I’ve read a lot of articles lately (here’s one) that say that preventing mental illness would be better than treating mental illness. The way these authors want to do that is by promoting wellness. The theory is that we shouldn’t wait until people are sick to intervene. There should be more of a focus on…
Aeon ran an article by James Barnes called “The space between us“. Its subtitle is “In order to understand and heal mental distress, we must see our minds as existing in relationships, not inside our heads”. Barnes presents what he calls a relational-intersubjective paradigm as nothing less than a revolution in therapy. I disagree and…
Louie Lang wrote an article in Phlexible Philosophy entitled “An Education Based on Happiness” (Full disclosure, I also write for Phlexible Philosophy.). The premise is that we need a shift of emphasis in education away from career-oriented education and towards a happiness education. That will go a long way towards stopping the mental health crisis….
Yesterday, I wrote about how depression puts people at higher risk for severe covid. Today I want to talk about another problem with covid. Apparently, covid can cause depression. “[O]ver half of a U.S. COVID-19 survivor sample reported symptoms of depression months after recovery, those with more severe COVID symptoms being more likely to have depression.” They…
I recently heard that depression is a risk factor for covid. It was actually in a commercial. In the commercial, a bunch of celebrities with various risk factors were telling people with those risk factors to be extra careful. It surprised me. I have depression, but never thought it put me at higher risk for…
There was an article at Psyche.co called “Mental disorders are brain disorders“. The thesis is that thinking of mental disorders as a separate category from other physical disorders is hindering patient care. The author, Christian Jarrett, says that many people don’t think so because the causes of mental disorders are “outside the body.” Then, he…
I read an article in Psychology Today called “Paying Patients Improves Mental Health Treatment Engagement“. It made a convincing case that monetary incentives would improve mental healthcare. It compared 39 papers on the topic and found that there were large effects from financial incentives. It also addressed several of the possible objections. Finally, it talked…
It’s been a while since I posted anything here on mental health. That’s probably a good thing for me personally. It’s hard for me to write about mental health when my mental health is good. It’s much easier to write about it during a flare up. The bad thing is I’m failing at my goal…
For those who don’t know, back in April, I had a major depressive episode. I was miserable. For a few weeks, my best days consisted of getting out of bed before noon and eating something before curling up on the couch for the rest of the day. I often struggled getting myself back upstairs to…
The above meme was shared with a mental health group I’m part of on LinkedIn. This turned out to be rather controversial. Some people commented along the lines of “100% agree!” while others said the meme itself is triggering and has no place in a mental health forum. I see both sides clearly and don’t…
