Wednesday, September 19, 2012
ARTICLE: STAYING POSITIVE DURING RETIREMENT
An excellent blog post from US News!
5 Ways to Stay Positive in Retirement
September 7, 2012 RSS Feed Print
Retirement literally means a removal or withdrawal from
service, often into privacy or seclusion. Retirees withdraw from a world
they have been entrenched in for many years when they remove themselves
from the working world.
However, I do not believe that the goal of those attaining age 65 is necessarily to hide from the rest of the world. Few retirees-to-be would describe their plans in terms of seclusion. While escaping the hectic nature of the working world is a commonly shared goal, retirement is also seen by many as a time to turn the page and begin a new chapter. Retirees are not done with life. They are just changing gears as they re-channel their energies toward new passions and experiences.
Unfortunately, there are some people who will experience a retirement that may accurately be described as secluded. Elderly people who have not prepared for the changes that are part and parcel of retired life may find themselves alone, uninspired, unchallenged, and living in a seclusion that is not their choice.
Many people underestimate the challenges of living a fulfilling and happy retirement. A 2011 National Public Radio, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and Harvard School of Public Health survey found that about a quarter of retirees say life is worse after retirement. To avoid falling into such a predicament it is helpful to pursue positive goals as we transition into retirement:
1. Enjoy your grandchildren. What can be better than spending time with an energetic bundle of smiles and hugs, especially when their able parents can quickly be called upon to step in when their attitude becomes negative? Grandparents get to enjoy all of the good things about children, and hand over the reins when the bad comes along. A true joy of spending time with grandchildren is you can be part of first-time experiences that result in wide-eyed wonder and amazement. Sharing these new experiences not only brings back personal memories but bonds you together for a lifetime.
2. Get up and get out. When you move around your body and mind benefit. Sitting in one place for too long dulls the mind and slows the body. Rather than looking for the path requiring the least effort, get moving. Walk to the store rather than drive. After dinner, don’t flop in front of the TV until you have taken a journey around the block on your own two feet. And when you do watch TV, why not add in a little stretching or sit-ups or push-ups.
3. Smile. It is difficult to feel badly when you have a smile on your face. Being happy improves your quality of life and perhaps also the quantity of life. A British study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that older people who reported feeling happy and content during a typical day were 35 percent less likely to die during the course of the five-year study. And if smiling doesn’t work, what do you have to lose?
4. Watch or read something funny. How bad can things really be if you are laughing? I am a sucker for slapstick comedy, so The Three Stooges are the perfect tonic for all that ails me. Their antics may be a little low-brow for your tastes, but you probably have a particular comedian or actress that can always give you a chuckle. With all of the suffering we hear of each day, a little laughter can go a long way to improve our outlook.
5. Do something nice for someone. When we put the needs of another ahead of our own there is an inner satisfaction experienced that is hard to describe. A little thing done spontaneously without expectation of any reward can bring a smile to the face of the recipient as well as the giver. It is easy and opportunities present themselves with great frequency. You just have to be tuned in and ready to act when the moment arises.
Dave Bernard is the author of Are You Just Existing and Calling it a Life?, which offers guidelines to discover your personal passion and live a life of purpose. Not yet retired, Dave has begun his due diligence to plan for a fulfilling retirement. With a focus on the non-financial aspects of retiring, he shares his discoveries and insights on his blog Retirement–Only the Beginning.
(source =http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/On-Retirement/2012/09/07/5-ways-to-stay-positive-in-retirement)
However, I do not believe that the goal of those attaining age 65 is necessarily to hide from the rest of the world. Few retirees-to-be would describe their plans in terms of seclusion. While escaping the hectic nature of the working world is a commonly shared goal, retirement is also seen by many as a time to turn the page and begin a new chapter. Retirees are not done with life. They are just changing gears as they re-channel their energies toward new passions and experiences.
Unfortunately, there are some people who will experience a retirement that may accurately be described as secluded. Elderly people who have not prepared for the changes that are part and parcel of retired life may find themselves alone, uninspired, unchallenged, and living in a seclusion that is not their choice.
Many people underestimate the challenges of living a fulfilling and happy retirement. A 2011 National Public Radio, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and Harvard School of Public Health survey found that about a quarter of retirees say life is worse after retirement. To avoid falling into such a predicament it is helpful to pursue positive goals as we transition into retirement:
1. Enjoy your grandchildren. What can be better than spending time with an energetic bundle of smiles and hugs, especially when their able parents can quickly be called upon to step in when their attitude becomes negative? Grandparents get to enjoy all of the good things about children, and hand over the reins when the bad comes along. A true joy of spending time with grandchildren is you can be part of first-time experiences that result in wide-eyed wonder and amazement. Sharing these new experiences not only brings back personal memories but bonds you together for a lifetime.
2. Get up and get out. When you move around your body and mind benefit. Sitting in one place for too long dulls the mind and slows the body. Rather than looking for the path requiring the least effort, get moving. Walk to the store rather than drive. After dinner, don’t flop in front of the TV until you have taken a journey around the block on your own two feet. And when you do watch TV, why not add in a little stretching or sit-ups or push-ups.
3. Smile. It is difficult to feel badly when you have a smile on your face. Being happy improves your quality of life and perhaps also the quantity of life. A British study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that older people who reported feeling happy and content during a typical day were 35 percent less likely to die during the course of the five-year study. And if smiling doesn’t work, what do you have to lose?
4. Watch or read something funny. How bad can things really be if you are laughing? I am a sucker for slapstick comedy, so The Three Stooges are the perfect tonic for all that ails me. Their antics may be a little low-brow for your tastes, but you probably have a particular comedian or actress that can always give you a chuckle. With all of the suffering we hear of each day, a little laughter can go a long way to improve our outlook.
5. Do something nice for someone. When we put the needs of another ahead of our own there is an inner satisfaction experienced that is hard to describe. A little thing done spontaneously without expectation of any reward can bring a smile to the face of the recipient as well as the giver. It is easy and opportunities present themselves with great frequency. You just have to be tuned in and ready to act when the moment arises.
Dave Bernard is the author of Are You Just Existing and Calling it a Life?, which offers guidelines to discover your personal passion and live a life of purpose. Not yet retired, Dave has begun his due diligence to plan for a fulfilling retirement. With a focus on the non-financial aspects of retiring, he shares his discoveries and insights on his blog Retirement–Only the Beginning.
(source =http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/On-Retirement/2012/09/07/5-ways-to-stay-positive-in-retirement)
PANIC DISORDER: PROFESSIONAL WORKSHOP
October 5th ADAVIC will present a professional development workshop "Panic Disorder: Diagnosis and treatment" hosted by Dr Scott Blair-West, Consultant Psychiatrist, Friday October 5th.
The workshop will aim to provide an understanding of the nature of panic attacks; a developed ability to take an appropriate history of the condition and complications; how to use specific strategies, including ability to demonstrate each to patients and develop the capacity to assess progress and make changes in treatment resistant patients.
Also, the workshop will address diagnosis, assessment, preparation for treatment and specific treatment strategies in the management of panic, as well as addressing specific case material and encouraging attendees to discuss their own patients' symptoms and issues. Discussion of the overlap between panic and GAD, health anxiety, OCD and social anxiety and issues related to treatment resistance will also be included.
Panic attacks are a common symptom of Panic Disorder, but also complicate a range of anxiety disorders, depression and even psychotic conditions.
Current models of panic emphasize the catastrophic misinterpretation of physical sensations as the crucial aspect leading to the development of recurrent panic attacks and associated agoraphobia.
The workshop is mainly targeted to psychologists and allied health staff in clinical practice, psychiatrists, trainee psychiatrists, general practitioners and others with an interest in panic and related disorders and the cognitive-behavioural treatment of these conditions. Some knowledge of panic and CBT would be helpful but not essential.
Workshop Outline:
| 8:30am | Registration |
| 9:00am – 10:45am |
|
| 10:45am –11:00am | Morning tea |
| 11:00am – 12:45pm |
|
| 12:45pm – 1:15pm | Lunch |
| 1:15pm – 2:45pm |
|
| 2:45pm – 3:00pm | Afternoon Tea |
| 3:00pm – 5:30pm |
|
| 5.30pm | End of workshop |
About Dr Scott Blair-West
Dr Blair-West trained at the Austin Hospital completing his specialist qualifications in Psychiatry in 1993. He subsequently worked as lecturer in the Department of Psychiatry in the consultation liaison department for 5 years, whilst starting a private practice specialising in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for anxiety disorders especially OCD. He has been in full time private practice since 1998 and has been the Medical Director of the Anxiety and Depression Program (ADP) at The Melbourne Clinic since 2002. Scott now specialises in comprehensive management of anxiety disorders, developing new and intensive inpatient programs for OCD, novel treatment approaches for OCD, and CBT supervision for psychiatrists and trainees. He regularly teaches CBT to trainees and talks to community and self-help groups on anxiety related issues.
Support ADAVIC and book today!
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
AN INTERSETING READ: SOCIAL NETWORKING ANXIETY DISORDER
an article from here
Suffering From Social Networking Anxiety Disorder
Written by Nicole Ferraro
Social networking is fab, isn't it? The rekindled friendships, the fun quizzes and game applications, the mind-altering, crippling anxiety...
This could just be the before-effects of Memorial Day bar-b-que fumes decaying my remaining brain matter, but I think it's time to coin a new buzzphrase: Social Networking Anxiety Disorder, or as we'll call it from here on out, SNAD.
To be clear, SNAD is a bit different from what psychiatrists have defined as Social Anxiety Disorder, or SAD. According to the DSM IV, the guidebook to all things mental, SAD is "a persistent fear of one or more social or performance situations in which the person is exposed to unfamiliar people or to possible scrutiny by others" (a.k.a. "Life").
SNAD, on the other hand, is caused by stress from the pressures of social networking: the constant Friend requests, Scrabulous requests, photo tag requests, group and event invitations... Consider also the anxiety of creating things like "limited profiles," carefully managing how much of ourselves to reveal to our virtual associates -- and that accompanying, nagging, guilty question: "Will this person realize I restricted his ability to see my Super Wall?"
Speaking on a recent O'Reilly Webcast ( The Facebook Application Ecosystem: Why Some Thrive -- and Most Don't), Shelly Farnham, doctor of social psychology, said, "A common problem in social networking applications is it's hard to say no to people who want to be your friend," adding that a number of applications ease this pain by allowing you to isolate 25 Friends (e.g., Top Friends).
But what about when someone you don't consider to be a "Top Friend" per se requests to be part of that elite list? Truth be told, our social algorithms and applications just can't capture the complexities of human relationships.
Not sure if you're suffering? Here are three symptoms of SNAD to look out for. If you have any of these, you should contact your mental-health-professional avatar immediately.
1. You were considering breaking up with your significant other, but decided to stick it out because of the anxiety associated with changing your Relationship Status on Facebook and de-tagging hundreds of photos.
2. You currently have 36+ Friend requests festering on Facebook or MySpace, which have built up month over month because you don't want your rejection to send these strangers on a downward, emotional spiral.
3. You belong to several groups including "I Skin Cats on Sundays" and "Cousins Make Great Husbands," because, well, they were nice enough to invite you...
Silly symptoms aside, it's true that there's a certain anxiety that comes along with social networking, whether it's from the pressure of keeping people up to date, or the guilt in rejecting a Friend request. Certainly, if we recognize something like Internet Addiction and set up camps for the sufferers, we can recognize the mental tolls of social networking.
You could, of course, just make your profile private to all but a few special Friends. But once one less special Friend finds out you have a profile you've never told her about, it's right back to the days of nail biting, hives, and Lexapro.
— Nicole Ferraro, Site Editor, Internet Evolution
Suffering From Social Networking Anxiety Disorder
Written by Nicole Ferraro
Social networking is fab, isn't it? The rekindled friendships, the fun quizzes and game applications, the mind-altering, crippling anxiety...
This could just be the before-effects of Memorial Day bar-b-que fumes decaying my remaining brain matter, but I think it's time to coin a new buzzphrase: Social Networking Anxiety Disorder, or as we'll call it from here on out, SNAD.
To be clear, SNAD is a bit different from what psychiatrists have defined as Social Anxiety Disorder, or SAD. According to the DSM IV, the guidebook to all things mental, SAD is "a persistent fear of one or more social or performance situations in which the person is exposed to unfamiliar people or to possible scrutiny by others" (a.k.a. "Life").
SNAD, on the other hand, is caused by stress from the pressures of social networking: the constant Friend requests, Scrabulous requests, photo tag requests, group and event invitations... Consider also the anxiety of creating things like "limited profiles," carefully managing how much of ourselves to reveal to our virtual associates -- and that accompanying, nagging, guilty question: "Will this person realize I restricted his ability to see my Super Wall?"
Speaking on a recent O'Reilly Webcast ( The Facebook Application Ecosystem: Why Some Thrive -- and Most Don't), Shelly Farnham, doctor of social psychology, said, "A common problem in social networking applications is it's hard to say no to people who want to be your friend," adding that a number of applications ease this pain by allowing you to isolate 25 Friends (e.g., Top Friends).
But what about when someone you don't consider to be a "Top Friend" per se requests to be part of that elite list? Truth be told, our social algorithms and applications just can't capture the complexities of human relationships.
Not sure if you're suffering? Here are three symptoms of SNAD to look out for. If you have any of these, you should contact your mental-health-professional avatar immediately.
1. You were considering breaking up with your significant other, but decided to stick it out because of the anxiety associated with changing your Relationship Status on Facebook and de-tagging hundreds of photos.
2. You currently have 36+ Friend requests festering on Facebook or MySpace, which have built up month over month because you don't want your rejection to send these strangers on a downward, emotional spiral.
3. You belong to several groups including "I Skin Cats on Sundays" and "Cousins Make Great Husbands," because, well, they were nice enough to invite you...
Silly symptoms aside, it's true that there's a certain anxiety that comes along with social networking, whether it's from the pressure of keeping people up to date, or the guilt in rejecting a Friend request. Certainly, if we recognize something like Internet Addiction and set up camps for the sufferers, we can recognize the mental tolls of social networking.
You could, of course, just make your profile private to all but a few special Friends. But once one less special Friend finds out you have a profile you've never told her about, it's right back to the days of nail biting, hives, and Lexapro.
— Nicole Ferraro, Site Editor, Internet Evolution
ANNUAL BUNNINGS SAUSAGE SIZZLE!
On Saturday 22nd
September ADAVIC will be holding its Annual Bunnings Sausage Sizzle Fundraiser
at the Hawthorn Bunnings Store (230
Burwood Road, Hawthorn). If you are in the area
and have some free time, come along and meet the gang from ADAVIC and buy one
of our yummy snags that Frank, our awesome chef, will be serving up and meet
some of our fabulous volunteers. We will be at Bunnings from 9.00 am to 4.00 pm
– so try and drop in to support our cause!
SOCIAL ANXIETY IN A CONNECTED WORLD - RESEARCH PARTICIPANTS NEEDED
ONLINE DEPRESSION THERAPY PARTICIPANTS SOUGHT
An RMIT University study is looking for participants to help test an online group therapy program to treat depression.
Around one million Australian adults live with depression each year, but fewer than half will seek medical treatment.
Although online one-on-one therapy programs exist, this study represents the first time structured group therapy for depression has been conducted via the internet.
Ms Arrow said the online program aimed to decrease depression and increase quality of life for participants.
"Social isolation can have a big impact on people suffering depression," she said.
"By encouraging participants to talk about their experiences with their peers, we can re-engage them with the community and reduce their isolation."
Ms Arrow said online interventions could promote access to psychological care in rural and remote regions, with those based in cities almost twice as likely to access care as those in remote areas.
She is looking to recruit Australian-based adults suffering depression to take part in a nine-week trial of the MoodGroup program.
Participants will be required to meet online for two hours each week and complete homework tasks lasting around two hours.
Discussion groups will include eight participants and will be monitored by provisional clinical psychologists.
To take part in the study, participants will need to have access to the internet and complete an online survey to determine suitability.
Anyone interested in contributing to this study can find out more by visiting the MoodGroup program web page or by calling (03) 9925 7776.
The project is supervised by Associate Professor Andrea Chester and Dr Keong Yap.
For interviews: Kerry Arrow, 0452 466 448.
For general media enquiries: Alan Gill, RMIT Science, Engineering and Health Communications, (03) 9925 9772 or 0419 591 102.
(source)
PARENTING CHALLENGING TEENS - FREE SEMINAR
Free seminar run by Deakin University Psychology: Parenting Challenging Teens
Thursday September 20th, 5:30pm-7pm
See the flyer for more info!
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
AN INTERIVEW WITH TREVOR HAZELL
Great and interesting interview with Trevor Hazell, director of the Hunter Institute of Mental Health from the crikey blog
Q and A with Trevor Hazell
Q. What have been the most important developments in mental health over your career – whether specific programs or policy initiatives, or developments in treatment, or changes at a community level?
A. Definitely it is the Commonwealth Government getting involved in directly changing the service delivery system. It has helped enormously to provide better access to services, particularly for those with the high-prevalence types of mental illness. This target group was really missing out under the old system. By having national policy approaches we have more equitable access now than ever before.
Q. What have been the biggest disappointments in mental health over that time?
A. The tertiary level of mental health service provision remains relatively underfunded. One of the consequences of this is that the services have little capacity to be innovative and to try more flexible models of treatment. Consequently we are seeing little reform in these services.
Q. There is often a tension between whether we should focus more on promotion/prevention or more on treatment services or more on the broader needs of people with mental illness (eg employment, housing, social inclusion etc). Do you think we have the balance right? If not, how do we need to rebalance?
A. Not at all. We have done well in primary and secondary care but to some extent this has been at the expense of promotion and prevention. The current mental health plan was written “for those who have a mental illness and those who care for them”. There is no vision that we might one day prevent cases of mental illness. There is scant and limited attention to the promotion of mental health.
If we want to promote mental health and prevent mental illness, we truly need cross-portfolio leadership from the Prime Minister and from Premiers because the determinants of good mental health are influenced by all aspects of society and community life. The activity for promotion and prevention is mostly outside of the health portfolio.
It would be good to start with a Vision in the National Mental Health Plan. It would be good to broaden the mandate of the Mental Health Commission. It would be good to have a National Plan for Good Mental Health for all Australians.
Q. Which of your many professional achievements do you think has made the most impact – and why?
A. The Hunter Institute has gone from a small band to a large orchestra. As a whole, the Institute is now making a significant contribution in a range of innovative areas. I think I am good at leading a team of people, to getting them working in the same direction and caring about the outcomes of what they do, and then building their capacity to do their work well. But of course I have been fortunate to be able to recruit people with great skill, integrity and professionalism.
Q. What difference do you think social media and other online tools are making to mental health – both positive and negative?
A. I think social media is fantastic for many people who have a mental illness. Take someone who has a severe anxiety disorder. Their biggest risk is that they will become cut off from family, friends etc. Social media presents a very safe way for such people to keep up to date with what is happening to family and friends. Even if their only interaction is to press ‘Like’ on a Facebook page, they are maintaining connection which may be very useful for them as they recover from their illness.
Negatively, I think there is a lot of scope for the spreading of socially negative and unhelpful material (untruthful, misogynistic, racial etc) which would not formerly have had much currency.
Q. If there was one thing you would like to see change/happen in mental health, what would it be?
A. We know that mental ill-health is really common. Yet when people experience mental illness they feel isolated, and to some extent they tend to isolate themselves. While it might be good to for people to withdraw somewhat and to attend to their healing and recovery, they should feel that they are understood and supported while they do this.
Instead, we hide our periods of mental illness and in doing so we deprive ourselves of the support of others.
Our current goal is to stop people from discriminating against those who experience mental illness. One day I’d hope that we can mobilise the community more positively to provide mutual support during our episodes of mental ill-health.
Q. The mental health sector gives the impression of being quite fractured and divided. What might help to create a more unified sector? Or do you think the sector works well as it is?
A. No it definitely does not. There are many divisions and competitions. One part of the problem is the term ‘mental illness’. We lump together all forms of diagnosable disorders under a single term. We don’t do this with physical illness. We don’t send people to’ physical health services’.
If we lumped all the physical illnesses together and expected to see all the stakeholders united and harmonious I doubt the picture would look much better.
The scarcity of money is another problem this increases the competition between advocates of different disorders, or between youth services and adult services.
Q. You have been open in talking about your own experience with anxiety and depression, and about not recognising the signs when they developed five years ago. What did you learn out of this experience, and what role do you think personal experience has in advocacy? What reaction have you had from colleagues and others?
A. In retrospect, despite many positive aspects to my family and school life, I can see many early signs that I was an over-anxious child and adolescent. I came to accept certain ways of thinking and feeling as ‘just the way I am’. I often felt miserable, and was frequently in a bad mood.
Now of course, as a young person I would not have been able to have access to modern medications and psychological therapies. So what I have learned is that now that we have effective ways of treating these types of symptoms, we need to really encourage young people to recognise them and to know that they don’t have to put up with them. They don’t just have to accept them.
I don’t advocate because I have personal experience but I do think that my personal experience probably makes me a more authentic advocate.
I have had only positive reactions when I have disclosed my illness and treatment.
Q. Your staff say that you are known for your personal commitment to building a mentally healthy workplace. What have you learnt along the way – what worked and what didn’t? Any concrete advice for other organisations/employers about how to build and sustain a mentally healthy workplace?
A. I think the main thing is mutual respect. Now we used to think about respect in a hierarchical way. The boss was supposed to ‘command’ respect whereas new employees had to ‘earn’ it. This doesn’t really work if you want to build a team. In mental health we want to build self-esteem and self-respect. The best way to do this is for each individual to give respect to each other.
We define respect as ‘treating each other with care and consideration as another human being’. This is a behavioural definition and it is a lot easier to achieve than other definitions of respect such as “positive esteem”.
Q. A Senate Inquiry into the social determinants of health has been announced. What is the main message you would like to give that inquiry?
A. In the long view, we have to create the conditions for a greater proportion of the population to have a safe, healthy childhood, free from abuse, growing up in family environments and having access to child care and educational services that build the foundations of mature emotional and social development.
If we can get a greater proportion of children through to their adolescence with greater strengths and fewer risk factors, we can hope for a more mentally healthy adult population in the future.
Q. What is the question I haven’t asked that you wished I had?
A. “What is the biggest influence on my mental health?”
To this there are three answers.
The first is obvious – the people close to and around me (and my dogs).
The second is work. If I hadn’t faced up to my mental illness I would have had to leave work and that would have been disastrous for me. No matter how hard, work is so good for me.
The third answer is the Newcastle Knights. They give me reason to hope for better days ahead.
for more of the interview please head to :
http://blogs.crikey.com.au/croakey/2012/08/31/what-does-it-take-to-improve-mental-health-some-insights-from-three-voices-of-experience/
***
Q and A with Trevor Hazell
Q. What have been the most important developments in mental health over your career – whether specific programs or policy initiatives, or developments in treatment, or changes at a community level?
A. Definitely it is the Commonwealth Government getting involved in directly changing the service delivery system. It has helped enormously to provide better access to services, particularly for those with the high-prevalence types of mental illness. This target group was really missing out under the old system. By having national policy approaches we have more equitable access now than ever before.
Q. What have been the biggest disappointments in mental health over that time?
A. The tertiary level of mental health service provision remains relatively underfunded. One of the consequences of this is that the services have little capacity to be innovative and to try more flexible models of treatment. Consequently we are seeing little reform in these services.
Q. There is often a tension between whether we should focus more on promotion/prevention or more on treatment services or more on the broader needs of people with mental illness (eg employment, housing, social inclusion etc). Do you think we have the balance right? If not, how do we need to rebalance?
A. Not at all. We have done well in primary and secondary care but to some extent this has been at the expense of promotion and prevention. The current mental health plan was written “for those who have a mental illness and those who care for them”. There is no vision that we might one day prevent cases of mental illness. There is scant and limited attention to the promotion of mental health.
If we want to promote mental health and prevent mental illness, we truly need cross-portfolio leadership from the Prime Minister and from Premiers because the determinants of good mental health are influenced by all aspects of society and community life. The activity for promotion and prevention is mostly outside of the health portfolio.
It would be good to start with a Vision in the National Mental Health Plan. It would be good to broaden the mandate of the Mental Health Commission. It would be good to have a National Plan for Good Mental Health for all Australians.
Q. Which of your many professional achievements do you think has made the most impact – and why?
A. The Hunter Institute has gone from a small band to a large orchestra. As a whole, the Institute is now making a significant contribution in a range of innovative areas. I think I am good at leading a team of people, to getting them working in the same direction and caring about the outcomes of what they do, and then building their capacity to do their work well. But of course I have been fortunate to be able to recruit people with great skill, integrity and professionalism.
Q. What difference do you think social media and other online tools are making to mental health – both positive and negative?
A. I think social media is fantastic for many people who have a mental illness. Take someone who has a severe anxiety disorder. Their biggest risk is that they will become cut off from family, friends etc. Social media presents a very safe way for such people to keep up to date with what is happening to family and friends. Even if their only interaction is to press ‘Like’ on a Facebook page, they are maintaining connection which may be very useful for them as they recover from their illness.
Negatively, I think there is a lot of scope for the spreading of socially negative and unhelpful material (untruthful, misogynistic, racial etc) which would not formerly have had much currency.
Q. If there was one thing you would like to see change/happen in mental health, what would it be?
A. We know that mental ill-health is really common. Yet when people experience mental illness they feel isolated, and to some extent they tend to isolate themselves. While it might be good to for people to withdraw somewhat and to attend to their healing and recovery, they should feel that they are understood and supported while they do this.
Instead, we hide our periods of mental illness and in doing so we deprive ourselves of the support of others.
Our current goal is to stop people from discriminating against those who experience mental illness. One day I’d hope that we can mobilise the community more positively to provide mutual support during our episodes of mental ill-health.
Q. The mental health sector gives the impression of being quite fractured and divided. What might help to create a more unified sector? Or do you think the sector works well as it is?
A. No it definitely does not. There are many divisions and competitions. One part of the problem is the term ‘mental illness’. We lump together all forms of diagnosable disorders under a single term. We don’t do this with physical illness. We don’t send people to’ physical health services’.
If we lumped all the physical illnesses together and expected to see all the stakeholders united and harmonious I doubt the picture would look much better.
The scarcity of money is another problem this increases the competition between advocates of different disorders, or between youth services and adult services.
Q. You have been open in talking about your own experience with anxiety and depression, and about not recognising the signs when they developed five years ago. What did you learn out of this experience, and what role do you think personal experience has in advocacy? What reaction have you had from colleagues and others?
A. In retrospect, despite many positive aspects to my family and school life, I can see many early signs that I was an over-anxious child and adolescent. I came to accept certain ways of thinking and feeling as ‘just the way I am’. I often felt miserable, and was frequently in a bad mood.
Now of course, as a young person I would not have been able to have access to modern medications and psychological therapies. So what I have learned is that now that we have effective ways of treating these types of symptoms, we need to really encourage young people to recognise them and to know that they don’t have to put up with them. They don’t just have to accept them.
I don’t advocate because I have personal experience but I do think that my personal experience probably makes me a more authentic advocate.
I have had only positive reactions when I have disclosed my illness and treatment.
Q. Your staff say that you are known for your personal commitment to building a mentally healthy workplace. What have you learnt along the way – what worked and what didn’t? Any concrete advice for other organisations/employers about how to build and sustain a mentally healthy workplace?
A. I think the main thing is mutual respect. Now we used to think about respect in a hierarchical way. The boss was supposed to ‘command’ respect whereas new employees had to ‘earn’ it. This doesn’t really work if you want to build a team. In mental health we want to build self-esteem and self-respect. The best way to do this is for each individual to give respect to each other.
We define respect as ‘treating each other with care and consideration as another human being’. This is a behavioural definition and it is a lot easier to achieve than other definitions of respect such as “positive esteem”.
Q. A Senate Inquiry into the social determinants of health has been announced. What is the main message you would like to give that inquiry?
A. In the long view, we have to create the conditions for a greater proportion of the population to have a safe, healthy childhood, free from abuse, growing up in family environments and having access to child care and educational services that build the foundations of mature emotional and social development.
If we can get a greater proportion of children through to their adolescence with greater strengths and fewer risk factors, we can hope for a more mentally healthy adult population in the future.
Q. What is the question I haven’t asked that you wished I had?
A. “What is the biggest influence on my mental health?”
To this there are three answers.
The first is obvious – the people close to and around me (and my dogs).
The second is work. If I hadn’t faced up to my mental illness I would have had to leave work and that would have been disastrous for me. No matter how hard, work is so good for me.
The third answer is the Newcastle Knights. They give me reason to hope for better days ahead.
for more of the interview please head to :
http://blogs.crikey.com.au/croakey/2012/08/31/what-does-it-take-to-improve-mental-health-some-insights-from-three-voices-of-experience/
***
ANXIETY ADVICE
Can a healthy diet help anxiety? Considering the known benefits of keeping a healthy diet, it may well just be worth a try.
Start from outside, they say, with a little bit of exercise. According to Natural News:
Sometimes when you're anxious or stressed healthy food is the last thing on your mind. You're thinking about chocolate and fries and deep-fried foods, the very last thing on your mind is fruit, vegetables or par-boiled meats. The thing is, however, that these more sensible foods are just that, and a wonder for managing your anxiety. While that block of chocolate may provide a fix, it is a quick and temporary fix, and you're definitely looking for something long term.
This delicious Greek Salad by Nigella is perfect
(picture and recipe from nigella.com)
Start from outside, they say, with a little bit of exercise. According to Natural News:
"Regular exercise can also decrease the production of stress hormones and therefore help to better manage stressful situations. Reducing stress through exercise can give one a sense of well being and confidence. The more stress is reduced; the easier it becomes to cope with and eliminate stress."Then work your way to the inside, with your diet.
Sometimes when you're anxious or stressed healthy food is the last thing on your mind. You're thinking about chocolate and fries and deep-fried foods, the very last thing on your mind is fruit, vegetables or par-boiled meats. The thing is, however, that these more sensible foods are just that, and a wonder for managing your anxiety. While that block of chocolate may provide a fix, it is a quick and temporary fix, and you're definitely looking for something long term.
(picture and recipe from nigella.com)
Ingredients
Method
- Peel and finely slice the red onion then sprinkle over the oregano and grind over some pepper.
- Pour in the vinegar and oil and toss well, cover with clingfilm and leave to steep for a good 2 hours; longer's fine. What you'll notice, once it's had its time, as well, is that the blooded crimson of the onion is somehow now a luminescent puce. It's a science thing, something to do with the acid in the vinegar: don't ask. You don't need to be fully conversant with the technicalities to be able to take advantage of them. That's to say, I often use this trick in other ways. An otherwise overwhelmingly brown slab of meat can be immediately lifted (in looks and taste) by being covered with some red onions, cut into wedges of 8 or so, and then fried in olive oil, to which, once softened, you add the juice of a lemon.
- On top of the lemony pink onions add some sprinkled Maldon salt and a generous amount of summer-green chopped parsley. Or make a quick sauce for pasta (this should be enough for a 500g packet of spaghetti) by cutting a red onion into very fine half-moons (ie, cut the onion in half and then slice each half as finely as you can), frying it in olive oil, spritzing in the juice of half a lemon, as before, and then tossing this, along with 200g tuna cut into thin little rags, into the cooked drained spaghetti; the heat of the pasta will cook the raw tuna plenty.
- Add seasoning to taste, and some extra virgin olive oil as you like, and a goodish amount of chopped fresh parsley (again). But these are just suggestions: the pink onion technique can be drawn on in whatever way pleases you.
- But to return to the case in hand: when you want to eat, get started with the rest of the salad. Cut the tomatoes into quarters, then cut each quarter into quarters (always lengthwise) again, so that you have a collection of very fine segments (rather than chunks). Sprinkle the sugar and a pinch of salt over them and leave while you get on with the rest.
- Wash the lettuce if you need to (I always try and get away with not) tear into big pieces and put into a large, wide salad bowl.
- Slice the fennel and add that, then the olives and the feta, cut or crumbled into rough chunks, and toss well.
- Now add the tomatoes, the red onion - now lucidly pink - in its marinade-dressing and the lemon juice. Toss gently, but thoroughly, so that everything is well combined. This is addictive: you will find yourself making it all through summer - and beyond.
- Additional information - for vegetarians make sure the feta is one that uses vegetarian rennet.
RESEARCH ASSISTANCE!
Cognitive predictors of panic related symptoms in a non-clinical sample.
Deakin University is conducting research
to examine factors associated with the development of panic symptoms and coping
strategies people use to deal with these symptoms. Research shows that anxiety sensitivity (fear
about the consequences of anxiety-related symptoms) plays an important role in
the development of panic attacks and is also related to the development of
panic disorder. Many people experience panic symptoms or panic attacks but do
not develop panic disorder. Therefore, it is important to gain a better
understanding of the factors that are related to high levels of anxiety
sensitivity. This is likely to provide information about factors that may increase
the risk of developing panic attacks or panic disorder.
The
research is being conducted by Dr Ciaran Pier and Urszula Bobrowski as part of
her Honours in Psychology research project. We are looking for anyone aged 18
and over to complete an anonymous online questionnaire which takes approx.
15-30 minutes. These
questionnaires are designed to assess your experiences of anxiety and panic,
your interpretation of panic symptoms, and your coping strategies for dealing
with anxiety. The
study has ethical approval from Deakin
University's Human
Research Ethics Committee (project ID: 2012-121). Participation is completely
voluntary.
You can learn more about the survey by reading the
plain language statement by clicking on the link below. If you are interested
in participating you can begin the questionnaire.
For any further information please contact Urszula:
ujb@deakin.edu.au.
Thank you, your time is greatly appreciated.
Thank you, your time is greatly appreciated.
Yours sincerely,
Dr Ciaran Pier and Urszula Bobrowski
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