mental health problems

Study finds childhood bullying linked to distrust and mental health problems in adolescence

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A new study, co-led by UCLA Health and the University of Glasgow, found that young teenagers who develop a strong distrust of other people as a result of childhood bullying are substantially more likely to have significant mental health problems as they enter adulthood compared to those who do not develop interpersonal trust issues.

The study, published in the journal Nature Mental Health on Feb. 13, is believed to be the first to examine the link between peer bullying, interpersonal distrust, and the subsequent development of mental health problems, such as anxiety, depression, hyperactivity and anger.

Researchers used data from 10,000 children in the United Kingdom who were studied for nearly two decades as part of the Millennium Cohort Study. From these data, the researchers found that adolescents who were bullied at age 11 and in turn developed greater interpersonal distrust by age 14 were around 3.5 times more likely to experience clinically significant mental health problems at age 17 compared to those who developed less distrust.

The findings could help schools and other institutions to develop new evidence-based interventions to counter the negative mental health impacts of bullying, according to the study’s senior author Dr. George Slavich, who directs UCLA Health’s Laboratory for Stress Assessment and Research.

“There are few public health topics more important than youth mental health right now,” Slavich said. “In order to help teens reach their fullest potential, we need to invest in research that identifies risk factors for poor health and that translates this knowledge into prevention programs that can improve lifelong health and resilience.”

The findings come amid growing public health concerns about the mental health of youth. Recent studies by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that 44.2% of sampled high school students in the U.S. reported being depressed for at least two weeks in 2021, with one in 10 students who were surveyed having reported attempted suicide that year.

In this new study, the researchers viewed these alarming trends from the perspective of Social Safety Theory, which hypothesizes that social threats, such as bullying, impact mental health partly by instilling the belief that other people cannot be trusted, or that the world is an unfriendly, dangerous or unpredictable place.

Prior research has identified associations between bullying and mental and behavioral health issues among youth, including its impact on substance abuse, depression, anxiety, self-harm and suicidal thoughts. However, following youth over time, this study is the first to confirm the suspected pathway of how bullying leads to distrust, and in turn, mental health problems in late adolescence.

Slavich said when people develop clinically significant mental health problems during the teenage years, it can increase their risk of experiencing both mental and physical health issues across the entire lifespan if left unaddressed.

In addition to interpersonal distrust, the authors examined whether diet, sleep or physical activity also linked peer bullying with subsequent mental health problems. However, only interpersonal distrust was found to relate bullying to greater risk of experiencing mental health problems at age 17.

“What these data suggest is that we really need school-based programs that help foster a sense of interpersonal trust at the level of the classroom and school,” Slavich said. “One way to do that would be to develop evidence-based programs that are especially focused on the transition to high school and college, and that frame school as an opportunity to develop close, long-lasting relationships.”

The molecular magic behind ‘magic’ mushrooms: How psychedelic psilocybin works to cure mental health problems

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Psychedelics are making a comeback. Although governments once banned and criminalized the use of these substances, the world is now taking a renewed interest in hallucinogens as potential treatments for various mental health conditions. To better understand how hallucinogens like psilocybin (magic) mushrooms can help, scientists say we first need to know how they work.

With psilocybin being a popular and legal area of study, researchers at the University of Southern Denmark broke down the mushroom’s molecular effects when psilocybin interacts with a brain cell. Psilocybin has been shown to treat severe depression and substance addiction. Ongoing work is looking to see if these mind-bending effects extend to other conditions such as PTSD, anxiety, and addiction.

“My interest was piqued when I heard a podcast about treating smoking addiction with psilocybin. And since psilocybin mushrooms grow everywhere in Denmark – I picked some in Svanninge Bakker – it wasn’t difficult to start our research,” says Himanshu Khandelia, an associate professor and head of research at Physical Life Sciences at the University of Southern Denmark, in a media release.

Psilocybin binds to serotonin receptors in the brain, but some of these connections are stronger than others. The current study found stronger bonds between the chemicals in magic mushrooms and the serotonin 2AR receptor. The binding between the two was stronger than serotonin and its own receptor.

“This knowledge can be used if you want to design a drug that acts like psilocybin,” explains Ali Asghar Hakami Zanjani, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Southern Denmark.

Chemical formula of psilocybin found in magic mushrooms
Chemical formula of psilocybin found in magic mushrooms.

While there are no plans to conduct clinical trials or design new psychedelic-based drugs, the authors encourage other scientists to use their work as a launching point to create a molecule that could one day treat a wide array of conditions.

Since the 1960s, multiple countries have passed strict bans on hallucinogenic substances such as psilocybin and LSD. Fast forward to the present and these same countries — including the U.S., United Kingdom, and Denmark — are actively testing the drugs on people who have had little success using traditional medicines for their conditions.

Hallucinogens and the hallucinations they cause let users temporarily disconnect from the outside world. This effect remains even if you transform the hallucinogenic into a medically prescribed tablet. For this reason, the authors warn there is a danger in taking magic mushrooms unsupervised.

“The characteristic is that patients may get a whole new perspective on their situation: for example, a terminally ill cancer patient may lose their fear of dying soon and instead experience acceptance of their life situation,” explains Zanjani. “Such sessions should take place in safe and guiding settings led by trained therapists. Today, no one would recommend just eating some mushrooms at home in their own living room.”

Work organization and mental health problems in PhD students

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Highlights

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One in two PhD students experiences psychological distress; one in three is at risk of a common psychiatric disorder.

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The prevalence of mental health problems is higher in PhD students than in the highly educated general population, highly educated employees and higher education students.

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Work and organizational context are significant predictors of PhD students’ mental health.

Abstract

Research policy observers are increasingly concerned about the potential impact of current academic working conditions on mental health, particularly in PhD students. The aim of the current study is threefold. First, we assess the prevalence of mental health problems in a representative sample of PhD students in Flanders, Belgium (N = 3659). Second, we compare PhD students to three other samples: (1) highly educated in the general population (N = 769); (2) highly educated employees (N = 592); and (3) higher education students (N = 333). Third, we assess those organizational factors relating to the role of PhD students that predict mental health status. Results based on 12 mental health symptoms (GHQ-12) showed that 32% of PhD students are at risk of having or developing a common psychiatric disorder, especially depression. This estimate was significantly higher than those obtained in the comparison groups. Organizational policies were significantly associated with the prevalence of mental health problems. Especially work-family interface, job demands and job control, the supervisor’s leadership style, team decision-making culture, and perception of a career outside academia are linked to mental health problems.

Source:sciencedirect.com

Sexist Men Are More Likely To Have Mental Health Problems, Study Finds

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New research links masculine norms with psychological problems and an aversion to seeking help.

Toxic masculinity isn’t just bad for women.

Men who see themselves as having power over women or adhering to “playboy” behavior are significantly more likely to have psychological problems than those who conform less to masculine gender norms ― and they’re also less likely to seek help, according to a new study from the American Psychological Association.

 The large-scale meta-analysis (or review of numerous studies), which was published Monday in the Journal of Counseling Psychology, examined conformity to masculine norms and mental health outcomes in 78 research samples involving nearly 20,000 men. The participants were predominantly white but also included African-American and Asian-American males.

The researchers evaluated participants using an inventory that measured 11 norms psychologists believe reflect traditional societal expectations of masculinity. Then they looked for links to positive and negative mental health outcomes and help-seeking behaviors.

11 Norms of Masculinity

• desire to win
• need for emotional control
• risk-taking
• violence
• dominance
• sexual promiscuity (being a “playboy”)
• self-reliance
• primacy of work (importance placed on one’s job)
• power over women
• disdain for homosexuality
• pursuit of status

Overall conformity to masculine norms was linked with negative mental health outcomes like stress, depression, anxiety, substance abuse issues and poor body image. Three particular norms, however, showed a particularly strong association: self-reliance, power over women, and “playboy” behavior ― the latter two being the most strongly associated with sexist attitudes and behaviors.

“Our findings on the unfavorable relationship between conformity to masculine norms and power over women is striking,” the study’s lead author, Indiana University Bloomington psychologist Dr. Y. Joel Wong, told The Huffington Post. “Sexism is a social injustice and it might ultimately be harmful to everyone, including the perpetrators of sexism.”

More troublingly, the men who conformed most to the sexist norms were also the least likely to seek help for their psychological problems.

Not all masculine traits, however, came with mental health risks. Primacy of work was not associated with either positive or negative mental health, while risk-taking behavior was correlated with both positive and negative outcomes, suggesting that it’s the type of risky behavior that matters.

Toxic Masculinity In American Culture

The findings join a growing body of research investigating the complex links between masculinity and mental health. As many psychologists have noted, it’s a complicated story, and factors like race and socioeconomic status have to be included in the equation.

“When people are feeling put upon by social pressures, by exposures like everyday racism, they may act in a particular way because doing so allows them to recoup that part of themselves that gets chipped away at by those social exposures,” Dr. Wizdom Powell, a psychologist who studies gender and race at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said in an interview with the APA.

The authors of the meta-analysis didn’t explore how things like race, education level, political affiliation and cultural influences might affect a man’s tendency to adhere to masculine norms. But these connections may be worth investigating, particularly in light of the conversation around sexism that has sprung up in response to Donald Trump’s presidential campaign.

This month, America elected a president who has been accused of sexually assaulting 15 women ― and who excused his boasts of being able to assault women with impunity as “locker room talk,” revealing a view of masculinity in sexist terms. Indeed, many commentators have questioned the role of sexist attitudes in Trump’s rise to power. One team of political scientists found that the more hostile voters were toward women, the more likely they were to support Trump.

As Jared Yates Sexton wrote in a New York Times op-ed on toxic masculinity in Trump’s America, mortality rates for middle-aged white men have risen from what psychologists call “despair deaths,” including drug overdoses, suicide and alcohol-related diseases.

“[Trump] is the furthest thing from the working-class men of my childhood, but whatever his motives for demeaning women, these supporters hear in him an echo of their own desperation,” wrote Sexton, a creative writing professor at Georgia Southern University. “Though such masculinity might temporarily shelter men from the pressures of their daily lives, inevitably it robs them of their lives: Disturbing trends show that men, especially the white men who make up a majority of Mr. Trump’s base, are suffering greatly for their posturing.”

Of course, it’s likely only a small minority of Trump supporters that fit this profile. But as new questions about sexism and misogyny are being raised, it’s an important moment to consider how healthier norms of masculinity could benefit all of us.

“People can change and norms do change over time,” Wong said. “One way we can help shift these norms is for more people, including men, to express strong disapproval of behaviors that conform to sexist norms. Don’t remain silent.”

Positive memories may prove effective in treating mental health problems.

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Using positive memories can prove to be an effective method for boosting mood amongst individuals with specific mental health problems such as anxiety or depression.

Savouring positive memories and images is likely to generate positive emotions in the human mind and can prove to be effective in treating individuals with anxiety or depression, reveals a new research.

A team of researchers from University of Liverpool investigated individuals’ emotional reactions using a social technique called social broad-minded affective coping (BMAC) technique — an intervention that aims to elicit positive affect or emotion through the use of mental imagery of a positive memory.

 “The findings suggest that the BMAC has the potential to be a practical and effective method for boosting mood amongst individuals with specific mental health problems such as anxiety or depression,” said lead researcher Peter Taylor from University of Liverpool in Britain.

The findings showed that following the social BMAC, the participants showed an increase in feelings of social safeness, warm positive affect and relaxed positive affect, whilst the negativity decreased. The results, which provide preliminary support for the effectiveness of the social BMAC in activating specific types of emotion, have been detailed in the journal Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice. As part of the study 123 participants, recruited online, completed self-report measures of self-attacking (thinking mean, diminishing, insulting, and shaming thoughts about oneself), social safeness (feelings of warmth and connectedness) and pleasure.

The participants were encouraged to engage all the senses, think about the meaning of the memory to them, savour the positive feelings they experienced, and consider the positive feelings in the mind of another before reflecting upon the feelings they experience as well as what this means to them. Participants completed state measures of positive and negative affect and social safeness/pleasure before and after the intervention.

Owning a cat can lead to mental health problems, study warns

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A parasite found in cat faeces may alter people’s brain chemistry to cause long-term behavior problems.

 Larry, the Prime Minister's cat, sits outside No10

If you’re prone to sudden bursts of anger, it could be your cat’s fault.

A new study has found that people with Intermittent Explosive Disorder (IED) – characterised by explosive bouts of rage – are twice as likely to have been infected by a parasite found in cat faeces.

The findings suggest that toxoplasmosis, an infection from the parasite Toxoplasma gondii, may alter people’s brain chemistry to cause long-term behavior problems.

Cats are known to pass the parasite on to human by shedding its eggs in their faeces. People can become infected by not washing their hands after cleaning a cat’s litter tray, and then unintentionally ingesting the eggs.

Around a third of people in the UK will become infected at some point in their lives – with cat owners at particularly high risk.

Toxoplasmosis has also been linked with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, impulsivity and suicidal behavior in earlier studies.

The new study, published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, looked at 358 adult participants. Researcher found that 22 percent of the people with IED tested positive for toxoplasmosis exposure, compared with only 9 percent of those without IED.

Road rage can be a manifestation of Intermittent Explosive Disorder  

“Not everyone that tests positive for toxoplasmosis will have aggression issues,” said research leader Dr. Emil Coccaro of the University of Chicago. However, exposure to the parasite does appear to “raise the risk for aggressive behavior.”

The NHS says that toxoplasmosis is “usually nothing to worry about because the immune system is normally strong enough to fight the infection and stop it from causing serious illness.

“After getting the infection, most people are immune to it for the rest of their life.”

However, it can lead to serious problems in women who become infected while they’re pregnant, and people with weak immune systems.

YOUR SMARTPHONE COULD BE GOOD FOR YOUR MENTAL HEALTH

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smartphone-569076_1280

 

When it comes to mental health, technologies such as smartphones and social media networks are almost always discussed in terms of the dangers they pose. Alongside concerns expressed in the media, some experts believe that technology has a role in the rising rates of mental health problems. However, there is also evidence to suggest your smartphone could actually be good for your mental health.

The brain is a sensitive organ that reacts and adapts to stimulation. Researchers have looked into smartphone usage and the effects on the day-to-day plasticity of the human brain. They found that the finger movements used to control smartphones areenough to alter brain activity.

This ability of technology to change our brains has led to questions over whether screen-based activity is related to rising incidence of such conditions as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or an increased risk of depression and insomnia. Technology has also been blamed for cyber-bullying, isolation, communication issues and reduced self-esteem, all of which can potentially lead to mental ill health.

Positive potential

However, focusing only on the negative experiences of some people ignores technology’s potential as both a tool for treating mental health issues and for improving the quality of people’s lives and promoting emotional well-being. For example, there are programmes for depression and phobias, designed to help lift people’s moods, get them active and help them to overcome their difficulties. The programmes use guided self help-based cognitive behavioural principles and have proven to be very effective.

Computer games have been used to provide therapy for adolescents. Because computer games are fun and can be used anonymously, they offer an alternative to traditional therapy. For example, a fantasy-themed role-playing game called SPARXhas been found to be as effective as face-to-face therapy in clinical trials.

Researcher David Haniff has created apps aimed at lifting the mood of people suffering from depression by showing them pleasing pictures, video and audio, for example of their families. He has also developed a computer game that helps a person examine the triggers of their depression. Meanwhile, smartphone apps that play subliminal relaxing music in order to distract from the noise and worries of everyday living have been proven to be beneficial in reducing stress and anxiety.

Technology can also provide greater access to mental health professionals through email, online chats or video calls. This enables individuals to work remotely and at their own pace, which can be particularly useful for those who are unable to regularly meet with a healthcare professional. Such an experience can be both empowering and enabling, encouraging the individual to take responsibility for their own mental well-being.

This kind of “telemedicine” has already found a role in child and adolescent mental health services in the form of online chats in family therapy, that can help to ensure each person has a chance to have their turn in the session. From our own practice experience, we have found young people who struggle to communicate during face-to-face sessions can be encouraged to text their therapist as an alternative way of expressing themselves, without the pressure of sitting opposite someone and making eye contact.

Conditions such as social anxiety can stop people seeking treatment in the first place. The use of telemedicine in this instance means people can begin combating their illness from the safety of their own home. It is also a good way to remind people about their appointments, thus improving attendance and reducing drop-out rates.

New routes to treatment

The internet in general can provide a gateway to asking for help, particularly for those who feel that stigma is attached to mental illness. Accessing information and watching videos about people with mental health issues, including high-profile personalities, helps to normalise conditions that are not otherwise talked about.

People can use technology to self-educate and improve access to low-intensity mental health services by providing chat rooms, blogs and information about mental health conditions. This can help to combat long waiting times by providing support earlier and improving the effectiveness of treatment.

More generally, access to the internet and use of media devices can also be a lifeline to the outside world. They allow people to connect in ways that were not previously possible, encouraging communication. With improved social networks, people may be less likely to need professional help, thus reducing the burden on over stretched services.

Research into the potential dangers of technology and its affect on the brain is important for understanding the causes of modern mental health issues. But technology also creates an opportunity for innovative ways to promote engagement and well-being for those with mental health problems. Let’s embrace that.

Military Suicides, Deployment Unrelated.

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No increased suicide risk seen in troops sent to war zones..

Military suicides may be more likely after members leave the service than during active duty deployment, particularly if their time in uniform is brief, a U.S. study finds.

“It was certainly intuitive as the wars went on and suicides went up for people to assume that deployment was the reason, but our data show that that is too simplistic; when you look at the total population, deployment is not associated with suicide,” said lead author Mark Reger, of Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Tacoma, Washington.

While the U.S. military has traditionally experienced lower suicide rates than the civilian population, suicides among active duty service members have surged in the past decade, almost doubling in the Army and the Marines Corps, Reger said.

To understand the link between deployment and suicide, Reger and colleagues analyzed military records for more than 3.9 million service members in active or reserve duty in support of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan at any point from October 7, 2001 to December 31, 2007.

A total of 31,962 deaths occurred, including 5,041 suicides, by December 31, 2009, according to the April 1 online report in JAMA Psychiatry.

Suicide rates were similar regardless of deployment status. There were 1,162 suicides among those who deployed and 3,879 among those who didn’t, representing suicide rates per 100,000 person-years of 18.86 and 17.78, respectively.

Leaving the military significantly increased suicide risk, however, with a suicide rate of 26.06 after separating from service compared with 15.12 for those who remained in uniform. Those who left sooner had a greater risk, with a rate of 48.04 among those who spent less than a year in the military.

Service members with a dishonorable discharge were about twice as likely to commit suicide as those who had an honorable separation.

“This is the first time such a huge, comprehensive study has found an increased suicide risk among those who have separated from service, particularly if they served for less than four years or had an other than honorable discharge,” said Rajeev Ramchand, a researcher in military mental health and suicide prevention at Rand Corporation who wasn’t involved in the study.

It’s possible that pre-deployment examinations may screen out people who have mental health problems, making those who deploy several times a healthier, more resilient group, said Dr. Alan Peterson, a psychologist at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio who specializes in combat-related post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

“Those who really struggle with a deployment don’t go the second time,” said Peterson, a retired military psychologist who wasn’t involved in the study. “Early separation from the military is often a marker for something else.”

For those contemplating suicide, access to firearms can exacerbate the problem, Peterson said. “It’s a risk factor that sometimes gets overlooked, but we’ve seen when they don’t have access to weapons they are less likely to kill themselves.”

http://www.medpagetoday.com/newad_native.php

Some service members who leave the military early may have had risk factors for suicide such as mood disorders or substance abuse problems that contributed to their separation, particularly if they had a dishonorable discharge, said Dr. Christine Moutier, chief medical officer of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

“Some of the dishonorable discharges may be related to having a mental health disorder and being unable to keep that behavior in check and breaking the rules, and some of the early separations may be people in distress who appropriately opted out of service,” said Moutier, who wasn’t involved in the study.

It isn’t realistic to expect former service members to instantly reintegrate into their former civilian lives, but they may be experiencing serious mental health problems if they’re not eating or sleeping or if they’re extremely agitated or irritable, Moutier said.

“The lack of an association between deployment and suicide risk isn’t surprising,” she said. “At a very high level, these findings highlight the need for us to pay closer attention to what happens when people leave the military.”

SOURCE: http://bit.ly/1BMzKsh

JAMA Psychiatry 2015.