What IS an itch? The clinical definition is that it’s an “unpleasant sensation associated with the urge to scratch”. Ok, then. Itching is a very important part of clinical diagnosis, from things like poison ivy to allergies to severe use of methamphetamine. In addition, there is a psychological disorder of severe itch which can be both ...
Date Posted: December 11, 2012
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We all perhaps know the feeling of mental exhaustion, but what does it mean physiologically to have mental fatigue? A new study carried out using brain scans could help scientists uncover the neurobiological mechanisms underlying mental fatigue.
Dec 11
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Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) doesn’t just affect the individual. It affects the entire family, according to Mark Bertin, MD, a board-certified developmental behavioral pediatrician and author of The Family ADHD ...
Dec 11
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One of the most circulated items on the Web last month was a snapshot taken by a tourist of a New York City police officer giving a pair of boots to an apparently homeless, barefoot man in Times Square. The officer, Lawrence DePrimo, found the man ...
Dec 10
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Presently, there are about 40 million Americans over the age of 65, with the fastest-growing segment of the population over 80 years old. Traditionally, aging has been viewed as a period of progressive decline in physical, cognitive and ...
Dec 10
Categories: Aging & Geriatric Issues
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Personality disorders occupy a troublesome niche in psychiatry. The 10 recognized syndromes are fairly well represented on the self-help shelves of bookstores and include such well-known types as narcissistic personality disorder, avoidant ...
Dec 10
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I SPENT five unexpected hours in an airport this Thanksgiving holiday when our plane had mechanical difficulties and we had to wait for another plane to arrive. So I had plenty of time to think about the subject of boredom.
I won’t lie to you. ...
Dec 8
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Antidepressants are the most widely used treatment for people with moderate to severe depression. However, up to two thirds of people with depression don’t respond fully to this type of treatment. New findings, published in The Lancet, have shown ...
Dec 8
Categories: Depression
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Photos of athletes in their moment of victory or defeat usually show faces contorted with intense emotion. But a new study suggests that people actually don't use those kinds of extreme facial expressions to judge how a person is ...
Dec 8
GOScrew-ups happen. Fortunately, a simple strategy called self-affirmation may help you own up to blunders instead of becoming defensive about them. And researchers say that may help you learn from your mistakes.
Dec 7
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The closer you live to another person, the more likely you are to be friends with them despite the growing use and impact of social media, according to a study that drew on data from the location-based social network provider Gowalla. The study, by ...
Dec 7
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If you can't afford heat during the ongoing economic malaise, there is some good news; psychology surveys show that students who think about happier times are warmer.
The results, published in Emotion, used college students in China and the ...
Dec 7
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Let's just say that some people believe weird stuff and leave it at that. It turns out that just one of the fascinating reasons that people accept odd ideas is that they keep getting repeated, even if only to debunk them.
So, where does all this ...
Dec 6
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Anger is a powerful emotion with serious health consequences. A new study from Concordia University shows that for millions of individuals around the world who suffer from Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), anger is more than an emotion; it’s an ...
Dec 6
Categories: Anger Management, Anxiety
GOThe taboo against naming the deceased has spiritual roots relating to not disturbing spirits of the departed but anthropologist Katie Glaskin describes how the naming taboo "serves to make people 'acutely aware' of the person whose name is being ...
Dec 6
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Consciousness, most scientists would argue, is not a shared property of all matter in the universe. Rather consciousness is restricted to a subset of animals with relatively complex brains. The more scientists study animal behavior and brain ...
Dec 5
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