"Man, sometimes it takes a long time to sound like yourselfl "


Posts tagged with 'aged'

The 5 minute 'Health' read - Ageing: recent research (January)

5th January 2024

I read a fair amount of research and thought some people might be interested in recent studies that I've found helpful. I plan to write a brief approximately 1,200 word (5 minute read) blog post pretty much every week, highlighting helpful material that has emerged in the previous couple of …

Social relationships, group memberships and health: what we can do

19th February 2016

I recently wrote a blog post "Social relationships, group memberships and health: background", where I described some of the mental & physical health benefits of group membership. I mentioned too the recent research study "Greater number of group identifications is associated with healthier behaviour" where the authors write:"What is already …

Social relationships, group memberships and health: background

22nd November 2015

We know that relationships are important for wellbeing, for protection against & treatment of psychological disorders, and for improving mortality - see, for example, blog posts on this website such as "Strong relationships improve survival as much as quitting smoking", "Be the change you want to see in the world" …

Learning about aging from a trip South visiting friends

12th October 2015

Catero, my wife, and I are just back from four days in the South visiting friends. We're blessed with some lovely friendships but, partly because most of us live pretty busy lives, it's easy not to see people who live quite far away for months or even years. A while …

Purpose in life: reduces dementia risk, increases life expectancy, treats depression and builds wellbeing

23rd May 2012

I was struck by a paper published this month in the journal Archives of General Psychiatry - "Effect of purpose in life on the relation between Alzheimer disease pathologic changes on cognitive function in advanced age". The authors wrote "In recent years, systematic examination has shown that purpose in life …

Recent research: relationships & fairness – 3 papers on large social groups, 2 on bullying, and 2 on generosity

27th January 2011

"If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion." Dalai Lama I really value how quotes about caring, like this favourite of mine from the Dalai Lama, are increasingly backed up by emerging research. Here are seven further papers in the general …

Recent research: six studies on mindfulness, values & meaning

27th May 2010

Here are half a dozen recent research studies on mindfulness, values & meaning - fuller details, links and abstracts for all studies are listed further down this page. Hofmann and colleagues' meta-analysis on "The effect of mindfulness-based therapy on anxiety and depression" found encouraging effect sizes for mindfulness training and …

Recent research: articles from January journals

4th February 2010

I read a lot of research. When I find an article of particular interest I download it to my bibliographic database - EndNote - which currently contains nearly 14,000 abstracts. Every few weeks I scan through all the articles I've found interesting in the previous month (in the general areas …

Exercise 3: US Department of Health & Human Services, resources for assessment & advice

18th January 2010

Last week I wrote about the helpful GPPAQ exercise screening questionnaire in "Exercise 2: UK Department of Health, resources for assessment & advice". This week I'd like to go "over the pond" to visit the excellent advice on exercise provided by the US government. One of the most useful resources …

Getting help for depression in Scotland – support groups, online & face-to-face courses, newsletter, telephone service, and more

20th December 2009

The e-newsletter from Depression Alliance Scotland (DAS) popped into my inbox last week. What good work they do. The new information that particularly caught my eye was access to an online facilitated self-help course. The description runs: "We have a new service offering support for people to use Living Life …