storing of these memories in the first place. The lack of stored memories, according to this theory, is due to brain immaturity.

Some evidence has suggested that amnesia for events taking place in early childhood (before the age of 2) could be at least partly explained by difficulties with verbally recalling memories that were encoded before language acquisition. In line with this is the fact that the majority of words (the vocabulary) are acquired between the age of 2 years and 6 months and 4 years and 6 months. This is the time period that the earliest memories can be recalled.

Childhood amnesia seems not to be an exclusively human phenomenon. Indeed, some researchers have observed something like infantile amnesia in animals (for instance, rodents). The discovery of amnesia in animals has pointed to the possibility of investigating the underlying mechanisms of childhood amnesia, such as neurological events, by using animal models. The animal studies have addressed the importance of some parts of brain and their development in relation to the childhood amnesia. For instance, they have indicated that high rate of neurogenesis in hippocampus as observed in infancy might explain the accelerated forgetting of contextual fear memories. It seems that integrating of new neurons into the existing circuit might destabilize and weaken the existing memories.

Some researchers believe that it is unclear whether childhood amnesia occurs due to the failure of memory retrieval or failure of their storage. Forgetting might be described as a linear function of the time passing since the event. Since there is a long time span between the early events and recall in adulthood, it might be assumed that early events are simply forgotten. Still, some researchers disagree. This is because they have found that subjects recall far less memories for events occurring between the age of 6 and 7 as would be expected by simply extrapolating the forgetting curve. Thus, forgetting could not completely explain the phenomenon of childhood amnesia. This is why a neurogenic hypothesis of childhood amnesia has been developed.

According to its inventors, a neurogenic hypothesis explains childhood amnesia through the continuous adding of new neurons (neurogenesis) in the hippocampus, as already mentioned above. According to this hypothesis, high levels of postnatal neurogenesis (which occurs in both humans and some animals) in the hippocampus prevents the creation of long-lasting memories. This hypothesis has been experimentally tested in animal models (mouse and rat). The findings emerging from these models have proposed that high levels of neurogenesis jeopardize the formation of long-term memories, possibly by replacement of synapses in pre-existing memory circuits. In addition, the same findings indicate that the decline in hippocampal neurogenesis corresponds with the emerging ability to form stabile memories.

Thus, according to these animal studies, the theory of neurogenesis appears to be a logical explanation for childhood amnesia.

Although the early theory regarding the forgetting or repressing of memories might look like a good explanation of childhood amnesia, more recent findings demonstrate that something else is happening in our brain that contributes to this phenomenon. Whether this is the lack of development in some brain parts, or the continuous synthesis of new neurons, or both, remains to be further investigated. Childhood amnesia cannot be explained by simple forgetting.

References

Newcombe, N., Drummey, A., Fox, N., Lai, E., Ottinger-Alberts, W. (2000) Remembering Early Childhood: How Much, How, and Why (or Why Not). Current Directions in Psychological Science. 9 (2): 55–58.

Hayne, H., Jack, F. (2011) Childhood amnesia. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews. Cognitive Science. 2(2): 136-145. doi: 10.1002/wcs.107

Simcock, G., Hayne, H. (2003) Age-related changes in verbal and non-verbal memory during early childhood. Developmental Psychology. 39: 805–814. PMID: 12952395

Madsen, H.B., Kim, J.H. (2016) Ontogeny of memory: An update on 40 years of work on infantile amnesia. Behavioural Brain Research. 298(Pt A):  4-14. 10.1016/j.bbr.2015.07.030

Wetzler, S.E., Sweeney, J.A. (1986) Childhood amnesia: An empirical demonstration. In Autobiographical memory (ed. DC Rubin), pp. 191–201. Cambridge University Press, New York, NY.

Josselyn, S.A., Frankland, P.W. (2012) Infantile amnesia: a neurogenic hypothesis. Learning and Memory. 19(9): 423-433. doi: 10.1101/lm.021311.110

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Sunday 13 May 2018

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Thursday 10 May 2018

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Wednesday 9 May 2018

Cinema fizzy drinks contain 'concerning' bacteria levels

A BBC Watchdog investigation tested hygiene standards at Odeon, Vue and Cineworld chains. via BBC News - Health Read More Here..

David Goodall: 'I no longer want to continue life'

The Australian scientist, 104, sets out his reasons for travelling to Switzerland to voluntarily end his life. via BBC News - Health Read More Here..

Campaigner Rory McGuire highlights abuse he faced over birthmark

A young man who was bullied over his appearance is using his ordeal to help others. via BBC News - Health Read More Here..

HPV jab safe and effective, study finds

Trials show the vaccine is low risk and protects girls and young women against a virus linked to cervical cancer. via BBC News - Health Read More Here..

Tuesday 8 May 2018

Boy wakes up just before his life support was to end

A 13-year-old boy regains consciousness just after his parents signed paperwork to donate his organs. via BBC News - Health Read More Here..

Ditch cranberry juice for urine infections

There is no overwhelming evidence that it will help, says the health body NICE in new draft guidelines. via BBC News - Health Read More Here..

Nigerian authorities shut three cough syrup manufacturers

A BBC investigation showed employees illegally selling addictive cough syrup containing codeine. via BBC News - Health Read More Here..

ADHD pills 'not just for naughty boys'

More than 1.6 million prescriptions for ADHD medication were dispensed last year - double 10 years ago. via BBC News - Health Read More Here..

Can the science of autophagy boost your health?

Autophagy is being hailed as the new way to lose weight, look younger and extend your life. via BBC News - Health Read More Here..

Alabama 'miracle' boy wakes before doctors pull plug

A 13-year-old with brain trauma regains consciousness as doctors were about to end his life support. via BBC News - Health Read More Here..

Junior doctors' job offers withdrawn after blunder

Junior doctors face emotional and financial upheaval after an unacceptable error, a doctors' union says. via BBC News - Health Read More Here..

Improved mental health care funding for new mums

New and expectant mums are to benefit from improved access to mental health services in England. via BBC News - Health Read More Here..

Monday 7 May 2018

Woman with Down's contributes to Alzheimer's research

Amy is part of a Cambridge University study to find a treatment for Alzheimer's. via BBC News - Health Read More Here..

Can you make a community healthier?

Life expectancy in Fleetwood, Lancashire, is among the worst in the UK, with diseases linked to diet and drugs claiming lives. via BBC News - Health Read More Here..

Sunday 6 May 2018

Demi Lovato lyrics help woman overcome depression

Abbie Foster overcame suicidal thoughts and now helps others after being inspired by singer Demi Lovato. via BBC News - Health Read More Here..

Friday 4 May 2018

Breast screen error: 'People at the top need to admit to the problem'

Helen Jarvis has been affected by the breast cancer screening error. She said there were problems with the helpline. via BBC News - Health Read More Here..

Regular fast food eating linked to fertility issues in women

Women who eat fast food regularly and not enough fruit are more likely to struggle to conceive, a study suggests. via BBC News - Health Read More Here..

Xanax: Children as young as 11 taking anxiety drug

Children are "self-medicating" with an anxiety drug often sold to them by schoolmates, the BBC finds. via BBC News - Health Read More Here..

New peanut allergy blood test developed

Scientists say the new test avoids the risks of other tests and is more cost-efficient. via BBC News - Health Read More Here..

Thursday 3 May 2018

'It's about celebrating life - not doom and gloom'

Paul Meisak is making an online diary after being told his cancer is incurable. via BBC News - Health Read More Here..

270 women could have had 'lives shortened'

Jeremy Hunt says "there may be between 135 and 270 women who had their lives shortened as a result" of an IT problem. via BBC News - Health Read More Here..

Can traditional healers help fight HIV?

Once condemned as witch-doctors, traditional healers are now joining forces with medics in parts of rural South Africa. via BBC News - Health Read More Here..

Scientists build 'synthetic embryos'

They were made in a dish from mouse stem cells and resembled an embryo of about three days old. via BBC News - Health Read More Here..

Bath additives for child eczema ineffective, study finds

Experts say the findings suggest the NHS could better spend the £23m each year it costs for the treatment. via BBC News - Health Read More Here..

David Goodall: Scientist, 104, begins trip to end his life

David Goodall is not terminally ill but wants to die, and resents that he cannot elect to do so in Australia. via BBC News - Health Read More Here..

Wednesday 2 May 2018

'I lost 19 stone but hate my saggy skin'

Amy lost 19 stone but tells Newsbeat the excess skin she was left with is making her unhappy. via BBC News - Health Read More Here..

Tuesday 1 May 2018

Can a full Moon really affect your sleep?

One small study suggests it might be the case - but is it just another moon-based old wives' tale? via BBC News - Health Read More Here..

Jamie Oliver calls on Theresa May to act on childhood obesity

Jamie Oliver and fellow celebrity chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall are giving evidence to MPs. via BBC News - Health Read More Here..

Jamie Oliver does not ban junk food in his home

The celebrity chef says snacks like biscuits and chocolate are a "treat" in his house. via BBC News - Health Read More Here..

How your diet could influence the age of your menopause

A study finds a diet rich in oily fish may help to delay natural menopause, while carbs hasten it. via BBC News - Health Read More Here..

Menstrual cup: The people fighting pollution with plastic-free periods

Disposable tampons and menstrual pads can contain plastics and are often flushed into water systems. via BBC News - Health Read More Here..