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Tag: mental health

  • The complicated role loneliness plays in 26 common health conditions

    The complicated role loneliness plays in 26 common health conditions

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    Loneliness is associated with multiple health conditions

    Marc Bruxelle RF / Alamy

    The idea that loneliness leads to certain health conditions is now being called into question. Although loneliness is associated with a range of negative physical health outcomes, including an increased risk of premature death, it might just be correlated with many of the conditions it was previously assumed to cause.

    “Loneliness seems to act as more of an indicator of disease rather than a direct cause,” says Jihui Zhang at Guangzhou Medical University. “Instead, socioeconomic factors, lifestyle choices and genetic predisposition might be driving risk for diseases like diabetes and heart diseases.”

    Social connection is essential to our mental health and ability to thrive. Yet loneliness – the painful feeling that arises from social disconnection – affects a growing number of people around the world.

    To learn more about how this affects health, Zhang and his colleagues analysed data from several biomedical databases, including the medical information of 476,100 people in the UK, 16,000 in China and 14,000 in the US. They found that participants who reported feelings of loneliness were at a higher risk of 30 out of 56 individual conditions, ranging from cancers to digestive system conditions.

    Then the researchers performed a second round of statistical analysis on 26 of those 30 conditions, focusing on the subset of participants whose genetic data was available. The results revealed that most of the conditions were not, in fact, caused by loneliness. These health problems, including cardiovascular disease, obesity and type 2 diabetes, merely occurred alongside loneliness. But loneliness could still potentially play some role in causing six of the conditions: depression, hypothyroidism, asthma, sleep apnea, substance abuse and hearing loss.

    According to Yu He, also at Guangzhou Medical University, the findings have important implications for real-world interventions. “Addressing loneliness is important, but it’s not the only factor in preventing diseases,” she says. “Public health authorities should also focus on improving mental health services and promoting healthy lifestyles.”

    David Sbarra at the University of Arizona says the new study “should give us pause in how we think about the public health goals of reducing loneliness to improve human health”.

    “To be sure, loneliness itself is highly aversive and seems to be causally associated with the emergence of depressive episodes, but in terms of the connection to health, some of the most cherished findings in the field need to be reconsidered,” says Sbarra. “It is important to understand where the causal effects might exist and where the correlations seem to exist.”

    Zhang, He and their colleagues are planning to investigate the underlying biological mechanisms behind their findings, including how loneliness affects things like stress hormones and inflammation. They also hope to run studies on groups of people from other parts of the world to see if their current findings – which are predominately based on data from people in the UK – hold up.

    Sbarra adds that, to truly determine whether loneliness causes certain conditions, researchers will need to study whether having better social connection leads to health improvements. “Obviously, any intervention studies showing that you can improve health markers by reducing loneliness would be truly remarkable,” he says. “We have very few examples suggesting this is indeed possible.”

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  • Why everyone needs to stop joking that they’re “a little bit OCD”

    Why everyone needs to stop joking that they’re “a little bit OCD”

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    New Scientist. Science news and long reads from expert journalists, covering developments in science, technology, health and the environment on the website and the magazine.

    We have probably all heard someone say they are “a little bit OCD”, perhaps jokily or as a matter of pride, in reference to their meticulous rearrangement of their bookshelves or habit of spending rather too long cleaning their bathroom.

    Most of us have a rough idea of what obsessive-compulsive disorder is, but it tends to be viewed as a behavioural quirk. In fact, this condition – characterised by intrusive thoughts and compulsive actions that you can’t stop – is debilitating for the 1 to 3 per cent of the global population it affects.

    In this light, quips about being “a little bit OCD” risk trivialising a condition that can be every bit as serious as schizophrenia or depression. The misuse of the term might reflect our ignorance about OCD. But as we explore in “A fresh understanding of OCD is opening routes to new treatments“, we are now discovering more about how it manifests in the brain – with implications for how we think about the condition.

    It is true that a degree of obsessiveness and compulsive behaviour is present in all of us. We go back to check that we locked the front door, and we can’t stop our mind wandering to a looming stressful event. In fact, many OCD symptoms seem to represent distortions of useful behaviours. But imagine if the intrusive thoughts and urges to take action didn’t stop? That is what characterises OCD.

    We are learning that OCD is a complex condition, with the immune system playing a part

    Thanks to decades of research into the underlying mechanisms behind the condition, we now know that entire brain networks are affected, with significant imbalances in the neurotransmitters that drive the transmission of signals around them. We are also learning that it is a more complex condition than we thought, with the immune system and perhaps even microbes in the gut playing a part.

    These insights into the drivers of OCD in the body and brain are opening the way to new treatments, which are sorely needed for those who don’t respond to the current first-line therapies. What is abundantly clear, however, is that OCD is a profoundly distressing condition that we are just beginning to get to grips with. It is past time we stopped with the quips.

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  • A fresh understanding of OCD is opening routes to new treatments

    A fresh understanding of OCD is opening routes to new treatments

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    New Scientist. Science news and long reads from expert journalists, covering developments in science, technology, health and the environment on the website and the magazine.

    When my daughter was young, she washed her hands a lot. We might have poked what we thought was gentle fun at her, saying she was “a little bit OCD”. Later, she began to disclose “bad thoughts”, which I assumed were the typical products of a child’s imagination. I told her we all had thoughts like that, and if we ignored them, they went away.

    Hers didn’t. At 21, they were out of control and out of proportion to anything like reality. She was diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder and I finally realised there was nothing “a little bit” about this condition.

    OCD is complex and commonly misunderstood, with a limited number of treatment options. But in recent years, the mechanisms in the brain and body that drive it are finally being pinned down, revealing an elaborate picture involving genetics, various brain networks, the immune system and even the bacteria in our gut. In turn, this growing understanding is opening up new possibilities of tackling this life-sabotaging condition.

    Around the world, between 1 and 3 per cent of people are estimated to have OCD, which typically begins during adolescence or early adulthood. As its name suggests, it is characterised by obsessions – or intrusive thoughts – and compulsions, which are habits you can’t stop. “Compulsive thoughts capture attention and take over because they’ve become a compulsive habit,” says Barbara Sahakian at the University of Cambridge.…

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  • Media portrayals peddle a dangerous fiction about substance misuse

    Media portrayals peddle a dangerous fiction about substance misuse

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    Narratives around addiction often reduce it to a series of poor choices, lack of values and weakness. This has real-world consequences, warns Anna Wolfe

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  • Does the structure of your brain affect your risk of depression?

    Does the structure of your brain affect your risk of depression?

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    A network of neurons in the brain seems to be larger in people with depression, which could change how we think about the condition’s causes

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  • Kathy Willis interview: How the healing powers of botany can reduce anxiety and boost health

    Kathy Willis interview: How the healing powers of botany can reduce anxiety and boost health

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    New Scientist. Science news and long reads from expert journalists, covering developments in science, technology, health and the environment on the website and the magazine.

    We all know that being in nature is good for our health and mental well-being. But how does it work its magic? For example, what explains the finding that, following gall bladder surgery, people who could see a verdant scene from their hospital window recovered three times faster and needed far less pain medication than those who only looked out over a brick wall?

    It is this puzzle that led botanist Kathy Willis on a recent mission. The former director of science at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, in London and current professor of biodiversity at St Edmund Hall, University of Oxford, says that what she discovered has changed her life. In her new book, Good Nature, she explores the growing body of research revealing what happens in our brains and bodies when we interact with nature. We tend to see ourselves as a visual species, but it turns out that the benefits we get via other senses – smell, sound, touch and a mysterious “hidden sense” – are just as impressive, sometimes more so. There is still lots more to discover, but, as she tells New Scientist, we have already learned plenty that can improve our lives.

    Kate Douglas: What happens when we look at nature?

    Kathy Willis: It induces different pathways in our bodies. Our heart rate and blood pressure fall, stress hormones like adrenalin decrease and our brainwave activity is heightened in areas showing we are calmer and more clear-minded.

    Are there certain “natural” colours we should seek out?

    When you look at these physiological markers of calmness, it’s green-and-white leaves, and yellow or white flowers…

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  • Arts and crafts seem to boost well-being more than employment

    Arts and crafts seem to boost well-being more than employment

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    MF2Y15 A woman painting a picture of blossoming cherry trees in a garden

    Creative hobbies provide us with a sense of self-expression and progress

    Botany vision/Alamy

    Engaging in arts and crafts boosts your mental well-being and improves the sense that life is worthwhile. These activities have a positive effect that is as strong or stronger than the mental health improvements that come with being employed.

    Decades of research have shown that health, income and employment status are major factors in predicting people’s satisfaction with their lives. However, researchers at Anglia Ruskin University in the UK wanted to investigate what other activities or circumstances might improve mental health. “I was really drawn to looking into whether crafting might be good for your well-being because it’s so accessible, affordable and it’s already popular,” says Helen Keyes.

    Keyes and her colleagues analysed more than 7000 responses to the annual Taking Part Survey, which asks people in England how they engage with activities such as arts and culture, sports and internet use. All participants were also asked about their happiness, anxiety, loneliness, life satisfaction and if they felt their life was worthwhile.

    More than a third of participants said they had done at least one art or craft activity in the previous year, including pottery, painting, knitting, photography, film-making, woodworking or jewellery-making. Even after accounting for factors like health and employment status, researchers found that engaging in arts and crafts was associated with higher scores across their measures of mental health.

    The bump was modest – around 0.2 on a 10-point scale – but crafting was a stronger predictor that someone felt their life was worthwhile compared with harder-to-change factors such as having a job.

    “There is something about crafting that gives a sense of progress and self-expression in a way that employment often doesn’t,” says Keyes. “You get to be really proud of what you’re creating and see progress in front of your eyes in real time.” The positive effect of creative pursuits on a person’s sense that life is worthwhile was 1.6 times higher than employment status.

    Arts and crafts also boosted happiness and life satisfaction, but didn’t make a meaningful difference to reported loneliness, which may be because many crafts can be done solo.

    Promoting and supporting arts and crafts could be used as a preventive measure for mental health on a national scale, says Keyes. “When people do it, they enjoy it. It’s an easy win.”

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  • We have tools to solve the opioid crisis – so why aren’t they used?

    We have tools to solve the opioid crisis – so why aren’t they used?

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    An opioid treatment clinic in Vermont

    Jordan Silverman/Getty

    Early in August, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a sixth medication for reversing opioid overdoses. The product, call Zurnai, is an automatic injection of the drug nalmefene, produced by Purdue Pharma – the same pharmaceutical company that helped fuel the opioid crisis.

    Irony aside, this is – at least at face value – a welcome addition to the growing arsenal of medications meant to combat the opioid crisis. Nalmefene is stronger and has a longer duration than its more common counterpart naloxone, which has become less effective against an…

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  • The Uncertain Path Forward for Psychedelic Medicine

    The Uncertain Path Forward for Psychedelic Medicine

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    But psychedelic compounds are tricky to test in this way because their psychedelic effects are so recognizable to those who take them. In the Lykos trials, around 90 percent of the participants were able to correctly guess whether they received MDMA or a placebo, effectively “unblinding” the study.

    If participants knew they received MDMA, they could have been more receptive to the psychotherapy and felt more positive about the trial experience. And if they knew they hadn’t, they might have been predisposed to think that the psychotherapy they received was less effective. Both scenarios could have influenced how they reported their PTSD symptoms after the MDMA sessions.

    “Once you have an unblinded trial, you potentially have all kinds of questions about efficacy,” says David Rind, chief medical officer of the Boston-based nonprofit Institute for Clinical and Economic Review, which published a report in May raising concerns about the validity of the Lykos trial data.

    Blinded trials with a placebo group are often considered the gold standard in medical research, but Rind says there are other ways to ensure reliable results. For instance, instead of giving participants in the control arm an inert placebo, Lykos could administer a safe but active drug that is known to produce some physiological effects. This would at least leave patients in doubt about what they received, Rind says.

    Another issue Lykos will have to address is the therapy part of its treatment. The company says its treatment manual allows for a “personalized experience,” but FDA advisers had concerns about the variability of psychotherapy offered in the trials. Rind says because Lykos was testing its own psychotherapy protocol in both the drug and placebo groups, rather than an established trauma-focused therapy, it’s hard to know how effective the therapy component was.

    One way to address this would be to study an established trauma therapy in combination with MDMA, or test different psychotherapy approaches head-to-head.

    Sandhya Prashad, president of the American Society of Ketamine Physicians, Psychotherapists, and Practitioners, says the therapy component likely complicated Lykos case to the FDA. “I don’t think the FDA knew what to do with that,” she says.

    She thinks the psychedelics field can learn from the 2019 approval of Spravato. Johnson & Johnson asked the FDA to approve just the drug, rather than the drug alongside psychotherapy.

    Because Spravato can induce disassociation and hallucinogenic effects, the FDA has special requirements around how it is prescribed. It must be administered in a certified medical office where a health care provider can monitor the patient. A patient doesn’t get therapy during the session.

    However, Prashad says she understands why Lykos was seeking approval for MDMA combined with psychotherapy. Compare Spravato to generic ketamine, which was approved as an anesthetic in 1970 and is often given off-label as a depression treatment. Giving ketamine off-label doesn’t come with the same FDA requirements. It’s unregulated as a depression treatment, says Prashad. “You see a lot of subpar quality of care. I think Lykos was trying to prevent that and roll this out in a responsible way.”

    Other companies are pursuing psychedelics solely as a drug rather than combining it with psychotherapy. Biotech company Compass Pathways is testing psilocybin, the active compound in magic mushrooms, in Phase 3 trials for treatment-resistant depression. A licensed medical professional prepares participants for the psilocybin session, observes and is present with them during their session, and provides follow-up support after. Sessions can last six to eight hours. The company notes that this type of psychological support is not psychotherapy.

    Similarly, Beckley Psytech is studying a derivative of DMT given intranasally, as well as an IV version of psilocybin, as potential treatments for depression. Both are designed to have short-acting effects, with the peak experience lasting just 10 to 15 minutes. In the Lykos trials, MDMA sessions lasted eight hours.

    “What we offer during the therapeutic session is support, there’s no psychotherapy,” says Rob Conley, Beckley Psytech’s chief scientific and medical officer. “From a safety standpoint, we think short is good.”

    Whether Lykos will stick with its plans to pursue MDMA-assisted therapy, or pursue approval or just MDMA, remains to be seen. Either way, the company said it remains “deeply dedicated” to bringing MDMA to those suffering from PTSD.

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  • What is ‘problematic smartphone use’ and should we worry about it?

    What is ‘problematic smartphone use’ and should we worry about it?

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    Some teens stay on their phones late into the night

    Monkey Business Images/Shutterstock

    Two recent studies have linked “problematic smartphone use” among teenagers to increased symptoms of anxiety, depression and insomnia. But is it a real problem? And how worried, if at all, should we be?

    What is “problematic smartphone use”?

    The researchers of both studies defined smartphone use as being “problematic” if it involves someone losing their sense of control over usage, being preoccupied with their device at the expense of meaningful activities and feeling distressed when they can’t use it. Use becomes problematic when it interferes with your work, school or relationships, says Jon Elhai at the University of Toledo in Ohio, who wasn’t involved in either study.

    “Problematic smartphone use” isn’t recognised as a diagnosable condition by official health bodies, such as the World Health Organization, the US Centers for Disease Control or Prevention or the national health services in the UK.

    The two pieces of work found an association with certain conditions. This mean additional research is needed to ascertain if smartphone use can cause such health problems, says Nicola Kalk at King’s College London, who was involved in both studies.

    What did the two studies find?

    In one, Kalk and her colleagues surveyed smartphone use among more than 650 teenagers, aged 16 to 18. They used the “Smartphone Addiction Scale”, which asks whether people experience blurred vision due to their device use or if they feel impatient when not holding it, for example. This leads to a score from 10 to 60, with scores above 30 considered problematic.

    Of the participants, 19 per cent met the definition of problematic smartphone use. These individuals were twice as likely to report symptoms of moderate anxiety and nearly three times as likely to report symptoms of moderate depression, compared with their peers.

    On average, those with problematic smartphone use spent an extra 29 minutes per day on Instagram and 22 minutes more on TikTok, compared with those without problematic smartphone use. There were no links between problematic smartphone use and other apps, such as Snapchat or WhatsApp.

    The team accounted for factors that may influence the results, such as how long the participants said they spent on their smartphones each day. “We [also] teased apart the impact of [general] screen time from the effects of problematic smartphone usage, and while screen time was not linked to anxiety or depression, problematic smartphone usage was,” says Kalk.

    In the second study, a different team surveyed smartphone use among 69 teenagers aged 13 to 16, along with their prevalence of anxiety, depression and insomnia symptoms. The researchers found that 44 per cent of the participants met the definition of problematic smartphone use, based on the same addiction scale.

    When the team surveyed 62 of the participants again a month later, they found an increase in the severity of problematic smartphone use over that time was linked to more severe symptoms of anxiety, depression and insomnia.

    Should we worry about “problematic smartphone use”?

    These studies are small and don’t prove that what is considered problematic smartphone use actually causes declines in teen mental health, says Sunny Xun Liu at Stanford University.

    Kalk and Ben Carter at King’s College London, who was involved in both studies, acknowledge that young people who are already experiencing these symptoms may use their smartphones in a more problematic way than people without mental health issues. “It may be a bidirectional link, but we can’t yet say whether it’s causal,” says Jay Olson at the University of Toronto in Canada.

    For example, people with pre-existing depression symptoms may be more reliant on their phone than someone without the condition if they take comfort from communicating with loved ones, while someone with insomnia may depend on their phone to battle boredom in the middle of the night.

    In the second study, the participants with signs of problematic smartphone use were five times more likely to say they wanted to cut down on their device use than those without such usage. The fact that these teenagers want to use their phones less makes the results “both worrying and also positive”, says Carter.

    How can we reduce our smartphone use if we’re concerned?

    In the first study, surveys revealed that 95 per cent of the participants had tried to limit their smartphone use. They said that the most effective strategies were occasionally putting their device on “do not disturb” mode, turning off notifications and leaving it in another room at bedtime.

    Rather than imposing restriction on teenagers’ phone use, parents and schools should have discussions with them about what aspects of smartphone use are benefitting or harming them, says Kalk. For example, some of the teens reported enjoying keeping in touch with loved ones via their smartphones, but also that they could be distracting.

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    • smartphones

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