Image Copyright: Taylor Dawn Fortune

At certain periods in life, living with a person who uses maladaptive thinking styles increases your risk of depression. Fortunately, the opposite is also true.

Trying to avoid depression? Well be careful who you live with…

Certain thinking styles increase your risk for depression. For example, people who blame themselves for negative and stressful events beyond their control and those who imagine they have little control over their fate are at greater risk of depression than people with more adaptive thinking styles.

• At certain periods of life, such as when we first attend university, we are strongly influenced by our peers and research shows that we even tend to adopt some of the thinking styles of those around us.
• So if you get close to a person who makes use of thinking strategies that increase the risk of depression, you are more likely to also experience an increased depression risk.

The Study

Once past adolescence, most people don’t change their thinking strategies much – you’re just either a glass half-empty kind of person, or you’re not.

But in times of major transition, such as when moving away from home for the first time to a university dorm room, do such thinking styles then become contagious?

That’s what researchers at the University of Notre Dame wanted to know, and to find out they enlisted 103 pairs of randomly assigned college roommates to participate in a study.

• Each student was given a questionnaire to fill out within a month of arriving on campus and then two more, at 3 and 6 months later.
• The questionnaires measured for cognitive vulnerability to depression and indices of depression

The Results

• Students who got randomly assigned a roommate with maladaptive thinking styles (someone who was at risk of developing depression) were likely to ‘catch’ some of this negative thinking, and you could see this increase in cognitive vulnerability at both 3 and 6 months.
• Conversely, students with higher vulnerability scores assigned to live with students exhibiting very little negative thinking actually reduced their risk of depression by 3 and 6 months of co-habitation
• Students who ‘caught’ negative thinking patterns by 3 months exhibited twice the level of depressive symptoms by 6 months as students who had not increased their negative thinking patterns.

Discussion

The study authors write, "Our findings suggest that it may be possible to use an individual's social environment as part of the intervention process, either as a supplement to existing cognitive interventions or possibly as a stand-alone intervention. Surrounding a person with others who exhibit an adaptive cognitive style should help to facilitate cognitive change in therapy."

Image Copyright: Viewminder

Researchers say that not only do random acts of kindness make us feel happier; they can also reduce the severity of social anxiety disorder symptoms.

Researchers at UBC say simple acts of kindness produce big happiness rewards and seem to alleviate some of the distress associated with conditions like social anxiety disorder.

The Study

A pool of socially anxious study subjects were split into three groups

1. Researchers instructed subjects from the first group to engage in multiple small acts of kindness, like buying someone a small gift or cup of coffee or offering a co-worker a ride, two days per week for four weeks
2. Subjects in the second group received belief challenging (CBT) instruction and exercises, two days per week, for four weeks
3. A third group received no therapy or instructions to engage in random acts of kindness

The Results

Subjects in the acts of kindness group experienced increased levels of positive mood that lasted over the entire four weeks of the study period. Subjects in the other two groups experienced no equivalent increase in positive mood.

Only subjects in the acts of kindness group also reported decreased social avoidance and increased relationship satisfaction

Read the full study results in the journal Emotion 

Why Do Acts of Kindness Improve Mental Health?

According to the Mental Health Foundation, some reasons why acts of kindness increase mental health include:

• They distract us from our own problems and help us keep a sense of perspective
• They help us feel grateful for what we have
• They get us more socially engaged and involved
• They improve our self esteem and feelings of competence
• Memories of your act of kindness produce feelings of happiness that last for long after the act is completed
• Positive acts reduce stress and negativity (such as anger and frustration)

Image Copyright: Zalouk Webdesign

For people already predisposed to mental illness (people with mental illness in the immediate family, for example) experiencing stress during adolescence likely increases the risk of experiencing mental illness as an adult.

Could teen angst cause adult schizophrenia, major depression and other serious mental illnesses?

Well if people are anything like mice (and apparently we are) for people already predisposed to mental illness, experiencing stress while a teen greatly increases the odds of developing full-blown mental illness as an adult.

The Experiment

John Hopkins Medical School researchers started off with a group of mice that had a genetic predisposition to serious mental illness.

• Half of the mice served as a control group, and were raised through adolescence as normal
• The other half served as the experimental group. During adolescence, these mice were placed in isolation for 3 weeks (Inducing stress)

The Results

• The mice that were stressed during adolescence were far more likely to exhibit symptoms of mental illness in adulthood than the mice that were raised as normal to adulthood.
• When the researchers examined the brains of the experimental mice they found that mice exposed to stress during adolescence had higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol and lower levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine in areas of the brain related to higher order brain function, like emotional regulation and thinking.
• To see if it was cortisol that was causing the reduction in dopamine, the researchers then chemically blocked cortisol transmission. This caused dopamine levels to normalize.

The Significance

Commenting on the significance of the research, the study authors point out that:

1. Gaining an understanding of the biological causes of elevated cortisol levels in the brain may help in the development of medications to control stress hormone levels and treat certain mental illnesses.
2. To prevent mental illness, we need to do a better job of protecting people already predisposed to mental illness from stress during adolescence, for example, by protecting children growing up in families with mental illness from experiencing neglect.

Read the full study results in Science.

Image Copyright: S. Diddy

In a study which shows an association, but no causality – researchers find that people who drink 4 or more cans of diet soda per day are 31% more likely to get depression than people who do not drink sweetened beverages.

Do diet sodas and fruit drinks cause depression?

Well, researchers presenting findings at the American Academy of Neurology’s 65th Annual Meeting in San Diego later this year won’t go as far as saying that, but they do say that there’s a noteworthy linkage between increased diet drink consumption and an increased prevalence of depression.

More coffee drinking, by the way, seems to slightly lower a person’s risk of depression.

The Study

• NIH researchers polled more than 250 000, 50 to 71 year old study subjects about their drinking habits during 1995 and 1996.
• 10 years later, researchers followed up with all subjects to find out how many had been diagnosed with depression since the year 2000.

The Results

• 11 311 of the 263 925 subjects had been diagnosed with depression

Compared to people who did not regularly drink sweetened drinks:

• People who drank 4 or more cans of diet soda per day were 31% more likely to have been diagnosed with depression (People who drank 4 or more cans of regular soda were 22% more likely)
• People who drank 4 or more cans of diet fruit drinks per day were 51% more likely to have been diagnosed with depression

People who drank 4 or more cups of coffee per day were 10% less likely than non coffee drinkers to have been diagnosed with depression.

The Commentary

The researchers state, "Our research suggests that cutting out or down on sweetened diet drinks or replacing them with unsweetened coffee may naturally help lower your depression risk More research is needed to confirm these findings, and people with depression should continue to take depression medications prescribed by their doctors."

They also stress that that although results show an association between sweetened drinks and an increased incidence rate of depression – there is no way of knowing from this study whether consumption of sweetened drinks causes an increased depression risk.

As an alternate theory, some experts have suggested that depression may lead to increased cravings for sweetened foods and drink s and this is a more plausible explanation for the association than suggestions that sweetened drinks might cause depression in some way.

Image Copyright: PhotoSteve101

Unwanted negative thoughts – researchers say you can eliminate their power by writing them down on paper and then throwing that paper in a trash can.

It sounds a bit silly – almost too simplistic – but according to Ohio State University researchers, it really works…

To eliminate bothersome negative thoughts, all you have to do is write them down on a piece of paper, and then crumple that paper up and throw it in the nearest trash can.

When people write down and then physically throw out unwanted thoughts these thoughts are much less likely to influence future judgments. Conversely, when people write out a thought and keep it safe – in a wallet for example – the thought takes on greater importance and has much greater influence over future judgments.

The Study

Researchers asked 283 study subjects to write down either positive or negative thoughts about the Mediterranean diet.

After writing thoughts on paper:

1. Some subjects were instructed to throw the paper out in a trash can
2. Some subjects were instructed to file the paper away at their desk
3. Some subjects were instructed to fold the paper and place it safely in a pocket, wallet or purse

Subjects were then asked to explain how they felt about the diet and asked whether they intended to make use of the dietary plan.

The Results

Among students who had been instructed to write negative thoughts about the diet:

• Those who had thrown their thoughts away were least critical of the diet, followed by those who filed their thoughts away at a desk. Those who had kept their negative thoughts closest - in a pocket, wallet or purse - were most critical of the diet and least likely to report wanting to try it out at home.

Among students who had been instructed to write positive thoughts about the diet:

• Those who had thrown away their papers were least impressed by the diet, followed by those who had filed their papers away at their desks. Those who had kept their papers closest were most impressed by the diet and most likely to report wanting to try the diet at home.

The Significance

Writing a thought down and throwing it away reduces its power while keeping that thought safe and accessible amplifies its influence.

Commentary

According to lead author Richard Petty, "However you tag your thoughts -- as trash or as worthy of protection -- seems to make a difference in how you use those thoughts…by physically throwing away or protecting your thoughts, you influence how you end up using those thoughts. Merely imagining engaging in these actions has no effect.”

Image Copyright: wvs

Penn State researchers say you can improve your sense of well-being and life satisfaction by exercising just a little bit harder or for just a little bit longer than you normally do.

Would you invest a few more sweaty minutes of exercise each day for a pay-off of substantially improved life satisfaction?

Scientists say that you have more control over your well-being than you probably realize, and that one of the best ways to enhance your sense of life satisfaction is by exercising for a few extra minutes each day.

The Experiment

Penn State University researchers recruited 190, 18-25 year old study subjects to participate in a life satisfaction experiment.

For 8 to 14 days, study subjects answered questions on a daily basis about life satisfaction at the moment, recent physical activity, self esteem and other variables.

The Results

After controlling for variables that could influence life satisfaction, such as depression, anxiety, stress, a high body mass index and fatigue, the research team found that exercise was significantly correlated to improved life satisfaction.

Subjects reported feeling greater life satisfaction on days with more physical activity and feeling less satisfied on more sedentary days.

Subjects reported the largest bump in life satisfaction on days when they exercised harder or for a few minutes longer than normal.

Commentary

The study authors say governments looking to boost macro-level mental health need to consider public health polices which encourage physical activity - and at the individual level, anyone wanting to feel a bit better about life ought to try sweating it out for a few extra minutes each day.

Read the full research findings in Health Psychology.

Image Copyright: Martin Cathrae

Researchers say that people who eat more fruits and vegetables, up to a cap at 7 servings per day, are happier and have fewer mental health problems

Eat more fruits and veggies and be happier?

Well, maybe so - researchers at the University of Warwick and Dartmouth College can’t explain why, but after looking at the dietary habits of some 80 000 people in the UK they can say that on average, people that eat more fruits and vegetables are happier individuals.

The Study

The researchers analyzed data from a large sample of study subjects to see how eating fruits and vegetables affected mental health and happiness.

For the data, the researchers accessed three cross sectional health surveys of approximately 80 000 randomly selected citizens of the UK. Each health survey provided information on dietary habits and on happiness and well-being factors, such as life satisfaction, mental well-being, presence of mental disorders, nervousness, low feelings and self reported health and happiness.

The Results

• Even after controlling for confounding variables related to socioeconomic advantage they found that people get happier as they eat more fruits and vegetables.
• Happiness and well-being increases in a dose dependent manor as people eat more fruits and vegetables, until it peaks at 7 servings per day (a single serving = 80 grams of raw fruit or vegetables)
• Although many governments recommend 5 portions per day to reduce cancer and cardiovascular disease risk, in the UK about a quarter of the population eat 1 or fewer portions of fruit or vegetables per day and only 10% consumed 7 or more portions per day.

Commentary

The authors call for future research to investigate how and why eating more vegetables has such a strong influence on well-being, stating, “Human beings, like all animals, are fueled by the food and liquid they consume. Yet the literature on well-being has largely ignored the nature of people’s diets….there seem grounds here for the funding of randomized trials to explore the consequences for mental health of different levels of fruit-and-vegetable consumption.”

Image Copyright: Splityarn

After sifting through the data from a huge study, English researchers say phone-based cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) works as well as in person therapy for people with mild to moderate depression and anxiety.

Fast acting cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a proven effective intervention for people suffering from depression and anxiety.

But though it works well, therapy sessions can be expensive, people in rural areas may find it hard to find a trained practitioner and people with mobility impairments may have difficulty traveling to an office for therapy sessions.

Given these barriers to access, researchers in England wondered if CBT sessions over the phone might be a reasonable, and cheaper, alternative to face to face therapy sessions.

The Experiment

To find out, researchers looked at a naturalistic population sample of over 39 000 people in England who had been referred to get depression or anxiety treatment. Subjects from this sample pool were assessed and then randomly assigned to receive either in-person CBT or CBT delivered over the phone.

Before each CBT session, subjects were asked to fill out a questionnaire rating their anxiety and depressive symptoms.

Neither the therapists nor the subjects knew of their participation in a research study.

The Results

• Both phone based CBT and in-person CBT helped subjects improve their social functioning and decreased their symptoms of anxiety and or depression.
• Although in-person CBT proved more effective for people with severe symptoms, people with mild to moderate depression and anxiety did equally well in both treatment groups.

Discussion

Commenting on the implications of their research, the study authors note, “For most, CBT delivered over-the-telephone is a cost-effective and probably convenient option...In a global context, the potential is enormous for spreading access to effective psychological therapies to the millions of people affected by depression and anxiety. As the availability of mobile phone technology in low and middle income countries grows, people now have the potential of having a therapist in their pocket, transcending traditional barriers to the receipt of effective treatments.”

Read the full study results in PlOSOne

Image Copyright: Alan Cleaver

Researchers say mental outlook has a great influence on overall health. People who believe in fate or luck are more likely to binge drink, overeat and smoke cigarettes while people who believe their choices matter tend to adopt healthier lifestyle habits.

After sifting through data on more than 7000 people who contributed to the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia study, researchers in Melbourne think they’ve stumbled upon an important point about what it takes to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Believe that your actions influence your future and you’re more likely to live in a way that safeguards that future. Believe more in fate, chance or destiny and you’re more likely to avoid exercise, smoke cigarettes, overeat and binge drink.

The researchers also say that men and women seem to have different motivations for healthier living. While women appreciate the day to day benefits of a healthier lifestyle, men are more focused on achieving demonstrable physical results from their lifestyle choices.

Commentary

The researchers conclude that doctors and other professionals who hope to change a patient’s behavior need to provide more than basic information, they also need to look at the patient’s personality as a way to understand the ‘psychological underpinnings’ of poor lifestyle choices.

Image Copyright: Mishadenisov

Sleeping while exposed to low levels of artificial light, like from a TV or computer screen in a darkened room, likely increases your risk of depression, as well as obesity and certain cancers.

Researchers say overnight exposure to low levels of artificial light – like from a TV or computer monitor in a darkened room – likely increases your risk for depression.

And even staying up late at the computer or in front of the TV might elevate your odds of the disorder.

The Study

Researchers at Ohio State University separated a group of female hamsters into two study groups.

1. The first group lived in an environment with 16 hours of full light and 8 hours of darkness
2. The second group lived with 16 hours of full light and 8 hours of dim light – equivalent to the light emitted from a TV in a darkened room or the ambient overnight light level of a major city

After 4 weeks, all hamsters were tested for animal measures of depression:

• Appetite for sugar and willingness to swim when placed in water
• Neurochemical measures

The Results

• Hamsters exposed to dim overnight lighting had less appetite for sugar water and were less willing to swim for survival when placed in water.
• The brains of the hamsters exposed to dim light showed evidence of inflammation (which is strongly associated with depression) a reduction in the release of melatonin and a reduction in the numbers of dendritic spines in the hippocampus.
• Symptoms of depression in the dim light group were reversed after 2 weeks of sleeping again in full darkness.

Commentary

The researchers say that rising rates of depression over the last 50 years may be partly attributable to the huge increase in overnight light exposure over that same period.

But the good news, according to doctoral student and lead researcher Tracy Bedrosian,is that "people who stay up late in front of the television and computer may be able to undo some of the harmful effects just by going back to a regular light-dark cycle and minimizing their exposure to artificial light at night."

Read the full study results in Molecular Psychiatry.

Image Copyright: Mugley

New study shows that telephone based motivational interviewing therapy helps convince people with mental illness to initiate the treatment they need.

Although approximately 52% of US veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan have one or more mental illnesses (such as depression, PTSD or anxiety) a significant percentage of these vets ignore the mental health treatment they’re eligible for.

Would motivational interviewing techniques used during brief phone calls to vets in need result in an increase in treatment participation?

That’s what UCSF professor of psychiatry and medicine Karen Seal, MD wanted to know, and to find out she enlisted 73 vets with one or more mental illness to participate in a study.

Half of the subjects were randomly assigned to a group that received 4 phone calls of motivational interviewing over an 8 week period. The other half (the control group) got 4 check-in phone calls over that same period, but no motivational interviewing.

The Results

• By the end of the study 62% of the vets from the motivational interviewing group had initiated mental health treatment compared to only 26% of the vets from the control group.
• Subjects from the motivational interviewing group were far more likely to stick with treatment than subjects from the control group.
• Vets in the motivational interviewing group associated less stigma with mental health care than vets from the control group
• Vets from the motivational interviewing group decreased their marijuana use more than vets from the control group

Commentary

Explaining the rationale for the study, Seal noted, “The VA has gone to extraordinary lengths to provide these veterans with state-of-the-art, evidence-based mental health treatment. The irony is that they are not necessarily engaging in this treatment. This study was positioned to try to connect our veterans with the treatments that are available to them.”

She also noted that people who made the phone calls were all masters’ degree level students who received an 8 hour training course, but because no professionals were used, the potential replication costs are moderate.

The full study results are published in General Hospital Psychiatry

Image Copyright: Recompose

Teens in the Georgia foster care system given 6 weeks of cognitively based compassion training made greater improvements in mental and physical health than teens given no such training.

Researchers at Emory University developed a program called Cognitively Based Compassion Training (CBCT), which is a secular training course derived from Tibetan Buddhist teachings on compassion.

The Experiment

Children and teens living in foster care have often experienced significant trauma and adverse life events. Early life trauma is associated with increased inflammation and mental illness, as is evidenced by the high percentage of adolescents in foster care currently using psychiatric medications.

Would adolescents within the Atlanta foster care system benefit from 6 weeks of compassion training?

To find out, Emory University researchers took a sample of 71 adolescents between the ages of 13 and 17 from the Atlanta foster care system and randomly assigned each teen to receive either 6 weeks of CBCT or 6 weeks on a wait list control group.

Prior to and after the 6 weeks of CBCT training or time on a wait list each subject was tested on measures of hope for the future and anxiety and each subject provided a saliva sample for the measurement of C-reactive protein, an indicator of bodily inflammation. Elevated bodily inflammation is associated with a number of serious diseases, such as depression, cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and others.

The Results

• Teens given CBCT had less anxiety and more hope for the future after the 6 week program.
• 6 weeks of CBCT also reduced C-reactive protein levels

Commentary

Lead study author Charles Raison, MD, wrote, "The beneficial effects of CBCT on anxiety and feelings of hopelessness suggest that this intervention may provide immediate benefit to foster children. We are even more encouraged by the finding that CBCT reduced levels of inflammation. Our hope is that CBCT may help contribute to the long-term health and well being of foster care children, not only during childhood, but also as they move into their adult years.”

The full study results can be found in Psychoneuroendocrinology.

Image Copyright: Demandaj

Canadian researchers say getting spanked as a child increases your risk of developing a mental illness as an adult.

Basing their findings on a questionnaire study of more than 35 000 American adults, the researchers say that harsh physical punishment (spankings, slaps, pushing and shoving etc.) cause an increased risk of future mental illness, even when parents only sometimes administer such punishments and when such punishments are not so severe to qualify as abuse.

Both boys and girls experienced an increased risk of future mental illness after corporal punishment and the effect was not related to existing mental illness or dysfunction in the family.

According to the research, receiving harsh physical punishment as a child increases your risk of:

• Schizotypal personality disorders by 7.2%
• Antisocial personality disorder by 5.5%
• Mania by 5.2%
• Narcissistic personality disorder by 4.7%
• Borderline personality disorder by 4.6%
• Alcohol dependence by 3.4%
• Drug dependence by 3%

Although corporal punishment of children is illegal in 30 countries it remains legal in both the US and Canada.

Based on the results of the study, the researchers urge pediatricians to counsel parents still using corporal punishment on more effective and less risky disciplinary practices – a recommendation which does not conflict with the American Academy of Pediatricians’ policy statement which advises that children not be hit at any time, for any reason.

They also suggest that given the link between corporal punishment and future mental illness, public health polices which discouraged the use of harsh physical punishments could do a lot to reduce the burden of mental illness in society.

The full research findings are published in Pediatrics.

Image Copyright: Seanbjack

Researchers at the National Institute of Health say that a single dose of Ketamine eliminates depressive symptoms within minutes of administration for people with bipolar depression.

It can take weeks for antidepressant medications to work, and in many cases people with bipolar need to try out several medications before finding an effective option – if they ever do

But maybe now there’s a medication that might work a whole lot faster.

The Study

A group of bipolar patients experiencing depression were given either a single dose of Ketamine or a placebo at two intervals, two weeks apart.

The patients then rated their depression and suicidal feelings at intervals over the days following the administration of Ketamine or placebo.

The Results

• 79% of patients taking Ketamine experienced a reduction in depressive symptoms but none of the patients given a placebo reported any reduction
• On average, Ketamine started to reduce symptoms of depression within 40 minutes of administration
• Patients given Ketamine also reported a reduction in suicidal thoughts within an hour of administration

Commentary

Lead researcher Dr. Carlos Zarate commented on the significance by saying, "Our finding that a single infusion of ketamine produces rapid antidepressant and antisuicidal effects within one hour and that is fairly sustained is truly exciting. We think that these findings are of true importance given that we only have a few treatments approved for acute bipolar depression, and none of them have this rapid onset of action; they usually take weeks or longer to have comparable antidepressant effects as ketamine does."

The full study results are available for viewing in this week’s Biological Psychiatry.

Image Copyright: Bunchofpants

Researchers say a diet too high in saturated fat may lead to brain changes and increased depression and anxiety.

Recent clinical studies have shown that obese people are at greater risk of depression but these studies have shed no insight on why this might be so, after all, eating fatty foods generally makes us feel pretty good, right?

To learn more, researchers in Montreal developed an animal model study to test the impact of a high fat diet, and they found that a diet high in fat, particularly saturated fat, was associated with increased depression and anxiety.

The Study

A group of obesity prone rats was spilt into 2 groups. For 12 weeks, one group consumed low fat chow and the other had access to a chow high in saturated fat.

After the 12 weeks of eating, the rats were given a series of tests to measure anxiety and depression, such as testing how rats respond to a new environment (a test of anxiety) and testing how long rats will swim for when placed in a tank of water ( a measure of depression/learned helplessness)

The Results

• Rats fed a high fat diet showed much higher levels of anxiety and depression than rats fed a healthier low fat chow.
• Rats on the high fat diet also had higher levels of neural stress linked corticosterones and changes to signaling proteins in the brain’s reward and regulation systems.
• Rats fed a high fat diet but one based on healthier fats, like olive oil, experienced less depression and anxiety than rats on a high saturated fat diet

Commentary

Based on the study results, lead researcher Dr. Stephanie Fulton hypothesized an explanation for the obesity-depression link, explaining, “In the short-term high-fat food feels comforting, but in the long-term, and with increasing adiposity (fat mass) it is having negative effects on mood. We know that diet is a large contributor to the obesity epidemic throughout the world. Fat-rich foods can actually cause chemical reactions in the brain in a similar way to illicit drugs, ultimately leading to depression as the ‘comedowns’ take their toll.”

The full study results can be found in the International Journal of Obesity