Ways to happiness and life satisfaction
11th April 2008
On April 9 I wrote "On the fine Authentic Happiness website, Seligman and colleagues discuss three entwining roads to happiness and what they call "the full life". One of these three roads is maximising and appreciating positive emotions - very much the territory of savouring." Do visit the Authentic Happiness …
Savouring, mindfulness & flow
9th April 2008
In a post on 27 January I wrote about "savouring" - the appreciation of positive experiences. Savouring is, as it's name suggests, a sort of running the positive experience around in one's mouth, really tasting, valuing and enjoying it - a bit like slow, careful appreciation of a good wine. …
Fish oil and depression – take at least 1 gm of EPA daily
26th March 2008
A recent study in the British Journal of Nutrition (Rogers, Appleton et al. 2008) throws doubt on the value of fish oil supplementation as a treatment for depression. The authors stated " ... while a majority of previous trials have focused on individuals with severe depression in clinical settings and …
NICE guidelines – IBS, osteoarthritis, and mental health topics
24th March 2008
The UK National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence is "the independent organisation responsible for providing national guidance on the promotion of good health and the prevention and treatment of ill health." NICE guidance applies particularly to England and Wales, but the opinions they come to are very carefully weighed …
Some interesting articles from February ‘08
17th March 2008
Here are details and links for a couple of dozen mainly February articles that I found interesting. Most of these articles (and many others) are also listed on my searchable Connotea online database. Barbui, C. M. D., T. A. M. D. Furukawa, et al. (2008). "Effectiveness of paroxetine in the …
Are antidepressants useless? – recent research
11th March 2008
"The truth is rarely pure, and never simple" Oscar Wilde There has been a lot of media publicity about the article on the value of antidepressants by Irving Kirsch and colleagues which was published in PLoS Medicine last month (Kirsch, Deacon et al. 2008). The authors wrote "We obtained data …
Conflict & disagreement, in and out of therapy
27th February 2008
Honest criticism is hard to take, particularly from a relative, a friend, an acquaintance, or a stranger. Franklin Jones Conflict and disagreement aren't meant to be easy. Human beings are social animals that mostly need to get along with those around them in order to survive. As hunter-gatherers, our ability …
Depersonalization/derealization – understanding, assessment & treatment
15th February 2008
I wrote in a blog posting on February 12th that Depersonalization Disorder is relatively common - 1 to 2% of the general population - but that it is rarely recognized. As with so many psychological disorders, it can be helpful to see Depersonalization Disorder as an extreme version of a …
Depersonalization/derealization – an important & regularly missed diagnosis
12th February 2008
The young man sitting in front of me thought he was going mad. I remembered the woman I'd seen who was so frightened of her symptoms that she found it immensely anxiety-provoking to even speak about them. It's not surprising. Of course people suffering from depersonalization/derealization symptoms will try desperately …
Eat 5 to 9 portions of fruit & veg daily
10th February 2008
There's a helpful editorial in last month's American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (AJCN) - "Fruit and vegetables: think variety, go ahead, eat!" As with many journals, one doesn't have to pay anything to look at the full text of AJCN editorials. It's a good read. It comments on a paper …