Mental Health & Wellbeing

William Glasser, Psychiatrist Who Promoted Mental Health as a Choice, Dies at 88

Dr. Glasser trained therapists and others mainly through the William Glasser Institute, a nonprofit organization he founded outside Chicago. In his book “Choice Theory,” he summarized its strategy as helping patients and schoolchildren to shift their view of reality fundamentally — from one where behavior is controlled externally by coercion, to one where individuals control [...]

Problem gambling, substance abuse problems are correlated, finds new study

Problem gamblers are a hidden population among people with mental health or substance abuse issues who often don't get the treatment they need, a new study shows. Anywhere from 10 to 20 per cent of people with substance abuse problems also have significant gambling problem, yet few programs are targeted at them and most social [...]

Parents’ Yelling Is as Harmful as Hitting

Parents who yell at their adolescent children for misbehaving can cause some of the same problems as hitting them would, including increased risk of depression and aggressive behavior, according to a new study. A good, warm relationship with Mom and Dad doesn't protect teens from the negative effects of parents' yelling, cursing or lobbing insults, [...]

5 tips to help young people quit smoking

Many teenagers want to quit smoking and make serious attempts to do so each year. However, most are addicted to nicotine and have little knowledge about the quitting process. In most cases young people go ‘cold turkey’, quitting abruptly without any assistance or medication. Not surprisingly, quit rates are very low. Here are 5 tips to [...]

How to be a wellbeing teacher without teaching wellbeing

I’ve had too many conversations with teachers who believe that the whole, “Pastoral care, touchy feely, emotional, welfare, wellbeing stuff” isn’t what they signed up for when they decided to become a teacher.   As strange as you and or I – I’m assuming we’re on the same page given you subscribe to, or have [...]

Should facebook have a health warning label?

The number of people at risk for psychological damage from Facebook is in the hundreds of millions, in North America alone (with hundreds of millions more at risk, around the globe). And, I would argue, there is now plenty of evidence that people should be warned by the nation’s most prominent public health official that, [...]

Life expectancy for people with mental illness the same as 30 years ago

A damning report has found the life expectancy for people suffering from a mental illness has not improved in 30 years. The finding is in stark contrast to the advances made for Australians suffering from illnesses like heart disease and cancer. Mental health expert Professor John Mendoza co-authored the report, which looks at mental illness [...]

Poverty saps mental capacity to deal with complex tasks

The cognitive deficit of being preoccupied with money problems was equivalent to a loss of 13 IQ points, losing an entire night's sleep or being a chronic alcoholic, according to the study. The authors say this could explain why poorer people are more likely to make mistakes or bad decisions that exacerbate their financial difficulties. [...]

Depression Symptoms May Manifest Differently in Men

Men may suffer from depression about as often as women, according to a new study from the University of Michigan. Traditionally, women have been diagnosed with depression about double the rate of men, with approximately 20 percent of women becoming depressed at some point in their lifetime. In recent years, however, some researchers have wondered [...]

Paternal influence crucial to the success of children

Children with involved fathers have better social skills, more successful relationships, stronger self esteem, more self-control and higher grades than those who do not. They are also less likely to be overweight, suspended from school or bully, take drugs, engage in risky sexual behaviour or crime. As fathers take a more active role in parenting [...]

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