Obesity and lack of exercise are two major trends in American culture, and so is a growing crisis of mental illness. We are not a healthy society. Here is some good news about how to deal with your mental health
ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA —What’s better for your health? Movement or medication? New findings out of Australia show that staying in motion can do a world of good for mental health. Notably, study authors from the University of South Australia add that exercise appears to be more effective for mental well-being than other common remedies such as prescription drugs or therapy.
Largely ignored and pushed aside in years past, poor mental health has emerged in recent decades as a modern problem of epidemic proportions. Everyone gets the blues from time to time, but what can you do when depression and anxiety start impeding on day-to-day life? There’s no easy answer to that question, and what works for one person may not help the next.
Poor mental health is as nuanced as it is difficult to treat, but the research team believes exercise should most definitely be a mainstay approach for managing depression. Why? The study finds regular physical activity was 1.5 times more effective than either counseling or the leading […]
I am becoming increasingly aware and concerned that MAGAt men are so sexually dysfunctional that it is a form of mental illness, and it is having a very deleterious effect on American culture. You can see it in the obsession with drag performers, the virulent hated of LGBTQ people, the fear of women becoming their equal, and the violence that always seems to erupt with these people. And now this. When you add the sexual dysfunction to the White supremacy racism that is such a big part of the MAGAt world you see the fuel that enflames the U.S. culture wars.
Back view of shirtless man Credit: Jonathan Knowles / Getty
Never before in the history of humanity has so much pornography been so accessible to anyone with an internet connection. While one can debate whether this is socially healthy, a growing number of men contend that it isn’t physically healthy. This belief, which (naturally) has spread online, consists of men who are convinced that ejaculation — especially when coupled with pornography — is causing them major health issues. The only solution, they say, is to abstain from both.
Their internet circles include the million-plus members of Reddit’s “NoFap” community. There, you will find porn and masturbation blamed for everything from deficient penis size to low energy to lack of mental clarity. Above all, this self-pleasure is accused of causing erectile dysfunction, or the inability to sustain a satisfying erection.
Sometimes self-describing as “fapstronauts,” — “fap” being onomatopoeic slang for male self-pleasure — these self-pleasure abolitionists are convinced that cutting out porn and masturbation will lead to a more fulfilling, healthy life. They also believe that using porn […]
BRETT KELMAN and BLAKE FARMER, - npr / Kaiser Health News
Stephan:
American healthcare continues to deteriorate because the stranglehold the illness profit system has on Congress si so strong no one has been able to overcome it. The Republicans don't care because the illness profit industries fund members with millions of dollars, and the Democrats don't have enough power or courage to create universal birthright single payer real healthcare.
Diagnosing and treating patients was once an ER doctor’s domain, but they are increasingly being replaced by health practitioners who can perform many of the same duties and generate much the same revenue for less than half the pay. Credit:Phil Fisk / Image Source / Getty
Pregnant and scared, Natasha Valle went to a Tennova Healthcare hospital in Clarksville, Tenn., in January 2021 because she was bleeding. She didn’t know much about miscarriage, but this seemed like one.
In the emergency room, she was examined then sent home, she said. She went back when her cramping became excruciating. Then home again. Valle said it ultimately took three trips to the ER on three consecutive days, generating three separate bills, before she saw a doctor who looked at her bloodwork and confirmed her fears.
“At the time I wasn’t thinking, ‘Oh, I need to see a doctor,’ ” Valle said. “But when you think about it, it’s like, ‘Well — dang — why didn’t I see a doctor?’ ” It’s unclear if the repeat ER visits were due […]
A few days ago I did something on this research. The social outcome data is so clear-cut. I don't know why it is so hard for people to see that policies that foster wellbeing produce by every measure better outcomes. Which they unquestionably do, as this report of research done at Cambridge University validates. I used to think it was just the overpowering psychology of greed, and that certainly plays a role. But now I think it is more complex than that. It is empowered by culture with all the subtleties that entails. We need to change our culture, which is the product of our collective intention. Which means beginning with the individual. In 8 Laws I explain how to become an agent of social change to foster wellbeing at every level. That is what SR is about.
Citation:Lewsey F. Would you prefer a four-day working week? 21 February 2023. University of Cambridge 21 February 2023. https://www.cam.ac.uk/stories/fourdayweek
Group of men and women sitting in conference room and smiling Credit: Getty / jacoblund
Ever since German sociologist Max Weber penned his classic 1905 book “The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism,” the Western World has accepted that Calvinist-influenced societies tend to associate hard work with both virtue and material success. According to this pervasive mode of thinking, there is no such thing as “too much work.” Cultures like ours take it for granted that if a human being works as hard as possible, stays frugal, and exercises discipline so as to minimize (if not entirely avoid) life’s frivolities, they will enrich both society and themselves.
Yet a new study from the University of Cambridge undermines this philosophy with an intriguing new finding about 4-day work weeks: Not only do shorter work weeks make employees happier, but productivity does not drop one bit.
Social scientists at the prestigious university analyzed data from 61 companies that reduced their work weeks from 5-day durations to 4-day durations, assessing how those […]
It is my view that developing the daily practice of meditation is perhaps the best gift you can give yourself. That has certainly been the case in my life. I think this is so important, and I spent years studying meditation and nonlocal consciousness. Out of that research, I produced a 20 minute digital program you can download that takes you through a daily meditation, and will help you develop the skill, without becoming embroiled in a religion, Meditation for Modern Minds a technique based on science
Meditation can reduce stress and improve emotional regulation. Credit: Getty
You’ve probably heard someone talk about the benefits of meditation. Countless studies and experts have praised the practice’s transformative qualities.
It’s true—meditation can affect the brain and body in myriad ways, from reducing the risk for chronic diseases to lowering the risk for anxiety and depression.
Maybe most notable in the age of burnout is meditation’s impact on stress levels and its ability to reduce the fight or flight reaction, or the acute stress response that activates your sympathetic nervous system and can raise blood pressure.
“Fighting and fleeing was an adaptive response back when there were saber-toothed tigers, but it’s not very adaptive when the stressor is the morning commute or anticipating a bad email,” Dr. Elizabeth Seng, an associate professor of psychology at the Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology at Yeshiva University, tells Fortune.
Being mindful through meditation can reduce rumination on negative thoughts and help you stay in the present moment. This can alleviate that heightened stress response in everyday situations.
“You’re teaching yourself to be non-judgmentally aware of the present […]
