Welcome back to your weekly dose of wisdom and wellness, with science-backed insights you can use to improve your physical, mental and emotional well-being. We’ve streamlined the format slightly this week in an effort to be more useful to you.
READER WISDOM
“Dwelling on regret weighs us down, but learning from the past lightens the load.”
— Wise & Well reader Vince Capocci re: Have Regrets? To Move Forward, Look Backward by Kathleen Murphy
HEALTHY READING
A selection of this week’s other informative and insightful articles:
Mysterious Fats Fuel Disease More Than We Knew, New Research Reveals
There are so many types of fat in our diets and in our bodies — some good for us, some terrible. Meanwhile, new technology has discovered thousands of rapidly shifting fat molecules in the human body that impact nearly all aspects of health and can help predict a person’s risk of everything from heart disease to cancer, making earlier treatments possible. Here’s a fascinating deep dive by a scientist who knows his fat.
— By Brent R. Stockwell, Ph.D.
This is My Brain on ADHD
The writer offers a brief but fascinating take on ADHD by explaining what goes on in her brain, and why her inability to follow a map of ideas made writing a story like this is such a challenge. “I cannot participate in an intelligent argument, because my brain can’t pull the specifics out of its filing system.”
— By Nancy Oglesby
Rethinking Body Temperature: 98.6 F is Not Normal
Doctors have been using body temperature as an indicator of illness for 200 years, and elevated body temp has, ever since, been a key factor in determining access to healthcare and intervention. But new research reveals that 98.6 is not a norm at all, and every person’s baseline is different. Here’s what you need to know — and how to educate your doctor!
— By Annie Foley
Professionals Shouldn’t Provide Medication Misinformation
At least once a month one of this psychiatrist’s patients is harassed by a pharmacist providing faulty information. Here he uses the misundstandings around the medication Wellbutrin to dispel some common myths and misconceptions about mental health medications, and what you as a patient need to know.
— By John Kruse MD, PhD
If Social Connection is So Important, How Do You Know When it’s Good Enough?
Social connectivity can boost physical and mental health. But how do you know if you’re sufficiently connected? The measure is not just how many people are in your life, but the quality of your relationships — whether they offer the support you need and bring you joy. By those measures, social connectedness has declined dramatically. Here’s what to look for to create that all-important sense of belonging.
—By Chris Arestides, RN MPH
Why Are We Always Striving?
I was surprised the other day when my wife said, “I’m not going to do a damn thing today.” Yeah, right. Like many Americans and other people in Western societies, we are always striving, always trying to improve on something, always busy. It’s a good quality, sure, to a point. Read on to find out how my wife did — because, you know, I figured she’d fail at this thing.
—By Robert Roy Britt
The United States of Depression
Here are final articles in our 20-part Special Report that looked into the widespread prevalence of depression in America, among all age groups, why it’s become a crisis, and what can be done a the individual and societal levels.
Medication or Meditation: Which is Best for Depression? (Sept. 25)
Treating depression with medication can be very effective, but not without pitfalls and side effects. Popular forms of meditation can also be effective, though the evidence is far more limited. For many of us, a multi-modality approach is the answer.
— By Eric J. Kort MD
Double Trouble: Pain is Depressing. Depression is Painful. (Sept. 25)
Millions of Americans struggle with both conditions, new research finds, suggesting a rethink of treatment options. The findings also beg for a greater awareness that chronic pain should set off alarm bells for potential depression symptoms to come.
— By Robert Roy Britt
How Deep Brain Stimulation Can Help With Severe Depression (Sept. 26)
An implanted, pacemaker-like device can decrease symptoms in some people with treatment-resistant depression. New research finds objective biomarkers to measure success of the process.
— By Christopher Rozell and Sankaraleengam Alagapan
Treating Depression Successfully Requires a Multi-Pronged Strategy (Sept. 26)
Simply being told you need to move more and change your diet is unlikely to be helpful during depressive episodes. While physical activity and good nutrition are important factors in warding off or treating depression, learn how to effectively include these lifestyle factors in a broader depression therapy plan.
— By Mandy Willig, PhD, RD
What is a Life Post-Depression Meant to Look Like? (Sept. 27)
Life after depression will look different. But what it won’t look like is a perpetual sunrise of happiness and joy. Who would even want that? Life needs despair. On a bright note, surviving clinical depression means one can finally be free of all the shallow and frantic mental health chitter-chatter.
— By Niall Stewart
RANDOM BIT OF WISDOM
“Don’t think you know. Know you think.”
— Matt Haig in The Humans
Wise & Well writers are physicians, psychiatrists, research scientists, dieticians, fitness experts, journalists and other professionals who share their expertise to help you make tomorrow a little better than today. If you like any of these highly curated, professionally edited stories, please follow Wise & Well and/or subscribe to this newsletter. — Rob