Category: Awareness - Beyond The Body

Beyond The Body

Disordered Eating Not Uncommon In Competitive Female Athletics

8/23/2016

In light of the recent Rio 2016 Olympic Games, former members of the US Womens' Swim Team are speaking out about the prevalence of disordered eating and body image issues among female athletics. More specifically, they speak to competitive swimming, where often individuals push themselves to extremes and experience gruelling training in their quest for top performance, meanwhile they spend almost every day in a bathing suit and develop a muscular built physique which may not be in line with a young woman's views of what femininity and beauty should look like.

"“Binging and purging was my, I guess, outlet,” said Hyman, 37. “Part of it was my own insecurities; part of it was my own control, the sense of being in control or something I could control. It wasn’t strictly just a body image issue or strictly just, ‘I’m trying to perform better.’ As an athlete I think there were other emotional challenges that I manifested into my eating disorder as a way of coping. It wasn’t something that I was necessarily secretive about. My coaches were aware, my parents were aware, and I wasn’t shy about it. One of the things I’d always prided myself on was discipline...

Jennifer Carter, Ohio State University Sports Medicine Center’s director of sport psychology, agrees there are specific risk factors for eating disorders in female athletes, such as a belief that thinness equates to better performance (whereas in male athletes more muscularity equates to better performance), revealing uniforms and, sometimes, a type of perfectionist personality."

For the full article, click here: http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/rio-2016/2016/08/03/us-womens-swim-team-body-image-eating-disorders-and-supporting-each-other/88048534/

Mental Health Week 2016

5/4/2016

It's that time of year again! CMHA National's annual Mental Health Week is running from May 2 to May 8, 2016! Each year, MHW encourages Canadians to ‪#‎GetLoud‬ about mental health, offers support to those suffering from mental illness, and promotes the development of skills to boost our general mental well-being.

Getting involved is simple! You can:

Wear green to break down ‪#‎stigma‬ as back in the 1800s green ribbons were used to label individuals as "insane"
Engage in a dialogue with others about ‪#‎mentalhealth‬
Talk to a loved one or your doctor about your mood and mental well-being
Share your story or your commitment to mental health by being creative and showing off your art like photos, paintings, and songs
Share #GetLoud on social media (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram) to show your support, and encourage others to obtain and maintain positive mental health
Donate to your local CMHA branch

You can find out all the ways to get involved and #GetLoud this week by visiting: http://getloud.mentalhealthweek.ca

Global Mental Health - Indonesia and the Practice of 'Pasung'

3/21/2016

Photo by: Andrea Star Reese

Today, the Human Rights Watch released a shocking and disturbing report regarding the treatment of thousands of individuals living in Indonesia with ‪mental illness‬ and related disabilities. The report, aptly titled "Living In Hell", discusses how over 18,000-19,000 Indonesians live in "pasung", a practice that involves individuals being shackled and confined and forced to eat, sleep, defecate and urine in their small cell or room. While the Human Rights Watch report that these facilities put individuals at risk of physical ailments as well as physical and sexual abuse, they also report that treatments ranging from traditional herbal concoctions and rituals to ECT without anesthesia are forced onto those who live there.

Though the Indonesian government considered "pasung" inhumane and subsequently banned the use of the practice back in 1977, it continues to be utilized today. The report points to both the culturally held beliefs about mental illness, as well as an extreme lack of psychiatrists and mental healthcare facilities/services across the country as major barriers to more appropriate and humane mental health care.

"Across Indonesia, there is a widespread belief that mental health conditions are the result of possession by evil spirits or the devil, having sinned, displayed immoral behavior, or lacking faith. As a result, families typically first consult faith or traditional healers and often only seek medical advice as a last resort.

Even if they do look for access to medication, however, people may find it impossible to access it. Ministry of Health data shows that nearly 90 percent of those who may want to access mental health services cannot. The country of 250 million people has only 48 mental hospitals, more than half of them located in just four provinces of Indonesia’s 34 provinces. Eight provinces have no such hospitals, and three have no psychiatrists. In all of Indonesia there are just 600 to 800 psychiatrists—or one trained psychiatrist per 300,000 to 400,000 people. The few facilities and services that exist often do not respect the basic rights of people with psychosocial disabilities and contribute to the abuses against them."

You can read more about the report via the video below and the following articles and photo documentation:
https://www.hrw.org/node/287537
http://time.com/4265623/indonesia-mental-illness-chains-pasung-hrw/

The Power Of Words - Impact on Patients' Recovery and Treatments

3/10/2016

University of British Columbia psychiatrist, Dr. Diane McIntosh speaks out about the toll our words can take on an individual who lives with and is being treated for ‪mental illness‬. Specifically, Dr. McIntosh reminds us that whether it be a comment from a friend, family member, or physician, how we talk about mental health can have a huge impact on an individual's perception of themselves, their mental well-being, and their strength. As Dr. McIntosh has seen with her own patients, certain comments also have the power to negatively impact patients' treatment and recovery.

"Lillian finally told me that the in-patient doctor had quipped, "You're on too much medication." The doctor hadn't elaborated on what she meant by "too much," nor did she call me or Lillian's GP to ask for the treatment rationale or to express concern.

It was just a passing comment, but those words powerfully undermined Lillian's confidence and stirred up her long-held fear that her illness was a weakness or personal failure.

She thought that she should be able to get over it on her own and she shouldn't need to rely on medications. She feared that medications might be causing more harm than good, even though she felt better."

For the full article, click here: http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/diane-mcintosh/mental-illness-stigma_b_9312252.html

Life With ADHD From A Child's Perspective

2/27/2016

In this poignant short video by Swedish filmmaker Erik Rosenlund, we get a unique glimpse into the reality of living with ‪‎ADHD‬ from a child's perspective. The beautiful film demonstrates many of the struggles these children face including difficulties in the classroom to their social relationships and how they may be seen by other youth.

The film which aims to promote greater understanding of youth living with ADHD, also movingly demonstrates the importance of having a supportive parent who provides both ‪‎love‬ and ‪patience‬.

Mental Illness on Campus

1/22/2016

While there has been a considerable increase in the news surrounding student mental well-being in both Canada and the United States, this infographic from TopCounselingSchools.org really puts the growing issue of mental health issues including depression, stress, and suicide amongst our college and university students into perspective. Take a look now!

Mental Health on Campus

Source: TopCounselingSchools.org

A Little Boy's World Gives Inspiration For Autism PSA

11/5/2015

Today marks the launch of a new PSA developed by Autism Speaks, the Ad Council and ad agency BBDO, aimed at helping people recognize warning signs of ‪autism‬. The films and posters are part of a larger Autism Speaks campaign called "Learn The Signs", which helps raise awareness of the signs of autism so that families can seek out medical attention and treatment early on. This is incredibly important as "early treatment improves outcomes, often dramatically. Studies show, for example, that early intensive behavioral intervention improves learning, communication and social skills in young children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD)."

The film in particular is not just creative, but poignant and educational as it was based on real experiences faced by a young boy with autism and highlights key signs of ASD including sensitivity to light, lack of eye contact, speech problems and repetitive behavior.

You can check out the video and ads, as well as learn more about the signs of autism by checking out these links:
https://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism/learn-signs
http://www.fastcocreate.com/3053196/see-the-world-as-a-child-with-autism-does-in-this-touching-psa#2

The Diversity of Mental Illness

10/21/2015

‎Mental health‬ activist Dior Vargas recently founded an initiative called "People of Colour and Mental Illness Photo Project" which aims to "eradicate the ‪stigma‬ of mental illness within communities of colour and show a diverse representation of those who live with these conditions".

Prior to starting the project, Vargas had taken notice of how the media often fail to represent ‪mental illness‬ in other ethnicities besides Caucasian, and she wanted to set the record straight, in addition to encouraging conversation about mental illness among these communities and let affected individuals know that they are not alone.

While Vargas hopes to create a book with all the photos individuals have sent in the near future, you can see some of the photos and learn more about the project here:
http://diorvargas.com/poc-mental-illness/
http://www.buzzfeed.com/fionarutherford/this-photo-series-is-eradicating-the-stigma-of-mental-illnes#.ru2RwMG4Y

Powerful Cartoon Drawings Bring Attention to the Ignorance Surrounding Mental Illness

10/13/2015

For many, when compared to physical ailments, mental illness is harder to understand because we often can't visually see the pain and suffering or understand the cause of discomfort.

To address the social stigma of mental illness, an artist created these powerful cartoons, which highlight just how important it is to be considerate of those with mental health issues and to not assume that just because we can't relate or understand or see it, doesn't mean it doesn't exist or should be treated any differently from physical illnesses.

John Oliver Uses Humor To Beautifully Bring Attention to Mental Health

10/7/2015

In lieu of Mental Illness Awareness Week, television host and comedian John Oliver used humor to open our eyes and bring attention to the serious and disturbing issues with our mental health care system and treatment of those with mental illness in a brilliant piece on his show Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.

In the must watch episode, Oliver beautifully addresses myths of mental illness‬, highlights effective and important recovery and support programs that we should be funding, and calls on politicians to stop talking about addressing mental illness and take real action instead.

"We, as a society, have to figure out how to fund [these programs]," he says. "Not just because it makes fiscal sense but because it would save lives. And if I remember rightly, there are some politicians who claim to be pretty motivated to address this problem … If we're going to constantly use mentally ill people to dodge conversations about gun control then the very least we owe them is a ******* plan."