The potential harms associated with using cannabis depend, above all others, on two things: the age at which you first begin to use cannabis and the frequency, dose and duration of use.
While the global health community has made mental healthcare a priority, South Africa is not following suite. The impact is felt most acutely by poor people suffering from mental health disorders.
Biological and genetic explanations of mental illness can weaken people’s sense of control and optimism, and create a bias against effective psychological interventions.
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.
Uncertainty is an unavoidable part of life but for many people, it triggers harmful levels of stress. The good news is that there are a number of things you can do to handle uncertainty better.
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…
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…
Oscar Pistorius’ trial took another dramatic turn earlier this week when the judge in the case agreed to a prosecution request to have his mental health assessed. After a psychiatrist called by the defence…
We’ve all felt sad, anxious or down at one time or another, but where does the normal experience of emotion end and the clinical picture of a mood or anxiety disorder begin? Psychiatry has two widely used…
Anxiety is a common experience. It is entirely normal to feel anxious in certain circumstances or when imagining possible misfortunes. However, for some people it gets out of hand and severely affects…
People who were bullied at school will probably be able tell you how it affected them psychologically. But a new study published today suggests that childhood bullying could also lead to poorer physical…
Depression and anxiety disorders affect a great many people and though we have antidepressants to treat symptoms, we actually know little about how the chemistry behind them works. For example, we have…
Sunanda Creagh, The Conversation and Catherine Durkin, The Conversation
A new study has found that kava, a plant-based relaxant used in the Pacific, is moderately effective at reducing anxiety symptoms in people with diagnosed Generalised Anxiety Disorder. However, while the…
A life without fear sounds idyllic but it would be no paradise. Fear protects us from present danger, alerts us to future threat, sharpens our minds and blunts our selfishness. Friedrich Nietzsche once…
Most of us are intimately familiar with anxiety. We experience it as we walk towards the room to where our job interview is held, when we stand up to give a speech at our best friend’s wedding, or when…
Professor of Psychological Sciences, School of Psychological Sciences, Australian College of Applied Psychology and Honorary Assoc Prof with the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Sydney