How Basic Income Programs Can Support Mental Health
Over half of Canadians feel “financially paralyzed” by the cost-of-living crisis, according to a recent poll. As life becomes more unaffordable for more people, we need governments to create policies that will improve public health and well-being. One such policy is a basic income guarantee: an unconditional cash transfer from government to ensure people can […]
Why Is Loneliness So Bad for Your Health?
Human beings are inherently social. We thrive on connection, communication, and shared experiences, which help shape our identities and foster a sense of belonging. Yet, in an increasingly digital and fast-paced world, feelings of loneliness and social isolation have become alarmingly common. The World Health Organization has stated that these feelings are widespread. About 25% […]
Cyberstalking and the Role of Mental Health Professionals
Cyberstalking involves using digital technology—including social media, digital tracking devices, digital messaging, email, spyware, surveillance cameras, or keyloggers—to track, follow, intimidate, or harass an individual, family, group, or community (Marcum & Higgins, 2021). Cyberstalking scenarios may range from someone harassing their former spouse after separation, to racist or homophobic bullying in a school or other […]
Poverty and Mental Health | Psychology Today
By R. Susan Daily, M.D., Eunice Y. Yuen M.D., Ph.D., and the Child Committee of the Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry Lily is a Caucasian 17-year-old girl coming to a family medicine clinic with fatigue and shortness of breath when walking. She has been depressed for more thanr two years, suffers anxiety, and has […]
How to Navigate Mental Health When You’re…
As a child of an immigrant, I’ve often found myself questioning my place in the world, navigating two identities, two cultures, and two religions—one from my mother, who was born in Mexico, and one from my father, who was born in the United States. Along the way, I frequently wondered: Am I too American? Do […]
The Hidden Gap in College Student Mental Health Care
by Rachel Conrad, MD, and J. Wesley Boyd, MD, PhD Imagine being a college student like Alex, who was experiencing increasing anxiety and depression as the academic year progressed. During the spring semester, Alex finally found a psychiatrist in their college town, and after months of waiting, they began treatment and started to feel better. […]
AI-Mental Health Is Coming: Are You Ready?
The Mental health treatment landscape is about to be transformed by artificial intelligence (AI-Mental health). Whether you are a Mental health provider or a person interested in Mental health services, AI is changing the way that treatments are provided, the patient-centered care options that are available to consumers, and how we evaluate the benefits of […]
How Blood Sugar Impacts Your Brain Health
Source: Austin Perlmutter/DALL-E To think, act, and feel in any way, your brain requires access to large amounts of consistent energy. For most of us, that energy comes in the form of blood sugar (glucose), which is transported into the brain and used by our brain cells. While it’s been well known that very high […]
The Continuing Challenges of a Mental Health Disability
Source: asinclair/Pixabay My intention in writing these posts is to share the experiences that I went through with my son, starting with the first manifestation of his illness and our journey through numerous subsequent episodes. It’s also to provide commentary as a parent and psychiatrist on issues that these experiences bring up, such as how […]
Send the Kids Outdoors, Improve their Mental Health
The weather in Quebec can be pretty unpleasant during winter and early spring. And yet, it was during the months of February, March, and April that over 500 children aged 10-12 were given classes outdoors for two hours each week in a gutsy experiment to see whether time in nature doing art, meditation, or learning […]