Mental Health

A growing body of scientific evidence shows that mindful-based therapies, such as meditation, can lower psychological stress and boost both mental and physical health. Now findings recently published in PLoS One suggest that such practices may also change gene activity.

In the small study, researchers recruited individuals who had no prior meditation experience and examined participants’ genetic profile prior to their adoption of a basic daily relaxation practice. The 10- to 20-minute routine included reciting words, breathing exercises and attempts to exclude everyday thought. The New Scientist reports:

After eight weeks of performing the technique daily, the volunteers gene profile was analysed again. Clusters of important beneficial genes had become more active and harmful ones less so.

The boosted genes had three main beneficial effects: improving the efficiency of mitochondria, the powerhouse of cells; boosting insulin production, which improves control of blood sugar; and preventing the depletion of telomeres, caps on chromosomes that help to keep DNA stable and so prevent cells wearing out and ageing.

Clusters of genes that became less active were those governed by a master gene called NF-kappaB, which triggers chronic inflammation leading to diseases including high blood pressure, heart disease, inflammatory bowel disease and some cancers.

Even more interesting was that researchers found evidence to suggest that such changes can occur quickly and that regularly meditating can have lasting health effects:

By taking blood immediately after before and after performing the technique on a single day, researchers also showed that the gene changes happened within minutes.

For comparison, the researchers also took samples from 26 volunteers who had practised relaxation techniques for at least three years. They had beneficial gene profiles even before performing their routines in the lab, suggesting that the techniques had resulted in long term changes to their genes.

Previously: How mindfulness-based therapies can improve attention and health, Study offers insights into how yoga eases stress, Stanford scientists examine meditation and compassion in the brain and Study shows meditation may alter areas of the brain associated with psychiatric disorders
Photo by Georgie Sharp

The research on how stress affects our body can be confusing. Previous studies have linked chronic stress to a variety of health conditions ranging from the common cold to Alzheimer’s disease. However, researchers at Stanford and Yale have found that short-term stress can aid in recovery from surgery and, as senior author of the paper Firdaus Dhabhar, PhD, explained in a past Q&A, a growing body of scientific evidence shows that acute stress may have protective or beneficial health properties.

But what about brief bursts of stress when individuals are already coping with something upsetting or feeling anxious? Is this helpful or harmful to the body? To find out, researchers at University of California-San Francisco asked a group of chronically stressed women to give a speech in front of a skeptical panel of judges. The New Scientist reports:

For the stressed women, the extra challenge indeed proved particularly harmful: the threat of the test caused more cellular damage than in the non-stressed controls. Perhaps more intriguing, though, was an unexpected effect [researchers] found within the control group.

Among these normally relaxed women, those who found the task moderately stressful had lower levels of cellular damage than those who did not find it stressful at all. In other words, while chronic stress can have knock-on effects that damage cellular structures, short bursts of stress can reduce such damage and protect our health in some circumstances.

The idea that being under pressure helps to focus attention and makes us better at cognitive tasks has been around for almost a century. But [the UCSF] study is a first step to showing how it can sometimes make us physically healthier as well – although exactly what is going on at the cellular level to explain the result is still unclear.

Previously: Sweating the small stuff may harm your mental health, How does your body respond to stress?, Using an app to get a better handle on what stresses you out, Study suggests anticipation of stress may accelerate cellular aging and Workplace stress and how it influences health
Photo by Sybren A. Stüvel

Did you see yesterday’s Well blog entry on the growing number of older adults seeking therapy? Abby Ellin reported:

“We’ve been seeing more people in their 80s and older over the past five years, many who have never done therapy before,” said Dolores Gallagher-Thompson, a professor of research in the department of psychiatry at Stanford. “Usually, they’ve tried other resources like their church, or talked to family. They’re realizing that they’re living longer, and if you’ve got another 10 or 15 years, why be miserable if there’s something that can help you?”

Some of these older patients are clinically depressed. The National Alliance on Mental Illness reports that more than 6.5 million Americans over age 65 suffer from depression. But many are grappling with mental health issues unaddressed for decades, as well as contemporary concerns about new living arrangements, finances, chronic health problems, the loss of loved ones and their own mortality.

…

That members of the Greatest Generation would feel comfortable talking to a therapist, or acknowledging psychological distress, is a significant change. Many grew up in an era when only “crazy” people sought psychiatric help. They would never admit to themselves — and certainly not others — that anything might be wrong.

“For people in their 80s and 90s now, depression was considered almost a moral weakness,” said Dr. Gallagher-Thompson. “Fifty years ago, when they were in their 20s and 30s, people were locked up and someone threw away the key. They had a terrible fear that if they said they were depressed, they were going to end up in an institution. So they learned to look good and cover their problems as best they could.”

Previously: The importance of combating loneliness among older adults and Elderly adults turn to social media to stay connected, stave off loneliness

Past research has suggested that teaching soldiers meditation exercises prior to their deployment can help them better cope with the trauma of war. Now, new findings show that mindfulness-based therapies can also be effective in helping treat veterans diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after they return home.

In the study (subscription required), researchers assigned veterans with chronic PTSD to either a mindfulness-based cognitive therapy group or traditional treatment program. Individuals in the mindfulness treatment groups completed in-class exercises, such as “body scanning,” where they focused on pain, tension and other physical sensations in various parts of their bodies, and were instructed to perform activities at home. According to a story posted on PsychCentral today:

After eight weeks of treatment, 73 percent of patients in the mindfulness group displayed meaningful improvement compared to 33 percent in the treatment-as-usual groups.

[Anthony King, PhD, the study’s lead author said in a release] the most noticeable area of improvement for patients in the mindfulness group was a reduction in avoidance symptoms.

One of the main tenets of mindfulness therapy is a sustained focus on thoughts and memories, even ones that might be unpleasant.

“Part of the psychological process of PTSD often includes avoidance and suppression of painful emotions and memories, which allows symptoms of the disorder to continue,” King said. “Through the mindfulness intervention, however, we found that many of our patients were able to stop this pattern of avoidance and see an improvement in their symptoms.”

The findings are noteworthy considering the growing demand for PTSD treatment among soldiers returning from combat.

Previously: U.S. consortium launches effort to identify PTSD biomarkers to improve diagnosis and treatment, Using a mobile-based app to help manage PTSD and Stanford and other medical schools to increase training and research for PTSD, combat injuries
Photo by felicito rustique

The traumatic events at yesterday’s Boston Marathon have many of us bracing ourselves for what might be coming next. And, as explained in a Healthland piece, this feeling of being on high alert is a result of how our brain processes traumatic experiences.

As writer Maia Szalavitz explains, “when the brain is under severe threat, it immediately changes the way it processes information, and starts to prioritize rapid responses.” While this behavior is important to our survival, it can be be harmful to our health if it persists after the threat has passed. So what can we do to help each other heal from the tragedy and reduce the risk of those most affected from developing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)? Szalavitz writes:

Fortunately, our brains are designed to modulate fear responses and at least 80% of people exposed to a severe traumatic event will not develop PTSD. Studies show that the more support, altruism and connection people share, the lower the risk for the disorder and the easier the recovery. Because such interactions aren’t always easy in the immediate aftermath of a harrowing experience, Hollander is investigating whether medications based on oxytocin— a hormone linked with love and parent/child bonding— might help to ease this connection.

If fear short circuits the brain’s normally logical and reasoned thinking, social support may be important in rerouting those networks back to their normal state. Which is why the selflessness and altruism we see in the wake of terror attacks is often the key to helping us to process and overcome the shock of living through them.

Szalavitz’s message of using compassion to combat fear was echoed in this TED blog post, which encourages people to “look for the helpers” as we process what happened yesterday, and in Mashable’s list of touching acts of kindness at the marathon.

Previously: Can social media improve the mental health of disaster survivors?, Grieving on Facebook: A personal story and 9/11: Grieving in the age of social media
Photo by Alex E. Proimos

Yesterday evening, Rebecca Rialon Berry, PhD, a child psychologist from Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, participated in a San Jose Mercury News live chat covering topics such as how to recognize that a child has experienced a traumatic event and how to help teens manage their online presence.

A transcript of the chat is now available on the newspaper’s website. During the chat, Berry discussed the issue of empowering teens to be proactive in preventing, or notifying adults about, harmful online or in-person interactions. Below is her exchange with reporter Katy Murphy:

Murphy: Even if a child isn’t being bullied or bullying others, he or she might see it happening — online or in person. What effect do these harmful interactions have on bystanders, and what do you recommend that teens do if they see harmful images or messages shared?

Berry: Bystanders can have a very helpful role in preventing or stopping cyber bullying. Encourage youth who see online activity that might appear to be cyber bullying to print out the message, post, tweet, or email and share this with an adult … Adults can respond to receiving such messages by validating the teen’s openness to speak up and with encouragement to the teen to continue communicating about online activities that he/she does not feel is productive or healthy.

The full chat is worth taking a moment to read.

Previously: Packard Children’s Hospital psychologist to discuss helping children coping with trauma, Talking to children about school shootings and Talking to little ones about 9/11

As the ongoing investigation into the tragic death of California high-school student Audrie Pott has become national news, many parents are wondering how to help their children and teens cope in equally traumatic situations. In an effort to answer parents’ questions, Rebecca Rialon Berry, PhD, a child psychologist from Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, will participate in a San Jose Mercury News live chat.

The chat begins today at 5:30 pm Pacific time and will cover topics ranging from how to recognize a child has experienced a traumatic event to how to help manage students’ social networking presence.

Previously: Talking to children about school shootings and Talking to little ones about 9/11
Photo by Troy Benson Photography

New findings analyzing Internet search data for major mental illnesses shows that seasonal weather changes may have a larger impact on such health conditions than previously believed.

In the study (.pdf), researchers used Google’s public database of queries to identify and monitor users’ searches for mental-health disorders, including anxiety, eating disorders, schizophrenia, ADHD, bipolar and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), in the United States and Australia from 2006 through 2010. According to a release:

The research showed eating disorder searches were down 37 percent in summers versus winters in the U.S., and 42 percent in summers in Australia. Schizophrenia searches decreased 37 percent during U.S. summers and by 36 percent in Australia.

Bipolar searches were down 16 percent during U.S. summers and 17 percent during Australian summers; ADHD searches decreased by 28 percent in the U.S. and 31 percent in Australia during summertime. OCD searches were down 18 percent and 15 percent, and bipolar searches decreased by 18 percent and 16 percent, in the U.S. and Australia respectively.

Searches for suicide declined 24 and 29 percent during U.S. and Australian summers and anxiety searches had the smallest seasonal change – down 7 percent during U.S. summers and 15 percent during Australian summers.

While some conditions, such as seasonal affective disorder, are known to be associated with seasonal weather patterns, the connections between seasons and a number of major disorders were surprising. “We didn’t expect to find similar winter peaks and summer troughs for queries involving every specific mental illness or problem we studied, however, the results consistently showed seasonal effects across all conditions – even after adjusting for media trends,” said James Niels Rosenquist, MD, PhD, a psychiatrist at Massachusetts General Hospital.

The work appears in the latest issue of American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Previously: Sweating the small stuff may harm your mental health and Ask Stanford Med: David Spiegel answers your questions on holiday stress and depression
Via The Atlantic
Photo by Tom Hilton

German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche famously said, “What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.” But that may not be the case when it comes to daily stress, according to findings recently published in Psychological Science.

In the study, researchers analyzed survey data from the Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS) and National Study of Daily Experiences (NSDE). Study results showed that minor sources of stress, not just major life events, can have long-term consequences on mental-health outcomes. According to a UC Irvine release:

.. [R]esearchers found that participants’ negative emotional responses to daily stressors – such as arguments with a spouse or partner, conflicts at work, standing in long lines or sitting in traffic – predicted psychological distress and self-reported anxiety/mood disorders 10 years later.

“How we manage daily emotions matters to our overall mental health,” said [lead researcher Susan Charles, PhD, UC Irvine professor of psychology & social behavior.] “We’re so focused on long-term goals that we don’t see the importance of regulating our emotions. Changing how you respond to stress and how you think about stressful situations is as important as maintaining a healthy diet and exercise routine.”

The results were based on data from 711 men and women between 25 and 74.

The study builds on earlier work showing that how people react to everyday stressors, rather than the stress itself, influences physical chronic-health problems later in life, such as pain and cardiovascular conditions.

Previously: How does your body respond to stress?, Using an app to get a better handle on what stresses you out, Study suggests anticipation of stress may accelerate cellular aging and Workplace stress and how it influences health
Photo by bikesandwich

We’ve partnered with Inspire, a company that builds and manages online support communities for patients and caregivers, to launch a patient-focused series here on Scope. Once a month, patients affected by serious and often rare diseases share their unique stories; the latest comes from cancer survivor Dan Adams.

This past November I had my semi-annual cystoscopy. My visit was an early Christmas present, as I wound up receiving an “all clear” from my urologist. This coming May, if I get another “all clear,” it will mark five years of cancer-free living.

I had a resection to remove a bladder tumor in April 2008. I received an inconclusive pathology report following that procedure and a lot of hesitation from my first urologist. That’s when I sought a second opinion from a urologist at a major university hospital. Another resection and a couple of rounds of immunotherapy, and my bladder cancer was gone.

My follow-up cystoscopies were initially every three months, and now I’m comfortable with a six-month schedule. If something is going on in there, I want to catch it early. I’m not ready to move to an annual checkup. I don’t know if I will ever be ready.

It’s been a bumpy road; a few “red spots” in the bladder that required biopsies and a perforated bladder (those damn catheters) elevated my anxiety above and beyond what might be the norm following a cancer diagnosis. Having a cancer with a high reoccurrence rate also contributes to my feelings of anxiousness.

During the first couple of years in this war with bladder cancer, anxiety consumed my everyday living. Cancer was always on my mind, but I was unaware that anxiety was running my life. It took a long time, but eventually I learned to recognize changes due to anxiety, things that aren’t really “me.” Inattention to details, aimlessly daydreaming and becoming much more emotional were some of the telltale signs. I realized things weren’t right and I sought the professional help I needed. Thankfully, this help and the encouragement and support of a close family brought me through a very trying period.

While my anxiety is more or less under control, I’m still very aware that it’s there - and I’ve come to realize that knowing you have anxiety issues is essential to dealing with them. I know my anxiety level increases as I approach my next cystoscopy, and so I now slow down in the weeks leading up to the procedure and defer major decisions to a less anxious time.

I’m very aware now of anxiety and how it has affected my life beyond cancer. In this nearly five-year battle, anxiety has been the one medical issue, or side effect, that no one brought up; no one mentioned it as an issue to be aware of or offered treatment. I wish someone, in the beginning, had told me that cancer is a game changer, that my life will never be the same. I wish someone had explained that I need to be aware of how powerful anxiety can be, how it can affect your life, your relationships, your work.

I’ve been a bladder cancer warrior for almost five years, but it’s been only the last few years that I’ve come to realize that anxiety - not just the disease - is something I need to conquer.

Dan Adams lives along the Southern New Jersey Shore where he and his wife of 35 years raised three children and recently became grandparents for the first time. Dan is committed to raising awareness of bladder cancer and supporting those who are newly diagnosed through the Inspire/BCAN Support C0mmunity.