Science News

Being overly optimistic in life puts us at risk. In addition, people who show cheerful, optimistic personality traits during childhood, have a shorter life expectancy than their more serious counter parts. On the other hand, optimists are more psychologically resilient, have stronger immune systems, and live longer on average than more reality-based opposites. So who’s better off in life; the optimist or the pessimist? And who’s reality comes closest to the truth?

Stress really does mess with your mind. A new study has found that chronic stress can create many of the brain changes associated with mood disorders by blocking a gene called neuritin—and that boosting the gene's activity can protect the brain from those disorders.

More on STRESS: http://www.scoop.it/t/science-news?tag=stress

A job can increase the risk of depression in both men and women, but for different reasons, a new study from Canada suggests.

DEPRESSION: http://www.scoop.it/t/science-news?tag=depression

People’s judgments about whether they are depressed depend on how they believe their own suffering “ranks” in relation to the suffering of friends and family and the wider world.

Articles about DEPRESSION: http://www.scoop.it/t/science-news?tag=depression

Scientists have developed a blood test that can diagnose depression in teens and young adults.

Psychiatrists have long claimed that gardens hold healing powers for mental illness. Now, scientists are exploring a new field called horticultural therapy for everyone from troubled youth to veterans.

Survey hints at biological cause for middle-age blues.

With teen obesity at its highest it has ever been, and the continuous pressure of attaining super model thin bodies, research suggest teens who identify themselves as being fat when they are not can lead to obesity later in life.

Scientists have discovered a compound in a South African Crinum and Cyranthus, a cousin to the daffodil and snowdrop, which may be used in the future to seek diseases originating in the brain – including depression.

In one of the first studies to examine the effect of nature walks on cognition and mood in people with major depression, researchers in Canada and the US have found promising evidence that a walk in the park may provide some cognitive benefits.

DEPRESSION: http://www.scoop.it/t/science-news?tag=depression

Experiencing breathing problems during sleep may raise your risk of depression, a new study suggests.

People born without a sense of smell experience higher social insecurity and increased risk for depression.