Exploring How Waking Life Experiences Relate to Different Dream Stages

Written by Ruby Kemp

Each day we experience a tremendous number of emotions and engage in a variety of activities ranging from working, reading, watching TV, to interacting with others. So, it seems reasonable to question how on earth our minds cope with processing this immense amount of information. In answer to this, a lot of our experiences are processed while we are asleep and therefore in our dreams (Walker & Helm, 2009). I’m sure plenty of people recall dreams that they could immediately connect to past experiences or current worries; for instance, dreaming that you’ve turned up to your new job stark naked in anticipation of starting in a new workplace. Sleep is important in a number of ways for us to function psychologically; I am someone who has certainly felt the strain of running on minimal sleep. Interestingly, different stages of sleep have been found to contribute to different processes relating to our waking lives.

Can Laughter Improve the Quality of Life in Cancer Patients?

Written by Rebecca Bowles

Has anyone close to you ever had cancer? You’re not alone if you’ve answered ‘yes’: cancer is the fastest growing disease worldwide (Popat et al., 2013). Whilst cancer is scary, it’s comforting to know that cancer patients are living longer than they used to (Allemani et al., 2018). However, they typically experience a lower quality of life than the rest of us (Jansen, 2010). Low quality of life is characterised by various secondary health problems, such as impaired cognitive function, pain, anxiety, and depression (Morisima et al., 2019). Therefore, the silver lining that cancer patients live longer is clouded by these symptoms. Keeping this in mind, you can understand the importance behind improving the quality of life in cancer patients, especially when the cancer patient is someone you care about.

Improving Well-Being Through Music

Written by Seren Mason

How do you feel when listening to music? Your favourite song starts to play and suddenly you’re in another world. Whether you enjoy listening to music on your own or going to gigs, engaging with music has power over our emotions and has the ability to completely change our mood. What’s more, recent psychological studies show that music may actually have a ‘healing power’ that can affect our well-being.

Facilitating Psychological Resilience Through Friendship

Written by Aida Weheba


When I left home for University in a new city, I had the type of worries that likely filled the minds of many would-be students. However, as I look back on the past couple of years, I’ve come to realise how I’ve grown emotionally, and the role that my friends have played in this. Clearly, many of us can anecdotally attest to the power of friendships in maintaining personal well-being. The question I now have to ask myself, as a budding psychology student, is what does the science say about the power of friendship?

Trialling a Novel Web-Based Therapy in Universities

Written by Harry Mansfield

Starting university is a stressful experience for many. It can mean leaving home for the first time, moving to a new city, adjusting to new surroundings, meeting new people, as well as a slew of new responsibilities. These are just some of the challenges students would typically face, let alone the unprecedented challenges students are being faced with in 2020 as they adjust to ‘blended’ learning and dramatically fewer social opportunities to ease them into their new environment. As such, it’s important that wellbeing services in universities offer effective methods to promote wellbeing, with many unsurprisingly looking at web-based therapy more seriously. One such therapy - web-based Acceptance and Commitment Therapy - was recently trialled with Australian undergraduate students in 2019 with promising results (Viskovich & Pakenham, 2018). 

How Expectations can Influence Performance

 

Written by Lucy Miles

Following our previous blog exploring why people believe in horoscopes, this week we’ll be looking at the surprising effects reading a positive horoscope can have on our performance across a range of tasks. Despite the lack of scientific evidence supporting the validity of horoscopes, research indicates that horoscopes can provide a kind of placebo for readers known as the Expectancy Effect. For example, when someone expects a given result (such as something predicted in a horoscope), that expectation affects the outcome (sometimes unconsciously).

Explaining the Alluring Appeal of Horoscopes

Written by Narik Dubash

Horoscopes and the study of astrology dates back thousands of years, with the earliest forms being dated to the 2nd millennium BC. The word horoscope derives from the Greek words ōra (“time”) and scopos (“observer”), meaning a forecast of a person’s future that can be produced based on the relative positions of the stars and planets at the time of their birth. The 20th century saw a resurgence in the popularity of horoscopes, as mass media products, such as newspaper horoscopes, provided people with short predictions of their character and future circumstances based on their astrological sign. However, there are no scientific studies that have shown support for the accuracy of horoscopes (Zarka, 2011). Given this, why have horoscopes remained so popular and why do their predictions appear to ring so true for some people? 

The Influence of Social Media on Body Image

Written by Millie Pears


With around two-thirds of our 12-15-year-olds actively using a social media profile, there is growing concern about the relationship between social media use and mental health in adolescents. With the significant rise of more pictorial-based social media platforms (such as Snapchat and Instagram), researchers are eager to explore the link between social media and body dissatisfaction in particular.

Does Critical Parenting Maintain ADHD Symptoms in Children?

Written by Nathan Whenman

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a behavioural disorder that includes symptoms such as inattentiveness, hyperactivity and impulsiveness. Typically, symptoms of ADHD tend to be noticed at an early age (most cases are diagnosed when children are 6-12 years old) and may become more noticeable when a child’s circumstances change, such as when they start school. Generally, the symptoms of ADHD improve with age, though many adults who were diagnosed with the condition at a young age continue to experience problems.

The Curious Phenomenon of Nesting

Written by Gabrielle Powell

Are you pregnant? Do you have the overpowering urge to organise your sock draw, clean your fridge, or tear down the kitchen cabinets?

            

There is a well-known anecdote within my family that my Mother ripped out the kitchen cabinets three days before I was born in order to prepare for my birth. I’m touched that my Mother was already considering an interior design that would be most appealing to me - a newborn child - but to her she was simply trying to create the best possible environment for the two of us. Regardless of how irrational this design choice appeared to my Father, it happened. The thing is, in the animal kingdom, this behaviour isn’t unusual at all.

Feeling Blue in Lockdown? You're Not Alone.

Written by Narik Dubash

As we approach the mid-point of 2020 and some three months since the UK government officially ordered a nationwide lockdown, I find myself reflecting on the rapid and sweeping changes we have all faced and the toll it is having on mental health.

The Perks of Owning a Dog

Written by Christopher Johnston

I am one of the 25% of people in the UK who owns a dog, and this is something I am hugely grateful for. To know that, no matter how bad my day, my trusty companion would be waiting eagerly at the door for my return, is something marvellous. Dog owners worldwide will not hesitate to tell you the benefits of our furry friends (their unconditional love, their unwavering companionship, and the joy the bring to our lives) but now there’s some research to back this up!

Can the New Barbie Undo Body Shape Biases in Children?

 Written by Katie Helm-Summeskill

Barbie is one of the most iconic toys on the planet, selling over 1 billion dolls since her introduction in 1959 and becoming a cultural icon along the way. However, Barbie has attracted a fair share of controversy too for representing a body image that is both unrealistic and unattainable. Those at the forefront of the body positivity movement – a movement that promotes acceptance of all body types – argue that this is a major problem, as Barbie dolls promote harmful weight attitudes including thin-ideal internalisation in young girls. Indeed, one study (Dittmar, Halliwell, & Ive, 2006) found that girls exposed to Barbie at a young age expressed greater concern with being thin, compared to those exposed to other dolls.

How Your Grandparents' Past Affects Your Future

Written by Alana Furneaux

A growing body of research has emerged in the past decade surrounding the heritability of trauma. It's an interesting topic that was once thought to be farfetched. How can the troubles of your grandparents be passed down to you when you haven't experienced them yourself?

It's such a perfect day, I'm glad I spent it with you

Written by Faye Johnstone



What image comes to mind when you think of a drug-addict?
Maybe it evokes Ewan McGregor’s portrayal in the movie Trainspotting. Or perhaps the younger character Effy from the TV show Skins. Various forms of media reinforce the stereotype of a gaunt, skin-itching individual, and has done for many years. The stigma behind drug addiction has now become so strong that it brings a whole new social identity with it. This new identity is not only detrimental to the individual’s mental health but can greatly affect their chance of recovery, due to the social isolation that results from it. So much so that a recent study has found that the social isolation associated with drug addiction more than doubles the chances of relapse.

The Plight of Plant Pioneers

Written by Scarlett Neary

With Veganuary's rising popularity, converting 350,000 UK residents in 2020, including the likes of Brian May and Paul McCartney, let us spare them a thought as they endure the typical ridicule and ‘rabbit' jokes. They’re joining a whopping 3.5 million other people who know all too well the mocking, and sometimes hostility, identifying as ‘Vegan’ can provoke. Whether they do it for health reasons, ethical reasons, or environmental reasons, more and more people are choosing the vegan lifestyle, so perhaps it’s time the world reconsidered their view of this increasingly implacable group.