In Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression – and the Unexpected Solutions, Johann Hari takes a stand against the idea of biological causation of depression and anxiety. I expected going in that I would disagree with what Hari had to say, but it surpassed my expectations. To start off, let me tell you […]
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Here are some of my favourite TED Talks that relate to mental wellbeing. The Gift and Power of Emotional Courage (Susan David) I recently reviewed Susan David’s book Emotional Agility, and this talk covered similar subject matter. She points out how problematic it is to avoid emotions that are considered negative or illegitimate. She says
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In A Series of Unfortunate Stereotypes: Naming and Shaming Mental Health Stigmas, author Lucy Nichol invites us to join her in breaking down stereotypes until we’re ready to say “Stigma? What a load of old shit!” I loved the no-BS tone, with expletives liberally strewn throughout (any time an f-bomb is dropped by page 7,
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This week’s TED Talk picks are focused on trauma and come from a diverse range of experiences. How Childhood Trauma Affects Health Across a Lifetime (Nadine Burke Harris) In this talk, Nadine Burke Harris passionately addresses the findings of the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) study. This study found a significant correlation between number of ACEs
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In Radical Acceptance: Embracing Your Life With the Heart of a Buddha, Tara Brach draws on her knowledge and experience as a psychologist, Buddhist, and meditation teacher. Buddhism plays a significant role in the book, but it’s written in a way that’s accessible to all. The author describes radical acceptance as clearly recognizing what’s going
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Like any field, psychiatry has its own collection of terminology. Some of it is self-explanatory, but some of it isn’t. I believe that knowing the jargon helps to narrow the power gap between health care providers and patients, so I put together this glossary of common psychiatric terms. Alexithymia: an inability to identify and describe
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The mental status exam (MSE) is a framework for assessment that’s used widely in the field of psychiatry. Rather than being a one-time assessment, it is used on an ongoing basis to capture how a patient is doing on any given encounter (and I use the term patient to describe the role and not the
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I’m sure many of you are already familiar with cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), but I thought it was still worth taking a look at cognitive distortions, a key ingredient in the CBT soup. Cognitive distortions are common unrealistic patterns of thinking. They’re not delusional, but at the same time, they don’t accurately reflect reality, and
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Emotional Agility: Get Unstuck, Embrace Change, and Thrive in Work and Life is written by psychologist Dr. Susan David. I was quite impressed with this book. When I’m reading a book to review, I make notes of the points that stand out for me; with this book, I ended up with several pages of notes, because
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Here are a few great TED Talks I’ve found on a variety of topics related to mental health and illness. The Voices in My Head (Eleanor Longden) A psychiatrist once told Eleanor Longden that she would be better off having cancer than a psychotic illness, as it would be more curable. Having the voice she
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