Biological and genetic explanations of mental illness can weaken people’s sense of control and optimism, and create a bias against effective psychological interventions.
Some women are very sensitive to small shifts in hormones, others aren’t.
Petras Gagilas/flickr
In recent times, we have learnt more about the connections between the “reproductive” or gonadal hormones and the brain, and how they affect not only women but men as well.
New guidelines launched by the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners aim to help doctors educate women about the variety of genital appearance and stop them having unnecessary surgery.
Awareness campaigns encourage perfectionism and unwarranted personal responsibility for events over which new mums may have little control.
Pablo Rogat
Fear-based messages from practitioners and awareness campaigns encourage perfectionism and unwarranted personal responsibility for events over which new mums may have little control.
A diagnostic label such as borderline personality disorder, with its stigma and propensity to invalidate the person’s suffering, clearly has many negative impacts.
madamepsychosis/Flickr
Diagnostic labels usually describe symptoms, attempt to answer the question of what is wrong, and lead to a treatment plan. But “borderline personality disorder” fails on all three counts.
Many who suffer from anxiety tend to blame themselves for their “tricky” brains. Compassion-focused exercises can soothe horrible bouts of anxiety, as they did for me on a recent trip home from Bali.
If you or someone you care about experience an emotional problem it won’t be long before you hear that cognitive behaviour therapy, or CBT, is probably the treatment of choice.
A newborn baby undergoes music therapy at a hospital in Slovakia. The hospital uses music therapy to treat infants who have been separated from their mothers.
Petr Josek Snr/Reuters
Most of us would admit to feeling shy from time to time, or anxious about public speaking: the larger the crowd the greater the terror. It’s also not unusual to feel awkward while making small talk with…
Faced with uncertainty and unpredictability, your brain’s on its way to anxiety.
Woman image via www.shutterstock.com.
Modern life can feel defined by low-level anxiety swirling through society. Continual reports about terrorism and war. A struggle to stay on top of family finances and hold onto jobs. An onslaught of news…
Race is one way we categorize ourselves among in-groups and out-groups.
Hands image via www.shutterstock.com.
Race-related demonstrations, Title IX disputes, affirmative action court cases, same-sex marriage bans. These issues made headlines in all spheres of the media this year. However, thoughtful articles on…
Worry feeds worry.
Images sourced from www.shutterstock.com
Anxious people tend to perceive their world in a more threatening way. That is, the more anxious a person is, the more likely they are to notice threatening things around them. This is called the threat…
It’s no secret that yoga can aid mental well-being. What is more, it can help soldiers suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, according to new research. Some of the most damaging consequences of…
The game could be as dangerous as the cigarettes.
Alvert Barnes
The death of a chess player in the middle of a match at the world’s most prestigious competition may have shocked those who view the game as a relaxing pastime. Kurt Meier, 67, collapsed during his final…
We have a remarkable ability to detect the motion of other living things. If someone in our periphery moves, for example, our brains have evolved to detect that movement quickly and efficiently. This biological…
Professor, Canada Research Chair in Determinants of Child Development, Owerko Centre at the Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary
Assistant professor, School of Psychology, Scientist, Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa