Feel bad about feeling bad? Don’t. Studies done at the University of California, Berkeley, have found that acknowledging a blue mood — and not berating yourself for it — can help you work through it more easily. It turns out that accepting negative emotions is better for your long-term mental health than constantly passing judgment on yourself, which can cause your feelings of negativity to snowball. Putting pressure on yourself to feel upbeat can make you feel even more downbeat, according to the research. It turns out that the people who let feelings like sadness, disappointment and even resentment run their course had fewer mood disorder symptoms than people who judged themselves for having them or who tried to bury them. Accepting negative emotions seems to help you better cope with your stressors. There’s one important caveat, however. While it helps to acknowledge the normalness of negative emotions and not think you can — or need — to feel happy 24/7, it’s also important not to ignore a persistent and deep blue mood, and other signs that could signal depression. Symptoms of depression include a loss of interest in things that you used to enjoy, and deep feelings of worthlessness and hopelessness that last for three or more months. Unlike a blue mood, depression needs treatment, such as counseling, medication or both. Other Key Signs…  read on >

Most dogs and owners share an unbreakable emotional bond. But can they also share expanding waistlines? Yes, said Danish researchers, who found that Fido is twice as likely to be heavy or obese if his owner is as well. Why? “Based on our findings, it seems that the way owners give their dog treats is related to the owner’s weight,” explained study author Dr. Charlotte Bjornvad, a professor in companion animal internal medicine at the University of Copenhagen. “Trim and overweight owners both give their dogs treats,” she noted. But “there seems to be two ways to use treats.” Some offer treats to reinforce training or coax more activity, explained Bjornvad. But others share treats as a “hang out” indulgence. Danish people have a specific name for it: “hygge.” Roughly translated as “cozy,” the term refers to enjoying mutual relaxation, inactivity and snacking, either alone or with friends and pets. Based on a dog-rearing questionnaire completed by 268 owners in Denmark, the study team concluded that overweight and obese owners are more likely to offer their dogs “hygge treats” than trim owners. (One-fifth of the dogs were either heavy or obese.) It may also be that overweight owners “spend more time relaxing, and therefore they give more treats during relaxation,” added Bjornvad, though her team did not test that theory. But is the “hygge” affect…  read on >

If a mother is depressed, her young children might be at risk for hyperactivity, aggressiveness and anxiety, a new study suggests. Interestingly, a father’s depression only affected kids if mom was also depressed, the researchers found. “Depression among parents both during and after pregnancy not only affects the person suffering from depression but also has a long-term impact on the well-being of the newborn child,” said researcher Johanna Pietikainen, from the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare. “Even in cases of mild depression, it is important that the symptoms are identified and the parents are offered support as early as possible, if necessary … during the pregnancy,” she added. One parent’s depression also puts the other parent at risk. Symptoms of depression can start during pregnancy and continue after the child’s first birthday, the researchers noted. The findings were published Sept. 30 in the CMAJ. “It is important to monitor the mental well-being of both parents during pregnancy and after the birth of the child, and if one parent shows symptoms of depression then the symptoms of the other parent should also be examined,” Pietikainen said in a news release from the National Institute for Health and Welfare, in Finland. Long-term depression indicated that depression occurred before the pregnancy. Previous depression was a key risk factor for moderate or severe depressive symptoms, the study authors…  read on >

New research suggests that anxiety and depression can make it hard for some kids to manage their asthma. Young patients with all three conditions ended up in the emergency room nearly twice as often as kids who only struggle with asthma, the study found. “Asthma self-management is complex, requiring recognition of symptoms, adherence to medication and avoidance of triggers,” explained study first author Dr. Naomi Bardach. She is from the University of California, San Francisco’s department of pediatrics and Institute for Health Policy Studies. “The symptoms of anxiety and depression can make it more challenging to follow treatment, leading to more ER visits,” she added in a university news release. “There also may be a greater tendency to use the ER for supportive services, even in the absence of a serious asthma attack.” Though many of these emergency department visits are not necessary, they account for 62% of asthma-related costs, the investigators found. Anxiety and depression are more common in children with asthma than in those without the lung disease, the researchers noted. Among the asthma patients in the study, just over 11% had anxiety and nearly 6% had depression. This compared with about 7% and 3%, respectively, for children aged 3 to 17 in the general population, based on data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For the study, the researchers…  read on >