It’s probably no surprise that Hawaii, with its year-round, paradise-like weather, ranks as the happiest state in America, in a Gallup 2018 well-being poll. However, based on the states ranked #2, #3 and #4, weather clearly is not the deciding factor in happiness. Hawaii’s position in the top spot was its seventh such ranking since Gallup began tracking the nation’s wellbeing back in 2008.

Besides breakups and meeting “shawty” on the dancefloor, pop music obsesses over another aspect of contemporary culture: working nine-to-five. Since Elvis Costello penned Welcome to the Working Week in ’77, Dolly’s hit about tumbling out of bed to pour “a cup of ambition” has been streamed 8.46 million times and The Bangles’ Manic Monday dominated the charts in over ten countries.

What steps can employers take to reduce the high costs and health impact of mental health issues? An expert Advisory Council has developed a set of recommendations for improving mental health and well-being in the workplace, according to a report in the April Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

People who suffer from some forms of depression may be able to get some non-pharmaceutical relief for their symptoms from mindfulness meditation training. A study appearing in the Annals of Family Medicine looked at primary care patients with subthreshold depression – something more than ordinary feelings of sadness but less than severe depression. The researchers found that in certain patients, mindfulness mediation proved to be a feasible method of preventing major depression.

It’s not too early to be thinking about 2018; the call for abstracts for the 2nd International Symposium to Advance Total Worker Health® sponsored by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health is now OPEN.

People who experience not just positive emotions but a diversity of positive emotions appear to have lower levels of systemic inflammation, which may reduce their risk for chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease, according to research published by the American Psychological Association (APA).

American workers are more likely to say they are feeling stressed and cynical because of political discussions at work now than before the 2016 presidential election, according to survey results released today by the American Psychological Association (APA).

Facing one of the most adversarial contests in recent history and daily coverage of the presidential election that dominates every form of mass media, 52 percent of American adults report that the 2016 election is a very or somewhat significant source of stress. The survey was conducted online among adults 18+ living in the U.S. by Harris Poll on behalf of the American Psychological Association.