Imagery can change activity in areas of the brain important for feeling pleasant emotions and life satisfaction.
People born at this time of year are at greater risk of depression and anxiety.
Having the genes would raise a person’s risk of all these disorders.
The synthetically produced psychedelic is derived from the venom of the Colorado River toad.
The words were linked to conditions like depression and anxiety.
The remedy reduces symptoms in people experiencing the symptoms of depression.
The remedy reduces symptoms in people experiencing the symptoms of depression.
Eating better reduces depression symptoms, new research finds.
Three common diets have similar positive effects, whether people are trying to lose weight, reduce fat or just improve the nutrients in their diet.
There is no need for a special depression-busting diet: simply eating more fruit and veg and avoiding junk food will help.
Dietary changes are particularly beneficial for women, the scientists found.
Dr Joseph Firth, the study’s first author, said:
“The overall evidence for the effects of diet on mood and mental well-being had up to now yet to be assessed.
But our recent meta-analysis has done just that; showing that adopting a healthier diet can boost people’s mood.
However, it has no clear effects on anxiety.”
The conclusions come from almost 46,000 people who were involved in every existing clinical trial looking at diet and mental health problems.
The results showed that all three types of diet — a nutrient boosting, weight loss and fat reduction diet — ease depression symptoms.
Dr Firth said:
“This is actually good news.
The similar effects from any type of dietary improvement suggests that highly-specific or specialised diets are unnecessary for the average individual.
Instead, just making simple changes is equally beneficial for mental health.
In particular, eating more nutrient-dense meals which are high in fibre and vegetables, while cutting back on fast-foods and refined sugars appears to be sufficient for avoiding the potentially negative psychological effects of a ‘junk food’ diet.”
Exercise will boost the positive effects of diet changes, said Dr Brendon Stubbs, study co-author:
“…when dietary interventions were combined with exercise, a greater improvement in depressive symptoms was experienced by people.”
It is not yet clear how diet improves mental health, said Dr Firth:
“It could be through reducing obesity, inflammation, or fatigue—all of which are linked to diet and impact upon mental health.
And further research is still required to examine the effects of dietary interventions in people with clinically-diagnosed psychiatric conditions.”
The study was published in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine (Firth et al., 2019).
The combination worked for every patient in the study.
The most effective way to tackle Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD).
Increased intake of this vitamin is particularly important for reducing depression risk.
Increased intake of this vitamin is particularly important for reducing depression risk.
A healthy diet including plenty of folates is linked to lower depression risk, research finds.
Folates include vitamin B9, folacin and folic acid.
Some of the best dietary sources of folates include:
Folate levels are particularly high in chickpeas, yeast extract, lentils and broad beans.
Losing weight is also linked to a lower risk of depression.
In contrast, eating junk food, sugar and processed foods was linked to increased depression risk by the study.
People who ate more foods like sausages, sugary snacks and drinks, manufactured foods and processed potatoes had higher depression risk.
The conclusion comes from a Finnish study of over 2,000 middle-aged men.
They were tracked for up to 20 years while their diet and mental health was monitored.
In another related study, 140 men and women were assigned to one of two groups.
One group ate a healthy diet while the other continued as normal.
The results again showed that a healthy diet including higher intake of vegetables, fruits, whole-grains and fish was linked to lower depression risk.
Increased intake of folates is particularly important.
Dr Anu Ruusunen, the study’s author, said:
“The study reinforces the hypothesis that a healthy diet has potential not only in the warding off of depression, but also in its prevention.”
The studies were published by the University of Eastern Finland (Ruusunen et al., 2013).
One family relationship can be particularly damaging for daughters.
One family relationship can be particularly damaging for daughters.
Fathers who experience postnatal depression can ‘pass on’ depression to their daughters, new research finds.
Around one-in-twenty fathers experience postnatal depression, on average.
There was no link found between fathers’ postnatal depression and their son’s depression.
It is not clear why daughters are affected, but fathers’ postnatal depression may affect family functioning, leading to conflict and maternal depression.
It could also be due to a special link between fathers and daughters during adolescence.
The conclusions come from a study of 3,176 families in the UK.
Professor Paul Ramchandani, study co-author, said:
“…we were able to follow up the young people from birth through to the age of 18, when they were interviewed about their own experience of depression.
Those young people whose fathers had been depressed back when they were born had an increased risk of depression at age 18 years.
We were also able to look at some of the ways in which depression in fathers might have affected children.
It appears that depression in fathers is linked with an increased level of stress in the whole family, and that this might be one way in which offspring may be affected.
Whilst many children will not be affected by parental depression in this way, the findings of this study highlight the importance of providing appropriate help to fathers, as well as mothers, who may experience depression.”
Mr Mark Williams, a paternal depression campaigner, said:
“In my experience of working with families, it’s sometimes only the father who is suffering in silence but sadly very few are asked about their mental health after becoming a parent.”
The study was published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry (Gutierrez-Galve et al., 2018).
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