How To Smile | Psychology Today

How To Smile | Psychology Today

According to the story, each morning the 500 employees of the Keihin Electric Express Railway Company smile into a camera hooked up to a computer. Analyzed are facial features such as lip curvature and facial wrinkles. Spit back at each employee is an overall rating of his or her smile quality, from 0 to 100. If the smile quality is insufficient, the computer provides feedback - e.g., "lift up your mouth corners." The computer also prints out an ideal smile to which employees can refer throughout the day.

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Obesity, mental illness are interlinked - Times Of India

Obesity, mental illness are interlinked - Times Of India

University of Tasmania researchers studied data collected from 1,135 girls in 1985, and again 20 years later, and found "persistent obesity" was linked to the mood disorder, reports English.news.cn.

"Overweight or obese girls who were able to attain a healthy weight when they were an adult, they didn't have an increased risk of depression," lead researcher Kristy Sanderson said.

"It was only overweight girls who became obese women ... they had twice the risk of depression, so it was quite a strong effect, " he said.

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Depression May Be Foretold in How We Remember - NYTimes.com

Depression May Be Foretold in How We Remember - NYTimes.com

But in studies under way at Oxford and elsewhere, scientists are looking to such failures to gain new insights into the diagnosis and treatment of depression. They are focusing not on what people remember, but how.

The phenomenon is called overgeneral memory, a tendency to recall past events in a broad, vague manner. “It’s an unsung vulnerability factor for unhelpful reactions when things go wrong in life,” said Mark Williams, the clinical psychologist who has been leading the Oxford studies.

Some forgetting is essential for healthy functioning — “If you’re trying to remember where you parked the car at the supermarket, it would be disastrous if all other times you parked the car at the supermarket came to mind,” said Martin Conway, a cognitive psychologist at the University of Leeds in England. But, a chronic tendency to obliterate details has been linked to longer and more intense episodes of depression.

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The Beaver Movie Review: A Dark, Realistic Look at Mental Illness - Reel Movie News

The Beaver Movie Review: A Dark, Realistic Look at Mental Illness - Reel Movie News

It doesn't depict depression or bi-polar disorder (of which Mel's character Walter seems to have) as an irrational, "crazy-person" disease like other Hollywood portrayals. The film focuses on a man who used to function, but now his debilitating depression has taken any semblance of life.

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New Study on Mindfulness: Turning the Volume Down in Your Brain | Mindfulness and Psychotherapy

New Study on Mindfulness: Turning the Volume Down in Your Brain | Mindfulness and Psychotherapy

"When it comes to our lives, sometimes we have to turn down the volume on the thoughts in our minds. I wouldn’t be surprised if this worked in a similar fashion to outside noises. It’s also my experience that more practice helps me get better at regulating my thoughts, emotions and physical sensations."

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Compassion for those who ruin our plans (a little story) — Susan Piver

Compassion for those who ruin our plans (a little story) — Susan Piver

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Los Angeles Times: Economy got you down? Try new federal website!

Economy got you down? Try new federal website!
8:59 AM, March 31, 2009

Anxious and depressed about the economy, your finances and, well, your state of anxiety and depression over the economy and your finances? While the $800-billion stimulus package is designed to boost the economy, the Department of Health and Human Services' Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, or SAMHSA, today unveils a new website to boost your mood and help you cope with the psychological effects of unemployment, foreclosure, bankruptcy and financial losses and generalized financial worry (which is not yet characterized as a psychiatric disorder).

It's a first-of-its-kind website designed to be one-stop shopping (except that it's free to use) for information and resources on how to protect, sustain and improve your mental health in the midst of economic hardship.

As you've no doubt read in the L.A. Times Health section, economic troubles can increase your risk for a wide range of psychological ills, including substance abuse, compulsive behaviors such as over-eating, excessive gambling, buying too much and, of course, depression, anxiety and thoughts of suicide. The SAMHSA website lays out warning signs for those and other psychological adjustment problems, and offers advice -- based on the latest research -- on how to cope with them and where to go to seek help.

SAMHSA's acting director, Eric Broderick, explains in a news release that "by helping people remain resilient, we can help promote the overall recovery of our nation." The idea that the government wants to help its citizens with their mental health needs drew jeers of derision from conservative quarters, which promptly dubbed the website a stalking horse for the "nanny state."

What do you think? Should a government agency worry about your state of worry over the economy?

-- Melissa Healy

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