Day: December 14, 2018

Brain, Curiositys, Health, Living, Manipulation, Psychology, ScienceLeave a comment

What Happens When You’re Convinced You Have Bad Genes

Fernando Kaskais

BRIAN SNYDER / REUTERS DNA tests can have a placebo effect. by SARAH ZHANG The first thing you should know is that the DNA-test results everyone got in this study were fake. That was on purpose. Over the course of a year, psychologists at Stanford University recruited 223 participants for a study that would help scientists create personalized nutrition and exercise programs—or so they were told. What the two researchers, Brad Turnwald and Alia Crum, most wanted to investigate was how the participants would react after they took DNA tests and learned their genetic propensities for exercise and diet. Others … Continue reading What Happens When You’re Convinced You Have Bad Genes

Brain, Curiositys, Health, Living, Money, PsychologyLeave a comment

Is Your Mental Health Making You Broke?

Fernando Kaskais

PHOTOGRAPHED BY MEG O’DONNELL. by KATE HOLLOWOOD A top hat, shoes that didn’t fit and an abundance of art materials all seemed like reasonable purchases to Leah Milner during one of her high phases. “Everything I saw seemed to scream out to me. It was like everything I saw, I needed,” says 37-year-old Milner, a freelance journalist who writes about money and mental health and suffers from bipolar disorder. Blowing her savings on random items, combined with not being able to work, resulted in one period of illness costing Milner £25,000. “It’s amazing how much damage you can do in a … Continue reading Is Your Mental Health Making You Broke?

Brain, Curiositys, Health, Living, Media&Culture, PsychologyLeave a comment

Am I ‘Old’?

Fernando Kaskais

Stuart Bradford As with beauty, the meaning of “old” depends on the person you ask. By Steven Petrow A few years ago at a college reunion, I listened transfixed as the silver-haired philanthropist David Rubenstein urged us “to accelerate” as we entered the last chapters of our lives. Pick up the pace? So many of my contemporaries were stopping — if not stooping — to smell the roses. With his admonition in mind, I recently spoke with Mr. Rubenstein, now 69, and asked him if he considers himself old. “Sixty-nine seems like a teenager to me,” he replied. Coincidentally, just a … Continue reading Am I ‘Old’?