COMMUNITY
‘Happy to chat’ bench tackles loneliness
SCIENCE
Connection between learning a new skill and reduced stress is revealed What could rats driving tiny cars teach us about alternative mental illness treatments? It may seem like a far-out link, but US researchers at the University of Richmond have had promising results from a recent study that put rats behind the wheel. Dr Kelly Lambert revealed that a group of 17 rats were taught how to drive tiny plastic cars, in exchange for pieces of cereal, with the results going on to indicate that the rats felt more relaxed while completing the task. The study looked at a mixture of labraised rats and those that lived in a more natural habitat, or an ‘enriched environment’. Rats raised in these more natural environments proved to be significantly better drivers. Following the trials, researchers examined the rat’s faeces to test
stress hormone levels, as well as to check for the anti-stress hormone, dehydroepiandrosterone. All test subjects were shown to have higher levels of the anti-stress hormone, which researchers believe may be linked to the satisfaction of learning a new skill, leading them to suggest that this could be a step towards helping develop nonpharmaceutical treatments for mental illness. While Dr Lambert points out that more research needs to be done to explore the effect in different animals, this discovery could make waves in mental health treatment, and we’re along for the ride! Writing | Bonnie Evie Gifford
A simple ‘happy to chat’ sign on benches is helping communities tackle loneliness. The idea is the brainchild of Allison Owen-Jones, from Cardiff, who spotted an elderly man sitting alone on a bench, wanted to say hello, but realised he might not want to be disturbed. “I came up with the idea of tying a sign that would open the avenues for people,” Allison told the BBC. The idea quickly snowballed, leading the Bristol-based Senior Citizen Liaison Team to set up partnerships with local police to create permanent ‘chat benches’. It’s estimated that there are more than a million chronically lonely older people in the UK, with half a million going at least five days a week without speaking to anyone. Talking to Happiful about the success of the chat bench initiative, co-founder Detective Sergeant Ash Jones said: “The initiative has had a fantastic response from the community, with hundreds – if not thousands – of chat benches now around the world. This is beyond my wildest aspirations, and I hope that awareness of the impact of chronic loneliness on the elder community will be its lasting legacy.” A simple way to get involved, Ash explains, is to download the sign from their website, sclt.us/chatbench, and adopt a local bench. “It’s successful because it’s that simple!” Writing | Kat Nicholls
January 2020 • happiful.com • 9
