News by Subject Social & Behavior

Women who are sexually assaulted and suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can learn to decrease negative thoughts and enhance self-worth by a combination of meditation and aerobic exercise. A combination of mental and physical training with meditation and aerobic exercise done for one hour twice a week over a six-week period significantly reduced post-traumatic and ruminative thoughts in women with a history of sexual violence.

Reducing severity of PTSD symptoms long-term holds significant public-health and economic implications.

A study among British airline pilots shows that 20 percent of them have scores on a burnout scale that are comparable to those of people that are under burnout treatment. Surprisingly, the same study shows that only one of the 1147 pilots that participated, did not meet the performance standards at the regular flight simulator training. The authors argue that airline companies need to offer better support and facilities to their pilots to help them cope with their stressful jobs.

A recent study finds that older adults are better than younger adults at anticipating stressful events at home -- but older adults are not as good at using those predictions to reduce the adverse impacts of the stress.

In a first-of-a-kind study, Washington State University scientists examined how peoples' self-reported levels of stress, anxiety and depression were affected by smoking different strains and quantities of cannabis at home.

Scientists have for the first time found direct causal links between the neurotransmitter dopamine and avoidance -- behavior related to pain and fear. Researchers have long known that dopamine plays a key role in driving behavior related to pleasurable goals, such as food, sex and social interaction. In general, increasing dopamine boosts the drive toward these stimuli. But dopamine's role in allowing organisms to avoid negative events has remained mysterious.

New research published in The Lancet Psychiatry finds that mental health diagnosis should be more collaborative. The study found evidence that service users can feel isolated, confused and distressed when a diagnosis is not discussed with them, is discovered via health records, in a letter or inadvertently mentioned in a care meeting. Instead, doctors should work alongside service users to approach diagnosis in a way that is sensitive to individual needs and preferences, so that they explain difficulties, give hope, empower and guide recovery.