Description: Imagine that you are having a bad day, though I hope you are not. Imagine that demands are rising, things are not going in your desired directions and your stress and anxiety levels are climbing up towards the roof. What would be one thing you could do that could lead to you feeling significantly… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Psychological Health
Moving IS Correlated with Stress, But Why?
Description: Even if you have not had to move (from one house or apartment to another) I bet you know that moving is stressful, right? If I told you that research shows that people who move show higher levels of stress when compared to people who have not moved recently you would not be surprised… Read more »
Aging and the Experience of Stress
Description: Which is more stressful, catastrophic life events or daily stresses (hassles)? One on one, of course catastrophic life events are more stressful but which stressors, all in all, take more of a toll on us physically and psychologically? Classic stress research by Richard Lazarus found that in the long run daily stresses or hassles… Read more »
Sorting SAD and Winter Blues
Description: Even if you like winter (I do not) and you can manage the cold and have winter things you like to do, like skating or skiing, you may find that you have less energy in winter or you may notice other symptoms. For those of us who live at northern latitudes one thing we… Read more »
Last Time for Standard Time?
Description: OK, as we approach the date (November 6, 2022) when provinces and states in North America that switched to daylight saving time in the spring switch BACK to standard time consider these pop-quiz questions. If we HAD to pick one time (daylight saving or standard) and make it our permanent time, which would be… Read more »
Nature Experiences Well-being and Covid?
Description: I hope you already know that spending time out in nature is good for you. If not, have a look at one or two of the articles listed in the Further Reading section below. Given the positive relationship that has been observed between time in nature and well-being, how would you design a study… Read more »
Remote Work and Mental Health
Description: Sometimes you may run across references to large scale studies that take broad, general looks at parts or sectors of the population and sometimes those large survey studies take a look at aspects of mental health. Before taking the results of such studies at face value it is well worth taking a moment or… Read more »
Dog Ownership and Psychological Wellbeing
Description: Quick question. Is having a dog good for you psychologically? Don’t do any searching on the question, just go with what you have heard or recall. Answer? Good for you, right? Maybe you have heard that regular time with dogs extends the lives of elderly people or that dog companions help their human friend… Read more »
Forest Bathing: Follow the Data or the Money?
Description: I am willing to bet that you have already heard something about the practice of if not the term being used for forest bathing. No, it does not involve getting wet in the woods (unless perhaps it is raining). The term comes out of Japan (shinrin yoku = forest bathing) where the practice of… Read more »
The Happiness Professor and Strategic Burnout Avoidance Breaks
Description: I do not know if you notice but stories about specific areas of Psychological research seem to pop up in bunches. I take this to be a reflection of there being a particular issue or need that is emerging around that point in time and the folks writing articles are looking for things, or… Read more »