Must-Reads from the Wellness World (Week of December 14, 2015)

“The mid-life crisis is real: People in their 40s are officially more depressed”
– Quartz, Nov. 23, 2015

The issue as to whether, and when, the mid-life crisis occurs is hotly debated within the academic community. According to this short article, new research shows that the mid-life crisis is real: happiness starts falling from early adulthood, hitting a low at the ages of 40-42, before rising up again towards the age of 70.

“Email reveals Coke’s role in anti-obesity group”
– APN Newsbreak, Nov. 23, 2015

This short piece offers an interesting example of the conflicts of interest that may emerge around issues of wellness. As a professor of Bioethics puts it: “It seems like another one of these classic cases of money coming from industry with no strings attached – that’s the official message. But it’s a very different kind of story taking place.”

“Inside the world of for-profit snuggling”
– Priceonomics, Nov. 13, 2015

Currently, there are many discussions about the “gig economy” and whether the digitization of the world will create technological unemployment or will simply allow people to become self-employed and make enough of a living. This article shows the extent to which seemingly unimaginable activities can now be monetized through the Internet. In the U.S. (and only in the U.S. at the moment), “professional cuddling” has become a business for which cuddlers charge $60 an hour…

“Phones need ‘bed mode’ to protect sleep”
– BBC, Nov. 16, 2015

This is a short, and maybe obvious, piece that points to new research indicating that smartphones, tablets and e-readers should have an automatic “bedtime mode” that stops them from disrupting people’s sleep.

“Men overeat to impress women”
– The Atlantic, Nov. 19, 2015

New research hypothesizes that men eat more in front of women to “show off.” Overeating might function as a signal that a person is healthy enough that they can engage in unhealthful behavior (and still end up okay).