New Year’s resolution – would you like to be happier?
28th December 2008
So here's a blast from the past ... that could be fun and useful for a New Year's resolution. I first came across Michael Fordyce's research year's ago (Fordyce 1977; Fordyce 1983). It was probably the first serious scientific exploration of how to help people become happier that I'd ever …
Recent research: prevention & treatment of overweight with changed eating behaviours, energy density & breastfeeding
26th December 2008
Here are six studies on eating and weight. The first, by Maruyama and colleagues, demonstrates a strong association between both "eating until full" and "eating quickly" and the chances of being overweight. The linked BMJ editorial by Denney-Wilson & Campbell discusses these findings further, including suggesting that "Clinicians should encourage …
Handouts & questionnaires for health anxiety disorder
22nd December 2008
Here are the two main questionnaires currently used to assess Health Anxiety Disorder - the HAI and the HAQ. The HAI is the one recommended by the NHS Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) initiative. I've also added a scale put together by Adrian Wells that assesses safety behaviours and …
Barbara Fredrickson’s recent research study on loving-kindness meditation (third post)
21st December 2008
What are some implications for using forms of mind training for ourselves and for teaching others? Reading this research study leads me to think about optimum amount of time spent practising these methods, the importance of encouraging application during daily life. I discuss these issues in this blog posting. It …
Recent research: mind-body & body-mind effects for cancer, allergy, dementia, & mental health
18th December 2008
Here are five studies on the loose theme of how the mind affects the body, and the body affects the mind ... and that the distinction between mind and body is pretty arbitrary anyway. Using meta-analysis, Chida & colleagues highlight considerable evidence suggesting that stress-related psychosocial factors have an adverse …
Handouts & questionnaires for generalized anxiety disorder (GAD)
15th December 2008
Here are a series of assessment questionnaires and handouts for Generalized Anxiety Disorder: GAD, 2 question screen - answering "yes" to either of the two screening questions on this sheet suggests it's worth checking for a diagnosis of full Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) - for example by using the GADQ …
Barbara Fredrickson’s recent research study on loving-kindness meditation (second post)
14th December 2008
I have already written an initial blog post about Barbara Fredrickson and colleagues' interesting recent research paper (Fredrickson, Cohn et al. 2008) on the effects of teaching people loving-kindness meditation. So what are some possible implications of this research for people in general, for using forms of mind training (meditation, …
Recent research: six studies on depression – bereavement, pregnancy, bipolar disorder, suicide, & stress in hospital staff
11th December 2008
Five of these six studies are from last month's American Journal of Psychiatry. Kendler et al discuss the many similarities and only occasional differences between bereavement-related and other life event-related depression - an issue explored further in Maj's editorial. Li et al show that depression in pregnancy (exacerbated further by …
Handouts & questionnaires for obsessive compulsive disorder & body dysmorphic disorder
8th December 2008
Here are a collection of downloadable forms, questionnaires and handouts that I use when working with people struggling with obsessive compulsive disorder and body dysmorphic disorder. Normal intrusions - a list of 52 "normal intrusive thoughts" with the percentage of 293 students (none of whom had been diagnosed with a …
Barbara Fredrickson’s recent research study on loving-kindness meditation (first post)
7th December 2008
I've just been reading the recent paper by Barbara Fredrickson and colleagues "Open hearts build lives: Positive emotions, induced through loving kindness meditation, build consequential personal resources" (Fredrickson, Cohn et al. 2008). It's quite a long read - 16 closely printed A4 pages - and it's fascinating in a whole …