An international team of researchers has identified, for the first time, the cell types, areas and biological processes in the brain that mediate the genetic risk of insomnia. This was made possible by assessing DNA and sleep features in no less than 1.3 million people. The findings are a major step towards getting a grip on the biological mechanisms that cause insomnia.

Insomnia is one of the most common disorders. Many people occasionally have a bad night of sleep. One out of ten people chronically experience poor sleep and suffer severely from the daytime consequences. Worldwide, 770 million people have chronic insomnia.

Many professions - paramedics, police, firefighters - involve helping people in traumatic circumstances but witnessing trauma has its own effects that can haunt people for life.

When we think about workplace safety, we often think about introducing or improving initiatives to ensure the physical safety of workers.

In recent years, there’s also been a growing awareness around ensuring not just the physical but also the psychological wellbeing of employees, with more organisations now working to manage the impact of vicarious trauma in the workplace.
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While vicarious trauma will never be eliminated from trauma-exposed workplaces, it is possible for organisations to effectively manage it, which has been shown to reduce attrition rates and unplanned absences, and boost the workplace culture.

Talk therapy can help those with chronic gastrointestinal conditions
It’s widely recognised that emotions can directly affect stomach function. As early as 1915, influential physiologist Walter Cannon noted that stomach functions are changed in animals when frightened. The same is true for humans. Those who stress a lot often report diarrhoea or stomach pain.

We now know this is because the brain communicates with the gastrointestinal system. A whole ecosystem comprising 100 trillion bacteria living in our bowels is an active participant in this brain-gut chat.

Recent discoveries around this relationship have made us consider using talk therapy and antidepressants as possible treatments for symptoms of chronic gut problems. The aim is to interfere with the conversation between the two organs by telling the brain to repair the faulty bowel.
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Our research found talk therapy can improve depression and the quality of life of patients with gastrointestinal conditions. Antidepressants may also have a beneficial effect on both the course of a bowel disease and accompanying anxiety and depression.

Striving for precision may seem like a desirable trait, but research suggests extreme perfectionism is a risk factor for depression, anxiety and eating disorders.

We live in a world dominated by the pursuit of perfection. From how we perform at school and in the workplace, to whether we win a social game of tennis and even how we choose romantic partners and raise our kids, achieving top marks or the best possible outcome has come to define our understanding of success.
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There’s no doubt that setting goals and having high expectations is a healthy pattern of behaviour, but when these habits are taken to an extreme level it can increase the risk of some of our most common mental health problems.

What are our screens and devices doing to us?
Psychologist Adam Alter studies how much time screens steal from us and how they’re getting away with it.
He shares why all those hours you spend staring at your smartphone, tablet or computer might be making you miserable – and what you can do about it.

In 2003 a landmark study revealed what psychologists had long suspected: that people who experience positive emotions are at a reduced risk of disease.
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Researchers assessed a group of 334 people aged 18 to 54 for their tendency to experience positive emotions like happiness, pleasure and relaxation along with negative emotions like anxiety, hostility and depression. Participants were then injected with nasal drops containing the common cold.
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People who expressed more positive emotions were less likely to develop the common cold, and the relationship was so strong that it held across age, gender, education, race, body mass and even season.
Since then, psychologists have continued to probe the link between feeling good and being well in a new field of research called ‘positive psychology’. Importantly, this new discipline extends beyond disease models of health such as whether we have a cold and seeks to define what it means to be healthy in positive terms.

Jocelyn Brewer MAPS introduces us to the concept of Digital Nutrition, an award-winning framework for teaching the principles of a healthy, balanced relationship with technology.

Digital nutrition borrows from the healthy eating pyramid and food nutrition principles to communicate key concepts around screen-time limits, digital citizenship and impulse control, and evaluates the cognitive benefits of apps and games.
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It is not about a digital ‘diet’ or ‘detox’, but about a positive, long term relationship with cyberspace that allows us to get the best out of technology, while avoiding the pitfalls of ‘internet addiction’. Are there healthy life choices for digital consumption? Are there digital superfoods?
​#psychweek

BY THE PSYCHLOPAEDIA TEAM - THE AUSTRALIAN PSYCHOLOGICAL SOCIETY

Complaining to friends about flabby arms or big thighs can incite comparison with other women and cultivate body dissatisfaction.

“My arms are so flabby.”
“I hate my thighs.”
“My stomach is too big.”

How often do you or women you know engage in this sort of ‘fat talk’? According to one recent Australian study, it happens much more often than you might think.
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The research reveals that during an average week four out of five young women experience ‘fat talk’ about their appearance or another person’s. And even though it might seem like a harmless way to alleviate body dissatisfaction, the opposite is true – fat talk can have a negative effect on body image.