In 2009, approximately 40 percent of adults were single, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. In a new study, “I’m a Loser, I’m Not Married, Let’s Just All Look at Me,” a University of Missouri researcher examined the familial and societal messages given to women who are not married by their mid-30’s. Although the number of single women has increased, the stigma associated with being single at that age has not diminished, according to the women in this study. “We found that never-married women’s social environments are characterized by pressure to conform to the conventional life pathway,” said Larry Ganong, co-chair of Human Development and Family Studies in the College of Human Environmental Sciences. “This pressure was manifested in women feeling highly visible and invisible. Heightened visibility came from feelings of exposure and invisibility came from assumptions made by others.” [continue reading…]
March 2010
A survey by the Royal College of GPs has revealed that only 15% of GPs can usually get psychological therapy for adults who need it within two months of referral. For children the figure is only 6%.
The survey, detailed overleaf, was carried out as part of a new Campaign calling for better access to psychological therapies, spearheaded by the mental health charity Mind and the economist Professor Lord Richard Layard, with support from the RCGP, the Royal College of Psychiatrists and the New Savoy Partnership.
Launched at Westminster, the campaign challenges all of the political parties to make a guarantee in their election manifestos to offer, within five years, evidence-based psychological therapies to all who need them within 28 days of requesting referral. [continue reading…]
The Mind Speller is a EEG(electro-encephalogram)-based device that interprets brain waves to spell words and phrases. It detects and interprets P300 event-related potentials in the EEG-signals of a person that is selecting characters from a display presenting alternate rows and columns of characters. P300 potentials are often used as metrics of cognitive function in decision making processes. However, currently available P300 devices are large, expensive and uncomfortable in use. The Mind Speller, on the other hand, uses a portable device, not larger than a matchbox, connected to a cap that contains electrodes located at specific positions on the head to capture the relevant EEG-signals. [continue reading…]
© istockphoto
Age and gender play a major role in how people respond to stress, according to a new study on 20-to-64-year-olds. Published in the journal Psychophysiology, the investigation was led by scientists from the Université de Montréal and the Montreal Heart Institute in collaboration with colleagues from the Université du Québec à Montréal and McGill University. [continue reading…]
