Archive for the ‘Therapy Newton’ Category
Tuesday, September 27th, 2011
Laughing with others makes us all feel better – we experience a momentary elevation in our mood and our sense of feeling relaxed. But, scientists have long wondered why that is so. A recent series of psychological studies has illuminated some of the reasons laughter is good for us. And, our brains are behind it all.
Check out this excerpt from the NY Times. Link to full article is below.
Laughter is regularly promoted as a source of health and well being, but it has been hard to pin down exactly why laughing until it hurts feels so good.
The answer, reports Robin Dunbar, an evolutionary psychologist at Oxford, is not the intellectual pleasure of cerebral humor, but the physical act of laughing. The simple muscular exertions involved in producing the familiar ha, ha, ha, he said, trigger an increase in endorphins, the brain chemicals known for their feel-good effect.
His results build on a long history of scientific attempts to understand a deceptively simple and universal behavior. “Laughter is very weird stuff, actually,” Dr. Dunbar said. “That’s why we got interested in it.” And the findings fit well with a growing sense that laughter contributes to group bonding and may have been important in the evolution of highly social humans.
Social laughter, Dr. Dunbar suggests, relaxed and contagious, is “grooming at a distance,” an activity that fosters closeness in a group the way one-on-one grooming, patting and delousing promote and maintain bonds between individual primates of all sorts.
In five sets of studies in the laboratory and one field study at comedy performances, Dr. Dunbar and colleagues tested resistance to pain both before and after bouts of social laughter. The pain came from a freezing wine sleeve slipped over a forearm, an ever tightening blood pressure cuff or an excruciating ski exercise.
The findings, published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, eliminated the possibility that the pain resistance measured was the result of a general sense of well being rather than actual laughter. And, Dr. Dunbar said, they also provided a partial answer to the ageless conundrum of whether we laugh because we feel giddy or feel giddy because we laugh.
“The causal sequence is laughter triggers endorphin activation,” he said. What triggers laughter is a question that leads into a different labyrinth.
Robert R. Provine, a neuroscientist at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and the author of “Laughter: A Scientific Investigation,” said he thought the study was “a significant contribution” to a field of study that dates back 2,000 years or so.
via Laughter Produces Endorphins, Study Finds – NYTimes.com.
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Wednesday, September 14th, 2011
An interesting new report indicates that 1/4 of all U.S. employees are not getting enough sleep and the result is reduced productivity at work. Poor sleep doesn’t appear to result in absenteeism so much as mental absenteeism – we just can’t think as well or perform as well when we are tired. The study estimated that workers lose more than 11 days worth of productivity to poor sleep.
While the study did not address college students directly, other research has shown that college students have poor sleep habits and often don’t sleep enough, which also likely results in diminished academic performance. Staying up to do school work might help in the short run but in the long term might actually reduce academic performance.
Sometimes stress, anxiety or depression can be the cause of underlying sleep problems. If you are struggling with any of these issues, help is available. Many psychologists specialize in treating these conditions and some even specialize in treating sleep disorders.
Excerpts from report:
Insomnia is costing the average U.S. worker 11.3 days, or $2,280, in lost productivity every year, according to a new study. As a nation, the total cost is $63.2 billion.
“We were shocked by the enormous impact insomnia has on the average person’s life,” said lead author Ronald Kessler, a psychiatric epidemiologist and professor of health care policy at Harvard Medical School. “It’s an underappreciated problem. Americans are not missing work because of insomnia. They are still going to their jobs but accomplishing less because they’re tired. In an information-based economy, it’s difficult to find a condition that has a greater effect on productivity.”
These findings appear in the Sept. 1 issue of the journal Sleep.
The results were computed from a national sampling of 7,428 employees, part of the larger American Insomnia Study (AIS), which was led by Kessler and funded by Sanofi-Aventis Groupe. Participants were asked about sleep habits and work performance, among other things.
via Wake-up call | Harvard Gazette.
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Monday, September 5th, 2011
Enjoy this long Labor Day weekend – research shows that the time off will not only make you more productive at work but also improved mental health. Small breaks at work or long vacations – either way it’s good for you and good for business. Check out the interesting article below (while you are on vacation).
Excerpt:
Just as small breaks improve concentration, long breaks replenish job performance. Vacation deprivation increases mistakes and resentment at co-workers, Businessweek reported in 2007. “The impact that taking a vacation has on ones mental health is profound,” said Francine Lederer, a clinical psychologist in Los Angeles specializing told ABC News. “Most people have better life perspective and are more motivated to achieve their goals after a vacation, even if it is a 24-hour time-out.”
The bottom line is that breaks are better for our brains than overtime. Where you get your break — from an hour on blogs, a day in the park, or a week golfing at Marthas Vineyard — doesnt matter so much as that you get it. If you care about your own productivity, dont be afraid to goof off online. And if you care about decision-making at the national level, tune out the critics and root for your presidents golf game.
via Why Summer Vacations and the Internet Make You More Productive – Derek Thompson – Business – The Atlantic.
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Tuesday, August 30th, 2011
A new study suggests that consuming chocolate might have health benefits including reduced cardiac problems and lower risk of stroke. While the findings are positive, more research needs to be done. And, eating too much chocolate with corresponding high caloric intake probably wouldn’t be good for people. But, for all of you chocolate lovers out there, this might be good news for your health.
If you would like to learn to eat healthier, CPA recently added nutrition counseling services. We believe nutrition and physical health are an important part of good mental health. Check out information on our new nutritionist, Laura Foresta.
Excerpts from Article:
In a city renowned for its love of food, it is only fitting that researchers presented the results of a new study in Paris, France, showing that chocolate is good for the heart and brain. In a presentation at the European Society of Cardiology ESC 2011 Congress, British investigators are reporting that individuals who ate the most chocolate had a 37% lower risk of cardiovascular disease and a 29% lower risk of stroke compared with individuals who ate the least amount of chocolate.
In the study, published online August 29, 2011 in BMJ to coincide with the ESC presentation, Dr Adriana Buitrago-Lopez University of Cambridge, UK and colleagues state: “Although overconsumption can have harmful effects, the existing studies generally agree on a potential beneficial association of chocolate consumption with a lower risk of cardiometabolic disorders. Our findings confirm this, and we found that higher levels of chocolate consumption might be associated with a one-third reduction in the risk of developing cardiovascular disease.”
Read full article: Chocolate Good for the Heart and Brain.
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Friday, August 26th, 2011
Obesity is associated with deadly illnesses including diabetes, heart disease and stroke. Unfortunately, Western diets and lifestyles that include little exercise are causing alarming increases in obesity. Help is available. One can work with a nutritionist to learn healthier eating habits and can work with psychologists and health psychologists to change behaviors and habits that contribute to an unhealthy lifestyle. If you need help living a healthier life, don’t wait another day, get help and start feeling better.
Excerpt from article:
If rates of obesity continue to follow the current trends, half of the United States population will suffer from obesity within the next two decades. With projections that the number of obese people in America will climb from 99 million in 2008 to 164 million by 2030, obesity-related diseases and health care costs are expected to soar. The disturbing information come from a new report recently published in the journal The Lancet.
According to Claire Wang, assistant professor of health policy and management at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health and lead author of the study “At the rate we’re looking at right now, it’s a dire prediction. Something has to be done.”
The report, second in a series of articles on obesity published in the journal, projects that the number of obese people in the United Kingdom will rise to almost double from 15 million to 26 million in the next 19 years. Rates of obesity in both the U.S. and U.K. have already become the highest among all 34 member nations of the Organization for Economic Development and Cooperation OECD.
Read More: Obesity in America Projected to Affect 164 Million by 2030.
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Thursday, August 11th, 2011
Making friends at work and having a friendly, supportive workplace can help you live longer. Where you work and who you work with can have significant effects on your overall health and well-being, according to a recent study published in “Health Psychology.” Check out the excerpt below to learn more. And, if you’re stressed out from an unfriendly workplace, stress management counseling might also be helpful.
Excerpts:
Researchers at Tel Aviv University found that people who felt that they had the support of their colleagues and generally positive social interactions at work were less likely to die over a 20-year period than those who reported a less friendly work environment. Over all, people who believed they had little or no emotional support in the workplace were 2.4 times as likely to die during the course of the study compared with the workers who developed stronger bonds with their peers in other cubicles.
[Between 1998 and 2008], 53 of the [820] workers taking part [in the study] had died; most of them had cast their work support networks in a negative light. Though correlation doesn’t equal causation and it is difficult to tie the causes of those deaths to specific factors in such a study, the researchers discovered some findings that surprised them.
One thing they noticed was that the risk was only affected by a person’s relationship with his or her peers, and not with that person’s supervisors. The way people viewed their relationships with their bosses had no impact on mortality.
In an age in which many people interact with colleagues only through electronic communication, Dr. Toker said she believed many companies could foster more socially supportive workplaces by encouraging face-to-face exchanges. Among the ways of doing that, she said, are holding regular social outings for employees, designating “coffee corners” where people can chat over breaks and creating peer-assistance programs that allow workers to discuss issues or problems in confidence.
To view the full article visit: Friendly Workplace Linked to Longer Life – NYTimes.com.
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Friday, August 5th, 2011
A form of cognitive behavioral therapy that specifically addresses ruminations has been shown to be more effective than medication-only treatment for treating persistent depression. The new approach to CBT helped reduce relapse rates for depression.
Excerpt:
Adding rumination-focused cognitive behavior therapy CBT to standard treatment can decrease persistent depression, new research suggests.
Depressive rumination was defined as “repetitive thinking about the causes, meanings, and implications of depressed feelings, symptoms, problems, and upsetting events.” Rumination-focused CBT is designed to shift these negative thoughts to constructive rumination. It differs from standard CBT because it focuses on directly modifying the process of thinking.
In a phase 2 randomized controlled trial RCT of 42 patients with residual depression, those receiving up to 12 sessions of the combined therapy showed significantly improved symptoms, increased remission rates, and decreased relapse rates compared with those receiving treatment as usual (TAU) only.
“The key messages are that rumination might be a maintaining factor in residual depression and that adding a psychological treatment for rumination to antidepressant medication produces significant improvements in this hard-to-treat group,” lead study author Edward R. Watkins, PhD, professor of Experimental and Applied Clinical Psychology and cofounder of the Mood Disorders Center at the University of Exeter, United Kingdom, told Medscape Medical News.
To read a more detailed account see: CBT Cuts Relapse Rates in Persistent Depression.
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Tuesday, July 19th, 2011
New research shows that living a healthier lifestyle may help prevent Alzheimer’s disease. We already know that lifestyle choices can have a significant impact on our health and emotional well-being. This study shows that there are things we can do in our daily lives to prevent deterioration in our brain functioning later in life.
If you need help making lifestyle changes to improve your health and psychological well being, health psychologists may able to help. Or, if you are worried that you or a loved one might have Alzheimer’s disease, neuropsychological testing might be helpful. Contact us today to learn more.
Excerpt about research:
More than half of Alzheimers cases globally could be prevented if modifiable risk factors such as depression, obesity and smoking were eliminated, either with lifestyle changes or treatment of underlying conditions, new research suggests.
Even reducing the level of risk factors by a modest amount could prevent millions of cases of the memory-robbing illness, the researchers said. For example, a 25 percent reduction in seven common risk factors — including low education, obesity and smoking — could prevent up to 3 million Alzheimers cases around the world and up to half a million in the United States alone, the study found.
Click here to read: Lifestyle Changes Might Prevent Millions of Cases of Alzheimers – US News and World Report.
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Wednesday, July 6th, 2011
A new article highlights the negative impact that exposure to noise has on cognitive development and health. Noise decreases learning among children who attend schools near trains and airports. Exposure to noise also increases blood pressure and is related to cardiac problems. The following is an excerpt from a recent article about the problem. A link to the full article is at the end of the excerpt.
Excerpt:
We’ve all been annoyed by a neighbor’s late-night partying or early-morning lawn mowing. But it turns out that living in a noisy neighborhood — particularly one plagued by train horns blaring or airplanes overhead — is more than exasperating. It might actually be deadly, according to a report released in April by the World Health Organization and the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre.
A steady exposure to “noise pollution,” the report concludes, may lead to higher blood pressure and fatal heart attacks. The report analyzed a large number of epidemiological studies, most of which were conducted in Europe.
The report also confirmed what several psychologists have known for decades: Chronic noise impairs a child’s development and may have a lifelong effect on educational attainment and overall health. Numerous studies now show that children exposed to households or classrooms near airplane flight paths, railways or highways are slower in their development of cognitive and language skills and have lower reading scores.
“There is overwhelming evidence that exposure to environmental noise has adverse effects on the health of the population,” the report concludes, citing children as particularly vulnerable to the effects of chronic urban and suburban racket.
As air traffic increases worldwide and politicians consider building noise-producing wind turbines in more residential neighborhoods see “Noise isnt always loud”, the negative effects of noise will only continue to grow unless more is done to abate it, says environmental psychologist Arline Bronzaft, PhD, of the City University of New York. Her now-classic study from the 1970s was among the first to report the harmful effects of subway noise on children’s learning, and she has advised four New York City mayors on noise policy. New noise research in the United State has been scarce, however, since nearly 30 years ago federal funding for noise pollution research was cut after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Noise Abatement and Control was eliminated during the Reagan administration.
Still, Bronzaft says, as a matter of public health, psychologists must continue to stay involved in efforts to reduce environmental noise.
“Noise is a psychological phenomenon,” says Bronzaft, a contributor to the book “Why Noise Matters” 2011. “While the ear picks up the sound waves and sends it to the temporal lobe for interpretation, it’s the higher senses of the brain that determine whether that sound is unwanted, unpleasant or disturbing, and that’s why psychologists need to be heavily involved in this issue.”
Read full article at: Silence, please.
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Wednesday, May 18th, 2011
A New Gauge to See What’s Beyond Happiness
By JOHN TIERNEY
Is happiness overrated?
Martin Seligman now thinks so, which may seem like an odd position for the founder of the positive psychology movement. As president of the American Pyschological Association in the late 1990s, he criticized his colleagues for focusing relentlessly on mental illness and other problems. He prodded them to study life’s joys, and wrote a best seller in 2002 titled “Authentic Happiness.”
But now he regrets that title. As the investigation of happiness proceeded, Dr. Seligman began seeing certain limitations of the concept. Why did couples go on having children even though the data clearly showed that parents are less happy than childless couples? Why did billionaires desperately seek more money even when there was nothing they wanted to do with it?
And why did some people keep joylessly playing bridge? Dr. Seligman, an avid player himself, kept noticing them at tournaments. They never smiled, not even when they won. They didn’t play to make money or make friends.
They didn’t savor that feeling of total engagement in a task that psychologists call flow. They didn’t take aesthetic satisfaction in playing a hand cleverly and “winning pretty.” They were quite willing to win ugly, sometimes even when that meant cheating.“
They wanted to win for its own sake, even if it brought no positive emotion,” says Dr. Seligman, a professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania. “They were like hedge fund managers who just want to accumulate money and toys for their own sake. Watching them play, seeing them cheat, it kept hitting me that accomplishment is a human desiderata in itself.”
This feeling of accomplishment contributes to what the ancient Greeks called eudaimonia, which roughly translates to “well-being” or “flourishing,” a concept that Dr. Seligman has borrowed for the title of his new book, “Flourish.” He has also created his own acronym, Perma, for what he defines as the five crucial elements of well-being, each pursued for its own sake: positive emotion, engagement the feeling of being lost in a task, relationships, meaning and accomplishment.“
Well-being cannot exist just in your own head,” he writes. “Well-being is a combination of feeling good as well as actually having meaning, good relationships and accomplishment.”
Read article at: A New Gauge Helps to See What’s Beyond Happiness – NYTimes.com.
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