In the United States, as many as 10 million females and 1 million males are fighting a life and death battle with an eating disorder such as anorexia or bulimia. Millions more are struggling with binge eating disorder. The last week in every February is National Eating Disorders Week. The aim of NEDAwareness Week is… Read More »
This photo is from an office in Bangkok, Thailand… .
This month’s issue of the Archives of General Psychology includes the results of a seven year study investigating the association between media exposure in adolescence and depression in young adulthood. Of the 4,142 participants (47.5% female and 67.0% white) who were not depressed at baseline and who underwent follow-up assessment, 308 (7.4%) reported symptoms consistent… Read More »
Two months ago, in an entry titled, “The Look On Your Face,” this blog described a $2.7 million grant for an intervention program designed to help save children from lifelong emotional problems by helping youngsters ages 3-5 to read facial expressions. Just as reading facial expressions is important, so is recognizing and expressing one’s feelings. … Read More »
In a comedic piece about euphemisms, George Carlin reminded us that what we now call Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD, was called “shell shock” in World War I and “battle fatigue” in World War II and “operational exhaustion” during the Korean War. Carlin reminded us that buried under all this jargon is the pain and… Read More »
Malehealth.co.uk is run by the Men’s Health Forum, the UK’s leading charity working to improve men’s health. Part of its web site is devoted to emotional health. It asks, “Are you emotionally healthy?” and offers seven yes/no questions to help assess your level of emotional health. It also provides insight to get to know your… Read More »
On November 16, we shared in this blog efforts to make Salinas, California an “emotional-health-friendly city.” We’re now happy to provide an update. The Salinas Adult School held its annual Parent University program on Saturday, January 31. The focus of this year’s Parent University: raising emotionally healthy families. Through more than 50 workshops, parents learned… Read More »
In the News and Opinions section of its January 23 issue, The Week magazine reports that the Pentagon has decided soldiers afflicted with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) are not eligible for a Purple Heart because, the Pentagon claims, “psychic wounds are hard to diagnose.” A study by the Rand Corporation estimates 300,000 U.S. troops have… Read More »
The Belfast Telegraph reports, “More than one in ten of Northern Ireland’s schoolchildren are suffering from serious mental health problems including anorexia, bulimia, self-harming tendencies and depression – and teachers cannot cope.” The Ulster Teachers’ Union says these children “need much more support than they are currently receiving.” All post-primary schools have access to counseling,… Read More »
IndianExpress.com reminds us that “poor emotional health can actually weaken the body’s immune system, making you vulnerable to a host of infections.” A writer asks, “How many of us actually notice that we tend to be more prone to catching cold when emotionally stressed?” According to the article, a recent (unnamed) report “indicates that people… Read More »