Miffed's Scribblings

Mental health problems are more common in people living alone regardless of age and sex, says a study. "The prevalence of common mental disorders was higher in individuals living alone than in those not living alone in all survey years," the study noted. For the study, published in the journal PLOS ONE, the researchers used data on 20,500 individuals aged 16-64 living in England who participated in the 1993, 2000, or 2007 National Psychiatric Morbidity Surveys. Whether a person had a common mental disorder (CMD) was assessed using the Clinical Interview Schedule Revised (CIS-R), a questionnaire focusing on neurotic symptoms. The study found that the prevalence of people  living alone in 1993, 2000, and 2007 was 8.8 per cent, 9.8 per cent, and 10.7 per cent. They found a positive association between living alone and common mental disorder. In different subgroups of people, living alone increased a person's risk for common mental disorder by 1.39 to 2.43 times, the

Students, please take note. Increased stress during examinations is associated with eating a poor- quality diet including less fruit and vegetables and more fast food, say researchers. The research, published in the European Journal of Nutrition, suggests that students have difficulties eating healthy food and find themselves adopting bad eating habits, leading to stress. Stress has long been implicated in a poor diet. People tend to report overeating and comfort eating foods high in fat, sugar and calories in time of stress. Looking at the eating habits of students during exam periods confirm this stress induced dietary deterioration hypothesis. The results are based on an anonymous online survey of 232 students ( aged 19-22 years) recruited from Ghent University and other Universities in Belgium. The researchers investigated the relationship between exam stress and change in dietary quality, and whether these associations were modified by psychological factors such as eating