Behind the Headlines

Sharp rise in hospital admissions for stress – 'recession to blame'

Wednesday Sep 12 2012

A sharp rise in hospital admissions for stress over the last year was widely covered in the papers today, with The Independent linking the increase to the recession and the Daily Mail pointing out that more men...

Having aggressive personality 'doubles risk of stroke'

Thursday Aug 30 2012

The Daily Mail informs us that aggressive behaviour ‘doubles risk of stroke’ and that ‘being aggressive, quick tempered and impatient can increase the risk of stroke as much as smoking’. This headline conjures up...

Does smoking 'dope' turn you into one?

Tuesday Aug 28 2012

'Young people who smoke cannabis run the risk of a significant and irreversible reduction in their IQ' the BBC reports. The headline is based on a New Zealand study that found teenagers who persistently smoked cannabis experienced a drop in their IQ…

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'Oral sex helps women fight depression claim'

Wednesday Aug 22 2012

“Oral sex is good for women’s health and helps fight depression”, was the Daily Mail’s lurid headline today, while The Sun opted for a more straightforward “Semen is good for you”. The “news” is based on research that is more than 10 years old...

Recession linked to rise in suicides

Wednesday Aug 15 2012

'Recession and rising unemployment may have led to more than 1,000 suicides in England,' The Independent has reported. The story comes from a study looking at whether the English regions most affected by the UK’s economic recession...

Having baby like 'being in a terror attack'

Friday Aug 10 2012

The Daily Mail tells us one in three mothers has post-traumatic stress disorder after having a baby, and says “having a baby’s like being in a terror attack”. The unnecessarily alarmist headlines follow a study of just 89 women...

Stressed men 'crave curvier women'

Thursday Aug 9 2012

"Stressed men prefer larger women," reported The Daily Telegraph. The headline was based on psychological research that suggests that in lean times men tend to prefer larger…

Worried to death? – distress linked to early death

Wednesday Aug 1 2012

Those with an anxious disposition may want to look away now, as The Daily Telegraph is reporting that ‘even low levels of stress or anxiety can increase the risk of fatal heart attacks or stroke by up to a fifth’...

Are we becoming nation of 'happy pill poppers?'

Wednesday Aug 1 2012

The UK is in the grip of a ‘happy pill boom’ according to the Daily Mail, with ‘almost 50 million’ antidepressants prescribed in 2011. The headlines are based on figures released by the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC)…

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Humans have 'super spidey sense' for danger

Tuesday Jul 31 2012

People have the ‘ability to quickly learn to recognise a threat even when they are unaware’, much like Spider-Man’s famous ‘spidey sense’ for danger, reports BBC News. But should our ‘non-sense detectors’ be tingling…