Mind & Mood
Your mood and your mental health affect every aspect of your life, from how you feel about yourself to your relationships with others and your physical health. There's a strong link between good mental health and good physical health, and vice versa. In the other direction, depression and other mental health issues can contribute to digestive disorders, trouble sleeping, lack of energy, heart disease, and other health issues.
There are many ways to keep your mind and mood in optimal shape. Exercise, healthy eating, and stress reduction techniques like meditation or mindfulness can keep your brain — and your body — in tip-top shape.
When mood and mental health slip, doing something about it as early as possible can keep the change from getting worse or becoming permanent. Treating conditions like depression and anxiety improve quality of life. Learning to manage stress makes for more satisfying and productive days.
Mind & Mood Articles
Being optimistic was associated with a lower risk for cardiovascular events and an early death in a study published online Sept. 27, 2019, by JAMA Network Open.
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If dementia runs in the family, research suggests there are ways to perhaps avoid the same fate. Adopting certain lifestyle habits—such as engaging in regular aerobic exercise; following a healthy diet, like the Mediterranean, DASH, or MIND diet; not smoking; and keeping alcohol intake to no more than one drink per day on average—may offer protection against dementia, delay its appearance, and even slow its progression.
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A new study found that a simple blood test can detect beta-amyloid protein buildup—one of the possible causes of Alzheimer’s disease—years before symptoms appear. The test is expected to be available to the public in a few years.
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Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a type of depression that occurs during the late fall and early winter, with lack of natural light cited as the main contributor. Adopting light therapy, which involves exposure from a light box for about 30 minutes a day, can help restore the brain chemical imbalances that contribute to SAD.
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A survey shows changing attitudes about women’s intelligence over time.
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Stressful interpersonal relationships may be linked to bone loss in women, according to a new study. Women who reported higher levels of stress saw bigger reductions in bone density than women who reported less stress.
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In a recent study, researchers found a potential link between anticholinergic medications, used to treat a wide variety of conditions, including allergies, depression, gastrointestinal problems, Parkinson’s disease, incontinence and overactive bladder, and a higher risk of dementia. But experts say study limitations may cloud the results.
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Engaging in brain games, such as crosswords, chess, and bridge, as well as creative outlets like painting, playing an instrument, or learning a language, have not been proven to protect against memory loss. Yet, these pursuits can help with everyday thinking skills and, when teamed with regular exercise, can increase a person’s cognitive reserve.
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Having a purpose in life may help improve health, according to a new study. Study authors found that people who have a strong life purpose were less likely to die from cardiovascular disease and other conditions than people who don’t. Volunteering, contributing to the well-being of family members, and hobbies are all things that people report give them purpose in life.
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About 25% of adults over age 50 take a supplement to improve their brain health. While these products promise benefits like enhanced memory and greater attention and focus, research has not found solid proof they work. People can get more brain benefits from doing regular aerobic exercise and adopting a plant-based diet.
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