Mental Health Archive

Weight gain might be one of the most dreaded “side effects” of quitting smoking. Constant reminders of the health dangers of being overweight lead some smokers to think that smoking is “safer” than the weight they might gain if they quit. But that’s just not the case. It’s true that people tend to gain 5-10 pounds in the first six months after they stop smoking. But a recent study suggested that for those who quit, weight gain slows down over the following 10 years after quitting. Over that same time period, people who continued to smoke also gained some weight, though not as much. Over all, kicking the habit doesn’t have to mean a larger waistline, especially if you plan ahead.

Unless you have symptoms of a heart problem, taking a cautionary look under the hood is unlikely to help—and could even be harmful.

Here's another reason to get depression treated as soon as possible: a Harvard study found that people with persistent symptoms of severe depression were twice as likely to suffer a stroke compared with people who have mild symptoms. The study appeared May 13, 2015, in the Journal of the American Heart Association. Researchers looked at the health information of more than 16,000 men and women ages 50 and older. The participants were interviewed every two years during a 12-year period and asked about many health issues, including depression symptoms. Researchers found that people who reported high depression symptoms at two consecutive interviews were more than twice as likely to have a first stroke than people with low depression symptoms. The stroke risk remained high even after depression symptoms went away.

The study showed only an association, and didn't prove that depression causes strokes. So why the link? Researchers speculate that depression—which is associated with high blood pressure, increased inflammation, and physical inactivity—may have a cumulative effect that causes damage to the blood vessels over time. Bottom line: Seek treatment if a case of the blues lasts more than two weeks, because it could be a sign of depression.

Find out if your sleeping habits put you at risk—and what to do about it.

The search for an effective, easy-to-use treatment for sleep apnea has been going on for years. The gold standard is a breathing machine known as continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP). A report published online this week by JAMA Internal Medicine describes a mouth-guard-like device that may work for people with mild sleep apnea, but that may not be much help for those with severe sleep apnea. The 18 million Americans with obstructive sleep apnea sufferers are a powerful incentive for device manufacturers, and there are myriad alternatives to CPAP in the marketplace and under development. Swedish researchers tested a custom-fitted mandibular advancement device among people with self-reported sleep apnea. It worked, but a placebo device worked almost as well.

Hospice care improves quality of life in the dire circumstances of a person’s last days. It can enable the dying to spend this time in peace, surrounded by family and friends, and in little pain. Studies confirm what many know intuitively. Family members are likely to experience major depression following the loss of a loved one. A recent study published in today’s online JAMA Internal Medicine looked at whether hospice care reduces the severity of bereavement-related depression in people who had recently lost a spouse. While the researchers saw no difference between spouses whose partners were enrolled in hospice and those how weren’t, major depression was less common in spouses who received support from a hospice program.

Over time, most people with dementia or mild cognitive impairment (a decline in thinking skills) also experience behavioral changes, such as depression and agitation. Which comes first? A study published online by Neurology on Jan. 14, 2015, suggests that psychological and behavioral changes can begin before people develop mild cognitive impairment or dementia. Researchers evaluated the daily functioning, memory and thinking skills, and psychological and behavioral symptoms of about 2,400 people, ages 50 and older, who had no evidence of cognitive decline. The study also suggests that a pattern of depressive symptoms may occur in older adults, unrelated to cognitive decline. The takeaway? "Depressive symptoms can occur in older adults for many reasons. If you are experiencing mood or cognitive changes that last for more than a few weeks, it's a good idea to bring this up with your doctor or consult a mental health specialist to help sort out possible causes," says Dr. Nancy Donovan, an instructor in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. 

Regular physical activity helps keep your heart, lungs, and muscles in shape and can stave off the effects of aging. In much the same way, exercising your brain can help keep your mind sharp and your memory intact. Here are two ways to activate your brain.

Keep busy and engaged

The MacArthur Foundation Study on Successful Aging, a long-term study of aging in America, found that education level was the strongest predictor of mental capacity as people aged. The more education, the more likely an individual was to maintain his or her memory and thinking skills. Other research has shown that people who held jobs that involved complex work, such as speaking to, instructing, or negotiating with others, had a lower risk of memory loss (dementia) than people whose jobs were less intellectually demanding.

Stay well when caring for a loved one by maintaining your physical and emotional health. Caring for yourself means you'll be able to care for another.

Pets can provide their owners with more than companionship. A new study, published online in the journal PLoS One, shows that pets can also help create human-to-human friendships and social support, both of which are good for long-term health. The effect isn’t limited to dogs. Other kinds of pets, including cats, rabbits, and snakes, can also be catalysts for making friends and finding social support. In a survey of residents of four cities, being a pet owner was the third most common way that respondents said they met people in their neighborhoods. Pet owners were 60% more likely than non–pet owners to get to know people in their neighborhoods they hadn’t known before. They were also more likely to have reported befriending someone they met through a pet-related connection or getting social support from them. As described in Get Healthy, Get a Dog, a Special Health Report from Harvard Medical School, pet ownership has many direct physical and mental health benefits.