Mind & Mood Archive

Anger or emotional upset may double the risk of having a heart attack. Heavy physical exertion appears to have the same effect. And people who do intense exercise while they’re upset or mad may face three times the risk of heart attack. 

Stopping exercise for 10 days can reduce brain blood flow by 20% to 30% in eight brain regions, including the hippocampus, which is responsible for learning and memory and is one of the first brain regions to shrink in Alzheimer’s disease.

You may be able to save time and money—and spare yourself frustration—by adopting a more minimal approach to preventing disease.

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As the Shaker lyrics go, "'Tis the gift to be simple," and simplicity is a gift you might want to grant yourself in the new year. If so, you'll have some help from health experts. In the past few years, complicated advice for diet and exercise has given way to simpler, more sustainable guidelines, and the FDA has come down in favor of simple soap and water over antimicrobial cleaners to prevent infectious diseases.

If you've vowed to make positive changes in your lifestyle this year, you're likely to be more successful if you don't take on complex new regimens. "People can achieve remarkable changes in their lives one small step at a time," says Dr. Edward M. Phillips, assistant professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation at Harvard Medical School and medical editor of the Harvard Special Health Report Simple Changes, Big Rewards (www.health.harvard.edu/change).

Exploring why you're bored can stimulate creativity and lead to a better understanding of yourself.

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Most of us have had times when we couldn't find anything satisfying to do or couldn't keep our attention focused on a lecture or book. If we were asked to describe how we felt at the time, we'd probably have answered "bored."

Boredom doesn't necessarily arise from having nothing interesting to do. For example, you can probably remember sitting quietly watching the sun slowly set and being completely enthralled. Compare that to another moment in which you've also sat quietly—but in slow moving traffic—and felt terribly bored. "What makes the difference is whether during a low-stimulation moment, there are unpleasant feelings in the background. Many of us habitually distract ourselves from unpleasant feelings through entertainment or activity—like checking our smartphones, or watching TV," says Dr. Ronald Siegel, a psychologist at Harvard Medical School and the medical editor of the Harvard Special Health Report Positive Psychology. "Sometimes when there is little to engage us, those unpleasant feelings bubble into our consciousness and we feel something unpleasant, which we identify as boredom. Other times we're content to just be present—like when enjoying a sunset."

Weight training improved mental performance in a study of 100 men and women ages 55 through 86 who had mild cognitive impairment.

Some research suggests that disclosing deep emotions through writing can boost immune function as well as mood and well-being. Conversely, the stress of holding in strong feelings can ratchet up blood pressure and heart rate, and increase muscle tension.

Deeply troubling situations, such as suicide or a violent death, are best explored with the help of an experienced therapist. You might want to seek professional support to help you start to deal with your grief before trying journal writing. If you'd like to try keeping a journal to help you process feelings of grief, keep these things in mind:

At a time of loss, it's important to focus on maintaining your health and getting the support you need.

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Losing a family member, a close friend, or even a beloved pet can be devastating. All the small details of daily life—getting out of bed, making meals, going to appointments, taking care of children, handling responsibilities at work—may seem monumentally hard or inconsequential. Yet, even as you grieve, you've probably been reminded that life must go on. But working through the emotional pain can be difficult, particularly during the holidays, when you may feel you are supposed to be celebrating.

The normal process of grieving

Understanding the three Rs —reminder, routine, and reward—can help you create healthful habits.

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Everyone has bad habits they want to break, but instead of scorning yourself for being helpless to break them, use the fundamentals of forming habits to your advantage.

Habits, good or bad, follow a typical three-step pattern. One way to describe this is as three Rs: reminder, routine, and reward. By breaking down the cycle of a bad habit, you can identify what triggers the routine and begin to address what really needs to change. This way you can establish a pattern for new and healthier habits.

Older adults who stay busy scored higher on cognitive function scores compared with more idle people. The greatest effect is with episodic memory, which is the memory of past events like times and places.

Some drugs go too far, dulling emotions across the spectrum. A dose adjustment or a switch to a different medication can help.

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When your doctor prescribes a medication for depression, the goal is to reduce painful feelings of sadness or hopelessness. The majority of people taking the most commonly prescribed antidepressants—selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs)—improve substantially. But sometimes, SSRIs go beyond improving mood and make a person feel too little emotion. "Some people feel like they've lost the richness of daily life," says Dr. Michael Craig Miller, assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.

Serotonin and SSRIs

What you should do