#qualityoflife — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #qualityoflife, aggregated by home.social.
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Four simple rules behind Japan's most liveable cities
https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20260805-four-simple-rules-behind-japans-most-liveable-cities
Comments: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49196174
#HackerNews #Japan #Liveability #UrbanPlanning #QualityOfLife #TravelTips
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Four simple rules behind Japan's most liveable cities
https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20260805-four-simple-rules-behind-japans-most-liveable-cities
Comments: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49196174
#HackerNews #Japan #Liveability #UrbanPlanning #QualityOfLife #TravelTips
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DATE: August 6, 2026 at 06:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Brief DMT trips linked to lasting improvements in quality of life for depressed patients
New research provides evidence that inhaling the psychedelic compound DMT, combined with psychological support, tends to reduce anxiety and improve life satisfaction in both healthy adults and individuals with depression. The findings suggest that the short-acting drug may foster long-term improvements in overall well-being and quality of life for people who do not respond to standard depression treatments. The study was published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology.
Psychedelic-assisted interventions are gaining attention for their potential to treat severe mental health conditions. Much of this research focuses on treatment-resistant depression. This condition is diagnosed when a patient does not experience relief after trying at least two different antidepressant medications.
Historically, mental health treatments have focused heavily on reducing negative symptoms. Contemporary frameworks suggest that full recovery also requires improvements in broader areas of well-being, such as life satisfaction, physical health, and social relationships. Existing literature indicates that classic psychedelics like psilocybin and ayahuasca can enhance these existential and social domains.
Dráulio Barros de Araújo, a professor of neuroscience at the Brain Institute of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte in Natal and director of the Center for Advanced Medical Psychedelics noted that the research team wanted to explore these wider outcomes. “Most clinical studies of psychedelics, including our previous work with ayahuasca and DMT, have focused primarily on changes in psychiatric symptoms, particularly depression,” Araújo said. “But recovery from depression is about much more than reducing a score on a depression scale.”
“Patients want to feel less anxious, function better in their daily lives, reconnect socially, and regain a sense of satisfaction, hope, and well-being,” Araújo said. “We therefore wanted to examine whether the effects we had previously observed with inhaled DMT extended to these broader dimensions of recovery.”
DMT, or N,N-dimethyltryptamine, offers a unique profile among psychedelics. When inhaled, it produces an intense but very brief altered state of consciousness lasting only five to twenty minutes. In contrast, substances like psilocybin or ayahuasca can cause effects lasting up to eight hours.
The short duration of inhaled DMT could make psychedelic therapies more accessible and less costly to administer in clinical settings. The authors designed their research to see if this brief experience could foster lasting changes in life satisfaction and quality of life.
The new paper is a secondary analysis of two separate but related open-label clinical trials. An open-label trial means that both the researchers and the participants knew what substance was being administered. Both groups received purified DMT vaporized in a clinical room designed for comfort and safety. Before receiving the drug, all participants underwent preparation sessions with a psychologist to build trust and discuss expectations.
The first trial involved 25 healthy volunteers with an average age of 30.3 years. These participants had previous experience with psychedelics. On the dosing day, they received two doses of DMT spaced a few hours apart. The researchers tested five different dosing schemes, starting with a lower dose followed by a higher dose to test safety and tolerance.
During the DMT experience, participants listened to specially composed music and later engaged in psychological integration sessions. To measure outcomes, the researchers had participants complete standardized questionnaires. They tracked state anxiety, which refers to how anxious a person feels in the present moment, on a four-point scale. They also measured life satisfaction on a seven-point scale and quality of life on a five-point scale.
The healthy volunteers reported reduced state anxiety immediately after the first dose. This reduction persisted for one day following the session. The statistical change for the initial anxiety drop was large, shifting nearly one full standard deviation below their baseline anxiety levels.
These healthy participants also reported increased life satisfaction that lasted up to 14 days post-administration. However, the healthy group did not show changes in quality of life. The researchers noted this might be due to a ceiling effect, meaning their baseline quality of life scores were already too high to show further mathematical improvement on the surveys.
The second trial focused on 14 patients with treatment-resistant depression. This group had an average age of 35.2 years and minimal prior experience with psychedelics. These patients received a fixed dosing schedule of 15 milligrams of DMT for the first session and 60 milligrams for the second session on the same day. Patients continued taking their regular psychiatric medications during the study to prevent clinical destabilization.
Like the healthy volunteers, the patients experienced drops in state anxiety that lasted up to one day after the DMT sessions. Early improvements in anxiety among these patients were also positively correlated with rapid decreases in self-reported depressive symptoms. The researchers looked closely at the magnitude of these initial changes across the participant group.
“Some of the observed effects were substantial,” Araújo told PsyPost. “In patients, the reduction in state anxiety immediately after the DMT session had a very large effect size, and improvements in life satisfaction, inner peace, and particularly hope and optimism were also large at the time points where significant differences were detected.”
“But effect sizes from a small, uncontrolled study should be interpreted cautiously,” Araújo said. “What I find particularly interesting is not only their magnitude, but the fact that the changes appeared across several dimensions of patients’ lives rather than being restricted to depressive symptoms.”
Beyond short-term anxiety relief, the patients reported enduring benefits over a longer period. They demonstrated increased life satisfaction at the 12-month mark compared to their baseline scores. The patients also reported sustained increases in physical, psychological, social, and environmental quality of life from 14 days up to 12 months.
When answering questions focused on spirituality and personal beliefs, the patients showed long-term enhancements in specific psychological areas. They reported improvements in feelings of inner peace at the 14-day mark. They also reported elevated levels of hope and optimism at both 14 days and 12 months after the sessions.
Araújo highlighted how unusual it is for a short-acting drug to be linked to such prolonged benefits. “The long-term findings were probably the most striking,” Araújo said. “DMT produces an extremely short psychedelic experience, generally lasting only several minutes, so observing improvements in some measures of quality of life as far as 12 months later is remarkable, especially when considering that patients were submitted to a single intervention with DMT.”
“We were also interested in seeing improvements in hope, optimism, and inner peace, because these dimensions are rarely considered primary outcomes in conventional antidepressant studies,” Araújo said. These distinct outcomes suggest a broader scope for evaluating mental health interventions.
“The main message is that the effects associated with DMT may extend beyond the reduction of depressive symptoms,” Araújo said. “In patients with treatment-resistant depression, we observed rapid reductions in anxiety and improvements in quality of life that were still detectable months later.”
“Life satisfaction was also significantly higher at the 12-month follow-up,” Araújo said. “Interestingly, some of the improvements involved very concrete aspects of quality of life, including physical and psychological health, social relationships, the environment, and hope and inner peace.”
The open-label design of both trials means that expectancy effects could have influenced the outcomes. Because participants knew they were receiving a powerful psychedelic, their anticipation of getting better might have artificially inflated their self-reported improvements. The lack of a placebo group prevents researchers from ruling out this possibility.
“At the same time, these findings should be considered preliminary,” Araújo said. “This was a small, open-label study without a placebo group, so we cannot conclude that DMT alone caused the long-term changes we observed.”
The intervention combined the pharmacological effects of DMT with extensive psychological support, music, and expressive exercises. It is not possible to separate the impact of the drug from the impact of the therapeutic environment. The small sample sizes and specific demographics of the participants also limit how well these findings apply to the broader public.
The long-term improvements seen in the patient group are also subject to external influences. The patients continued their usual clinical treatments, including other psychiatric medications, over the 12-month follow-up period. Natural changes in the course of their illness, new therapies, or major life events during that year could explain the sustained gains in quality of life.
“I would strongly caution against interpreting this study as evidence that a single dose of DMT produces benefits lasting for a year,” Araújo said. “Participants received DMT in a carefully controlled clinical environment together with psychological preparation, support during the experience, and integration afterward.”
“They also continued their usual clinical care, and many things can happen over a 12-month period,” Araújo said. “Because there was no placebo group, we cannot separate the pharmacological effects of DMT from psychological support, expectations, subsequent treatments, life events, or the natural course of depression.”
The researchers emphasized that these treatments require specialized protocols and safety measures. “Another important point is that these findings should not be interpreted as supporting unsupervised use of DMT,” Araújo said. “The intervention was conducted under medical and psychological supervision in accordance with clinical research protocols.”
Future placebo-controlled, double-blind studies with larger groups are needed to better understand the true therapeutic profile of inhaled DMT. The authors plan to expand their investigations to see if these initial patterns hold up under stricter experimental conditions.
“Our main priority now is to test inhaled DMT in larger and more rigorous controlled clinical trials,” Araújo said. “We are currently moving this research into a multicenter clinical study in patients with treatment-resistant depression.” A multicenter study involves conducting the trial at multiple clinics or hospitals to gather a larger and more diverse group of patients.
“Beyond determining whether the antidepressant effect can be replicated under controlled conditions, we are increasingly interested in understanding recovery more broadly, including quality of life, functioning, anxiety, suicidality, and other dimensions that matter to patients,” Araújo said. If successful, inhaled psychedelics could offer practical advantages for widespread clinical use.
“DMT is particularly interesting from a public health perspective because its psychedelic effects are very brief compared with substances such as psilocybin or ayahuasca,” Araújo said. “If its clinical efficacy is confirmed in larger controlled studies, this short duration could make psychedelic treatment considerably easier to integrate into health care systems.”
The focus on overall well-being represents a shifting paradigm in how medical professionals evaluate mental health treatments. “I think the broader point is that psychiatry should perhaps ask a larger question when evaluating new treatments: not only ‘Are the symptoms better?’ but also ‘Is the person living better?'” Araújo said.
“Depression affects relationships, work, physical functioning, hope, and the way people experience their own lives,” Araújo said. “For us, understanding whether psychedelic interventions can influence these dimensions is an important part of determining their actual clinical value.”
The study, “Beyond symptom reduction: DMT improves anxiety, life satisfaction, and quality of life in healthy volunteers and patients with depression,” was authored by Raynara Bolcont, Fernanda Palhano-Fontes, Handersson Barros, Sophie Laborde, Daniel Amorim, Marcelo Falchi-Carvalho, Nicole Galvão-Coelho, Isabel Wießner, and Draulio B. Araujo.
-------------------------------------------------
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #DMTtherapy #PsychedelicResearch #DepressionTreatment #LifeSatisfaction #QualityOfLife #AnxietyRelief #TreatmentResistantDepression #PsychedelicAssistedTherapy #MentalHealthInnovation #ClinicalTrials
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DATE: August 6, 2026 at 06:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Brief DMT trips linked to lasting improvements in quality of life for depressed patients
New research provides evidence that inhaling the psychedelic compound DMT, combined with psychological support, tends to reduce anxiety and improve life satisfaction in both healthy adults and individuals with depression. The findings suggest that the short-acting drug may foster long-term improvements in overall well-being and quality of life for people who do not respond to standard depression treatments. The study was published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology.
Psychedelic-assisted interventions are gaining attention for their potential to treat severe mental health conditions. Much of this research focuses on treatment-resistant depression. This condition is diagnosed when a patient does not experience relief after trying at least two different antidepressant medications.
Historically, mental health treatments have focused heavily on reducing negative symptoms. Contemporary frameworks suggest that full recovery also requires improvements in broader areas of well-being, such as life satisfaction, physical health, and social relationships. Existing literature indicates that classic psychedelics like psilocybin and ayahuasca can enhance these existential and social domains.
Dráulio Barros de Araújo, a professor of neuroscience at the Brain Institute of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte in Natal and director of the Center for Advanced Medical Psychedelics noted that the research team wanted to explore these wider outcomes. “Most clinical studies of psychedelics, including our previous work with ayahuasca and DMT, have focused primarily on changes in psychiatric symptoms, particularly depression,” Araújo said. “But recovery from depression is about much more than reducing a score on a depression scale.”
“Patients want to feel less anxious, function better in their daily lives, reconnect socially, and regain a sense of satisfaction, hope, and well-being,” Araújo said. “We therefore wanted to examine whether the effects we had previously observed with inhaled DMT extended to these broader dimensions of recovery.”
DMT, or N,N-dimethyltryptamine, offers a unique profile among psychedelics. When inhaled, it produces an intense but very brief altered state of consciousness lasting only five to twenty minutes. In contrast, substances like psilocybin or ayahuasca can cause effects lasting up to eight hours.
The short duration of inhaled DMT could make psychedelic therapies more accessible and less costly to administer in clinical settings. The authors designed their research to see if this brief experience could foster lasting changes in life satisfaction and quality of life.
The new paper is a secondary analysis of two separate but related open-label clinical trials. An open-label trial means that both the researchers and the participants knew what substance was being administered. Both groups received purified DMT vaporized in a clinical room designed for comfort and safety. Before receiving the drug, all participants underwent preparation sessions with a psychologist to build trust and discuss expectations.
The first trial involved 25 healthy volunteers with an average age of 30.3 years. These participants had previous experience with psychedelics. On the dosing day, they received two doses of DMT spaced a few hours apart. The researchers tested five different dosing schemes, starting with a lower dose followed by a higher dose to test safety and tolerance.
During the DMT experience, participants listened to specially composed music and later engaged in psychological integration sessions. To measure outcomes, the researchers had participants complete standardized questionnaires. They tracked state anxiety, which refers to how anxious a person feels in the present moment, on a four-point scale. They also measured life satisfaction on a seven-point scale and quality of life on a five-point scale.
The healthy volunteers reported reduced state anxiety immediately after the first dose. This reduction persisted for one day following the session. The statistical change for the initial anxiety drop was large, shifting nearly one full standard deviation below their baseline anxiety levels.
These healthy participants also reported increased life satisfaction that lasted up to 14 days post-administration. However, the healthy group did not show changes in quality of life. The researchers noted this might be due to a ceiling effect, meaning their baseline quality of life scores were already too high to show further mathematical improvement on the surveys.
The second trial focused on 14 patients with treatment-resistant depression. This group had an average age of 35.2 years and minimal prior experience with psychedelics. These patients received a fixed dosing schedule of 15 milligrams of DMT for the first session and 60 milligrams for the second session on the same day. Patients continued taking their regular psychiatric medications during the study to prevent clinical destabilization.
Like the healthy volunteers, the patients experienced drops in state anxiety that lasted up to one day after the DMT sessions. Early improvements in anxiety among these patients were also positively correlated with rapid decreases in self-reported depressive symptoms. The researchers looked closely at the magnitude of these initial changes across the participant group.
“Some of the observed effects were substantial,” Araújo told PsyPost. “In patients, the reduction in state anxiety immediately after the DMT session had a very large effect size, and improvements in life satisfaction, inner peace, and particularly hope and optimism were also large at the time points where significant differences were detected.”
“But effect sizes from a small, uncontrolled study should be interpreted cautiously,” Araújo said. “What I find particularly interesting is not only their magnitude, but the fact that the changes appeared across several dimensions of patients’ lives rather than being restricted to depressive symptoms.”
Beyond short-term anxiety relief, the patients reported enduring benefits over a longer period. They demonstrated increased life satisfaction at the 12-month mark compared to their baseline scores. The patients also reported sustained increases in physical, psychological, social, and environmental quality of life from 14 days up to 12 months.
When answering questions focused on spirituality and personal beliefs, the patients showed long-term enhancements in specific psychological areas. They reported improvements in feelings of inner peace at the 14-day mark. They also reported elevated levels of hope and optimism at both 14 days and 12 months after the sessions.
Araújo highlighted how unusual it is for a short-acting drug to be linked to such prolonged benefits. “The long-term findings were probably the most striking,” Araújo said. “DMT produces an extremely short psychedelic experience, generally lasting only several minutes, so observing improvements in some measures of quality of life as far as 12 months later is remarkable, especially when considering that patients were submitted to a single intervention with DMT.”
“We were also interested in seeing improvements in hope, optimism, and inner peace, because these dimensions are rarely considered primary outcomes in conventional antidepressant studies,” Araújo said. These distinct outcomes suggest a broader scope for evaluating mental health interventions.
“The main message is that the effects associated with DMT may extend beyond the reduction of depressive symptoms,” Araújo said. “In patients with treatment-resistant depression, we observed rapid reductions in anxiety and improvements in quality of life that were still detectable months later.”
“Life satisfaction was also significantly higher at the 12-month follow-up,” Araújo said. “Interestingly, some of the improvements involved very concrete aspects of quality of life, including physical and psychological health, social relationships, the environment, and hope and inner peace.”
The open-label design of both trials means that expectancy effects could have influenced the outcomes. Because participants knew they were receiving a powerful psychedelic, their anticipation of getting better might have artificially inflated their self-reported improvements. The lack of a placebo group prevents researchers from ruling out this possibility.
“At the same time, these findings should be considered preliminary,” Araújo said. “This was a small, open-label study without a placebo group, so we cannot conclude that DMT alone caused the long-term changes we observed.”
The intervention combined the pharmacological effects of DMT with extensive psychological support, music, and expressive exercises. It is not possible to separate the impact of the drug from the impact of the therapeutic environment. The small sample sizes and specific demographics of the participants also limit how well these findings apply to the broader public.
The long-term improvements seen in the patient group are also subject to external influences. The patients continued their usual clinical treatments, including other psychiatric medications, over the 12-month follow-up period. Natural changes in the course of their illness, new therapies, or major life events during that year could explain the sustained gains in quality of life.
“I would strongly caution against interpreting this study as evidence that a single dose of DMT produces benefits lasting for a year,” Araújo said. “Participants received DMT in a carefully controlled clinical environment together with psychological preparation, support during the experience, and integration afterward.”
“They also continued their usual clinical care, and many things can happen over a 12-month period,” Araújo said. “Because there was no placebo group, we cannot separate the pharmacological effects of DMT from psychological support, expectations, subsequent treatments, life events, or the natural course of depression.”
The researchers emphasized that these treatments require specialized protocols and safety measures. “Another important point is that these findings should not be interpreted as supporting unsupervised use of DMT,” Araújo said. “The intervention was conducted under medical and psychological supervision in accordance with clinical research protocols.”
Future placebo-controlled, double-blind studies with larger groups are needed to better understand the true therapeutic profile of inhaled DMT. The authors plan to expand their investigations to see if these initial patterns hold up under stricter experimental conditions.
“Our main priority now is to test inhaled DMT in larger and more rigorous controlled clinical trials,” Araújo said. “We are currently moving this research into a multicenter clinical study in patients with treatment-resistant depression.” A multicenter study involves conducting the trial at multiple clinics or hospitals to gather a larger and more diverse group of patients.
“Beyond determining whether the antidepressant effect can be replicated under controlled conditions, we are increasingly interested in understanding recovery more broadly, including quality of life, functioning, anxiety, suicidality, and other dimensions that matter to patients,” Araújo said. If successful, inhaled psychedelics could offer practical advantages for widespread clinical use.
“DMT is particularly interesting from a public health perspective because its psychedelic effects are very brief compared with substances such as psilocybin or ayahuasca,” Araújo said. “If its clinical efficacy is confirmed in larger controlled studies, this short duration could make psychedelic treatment considerably easier to integrate into health care systems.”
The focus on overall well-being represents a shifting paradigm in how medical professionals evaluate mental health treatments. “I think the broader point is that psychiatry should perhaps ask a larger question when evaluating new treatments: not only ‘Are the symptoms better?’ but also ‘Is the person living better?'” Araújo said.
“Depression affects relationships, work, physical functioning, hope, and the way people experience their own lives,” Araújo said. “For us, understanding whether psychedelic interventions can influence these dimensions is an important part of determining their actual clinical value.”
The study, “Beyond symptom reduction: DMT improves anxiety, life satisfaction, and quality of life in healthy volunteers and patients with depression,” was authored by Raynara Bolcont, Fernanda Palhano-Fontes, Handersson Barros, Sophie Laborde, Daniel Amorim, Marcelo Falchi-Carvalho, Nicole Galvão-Coelho, Isabel Wießner, and Draulio B. Araujo.
-------------------------------------------------
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #DMTtherapy #PsychedelicResearch #DepressionTreatment #LifeSatisfaction #QualityOfLife #AnxietyRelief #TreatmentResistantDepression #PsychedelicAssistedTherapy #MentalHealthInnovation #ClinicalTrials
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https://www.alojapan.com/1519749/quality-of-life-on-the-front-lines-exchange-accelerates-mission-support-in-okinawa/ Quality of Life on the Front Lines: Exchange accelerates mission support in Okinawa #AAFES #CeoVisit #exchange #marine #MarineCorps #MissionSupport #news #Okinawa #OkinawaExchange #OkinawaNews #QualityOfLife #SupportingWarfighters #沖縄 Army & Air Force Exchange Service Director/CEO Brad Bingham met with associates at the Camp Foster Exchange to discuss support for Warfighters and families. (Photo courtesy of Army & Air Force Exchange Service)
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Dad describes the moment he realized he couldn’t raise his daughter in the United States
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Dad describes the moment he realized he couldn’t raise his daughter in the United States
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So I'm tracking energy consumption. I also tracked the AC here.
The machine runs the entire day on hot days, where hot >32 degrees C.
It reaches a 10-15 temperature differential to the outside.
It's consumption over the year is negligible and below what the coffee machine consumes.
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DATE: July 26, 2026 at 09:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Digital cognitive training improves quality of life for adults with ADHD
URL: https://www.psypost.org/digital-cognitive-training-improves-quality-of-life-for-adults-with-adhd/
A randomized controlled trial examining the effects of a digital cognitive training app called NeuroNation MED showed that the program may improve psychological quality of life for adults with ADHD. Compared to a group receiving standard treatment, the app users did not show better performance on objective cognitive tests. However, they did tend to report feeling that their own cognitive functioning had improved. The paper was published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research.
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, is a neurodevelopmental condition. This means it is tied to differences in how the brain grows and develops. It is characterized by persistent difficulties with attention, impulse control, and activity regulation. People with ADHD tend to struggle to stay focused, organize tasks, and manage time.
They may also find it hard to remember obligations or complete work that requires sustained mental effort. Some individuals also experience hyperactivity, such as restlessness, excessive talking, or a constant need for movement. Impulse control difficulties can appear as interrupting others, making hasty decisions, or acting before considering the consequences.
Symptoms usually begin in childhood, but they may continue into adolescence and adulthood. ADHD can negatively affect performance in school, work, relationships, finances, and everyday routines. It is most often diagnosed when a child starts school and their behaviors come into conflict with classroom rules.
Study author Moritz Bergmann and his colleagues evaluated the effects of an adaptive digital training program called NeuroNation MED on ADHD-related cognitive challenges. The app-based program targets executive functions, which are a set of mental skills that help people plan, focus attention, and juggle multiple tasks. Specifically, the training focuses on working memory, processing speed, and the ability to control attention.
The app contains 23 exercises that adapt dynamically to individual performance. It specifically addresses areas where people with ADHD often struggle, such as attentional flexibility, which is the ability to shift focus between different tasks, and response inhibition, which is the ability to suppress impulsive actions. The app also includes game-like elements such as progress indicators, milestones, and rewards to keep users engaged.
The researchers recruited 77 adults between 18 and 60 years of age who had a clinical diagnosis of ADHD. The participants came from an outpatient clinic at the University Hospital Bonn in Germany. Individuals who had diagnoses of certain other mental health conditions were excluded. During the study, participants were permitted to continue taking their existing ADHD medication, but they were asked to skip their medication on testing days.
At the start of the study, participants were randomly divided into two groups. One group completed cognitive training using the NeuroNation MED app for 12 weeks. The other group continued their standard treatment as usual during that same timeframe. After this initial period, the standard treatment group crossed over and received access to the app.
Training began with a 15-minute baseline assessment within the app. The results were used to create a customized training profile that determined the starting difficulty and the specific mental skills to emphasize. Each subsequent training session consisted of a sequence of several short exercises, with each task lasting a few minutes.
The exercises were repeated across sessions but appeared in varying combinations. A built-in algorithm continuously adjusted the difficulty based on the participant’s performance. Participants were instructed to complete three training sessions per week over the 12-week period. Each session lasted approximately 30 to 40 minutes.
Before and after the 12-week period, participants completed a series of mental tests that lasted about two hours. The researchers scheduled a third follow-up test 12 weeks after the cognitive training ended. However, the drop-out rate for this final assessment was very high. This left the researchers with too little data to analyze the long-term effects of the training.
The two-hour assessments included a variety of objective cognitive tests to measure actual brain performance. The participants also filled out questionnaires to gauge their subjective quality of life, daily functional impairments, and symptoms of depression. Other surveys asked the participants to rate their own ADHD symptoms and perceived cognitive abilities.
Over the course of the study, 14 participants dropped out after the initial assessment. Three more individuals were excluded from the final analysis because they changed their medication routines during the trial. This left a final group of 60 participants for the initial comparison.
The scientists found that the cognitive training app produced an improvement in psychological quality of life compared to standard treatment. There were no differences between the two groups in their performance on the objective cognitive tests. Despite this lack of measurable change, participants in the training group tended to report that their memory, attention, and language skills had improved. They simply felt that their brains were working better.
The authors noted that the program demonstrated promising effects on perceived cognition and psychological well-being. However, they pointed out that objective cognitive improvements were not observed. They explained that this discrepancy highlights the importance of considering both perceived and measured outcomes in ADHD treatments.
The study explores the effectiveness of a digital training program for improving ADHD-related cognitive issues. However, the app group started the study with a somewhat lower subjective quality of life than the control group. Although this initial difference was not statistically significant, it was moderate in size. This suggests that some of the apparent improvement might reflect a natural return to average levels rather than an effect of the training itself.
It is also important to note that the reported cognitive improvements were not detected on objective tests. Instead, the gains were seen entirely on self-report assessments. This leaves room for reporting bias, which happens when participants feel or claim they are doing better simply because they are receiving a new treatment. Additionally, the study was supported by Synaptikon GmbH, the developer of the NeuroNation MED application.
The study, “Effects of a novel individualized digital cognitive training on ADHD characteristics, quality of life, and cognitive functioning in adults with ADHD: A randomized controlled trial,” was authored by Moritz Bergmann, Julia Schröfel, Laura Zimmermann, Anke Fastenau, Sara Pafel, Peter Sauermann, Jana Fecht, Alexandra Philipsen, and Silke Lux.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/digital-cognitive-training-improves-quality-of-life-for-adults-with-adhd/
-------------------------------------------------
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #ADHD #digitalcognition #cognitivetraining #NeuroNationMED #qualityoflife #executivefunction #workingmemory #ADHDresearch #mentalhealthtech #selfreportedoutcomes
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DATE: July 26, 2026 at 09:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Digital cognitive training improves quality of life for adults with ADHD
URL: https://www.psypost.org/digital-cognitive-training-improves-quality-of-life-for-adults-with-adhd/
A randomized controlled trial examining the effects of a digital cognitive training app called NeuroNation MED showed that the program may improve psychological quality of life for adults with ADHD. Compared to a group receiving standard treatment, the app users did not show better performance on objective cognitive tests. However, they did tend to report feeling that their own cognitive functioning had improved. The paper was published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research.
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, is a neurodevelopmental condition. This means it is tied to differences in how the brain grows and develops. It is characterized by persistent difficulties with attention, impulse control, and activity regulation. People with ADHD tend to struggle to stay focused, organize tasks, and manage time.
They may also find it hard to remember obligations or complete work that requires sustained mental effort. Some individuals also experience hyperactivity, such as restlessness, excessive talking, or a constant need for movement. Impulse control difficulties can appear as interrupting others, making hasty decisions, or acting before considering the consequences.
Symptoms usually begin in childhood, but they may continue into adolescence and adulthood. ADHD can negatively affect performance in school, work, relationships, finances, and everyday routines. It is most often diagnosed when a child starts school and their behaviors come into conflict with classroom rules.
Study author Moritz Bergmann and his colleagues evaluated the effects of an adaptive digital training program called NeuroNation MED on ADHD-related cognitive challenges. The app-based program targets executive functions, which are a set of mental skills that help people plan, focus attention, and juggle multiple tasks. Specifically, the training focuses on working memory, processing speed, and the ability to control attention.
The app contains 23 exercises that adapt dynamically to individual performance. It specifically addresses areas where people with ADHD often struggle, such as attentional flexibility, which is the ability to shift focus between different tasks, and response inhibition, which is the ability to suppress impulsive actions. The app also includes game-like elements such as progress indicators, milestones, and rewards to keep users engaged.
The researchers recruited 77 adults between 18 and 60 years of age who had a clinical diagnosis of ADHD. The participants came from an outpatient clinic at the University Hospital Bonn in Germany. Individuals who had diagnoses of certain other mental health conditions were excluded. During the study, participants were permitted to continue taking their existing ADHD medication, but they were asked to skip their medication on testing days.
At the start of the study, participants were randomly divided into two groups. One group completed cognitive training using the NeuroNation MED app for 12 weeks. The other group continued their standard treatment as usual during that same timeframe. After this initial period, the standard treatment group crossed over and received access to the app.
Training began with a 15-minute baseline assessment within the app. The results were used to create a customized training profile that determined the starting difficulty and the specific mental skills to emphasize. Each subsequent training session consisted of a sequence of several short exercises, with each task lasting a few minutes.
The exercises were repeated across sessions but appeared in varying combinations. A built-in algorithm continuously adjusted the difficulty based on the participant’s performance. Participants were instructed to complete three training sessions per week over the 12-week period. Each session lasted approximately 30 to 40 minutes.
Before and after the 12-week period, participants completed a series of mental tests that lasted about two hours. The researchers scheduled a third follow-up test 12 weeks after the cognitive training ended. However, the drop-out rate for this final assessment was very high. This left the researchers with too little data to analyze the long-term effects of the training.
The two-hour assessments included a variety of objective cognitive tests to measure actual brain performance. The participants also filled out questionnaires to gauge their subjective quality of life, daily functional impairments, and symptoms of depression. Other surveys asked the participants to rate their own ADHD symptoms and perceived cognitive abilities.
Over the course of the study, 14 participants dropped out after the initial assessment. Three more individuals were excluded from the final analysis because they changed their medication routines during the trial. This left a final group of 60 participants for the initial comparison.
The scientists found that the cognitive training app produced an improvement in psychological quality of life compared to standard treatment. There were no differences between the two groups in their performance on the objective cognitive tests. Despite this lack of measurable change, participants in the training group tended to report that their memory, attention, and language skills had improved. They simply felt that their brains were working better.
The authors noted that the program demonstrated promising effects on perceived cognition and psychological well-being. However, they pointed out that objective cognitive improvements were not observed. They explained that this discrepancy highlights the importance of considering both perceived and measured outcomes in ADHD treatments.
The study explores the effectiveness of a digital training program for improving ADHD-related cognitive issues. However, the app group started the study with a somewhat lower subjective quality of life than the control group. Although this initial difference was not statistically significant, it was moderate in size. This suggests that some of the apparent improvement might reflect a natural return to average levels rather than an effect of the training itself.
It is also important to note that the reported cognitive improvements were not detected on objective tests. Instead, the gains were seen entirely on self-report assessments. This leaves room for reporting bias, which happens when participants feel or claim they are doing better simply because they are receiving a new treatment. Additionally, the study was supported by Synaptikon GmbH, the developer of the NeuroNation MED application.
The study, “Effects of a novel individualized digital cognitive training on ADHD characteristics, quality of life, and cognitive functioning in adults with ADHD: A randomized controlled trial,” was authored by Moritz Bergmann, Julia Schröfel, Laura Zimmermann, Anke Fastenau, Sara Pafel, Peter Sauermann, Jana Fecht, Alexandra Philipsen, and Silke Lux.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/digital-cognitive-training-improves-quality-of-life-for-adults-with-adhd/
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Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
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#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #ADHD #digitalcognition #cognitivetraining #NeuroNationMED #qualityoflife #executivefunction #workingmemory #ADHDresearch #mentalhealthtech #selfreportedoutcomes
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DATE: July 18, 2026 at 09:55PM
SOURCE: SCIENCE DAILY MIND-BRAIN FEEDTITLE: Common antidepressant may ease long COVID’s crushing fatigue
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/07/260718010158.htm
A low-cost antidepressant may offer new hope for people struggling with long COVID fatigue. In a randomized clinical trial involving 399 adults, fluvoxamine significantly reduced fatigue and improved quality of life compared with a placebo, making it one of the first medications to show meaningful benefits for this disabling condition.
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/07/260718010158.htm
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Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
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#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #LongCOVIDFatigue #Fluvoxamine #AntidepressantForLongCOVID #FatigueManagement #COVIDRecovery #ClinicalTrial #MentalHealthMedicine #QualityOfLife #LowCostTreatment #LongCOVIDResearch
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DATE: July 18, 2026 at 09:55PM
SOURCE: SCIENCE DAILY MIND-BRAIN FEEDTITLE: Common antidepressant may ease long COVID’s crushing fatigue
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/07/260718010158.htm
A low-cost antidepressant may offer new hope for people struggling with long COVID fatigue. In a randomized clinical trial involving 399 adults, fluvoxamine significantly reduced fatigue and improved quality of life compared with a placebo, making it one of the first medications to show meaningful benefits for this disabling condition.
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/07/260718010158.htm
-------------------------------------------------
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
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#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #LongCOVIDFatigue #Fluvoxamine #AntidepressantForLongCOVID #FatigueManagement #COVIDRecovery #ClinicalTrial #MentalHealthMedicine #QualityOfLife #LowCostTreatment #LongCOVIDResearch
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Not Friday anymore, but my #FreeCADFriday was about getting some #QualityOfLife things together.
Got my rotating hanging bar up again after a small redesign of the bearing holders. Also designed and #3DPrinted an end stop for my nieces' hang bar since they're worried that it'll fall out of the bearing.
Haven't had my #PineTime on my arm for a few days since the strap broke. Printed a small loop in ASA and cut the zip flap off a discarded rain jacket to make myself a new one.
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Being well enough to thrive a few hours a week means the govt pulling your #financial support out from under you at a whim.
Change of #legislation? Ded
Change of circumstances? Ded#DynamicDisability whose needs change daily? Ded
Improved #QualityOfLife because your number of access needs unmet is decreasing? Ded
Get paid for work that feeds the soul of your #community and yourself? Ded🧵
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Being well enough to thrive a few hours a week means the govt pulling your #financial support out from under you at a whim.
Change of #legislation? Ded
Change of circumstances? Ded#DynamicDisability whose needs change daily? Ded
Improved #QualityOfLife because your number of access needs unmet is decreasing? Ded
Get paid for work that feeds the soul of your #community and yourself? Ded🧵
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#FortWayne #Indiana defers having a Data Center #Community #Input task force decision - https://www.wane.com/news/local-news/fort-wayne-holds-data-center-task-force-decision/
Councilman Jehl brought forth a #Bill creating a #DataCenter Task Force called, "Data Center & #Community #QualityofLife + #TaskForce for the #CityofFortWayne"
The item was deferred as council wants more time with this new idea. City Council voted to put hold on discussion
#DataCenter #Technology #Google #Concerns #Environment #QualityOfLife #Health #Economics #Political #DelayTalks
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#FortWayne #Indiana defers having a Data Center #Community #Input task force decision - https://www.wane.com/news/local-news/fort-wayne-holds-data-center-task-force-decision/
Councilman Jehl brought forth a #Bill creating a #DataCenter Task Force called, "Data Center & #Community #QualityofLife + #TaskForce for the #CityofFortWayne"
The item was deferred as council wants more time with this new idea. City Council voted to put hold on discussion
#DataCenter #Technology #Google #Concerns #Environment #QualityOfLife #Health #Economics #Political #DelayTalks
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#FortWayne #Indiana defers having a Data Center #Community #Input task force decision - https://www.wane.com/news/local-news/fort-wayne-holds-data-center-task-force-decision/
Councilman Jehl brought forth a #Bill creating a #DataCenter Task Force called, "Data Center & #Community #QualityofLife + #TaskForce for the #CityofFortWayne"
The item was deferred as council wants more time with this new idea. City Council voted to put hold on discussion
#DataCenter #Technology #Google #Concerns #Environment #QualityOfLife #Health #Economics #Political #DelayTalks
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#FortWayne #Indiana defers having a Data Center #Community #Input task force decision - https://www.wane.com/news/local-news/fort-wayne-holds-data-center-task-force-decision/
Councilman Jehl brought forth a #Bill creating a #DataCenter Task Force called, "Data Center & #Community #QualityofLife + #TaskForce for the #CityofFortWayne"
The item was deferred as council wants more time with this new idea. City Council voted to put hold on discussion
#DataCenter #Technology #Google #Concerns #Environment #QualityOfLife #Health #Economics #Political #DelayTalks
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Fort Wayne delays data center community input task force decision https://www.wane.com/news/local-news/fort-wayne-holds-data-center-task-force-decision/
Councilman Jehl brought forth a bill for a data center task force called, "Data Center & Community Quality of Life+ Task Force for the City of Fort Wayne"
The item was deferred as council wants more time with idea. City Council voted to put a hold on discussion
#FortWayne #Indiana #DataCenter #Technology #Google #Concerns #Environment #QualityOfLife #Health #Community #Economics #Political #DelayTalks
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Fort Wayne delays data center community input task force decision https://www.wane.com/news/local-news/fort-wayne-holds-data-center-task-force-decision/
Councilman Jehl brought forth a bill for a data center task force called, "Data Center & Community Quality of Life+ Task Force for the City of Fort Wayne"
The item was deferred as council wants more time with idea. City Council voted to put a hold on discussion
#FortWayne #Indiana #DataCenter #Technology #Google #Concerns #Environment #QualityOfLife #Health #Community #Economics #Political #DelayTalks
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We live when we support each other. As summarized by @manlius :
"the strongest predictor of a long, healthy and fulfilling life is not wealth, intelligence, talent or professional achievement. It is the quality of close relationships."
Commentary on the Harvard Study of Adult Development:
https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2023/02/work-out-daily-ok-but-how-socially-fit-are-you/The longitudinal study project page:
https://www.lifespanresearch.org/harvard-study/ -
We live when we support each other. As summarized by @manlius :
"the strongest predictor of a long, healthy and fulfilling life is not wealth, intelligence, talent or professional achievement. It is the quality of close relationships."
Commentary on the Harvard Study of Adult Development:
https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2023/02/work-out-daily-ok-but-how-socially-fit-are-you/The longitudinal study project page:
https://www.lifespanresearch.org/harvard-study/ -
🔥Two CBC headlines juxtaposed online (June 30, 2026)
Carney Federal government to boost #fossilfuel production while Canadians experience increasing #heatwave and #flood.
Increasing fossil fuel production increases greenhouse gases and global warming which, in turn, increases frequency and intensity of extreme weather (e.g. heatwaves, torrential rain, flooding)
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🔥Two CBC headlines juxtaposed online (June 30, 2026)
Carney Federal government to boost #fossilfuel production while Canadians experience increasing #heatwave and #flood.
Increasing fossil fuel production increases greenhouse gases and global warming which, in turn, increases frequency and intensity of extreme weather (e.g. heatwaves, torrential rain, flooding)
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One conclusion that I've made while living through record breaking hotter summers and poorer quality air is that I would much rather have breathable air and a habitable temperatures outdoors then a billion dollars. The quality of life afforded by having the ability of going outside and not feeling like I'm dying is worth way more that any about of money.
whats quite tragic is that I'm now realizing that this is something I've taken for granted.
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One conclusion that I've made while living through record breaking hotter summers and poorer quality air is that I would much rather have breathable air and a habitable temperatures outdoors then a billion dollars. The quality of life afforded by having the ability of going outside and not feeling like I'm dying is worth way more that any about of money.
whats quite tragic is that I'm now realizing that this is something I've taken for granted.
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https://www.minenest.com/718198/ NECESSARY MODS FOR STARDEW VALLEY #gaming #gameplay #mods #cozygaming #modshowcase #sdv ##gameplay #automate #gaming #ModShowcase #mods #QualityOfLife #StardewValley #StardewValleyGuide #StardewValleyVideos #tutorial
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…In #Ohio, 71% of voters said in a recent poll that they support a temporary ban on data centers. Majorities said #DataCenters have a bad effect on the #environment, #energy prices & the #QualityOfLife of people who live near them.
[Unfortunately, this article did not address at all the environmental impacts of data centers, which is huge.]
#electricity #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #AI #tech #law #regulations #midterms #elections #money #power #CostOfLiving #economy
