Heena Sharma Blog

Free online casino games may be an alternative to paid gambling, but it is linked to a higher risk of monetary gambling as well as problems related to it including abuse issues, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), stress, depression, anxiety or bipolar disorder, warns a new research. The study showed that adolescents who participated in free online games called social casino games, were significantly more likely to participate in monetary gambling, either online or land-based forms. These social casino games may also have higher odds of winning than monetary gambling, giving young people the false impression that they are luckier or better at gambling. "Adolescents' participation in seemingly risk-free social casino games is a concern because we know that early exposure to gambling activities is a risk factor for developing gambling problems in the future," said Tara Elton-Marshall, lead Researcher at Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (C...

As per a new study, pregnant women who have suffered from depression or bipolar disorder recognise baby faces and how babies laugh or cry differently. This happens even if they are not currently experiencing depressive or manic symptoms, although the authors stresses that research would be needed to confirm any long-term effects. Researchers compared 22 pregnant women, currently well but with a history of depression, and seven with bipolar disorder who were also currently well, against 28 healthy pregnant women. They also tested 18 non-pregnant women, as controls. Between the 27th and 39th weeks of pregnancy , all the women were tested for how they responded to a series of happy or sad faces, and to laughter and crying, of both babies and adults. Specifically, the women were asked to rate how happy or distressed the infants were based on infants' facial and vocal displays of emotion. They were also asked to identify adult facial expressions of emotion across varyi...