“I am no better in mind than in body; both alike are sick and I suffer double hurt.” — Ovid
People with depression and anxiety who need to boost their risk-taking behaviours could benefit, the researchers think.
People with depression and anxiety who need to boost their risk-taking behaviours could benefit, the researchers think.
Sucking on a lemon could help you take more risks in life, psychological research finds.
Sour tastes, like those in oranges, lemons and many other foods, boost people’s risk-taking behaviours.
The effects could last at least 20 minutes after consuming the sour food, probably longer.
People with depression and anxiety who need to boost their risk-taking behaviours could benefit, the researchers think.
For someone who is anxious, leaving the house can require considerable courage.
Dr Chi Thanh Vi, the study’s first author, explained:
“Risk-taking can mean different things for different people; for some that is jumping out of a plane at 30,000 feet but for others it can be simply leaving the house.
But while it may have negative connotations for some, risk taking is actually one of the primary behaviours that leads to a happier life.”
On the other hand, those who need to avoid taking risks — like airline pilots — might benefit from less sour food in their diet.
Dr Marianna Obrist, study co-author, said:
“Our research indicates that sour does not provoke people to indulge in reckless risky habits, but does have unique attributes to modulate risk-taking and may encourage risk-averse people to take new opportunities.
This is supported by previous work which indicated that people suffering psychiatric disorders such as depression, anxiety, or stress-related disorders could benefit from the use of lemon oils which also had stress-reducing qualities.”
For the study, 168 people were given drinks flavoured with each of the five main taste groups: sour, sweet, bitter, salty and umami.
They were then given a test of risk-taking that involved pumping up a balloon.
The more they pumped it up, the more money won, but also the higher the chance it would pop and they would lose everything.
People who drank a sour solution did the most pumping, followed by salty, bitter, umami and sweet.
Dr Vi said:
“We don’t know exactly what happens within the brain that controls this type of behaviour and it is something we would now like to pursue further.
We know what happens in the brain when people have a certain taste and we know what happens when someone decides a certain course of action but what is missing is tracking the neural pathway to show how taste can affect that decision-making process.
It could be that by taking that first bite of something sour we are already exhibiting some risk-taking behaviour to eat fruit which might not be quite right.”
The study was published in the journal Scientific Reports (Vi et al., 2018).
A hopeful message for social anxiety sufferers about their friendships.
A change to the daily routine that may help fight unwanted negative thoughts.
A quick way to reduce the brain’s automatic response to threat.
Higher risk of depression and anxiety from this parental behaviour.
Higher risk of depression and anxiety from this parental behaviour.
People with critical parents pay less attention to the emotions on other people’s faces, researchers have found.
Looking at and reading emotional expression in other people’s faces helps us build rewarding relationships.
Avoiding these expressions could help to explain how critical parenting can lead to depression and anxiety in later life, since relationships are so critical to well-being.
Ms Kiera James, the study’s first author, said:
“These findings suggest that children with a critical parent might avoid paying attention to faces expressing any type of emotion.
This behavior might affect their relationships with others and could be one reason why children exposed to high levels of criticism are at risk for things like depression and anxiety.”
The results come from a study in which parents talked to their 7 to 11-year-old children for five minutes.
The researchers looked to see how much criticism there was in this segment.
Subsequently, children subject to more criticism avoided looking at pictures of faces showing any type of emotional expression.
Ms James said:
“We know from previous research that people have a tendency to avoid things that make them uncomfortable, anxious, or sad because such feelings are aversive.
We also know that children with a critical parent are more likely to use avoidant coping strategies when they are in distress than children without a critical parent.
Given this research, and our findings that children with a critical parent pay less attention to all emotional facial expressions than children without a critical parent, one possible explanation is that the children with a critical parent avoid looking at any facial expressions of emotion.
This may help them avoid exposure to critical expressions, and, by extension, the aversive feelings they might associate with parental criticism.
That said, it may also prevent them from seeing positive expressions from others.”
The study was published in the Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology (James et al., 2018).
Rather than depression and anxiety being normalised over the last half century, they have been pathologised.
Anxiety affects around one-third of adolescents in the US.
Anxiety affects around one-third of adolescents in the US.
Biofeedback, mindfulness, yoga and hypnosis all provide promising mind-body approaches to treating anxiety, research finds.
The standard treatments for anxiety are cognitive-behavioural therapy and/or medication.
However, these treatments can be difficult to obtain, expensive and, in the case of medication, involving significant side-effects.
Mind-body approaches, though, are often cheaper, accessible and usually with no side-effects.
The researchers identified studies on adolescents that supported the use of:
Yoga in particular has seen a massive rise in popularity in recent years, the study’s authors write:
“Low in cost, easy to implement, and accessible to individuals of all physical fitness levels, yoga has become an increasingly popular anxiety management tool.”
Anxiety affects around one-third of adolescents in the US.
Almost one-in-ten adolescents experience anxiety severe enough to disrupt their lives.
The study’s authors write:
“Whereas anxiety and fear are typical reactions to the academic, social, and developmental challenges common during the adolescent years, clinical or pathological anxiety is excessive, persistent, and disruptive.”
Most adolescents do not receive any treatment.
Ms Fulweiler and Dr John write:
“A growing body of evidence supports the implementation of mind-body therapy as a low-risk and cost-effective strategy in the management of anxious teenagers.
[…]Mind-body therapies encompass self-regulation and positive thinking…to help promote self-control, physical health, and emotional well-being.”
The study was published in the journal The Nurse Practitioner (Fulweiler & John, 2018).
Are these common ways of dealing with everyday failures helping or hindering?
Almost half of females had an anxiety disorder along with just over a quarter of males.
Almost half of females had an anxiety disorder along with just over a quarter of males.
There are specific signs that a child will go on to develop an anxiety disorder, a study finds.
These include a tendency to do things alone, crying easily and often and frequently appearing sad and miserable.
All these behaviours are related to being socially and emotionally withdrawn.
In contrast, being shy, submissive or fearful of authority figures or people in general does not predict adult anxiety disorders.
Mr Nathan Monk, the study’s first author, said:
“Basically, what we have found is that childhood anxious behaviors related to social isolation and sadness appear to carry risk for developing an anxiety disorder in later life.
In contrast, behaviors related to situational fears and anxiety around adults do not appear to carry the same risk.”
The study tracked over 1,000 children born in Christchurch, New Zealand for over four decades.
It found surprisingly high levels of anxiety, with almost half of females having an anxiety disorder along with just over a quarter of males.
Dr Kat Donovan, study co-author, said:
“This research reinforces the importance of actively developing social skills and skills in managing emotions, especially in the first 1,000 days of a child’s life where parents and whānau (a Māori word for extended family) play a key role.”
She continued:
“All tamariki (Māori children) experience anxiety at a certain stage but it only causes concern when it disrupts their development and reduces educational and emotional learning opportunities.”
Dr Donovan has some advice for parents of anxious children:
“It’s tough for parents and whānau to see their child in distress but it’s important they help them tolerate their feelings and not avoid them, by encouraging them to be in situations which are challenging and providing them with opportunities to be exposed to those situations.
However, if they don’t feel they have the skills to cope with certain behaviors they should seek out parenting courses or professional support.”
The study was published in the journal Psychological Medicine (Monk et al., 2021).
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