Jonathan Haverkampf

Gut feelings: why drugs that nurture your microbes could be the future of mental health

Scientists know our gut influences our brain. So psychobiotic drugs that shift the composition of microbes in the gut may be able to help treat disorders such as anxiety and depression In a classic comic strip, most recently gracing the Beano, tiny characters called “numskulls” live in the head of a chap called Edd, controlling what he gets up to – often with hilarious results. It has run for decades, presumably because the idea that there could be critters within us capable of exerting a profound mental and physical influence seems pretty absurd.But it appears science is having the last laugh: in recent years the idea has spawned myriad research papers – except that instead of minuscule people at work inside one’s head, it is microbes in the gut that appear to be pulling the strings. Continue reading…

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Parent-identified barriers to accessing exposure therapy: A qualitative study using process mapping

Youth with anxiety and obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) rarely access exposure therapy, an evidence-based treatment. Known barriers include transportation, waitlists, and provider availability. Efforts to improve access to exposure require an understanding of the process that families take to find therapists, yet no prior studies have examined parents’ perspectives of the steps involved. …

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What disorder(s) could I have?

This is a list I made of the stuff going on with me to share with the psychiatrist and family doctor when I have an appointment. 1.Sexual performance anxiety/Premature ejaculation 2.Anxiety/Paranoia 3.Worry that sparks anxiety and paranoia 4.Having trouble sleeping because of overactive anxiety/mind 5.Depression/thoughts that put me into a depressive state 6.Emotional/emotionally needy/emotionally dependant

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I’m lonely, in my 30s and find it very hard to make new friends | Ask Annalisa Barbieri

Social anxiety and a dislike of party culture can create a void of loneliness, but there are ways to beat the fearI’m a man in a my mid-30s who feels pretty lonely. I’ve finished university so I’m no longer around new faces and friends have drifted for various reasons (moved away, kids etc). My two closest friends live abroad and while I love them dearly, I really miss the in-person aspect, especially after the everything-virtual nature of the pandemic.My partner and I occasionally do things, but in general we prefer to do different things: she likes hosting, I like to go out, she loves nature walks, I’m a city person. I work from home, my company organises social activities which I turn down because they happen in big groups and my biggest obstacle is being an introvert, with social anxiety. I’ve always struggled to make and keep friends. The usual advice is to join a class, a club (or volunteer) but all of those happen in group settings and as an introvert, I find even small groups intimidating; I’m rarely a fun or interesting person in that setting. Continue reading…

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Milena Smit: “Siempre he estado en terapia para trabajar en temas como la ansiedad o la depresión”

En solo tres años, ha estado dos veces nominada al Goya y ha protagonizado una serie de alcance internacional. Milena Smit se ha convertido en un fenómeno sin pretenderlo y ahora vuelve a los cines con ‘Tin & Tina’. En esta entrevista, no tiene miedo de enfrentarse a sus abismos: de la salud mental a un aborto en su juventud.

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Alexinomia: The fear of using personal names

Introduction Preliminary research based on everyday observations suggests that there are people, who experience severe fear when addressing others with their personal names. The aim of this study was to explore the extent to which this hitherto little-known psychological phenomenon really exists and to investigate its characteristic features, considering the everyday experience of not being

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