Re-published from TechnologyNetworks. Original story from the University of Houston

Exercise might not be fun, but it’s good for your body. Over the years, science has well established that exercise can cut your risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and some types of cancer. But the ways that exercise affects the brain are still under investigation, although new research suggests it may be essential for the growth of new neurons. 

Research conducted at the Università degli Studi di Milano (University of Milan) examined the effect of restricting mice from using their hind, but not their front legs, for a period of 28 days. The paper detailing the research was published in Frontiers in Neuroscience. Whilst the mice were able to eat and groom themselves as normal, and didn’t show signs of being stressed, subsequent analysis showed significant changes in the mice’s brains, including impairment of the mice’s neural stem cells. The researchers noted that the number of neural stem cells – which produce all neurons and glia during development and persist in certain areas into adulthood – that were actively producing new neurons was reduced by 70% in the restricted mice as compared to mice that hadn’t had their movement restricted.   ​

At work, it’s healthier and more productive just to be yourself, according to a new study from Rice University, Texas A&M University, the University of Memphis, Xavier University, Portland State University and the University of California, Berkeley.

The study, “Stigma Expression Outcomes and Boundary Conditions: A Meta-Analysis” will appear in an upcoming edition of the Journal of Business and Psychology. It examines 65 studies focusing on what happens after people in a workplace disclose a stigmatized identity, such as sexual orientation, mental illness, physical disability or pregnancy.

Eden King, a co-author of the study and an associate professor of psychology at Rice, said the decision to express a stigmatized identity is highly complicated.

“It has the potential for both positive and negative consequences,” she said.

However, the research overwhelmingly indicates that people with non-visible stigmas (such as sexual orientation or health problems) who live openly at work are happier with their overall lives and more productive in the workplace. King said self-disclosure is typically a positive experience because it allows people to improve connections, form relationships with others and free their minds of unwanted thoughts.

New research shows a quarter of girls (24%) and one in 10 boys (9%) are depressed at age 14.

​Researchers from the UCL Institute of Education and the University of Liverpool analysed information on more than 10,000 children born in 2000-01 who are taking part in the Millennium Cohort Study.

At ages 3, 5, 7, 11 and 14, parents reported on their children’s mental health. Then, when they reached 14, the children were themselves asked questions about their depressive symptoms.

Based on the 14-year-olds reporting of their emotional problems, 24 per cent of girls and 9 per cent of boys suffer from depression.

The research, published with the National Children’s Bureau, also investigated links between depressive symptoms and family income. Generally, 14-year-olds from better-off families were less likely to have high levels of depressive symptoms compared to their peers from poorer homes.

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.

The range of human emotions includes many more negative than positive feelings for good reason

Homo sapiens is a very moody species. Even though sadness and bad moods have always been part of the human experience, we now live in an age that ignores or devalues these feelings.

In our culture, normal human emotions like temporary sadness are often treated as disorders.

Manipulative advertising, marketing and self-help industries claim happiness should be ours for the asking. Yet bad moods remain an essential part of the normal range of moods we regularly experience.
Despite the near-universal cult of happiness and unprecedented material wealth, happiness and life satisfaction in Western societies has not improved for decades.
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It’s time to re-assess the role of bad moods in our lives. We should recognise they are a normal, and even a useful and adaptive part of being human, helping us cope with many everyday situations and challenges.

Medicare rebates are available for psychological treatment by registered psychologists under the Australian Government's Better Access to Mental Health Care initiative. This scheme provides considerable assistance to people living with mental health problems, allowing them greater access to psychologists and providing more affordable mental healthcare.
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Under this scheme individuals diagnosed with a mental health disorder can access up to 10 individual and 10 group treatment sessions per year.