Psychology Around the Net: August 29, 2020

Before we get on with this week’s Psychology Around the Net, I need to let you know that this will be the last one.

Healthline has purchased Psych Central and content production stops August 31, 2020. Dr. John Grohol, Psych Central’s founder and our fearless leader, recently shared his reflections and gratitude.

Additionally, many of our talented and knowledgeable contributers have shared goodbye posts, and invitations to follow their new blogs.

Now, let’s see what’s new in the world of mental health this week!

The Psychology Behind Why Some College Students Break COVID-19 Rules: According to developmental psychologists, some college students are making risky decisions regarding the coronavirus pandemic and social distancing (or, lack thereof) not because of teenage recklessness and vanity but because of their development and mental resilience. Due to their rapidly developing amygdala and the fact that there frontal cortex hasn’t caught up yet, they’re pretty much wired to take risks. At the same time, they depend on the social connections college (usually) offers to build their identities. Pair those factors with still trying to process the pandemic and the mixed messages they’re getting from adults and you’ve got a perfect recipe for COVID-19 rule-breaking.

Mental Health Resilience Tied to Fewer COVID-19 Worries: Speaking of resilience, results from a new survey show an association between higher resilience scores and lower coronavirus-related worries. Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine in Philadelphia surveyed 3,042 people (65 percent female; with a mean age of 39 years). Participants reported significantly more worries about their family members getting sick with COVID-19 and unknowingly infecting other people with the virus than about getting COVID-19 themselves.

Got Fatigue? Study Further Pinpoints Brain Regions That May Control It: Using MRI scans and computer modeling, researchers at John Hopkins Medicine say they have further located areas in the human brain that regulate efforts to deal with fatigue. These findings could help advance the development of strategies that increase physical performance as well as shine light on the neural mechanisms that contribute to fatigue in people with depression, multiple sclerosis, and stroke.

Playfulness Can Be Trained — Here’s Why You Should Do It: In a new study, researchers had participants perform exercises designed to boost their playfulness and found that the playfulness trait can be stimulated and trained, and that it can improve a person’s mood and life satisfaction.

How to Stop Yourself From Suffering Burnout: According to Anne Helen Petersen, author of Can’t Even: How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation, one way is to work less. But how?

Happiness Museum Looks at Brighter Feelings in Uncertain Times: Amid these current confusing and worrisome times, the Happiness Research Institute in Copenhagen has opened its Happiness Museum. According to the Institute’s CEO Meik Wiking, they came up with the idea because they’ve had so many requests from the public to visit their office space. After all, one would think the office space of the Happiness Research Institute would be something special, yeah? As it turns out, they’re “just eight people sitting in front of computers looking at data.” Says Wiking: “So we thought, why don’t we create a place where people can experience happiness from different perspectives and give them an exhibition where they can become a little bit wiser around some of the questions we try to solve?”

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash

The post Psychology Around the Net: August 29, 2020 first appeared on World of Psychology.

from World of Psychology https://ift.tt/3b5EXGy
via https://ifttt.com/ IFTTT