More consensual touch helps ease or buffer against mental and physical complaints, meta-analysis shows Whether it is a hug from a friend or the caress of a weighted blanket, the sensation of touch appears to bring benefits for the body and mind, researchers say. The sense of touch is the first to develop in babies and is crucial in allowing us to experience the environment around us as well as communicate. Indeed, the loss of touch from others during the Covid pandemic hit many hard ..read more

I have sympathy for him, but I’m concerned by the pressure on you. You deserve to be happy, and cannot do all the emotional work for both of you • Every week Annalisa Barbieri addresses a family-related problem sent in by a reader I am in my mid-30s and have been with my husband, who is 10 years older than me, since I was a teenager. I felt very loved, at least for much of our time together. A couple of years ago, however, things changed ..read more

Vicky Knight plays a nurse injured in a fire who falls in love with a patient in Sacha Polak’s sombre, thoughtful drama Here is a tough drama of damaged lives which reunites director Sacha Polak with lead performer Vicky Knight, the star of her 2019 film Dirty God. Knight has spoken with courage about her own childhood experiences of being scarred in a pub fire in London and this film draws on her life, both in terms of her survivor’s story and her adult existence; like her character, she has worked in healthcare. Knight plays Franky, a nurse haunted by memories of the blaze that injured her ..read more

It’s thought that about 15% of us are affected by tinnitus, and despite its potentially debilitating impact on mental health and quality of life, there isn’t any cure for the condition. Madeleine Finlay speaks to John, who has used CBT techniques to learn to live well with his tinnitus, and Dr Lucy Handscomb, a tinnitus researcher who is involved in trialling a new app that could hold promise for sufferers. • In the UK, the charity Mind is available on 0300 123 3393 and Childline on 0800 1111. In the US, call or text Mental Health America at 988 or chat 988lifeline.org. In Australia, support i ..read more

Resolution Foundation report calls for action as number of young people experiencing poor mental health increases Young people are more likely to be out of work because of ill health than people in their early 40s, a report calling for action on Britain’s mental wellbeing crisis has found. People in their early 20s with mental health problems may have not had access to a steady education and can end up out of work or in low-paid jobs, the Resolution Foundation research revealed ..read more

It is now often known as the ‘world’s happiest country’, but Finland used to have one of the highest suicide rates in the world. From alcohol to antidepressants, here are the changes that made the difference “Now he’s died,” said his mother’s voice down the phone. Instantly, Jaakko Teittinen knew that what he had feared for years had happened: his older brother, Tuomas, had taken his own life. He was 33. In a state of shock, Jaakko left work to join his mother at Linnanmäki, a theme park in Helsinki, where she was spending the day with Tuomas’s two children, who lived in foster care and had no ..read more

Researcher who established the value of genetics for understanding psychiatric conditions Peter McGuffin, who has died aged 74, showed the importance of trying to establish how genetic and non-genetic factors act together to predispose people to psychiatric disorders: so-called gene-environment interplay. He was also one of the first to see the potential of the DNA revolution for understanding psychiatric disorders, and his work laid the foundations for the application of genomics to psychiatry. It used to be assumed that depression could be divided into two forms: one the result of adverse ci ..read more

Like all mothers who worry about ‘passing something on’, your thoughtfulness and awareness will help make a difference • Every week Annalisa Barbieri addresses a family-related problem sent in by a reader I am in my 30s and married with two young children. Since adolescence I have had periods of depression and of feeling suicidal. Throughout these times I’ve remained relatively functional – studied, worked in a very stressful job, and looked after myself. However, I always have this sense of just not knowing how to be happy. I’ve been on antidepressants several times and I see a therapist ..read more

Women may find it harder to adjust to relationship splits later in life, according to Danish study, with men more likely to re-partner Women are more likely to use antidepressants following the breakdown of a relationship compared with men later in life, researchers have found. The observational study, funded by the European Research Council and Academy of Finland, looked at 228,644 Finnish residents aged 50 to 70 between 1996 and 2018, who had all experienced a relationship breakup, divorce or bereavement between 2000 and 2014 ..read more

Four people with conditions that require consistent medication explain how the shortages have affected their wellbeing NHS medicines shortage putting people at risk, pharmacists warn Analysis: why is UK being hit by medicine supply shortages? More people in the UK are struggling to access vital medicines than ever before, exacerbating conditions from epilepsy to the menopause. Here, four people share how the shortages have affected their health and wellbeing ..read more