A survey of 8,515 students by the IC3 Institute with CISCE found well-being declining as students move up through school. Class 12 students reported particularly low school satisfaction, reduced confidence and rising emotional distress, and 59% reported low satisfaction with school life.
Read more at India Today →
Just under 20% of Americans aged 18 to 25 said they had daily anxiety in 2024, up from 15% in 2020, according to research in the American Journal of Public Health. The odds of an anxiety diagnosis or prescription also rose by roughly a third.
Read more at healthday.com →
A policy brief from the Earth Brain Health Commission, published in Nature Mental Health, reviewed existing research and found links between environmental pressures and higher risks of anxiety, depression, trauma-related disorders and cognitive decline. NIMHANS psychiatrist Dr Vivek Benegal is its only Indian commissioner.
Read more at Deccan Herald →
A study in the Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine surveyed 80 Irula, Muduga and Kurumba men in Attappady, Kerala. It found depressive symptoms in 17.5% and anxiety symptoms in 10%, and linked distress to financial insecurity, seasonal migration and limited social support during a partner's pregnancy.
Read more at theindiantribal.com →
Universities in India are adding counselling services and wellness centres, but this Hans India piece argues availability is not enough. Whether students seek help depends on understanding the process, feeling comfortable discussing personal concerns and trusting the institution, it says, pointing to trust, privacy and faculty training gaps.
Read more at The Hans India →A systematic review and meta-analysis in Scientific Reports pooled 21 studies covering 24,523 women to compare anxiety reporting before, during and after menopause. News-Medical reports that perimenopausal and postmenopausal women had higher odds of reporting anxiety symptoms than premenopausal women, based on observational evidence.
Read more at news-medical.net →In Psyche, a journalist who has interviewed experts and people living with anxiety argues that casual use of words like anxiety, PTSD and OCD makes it easy to underestimate how debilitating anxiety-related illnesses can be. She also draws on her own diagnosis in 2019.
Read more at psyche.co →Scientists will analyse more than 94,000 brain scans from 257 research centres in 27 countries, Outlook India reports. The five-year study covers people aged four to 95 and conditions including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depression, PTSD, OCD, ADHD, autism and anorexia nervosa.
Read more at Outlook India →A large genetic analysis published in Nature Neuroscience identified 36 genes carrying rare mutations that substantially increase the likelihood of obsessive-compulsive disorder, chronic tic disorders or both, PsyPost reports. The work points to specific biological pathways and brain regions where these genes are active.
Read more at psypost.org →A preprint study that monitored almost 12,000 US children for six years, with about 30,000 brain scans, suggests that how fast brain regions mature in early adolescence can predict anxiety and depression up to four years before symptoms. The hypothesis is not yet proven.
Read more at evidencenetwork.ca →Findings from the Parenting Across Cultures project, a 15-year study of about 4,500 families in nine countries, link more frequent physical punishment with greater anxiety and aggression in children over time. The research stresses acceptance, clear expectations and boundaries without violence, the Times of India reports.
Read more at The Times of India →About 20 countries are looking to ban minors from social media, but bans have not always worked as planned, an expert opinion piece in the Philadelphia Inquirer says. It notes platforms have paid or settled more than $17 billion in lawsuits since March and suggests other safety measures.
Read more at The Philadelphia Inquirer →A survey of 2,010 UK employees for Kara Connect found 91% have access to employer mental health support, yet only 37% would use it. Nearly a third worried asking for help could hurt their career, and 29% said they would feel embarrassed.
Read more at fairplaytalks.com →
Mindful.org explains that relief does not always arrive straight after a big choice such as changing careers or setting a boundary. Uncertainty about what comes next can register as anxiety or dread, it says, and it offers mindfulness practices for navigating it. The right choice can still feel wobbly.
Read more at mindful.org →
A meta-analysis in Frontiers in Oncology pooled ten randomised trials with 995 breast cancer survivors and found VR-assisted relaxation therapy was associated with significant reductions in anxiety, depressive symptoms, distress and cancer-related fatigue. The authors note these are group-level associations, not guaranteed individual outcomes.
Read more at Bioengineer.org →
Mindful contributor Anne Cobham describes a day without her phone, starting with the discovery that she had planned to take notes on it. She writes about the restless middle of the day and what showed up once the phone was out of reach. The phone was the notebook.
Read more at mindful.org →
A Nurse Educator study from the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing built mindfulness exercises of one to five minutes into Doctor of Nursing Practice coursework. The authors report reduced stress and burnout, and more than 90 percent of participants responded positively. Even the carers needed a minute.
Read more at Bioengineer.org →
Researchers at the University of Innsbruck report in Biological Psychology that physical touch could be key to the stress benefits people get from pets, ScienceAlert says. The study looked at how contact with a dog related to the stress people experienced afterwards. The dog was unavailable for comment.
Read more at sciencealert.com →A University of Florida study of 84 unmarried couples found money worries carried over into relationship tension. Partners who offered care and reassurance reduced that spillover, Earth.com reports, while partners who mostly tried to fix the money problem did not help in the same way. Listening beat spreadsheets.
Read more at earth.com →Research in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin found that believing your socioeconomic position could decline may reduce well-being by increasing status anxiety, PsyPost reports. Expectations of moving up the ladder had weaker and less consistent effects on well-being. The ladder feels steeper going down.
Read more at psypost.org →Men's Fitness argues that people who train their bodies rarely train focus or stress management. It says research suggests meditation could help focus, stress and performance under pressure, and that it does not require emptying your head or sitting for hours. Five minutes counts.
Read more at mensfitness.co.uk →
A study in Nature Medicine developed SleepFM, an AI model trained on more than 5,85,000 hours of sleep recordings from about 65,000 people. It identified patterns associated with future risk of 130 conditions, though identifying risk patterns is not the same as predicting individual disease, Deccan Herald notes.
Read more at Deccan Herald →A study in Nature by Columbia University researchers and the MULTI Consortium built 23 biological ageing clocks across 17 organ systems and compared them with reported sleep in about half a million people aged 37 to 84. It suggests longer sleep may be linked with adverse outcomes. Balance applies.
Read more at bgnes.com →
A JAMA Pediatrics study of 425 US teens found that on nights with heavier phone use after 10 pm, they fell asleep about 65 minutes later and slept about 20 minutes less. The study does not prove phones cause poor sleep, Medical Daily notes. Parents may draw their own conclusions.
Read more at medicaldaily.com →
Findings published in the British Journal of Psychiatry from the Australian Genetics of Depression Study, with more than 11,000 participants, classified some people as having a circadian subtype of depression. It was based on features such as social jetlag, seasonality and a delayed sleep midpoint, Rediff reports.
Read more at m.rediff.com →
Data from 1.9 million participants in the Our Future Health study show 25 per cent of UK adults are not getting the NHS-recommended seven to nine hours a night. Nearly 32 per cent reported snoring, and daytime napping rates were high. The nap is doing quiet work.
Read more at uk.news.yahoo.com →Magnesium supplements are trending online for insomnia, anxiety and cramps, but doctors and nutrition experts told The South First that evidence remains limited, particularly in people without a deficiency. They caution against self-medication and flag side effects, drug interactions and kidney risks. Trending is not evidence.
Read more at thesouthfirst.com →University of Connecticut researchers found repeated exposure to cannabinol, or CBN, a common sleep gummy ingredient, caused tolerance and withdrawal symptoms in mice, ScienceDaily reports. Scientists warn CBN may carry risks similar to THC, though long-term effects in humans remain largely unknown. Gummies are still medicine.
Read more at ScienceDaily →A five-year study funded by the US National Institutes of Health tracked people aged 45 to 84 with wrist actigraphs and sleep diaries, HuffPost UK reports. It suggests sleep irregularity may be a novel risk factor for cardiovascular disease, independent of traditional risk factors and sleep quantity.
Read more at huffingtonpost.co.uk →A University of Arizona and University of Southern California paper associated three midlife sleep habits with greater white matter hyperintensity, which shows up as white patches on MRI scans and is often related to ageing, HuffPost UK reports. Cause and effect can be hard to separate.
Read more at huffingtonpost.co.uk →A PLOS One paper by University of Toronto Mississauga students looked at the night-time activity of people and their pet dogs. Humans more often woke first, followed by dogs, than the other way round. The study found no evidence that people slept better with a dog. The dog is fine.
Read more at ctvnews.ca →A study in Scientific Reports compared hydrogen and placebo groups and found that, in the hydrogen group, people whose sleep quality improved had gut microbiome profiles that clustered differently from those who did not, Scientific Frontline reports. Gut bacteria may shape the response. Early days, still.
Read more at sflorg.com →With clocks falling back an hour, Hartford HealthCare psychologist Kimberly Sain told Health News Hub that sleep and mental health are strongly connected. Poor sleep can make anxiety, depression and stress feel worse, she said, while mental health conditions can also disrupt sleep.
Read more at healthnewshub.org →The historical practice of sleeping in two periods with a waking spell in between is attracting renewed attention amid interest in rest and burnout, Fast Company reported. Experts warn that deliberately interrupting night-time sleep has no proven benefits for health or productivity. One long sleep remains fine.
Read more at open4business.com.ua →A prospective observational study in Frontiers in Public Health followed adults at a Polish health resort. Insomnia severity and self-rated quality of life improved after a three-week stay, and body mass index did not change how much people benefited. It was not a randomised trial. Rest helps.
Read more at Bioengineer.org →
A Penn State College of Medicine study in PLOS One tested short daily resistance-training sessions in older adults and found improvements in strength, balance and mobility within 12 weeks, Medical Dialogues reports. The researchers present it as a simple way to maintain independence with age. Four minutes is a start.
Read more at Medical Dialogues →:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/VWH-GettyImages-2227288168-466d673a8ccf4483af4dcba63ce944fd.jpg)
Most guidelines recommend strength training at least twice a week, but Verywell Health reports that once-weekly lifting can still build strength, muscle size, flexibility and endurance. It advises making the session full-body and increasing intensity slowly to lower injury risk. Once beats never.
Read more at verywellhealth.com →
A study presented at The Menopause Society's 2026 Annual Conference found that exercising more often may help ease perimenopause symptoms such as hot flashes, anxiety and urinary issues, Healthline reports. The strongest association was with psychological symptoms like anxiety. Movement keeps proving useful.
Read more at healthline.com →
A randomised clinical trial of 60 adults aged 60 to 75, published in the Journal of Functional Morphology and Kinesiology, found 12 weeks of resistance training improved respiratory muscle strength and changed several markers associated with healthy ageing, Yahoo Health reports. It is never too late to lift.
Read more at health.yahoo.com →
An international study of risky play, led by the University of Exeter and the University of British Columbia and published in PLOS One, found children with more chances for outdoor adventurous play tend to have better physical and mental health and social development. Scraped knees have a research base.
Read more at news.exeter.ac.uk →The University of Granada's TEMPUS trial of 187 adults on a Mediterranean diet found that pairing intermittent fasting with exercise produced greater weight and fat loss over 12 weeks than standard guidelines or exercise alone. The differences disappeared after one year. Consistency outlasted method.
Read more at inkorr.com →Rehabilitation physician Dr Wang Szu-heng described a woman in her late 60s whose daily market walk did not stop her fitness declining, The Standard reports. He shares an alternating fast and slow walking method that he says boosted knee joint strength by 17% in five months.
Read more at thestandard.com.hk →A paper in The Lancet Healthy Longevity argues the nervous system has been left out of how age-related muscle loss is understood, which may explain why many treatments have disappointed, InSight+ reports. Sarcopenia affects up to 29% of older adults living in the community.
Read more at insightplus.mja.com.au →Wayne Davies, 40, told BBC News he became so consumed by race times, training plans and fitness data that he spiralled into anxiety and lost sleep. He regained control after being signposted to NHS Wales. An expert said searches for fitness addiction have risen.
Read more at BBC News →Meg Hamon told the BBC she relied on partying and drinking from the Covid-19 pandemic until early this year. Approaching 30, she turned to gym workouts, running and therapy, and said exercise has helped her confidence massively.
Read more at BBC News →Researchers tracked older adults with mild cognitive impairment to see how different exercise intensities affected their sleep, MindBodyGreen reports. Sleep disturbances are common in this group, and the study suggests how hard people exercise may matter for protecting sleep.
Read more at mindbodygreen.com →Exercise physiologist Alan Couzens estimates that holding off age-related fitness decline takes about one extra hour of training each month, or roughly 15 minutes more each week, added every year, the Australian Financial Review reports. Small, steady additions.
Read more at afr.com →Runner's World reports from FeistyFest, a movement festival for women in Pennsylvania, where coach Ann Chisholm of Tropos Fitness Club in Victoria, British Columbia, explained explosive power as the first couple of seconds of a movement, and why endurance athletes should train it. Long distances start fast.
Read more at runnersworld.com →
A study of 1,020 adults in Chennai suggests that for Indians genetically predisposed to high LDL cholesterol, a medium or high quality diet could offset the genetic risk, The Indian Express reports. It points to white rice, maida and low fibre plates as concerns.
Read more at The Indian Express →
A University of Hyderabad study found that 65 of 79 adults sampled from Telangana's Chenchus and Andhra Pradesh's Savaras had gut microbial profiles associated with traditional diets. The other 14 showed patterns resembling urbanised populations, Hyderabad Mail reports, citing TOI.
Read more at hyderabadmail.com →
USC researchers found older adults who closely followed the Mediterranean diet had higher levels of humanin and SHMOOSE, small proteins made by mitochondria, ScienceDaily reports. These proteins have been linked to protection against heart disease, Alzheimer's disease and age-related decline. Olive oil keeps its reputation.
Read more at ScienceDaily →
A study in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs found that two alcoholic drinks a day is associated with a 1 in 25 lifetime risk of death from alcohol-related causes. Researchers found no significant overall health benefit from alcohol, ScienceDaily reports.
Read more at ScienceDaily →
Researchers followed more than 340,000 adults to see how different drinking patterns, from beverage choice to drinking with meals, related to long-term mortality, News-Medical reports. The study was published in the Nutrition Journal. Heavy drinking is among the leading causes of death.
Read more at news-medical.net →Researchers tracked more than 9,000 meals eaten by 173 hospitalised stem cell transplant patients. For every extra 100 grams of sugar in the two days before sampling, patients on antibiotics had a 24 percent drop in bacterial diversity, bdnews24 reports, citing Science News.
Read more at bdnews24.com →A US team gave 18 adults aged 65 and older with mild depressive symptoms either 48g of freeze-dried blueberry powder daily for three months or a placebo. The researchers compared symptoms and gut microbe function through stool tests, Health Chosun reports. The sample was small.
Read more at health.chosun.com →A four-week trial of 60 adults taking sertraline found greater reductions in anxiety and depression symptoms when they also received a concentrated basil extract, Food and Wine reports. The researchers caution that more studies are needed.
Read more at foodandwine.com →A Tufts University study in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics analysed NHANES data on about 30,000 American adults from 2003 to 2018. Non-dairy creamers drove a nearly 40% rise in coffee-related calories despite stable coffee drinking, Medical Dialogues reports. Black coffee looks better by comparison.
Read more at Medical Dialogues →A Binghamton University study found that eating a healthy breakfast five or more times a week was associated with greater psychological flexibility, Real Simple reports. Consistent sleep, daily exercise and nutritious food were linked to better emotional regulation and resilience. Routine is quietly doing its job.
Read more at realsimple.com →A study in The Journal of Internal Medicine followed 485,934 people for nearly a decade, tracking tea drinking, smoking and activity, Real Simple reports. Regular tea drinking, especially with more physical activity and no smoking, was linked with lower incidence of vascular disease. The walk counts too.
Read more at realsimple.com →New research linked omega-3 rich fish with lower mortality risk in women, while unsalted fish and shellfish intake was linked to lower cerebrovascular mortality in men, Yahoo Health reports. It describes the findings as more nuanced than people might expect.
Read more at health.yahoo.com →
A UK Biobank analysis grouped participants by loneliness and social isolation and measured life expectancy free from diseases including diabetes, heart disease, dementia, cancer and depression. People with both loneliness and isolation had a shorter lifespan free from chronic physical illness, Moj Kraj reports.
Read more at mojkraj.hr →
A Monash University analysis found older adults with a specific genetic profile who took low-dose aspirin had a 70% lower relative risk of dementia, ScienceDaily reports. Earlier studies found no overall protective effect, so genetics may explain who benefits.
Read more at ScienceDaily →
Weizmann Institute researchers analysed over 300 million lab results from more than a million women in Israel and the US. They report that menopause is an abrupt, body-wide biological change rather than a gradual slide, The Jerusalem Post says.
Read more at The Jerusalem Post →
A review in Science by Professor Liisa Galea's group in Toronto describes menopause as a turning point in ageing, with effects well beyond the reproductive system, Ynetnews reports. The piece argues longevity medicine has largely left menopause out of the conversation.
Read more at ynetnews.com →
A study in The Lancet Regional Health Western Pacific found adults born in Hong Kong consistently had more expected remaining years than residents born in Mainland China, Macao or Taiwan. The gap was concentrated in later-life deaths from pneumonia and cancers and narrowed sharply in 2021.
Read more at Bioengineer.org →Stylist explains intrinsic capacity, defined by the World Health Organisation in 2015 as the composite of all the physical and mental capacities a person can draw on at any time. Experts describe it as a more holistic way to track how well someone is ageing. Age, measured more kindly.
Read more at stylist.co.uk →UConn researcher Jenna Bartley is studying whether ketone supplements could deliver some of the potential anti-inflammatory and memory benefits linked to the ketogenic diet, without people following the diet, Yahoo Health reports. The research is testing the idea, not confirming it. Bread lovers will wait hopefully.
Read more at health.yahoo.com →Naturally aged mice given an inhibitor of asparagine endopeptidase from about 18 months showed longer survival, slower frailty, sharper memory and lower inflammation, Bioengineer.org reports. The authors caution that much of the evidence remains correlative and untested in people. The mice are doing well.
Read more at Bioengineer.org →Writing in BBC Science Focus, the authors of Brain Boost: Healthy Habits for a Happier Life set out the evidence they follow to support mood, cognition and wellbeing as they age, from sleep and stress to everyday routines. The experts follow their own advice.
Read more at sciencefocus.com →The Times of India looks at the diets of long-lived people, from a 107-year-old Welsh veteran who says he lived on fish and chips and never overate to Okinawa's sweet potatoes and Sardinia's bean soups, and argues culture shapes eating more than superfoods do. Moderation travels well.
Read more at The Times of India →
A CUHK study for Pok Oi Hospital randomly assigned 90 tinnitus patients aged 50 to 70 to electroacupuncture, electroacupuncture with warm needling, or no acupuncture. Both treatment groups saw significant reductions in tinnitus loudness at week 10, and more than half improved from moderate to mild, The Standard reports.
Read more at thestandard.com.hk →
A meta-analysis of 16 randomised trials with 1,353 people aged 60 to 89 found adding Chinese polyherbal preparations to sleep medication may improve sleep and reduce side effects. The authors rated the certainty of evidence low to very low and flagged one finding as possibly unreliable. Promising, with caveats.
Read more at Bioengineer.org →
A meta-analysis of 11 randomised trials with 737 patients, published in Frontiers in Neurology, found respiratory muscle training in the subacute phase of stroke improved breathing, walking capacity and trunk control and was associated with a nearly 60 percent lower pneumonia risk, Bioengineer.org reports.
Read more at Bioengineer.org →
Natural supplements can have side effects or toxins, Deccan Herald reports. It notes heavy metals like lead have turned up in some formulations labelled natural, extracts may carry pesticides or contamination, and a 2025 review says some plant compounds can adversely affect people. The label is not a lab test.
Read more at Deccan Herald →
Colorado State University researchers found children with autism in horse-based occupational therapy showed greater reductions in cortisol than children in similar clinic-based therapy, North Forty News reports. The study of 72 children was published in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.
Read more at northfortynews.com →A state-of-the-art Ayurvedic pharmacy is being built on the Pt Khushilal Sharma Government Ayurveda College campus on Kolar Road, The Hitavada reports. Officials say every stage from raw herbs to finished medicine will be quality checked, cutting reliance on private suppliers. Quality checks are the welcome part.
Read more at thehitavada.com →Kerala wants to sell Ayurveda and wellness tourism to the world, but many commercial spas operate without a clear regulatory framework, Urban Acres reports. Recent cases in Kovalam, Ernakulam and Kochi have brought the gap into focus, the piece says.
Read more at Urban Acres →India's Ambassador to Oman, Prashant Pise, inaugurated an AYUSH Information Cell at KIMS Health Hospital in Darsait to promote awareness of India's traditional systems of medicine, the Times of Oman reports. It is a joint effort of the Indian Embassy and KIMS Health under the Ministry of AYUSH. Awareness first.
Read more at timesofoman.com →Russia's Republic of Tatarstan plans its first Ayurvedic centre in Zelenodolsk district, with construction expected to finish by 2028, Hindusthan Samachar reports. The agreement was signed at the Kazan India-Russia Business Forum, and the aim is to assess local demand for traditional Indian medicine.
Read more at english.hindusthansamachar.in →A Bernama feature looks at Keralam, formerly Kerala, where wellness tourism combines travel with traditional practices such as Ayurveda, including oil massages, herbal therapies and dietary guidance, and argues Malaysia can learn from the state's success. Neighbours are taking notes.
Read more at bernama.com →Egyptian vlogger Ahmed Elseny told China Daily he was sceptical of traditional Chinese medicine at first and is now a regular at TCM clinics. In Hengqin, Guangdong, he tried acupuncture and moxibustion and shared his thoughts on its popularity overseas. The sceptic became a regular.
Read more at chinadaily.com.cn →A Gen Z columnist in The Star, Kenya, writes that between Nairobi's traffic, rising rent and a search for inner peace, yoga has quietly become the new cool, and describes the writer's own uncoordinated attempts at the poses. Coordination is optional.
Read more at the-star.co.ke →Therapy and wellness roles checked today. Each one links to the original posting. The deep breath before applying is on you.
Conferences and festivals on mental health and the older healing traditions, each checked against its own page this morning. Comfortable shoes advised.
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