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
A healthy diet, regular aerobic exercise, and proper sleep are essential to keep your brain healthy. But a new study that followed older adults into their 90s found that regular work engagement and a high level of life satisfaction are also associated with mind benefits. These help to utilize various thinking skills, increase a person’s sense of worth, and encourage more brain-building goals and activities.
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Because older adults often experience temporary changes in memory and thinking after having general anesthesia, they may also worry that it increases their risk of dementia. Yet, a recent study found no association between the type of anesthesia and dementia risk.
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A Harvard-led study published Sept. 23, 2020, in Neurology Clinical Practice found five unapproved drugs in supplements that promise to boost cognition.
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A study published online Sept. 21, 2020, by Emotion found that looking for things that spark a sense of wonder during a 15-minute walk led to increased feelings of awe, joy, compassion, and gratitude.
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Anticholinergic medications treat an array of conditions, including allergies, depression, and urinary incontinence. New research again links these drugs with a higher risk of mild cognitive impairment, especially with larger doses.
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Contrary to what doctors have long assumed, blood pressure drugs may not raise the risk of depression. Some have even been linked to a lower risk of depression, including enalapril (Vasotec), ramipril (Altace), verapamil (Verelan), verapamil combination drugs, propranolol (Inderal), atenolol (Tenormin), bisoprolol (Zebeta), and carvedilol (Coreg). But because people have very diverse reactions to medications, large-scale trends of side effects don’t necessarily apply to an individual’s experience. People who notice mood changes or other side effects after starting a new medication should tell their physicians.
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Almost everyone goes through rough mental patches of feeling down, sad, and lethargic. If these feelings become more frequent and linger longer, that could signal a form of depression called persistent depressive disorder, also known as dysthymia. An evaluation from a mental health expert like a psychiatrist or counselor can confirm the diagnosis and offer appropriate treatment like psychotherapy, antidepressants, or a combination of the two.
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People in Europe and the United States are developing dementia at a lower rate than in the past, despite the fact that the actual number of people with dementia is increasing.
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The pandemic makes coping with holiday pressures a little tricky. If one is concerned about COVID-19 exposure at a holiday event, it may help to chat with loved ones to get support for a decision about whether to attend. If one must celebrate the holidays alone, it may help to grieve what is lost, savor past holiday gatherings, watch online religious services, and continue to practice special traditions—such as making holiday foods or putting up holiday decorations.
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A new blood test could help diagnose Alzheimer’s disease before cognitive issues and memory loss appear.
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