Hawaiian tweeters displayed heightened anxiety for days after false missile alert

Anxiety provoked by an unavoidable threat — like an electric shock in a lab — increases as the expected event draws closer.

South Korean Defense Ministry via Getty Images

At 8:07am on a Saturday morning in early 2018, phones throughout Hawaii buzzed with a distressing message.

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Should cognitive behavioral therapy be taught in school?

This modern therapy technique has been shown to be effective and easy to learn — could teaching it to students help cut off a growing mental health crisis?

Photo by NeONBRAND on Unsplash
  • Adolescents are experiencing higher rates of mental disorders than ever before.
  • One possible solution to this crisis would be to teach students cognitive behavioral therapy, an effective, modern therapeutic technique that focuses on addressing "distorted" thinking.
  • What are the arguments for and against teaching cognitive behavioral therapy in school?
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One man's idea for the 'greatest PTSD healing curriculum' in America

Activist and Big Think reader Roy M. Arce explains his idea for a new community policing team and how it can halt vicious cycles of PTSD and homelessness.

Photos: Roy M. Arce.
  • Roy Arce is a U.S. veteran with PTSD whose traumatic experiences with police led him to draft a proposal for how communities and police can work better together.
  • A new kind of police response team – made up of at least one police officer and a trained community peace representative – would be part of what Arce calls "the greatest PTSD healing curriculum" in the U.S.
  • This civilian proposal would also seek to treat homelessness in one of the country's most affected regions.
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An organism found in dirt may lead to an anxiety vaccine, say scientists

Can dirt help us fight off stress? Groundbreaking new research shows how.

University of Colorado Boulder
  • New research identifies a bacterium that helps block anxiety.
  • Scientists say this can lead to drugs for first responders and soldiers, preventing PTSD and other mental issues.
  • The finding builds on the hygiene hypothesis, first proposed in 1989.
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Managing your mental health is an under-appreciated life skill

Without a healthy mind, tackling life's challenges becomes exponentially more difficult.

Photo by Brooke Cagle on Unsplash
  • Most people know about the importance of managing your finances or eating a healthy diet, but few pay as much attention to their mental health.
  • If we engage in bad habits, we might suddenly find ourselves confined to our beds by fatigue or up all night with anxiety.
  • Research has shown that these four activities are crucial to maintaining a healthy state of mind.
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