Jo Usmar's Blog, page 6
June 30, 2014
What Facebook’s ‘emotion experiment’ tells us about mood
Facebook has just released the findings of a (pretty controversial) ‘emotion’ study it undertook in 2012. ‘A small percentage’ of emotional wordswere hidden from approx 700,000 people’s news feeds over the course of one week to see the effect on their online behaviour.
The words and phrases chosen were generally considered to represent happy, sad, angry, jealous, anxious or stressed emotions. The researchers bothlimitedand increased exposure to thesewords and then monitored the effect this had...
What Facebook’s ‘emotion’ experiment tells us about mood
Facebook has just released the findings of a (pretty controversial) ‘emotion’ study it undertook in 2012. ‘A small percentage’ of emotional wordswere hidden from approx 700,000 people’s news feeds over the course of one week to see the effect on their online behaviour.
The words and phrases chosen were generally considered to represent happy, sad, angry, jealous, anxious or stressed emotions. The researchers bothlimitedand increased exposure to thesewords and then monitored the effect this had...
May 28, 2014
Tips to beat anxiety and stress
With new researchfindinga whopping one in five women experiencing symptoms of anxiety all day every day, it’s time to take action. Below are some articles we have contributed to ourselvesand also other news reportswe thought you’d find helpful.
To get started, here’sone of the simplest strategies of all: if you notice your shoulders are up near your ears, drop them. That’s it. This will make you aware of your body and therefore more aware of your stress.
Often we’re so caught up in worries (‘wh...
April 23, 2014
Genuinely inspirational quotes that’ll make you feel happier, motivated and less alone
We all have them – a friend who regularly posts supposedly uplifting mantras online or drops them into conversation, but more often than not they have no relevance to modern lifeor don’t make sense (you know the type: ‘the shilling is worth a pound to those with no wheat’ etc.).Obviously you’re allowed to ignore them or snort and roll your eyes BUT just because they’ve chosen something nonsensical doesn’t mean you should dismiss the power of an uplifting quote or phrasealtogether.
Aquick meani...
April 1, 2014
Simple mood booster: don’t ignore or dismiss the good things!
When you feel low or stressed everything is rubbish. It’s a fact. You’ll twist everything to suit your bad mood even if it’s genuinely good: “Andy only said he liked my speechbecause he felt sorry for me”/ “Claire only invited me to her hen party to make up the numbers”.
When you feel you’re careering up Shit’s Creek in a leaky canoe it’s hard to see the good in anything. You focus only on the bad things to back up your negative frame of mind meaning you dismiss or ignore those things that cou...
March 27, 2014
Can cognitive behavioural therapy really change our brains?
Great piece by the BBC on CBT – breaking negative thinking patterns can have a positive effect on the brain! Brain scan studies suggest that CBT might be able to make real physical changes to both our emotional brain (instincts) and our logical brain (thoughts). Amazingly these changes are similar to drug treatments, which suggests therapy and medications might work on the brain in parallel ways. You can readthe full articlehere
March 20, 2014
HELP! How to ask for help when you’re freaking out
Boss: “How’s that 55 page thesis on Chinese economic policy coming on, Nat?”
You: “Oh, splendidly, thanks. It’s a real page turner.”
Sound familiar? Bet it does. Perhaps not the Chinese economic policy bit, but definitely lying through your teeth when you’re so far out of your depth the Jaws soundtrack is playing on loop in your head.
In our BE THE BEST AT ALL TIMES society asking for help can be seen as a weakness – I should be able to cope with this, otherwise I’m a failure*. We did a couple o...
February 24, 2014
Stop comparing yourself to everybody else!
We’re always drawing comparisons. It’s human nature. Often we do it intentionally: comparing restaurants, top 5 films, best nights out or favourite shops.However, the thing we most love to rate is ourselves – how we think we measure up against others – and more often than not we don’t even realise we’re doing it.
Mostly we compare ourselves to people we know or people who we see as similar, such as friends, colleagues, siblings or partners. This is called social comparison.
February 10, 2014
Download your own Mind Map: a simple way to understand your mood
It’s all too easy to forget that how you feel emotionally is actually important. That might sound ridiculous, but when was the last time you thought, ‘Why do I feel down/angry/anxious/worried and how can I stop it?’ Often it’s easier to just accept those feelings as inevitable byproducts of a busy life without digger deeper. Not giving your mind the attention and time it deserves can lead to bigger problems, e.g. when the pit of anxiety in your stomach becomes a permanent fixture or when you...
February 5, 2014
This Book Will Save Your Life!
Great to see the books as part of Foyles ‘This Book Will Save Your Life’ campaign!
