news 2020

People with low aerobic and muscular fitness are nearly twice as likely to experience depression, finds a new study led by UCL researchers. Low fitness levels also predicted a 60% greater chance of anxiety, over a seven-year follow-up, according to the findings published in BMC Medicine .

A new study suggests that having COVID-19 increases a person's risk of developing psychiatric disorders, and that having a psychiatric disorder increases the chance of getting COVID-19.

Loneliness is responsible for 18% of depression among people over 50 in England, according to a new study led by UCL researchers. The findings, published in The Lancet Psychiatry , suggest that almost one in five depression cases among older adults could be prevented if loneliness were eliminated. The researchers found that people's subjective experiences of loneliness contributed to depression up to 12 years later, independent of more objective measures of social isolation.

A short online game in which players are recruited as a "Chief Disinformation Officer" and use tactics such as trolling to sabotage elections in a peaceful town has been shown to reduce susceptibility to political misinformation in its users. Fake news and online conspiracies will continue to chip away at the democratic process until we take seriously the need to improve digital media literacy across populations Sander van der Linden The free-to-play  Harmony Square  is released to the public today, along with a study on its effectiveness published in the  Harvard Misinformation Review.

A novel method to sample earwax could be a cheap and effective way to measure the hormone cortisol, according to a study led by researchers at UCL and King's College London. The findings, published in the academic journal Heliyon , could point to new ways of monitoring depression and stress-linked conditions.

Young people across Europe are being recruited to a trial to put their smartphone usage to good use, via an app designed to prevent anxiety and depression and improve wellbeing. Researchers at the University of Glasgow are part of the University of Exeter-led, pan-European project to recruit young people aged between 16 and 22 years to use the app.

The new study examines involuntary inpatient civil commitment, a legal intervention used in every state to detain a person who is deemed a danger to themselves or others as a result of mental illness or substance abuse. iStock.com/Katarzyna Bialasiewicz The new study examines involuntary inpatient civil commitment, a legal intervention used in every state to detain a person who is deemed a danger to themselves or others as a result of mental illness or substance abuse.

A UCL-led project exploring the impact of coronavirus on older people's mental health in Peru is one of the first to receive new government funding, aimed at addressing the pandemic's impact in lowand middle-income countries. Professor John Hurst (UCL Division of Medicine) is one of 12 lead academics to receive funding as part of the Global Effort on COVID-19 (GECO) Health Research initiative, led by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), in partnership with UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).

Over-activity in a single brain region called the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (sgACC) underlies several key symptoms of mood and anxiety disorders, but an antidepressant only successfully treats some of the symptoms. We found that over-activity in sgACC promotes the body's 'fight-or-flight' rather than 'rest-and-digest' response, by activating the cardiovascular system and elevating threat responses.

Using an experiment conducted in a simulated group office environment, ETH researchers have proved for the first time that repeated workplace interruptions cause the body to increase the release of stress hormones. And they do so to a higher degree than the perceived psychological stress. According to the Job Stress Index 2020 compiled by Stiftung Gesundheitsförderung Schweiz, a Swiss health foundation, almost one-third of the Swiss workforce experience work-related stress.

An online gambling pilot program launched today by the Gambling Treatment and Research Clinic incorporates effective treatments used in the clinic, for people at home who have started to notice they have a problem. Initially delayed because of COVID-19, an at-home online pilot gambling treatment that incorporates effective in-clinic treatments is being launched today, during GambleAware Week.

Just 13% of people in England feel they 'fully understand' the current Covid-19 lockdown rules, with half of adults (51%) in the country saying they understand 'the majority' of them, find UCL researchers as part of the Covid-19 Social Study.

Humans prioritize close, positive relationships during aging, which can support physical and mental health. But these social aging behaviors are also found in wild chimpanzees, who seek interactions with other group members in increasingly positive ways as they get older, according to a new study published in Science Oct.

New study reveals mental health impact of initial lockdown period The first six weeks of the pandemic and lockdown had a major impact on the UK population's mental health and wellbeing, according to new research. Led by the University of Glasgow, the study, which is published in the British Journal of Psychiatry, found young people, women, individuals from more socially disadvantaged backgrounds and those with pre-existing mental health problems reported the worst mental health outcomes in the initial phase of the national lockdown.

Bad attitudes lead to moral judgments rooted in our basic survival mechanisms. And scientists from the University of Geneva have demonstrated that they are linked to foul smells. Unhealthy behaviours trigger moral judgments that are similar to the basic emotions that contribute to our ability to survive.

We have not all been in this together, according to  research  from Oxford, which shows the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in aggravated economic and mental health inequality. The study, published by PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America), shows lower paid workers have suffered disproportionately more economic hardship and more resulting mental health problems during the current crisis than their higher paid peers.

Thousands of police detentions and voluntary interviews of vulnerable people may have been carried out without an 'appropriate adult' (AA) present, a report has found. There to Help 3 was co-authored Dr Roxanna Dehaghani of Cardiff University and Chris Bath, chief executive of the National Appropriate Adult Network (NAAN).

A little puppy love is helping University of Queensland students experiencing a 'ruff' time improve their mental health and wellbeing. UQ's Canine Co-Counselling program is enlisting the help of a trained therapy dog and their handler during special counselling sessions to support students experiencing difficulties including stress, anxiety or depression, grief, social isolation or trauma.

Psychology researchers at McGill University have used network science - a mathematical technique for revealing connections and patterns - to gain novel insights into Montrealers' experience of using French and English. The unique approach has brought to light subtle differences as to which social settings Montreal bilinguals discuss certain topics and whether they use French, English or both languages to discuss those topics.

Boys and girls who experience puberty earlier than their peers have an increased risk of self-harm in adolescence, a study funded by the National Institute for Health Research Bristol Biomedical Research Centre (NIHR Bristol BRC) and published in the journal Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences today [Tuesday 6 October] has found.