Category: TED - Beyond The Body

Beyond The Body

Internet & Video Gaming Addiction: Fact or Fiction?

3/8/2017

While "Internet/Video Gaming Disorder" is still a controversial diagnosis and is listed as a 'condition requiring further clinical research' in the DSM-5: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, emerging stories such as Cam Adair's, reveal that addictions to internet/video gaming can have powerful negative impacts on one's daily function, relationships, and mental well-being.

So why are video and online games so addictive? As Adair describes in his TEDx talk (link below), games are enticing because they offer a temporary escape from one's problems and they are social and offer interpersonal connections that are based solely on common interests and video game prowess which is enticing especially for many who have been bullied in the past. In addition, these games offer a challenge/sense of meaning or purpose and the chance to feel successful, and they're a source of constant measurable growth, frequently providing rewards for the time and efforts kids put in.

As he describes in both the article and video, by identifying these critical "four pillars of needs", Adair learned what gaming was providing him, and more importantly, what healthier alternatives needed to provide him with in order for him to be successful in curbing his gaming behaviours.

"The proportion of Ontario students with symptoms of a video gaming problem in 2015 was 13 per cent, compared to 9 per cent in 2007, according to a health survey by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) in Toronto. (It defined symptoms as “preoccupation, tolerance, loss of control, withdrawal, escape, disregard for consequences, disruption to family/school.”)

And boys are four times more likely than females to exhibit problem gaming, CAMH says...

...A number of studies have consistently shown that individuals addicted to gaming show a “comorbidity” — one or more additional conditions — such as ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) and MDD (major depression)".

To learn more about Adair and his story, check out these links:
https://www.thestar.com/news/insight/2017/03/05/16-hour-video-game-binges-almost-ruined-calgary-teens-life.html

The Healing Effects of Music

1/2/2017

In this TEDMED talk, concert pianist Zsolt Bognor speaks briefly to his experience of depression and how he found comfort and healing in classical music. Bognor also shares with viewers two of his favourite pieces by Austrian composer Franz Peter Schubert who was believed to have struggled with depression too.

Do you think music can be therapeutic when it comes to mental health? What songs do you listen to that provide you with solace or work to lift your spirits?

Renowned Surgeon and Author Dr. Sherwin Nuland Shares His Story of ECT

11/21/2016

Dr. Sherwin B. Nuland was a renowned physician who practiced surgery for more than thirty years, in addition to teaching at Yale School of Medicine, his alma mater, and penning over a dozen books many of which explored lessons he had learned through his career in medicine. One of his books, "How We Die: Reflections on Life's Final Chapter ", won numerous accolades as Nuland explored the concept of death with dignity.

What many may not know about Dr. Nuland, who passed away in 2014, was that he struggled with severe depression in the midst of his surgical career in the 1970s. Dr. Nuland spent time in psychiatric institutions, and tried various antidepressants, however none were successful and his mental illness seemed refractory to traditional treatments. Though staff psychiatrists suggested a pre-frontal lobotomy as the next step, a resident suggested electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) instead, a treatment method that had become less popular since the introduction of pharmaceuticals, but could be beneficial and came without the consequences of a lobotomy that may affect his medical career.

In this powerful and must watch TED talk, Dr. Nuland discusses the history and development of ECT, as well as shares his story of "relief, redemption and second chances" as he describes how ECT helped treat the depression which was so severe that it had rendered him essentially non-functional.

Physician Suicide - Why Doctors Kill Themelves

3/24/2016

In her TEDMED talk posted just earlier this week, Dr. Pamela Wible, a family physician and self-described "specialist in physician suicide", shares stories and letters from physicians around the world all of whom have either contemplated, attempted, or died by ‪suicide‬.

Through these stories, Dr. Wible points to medical training and our culture of medical ‎education‬ as one of the culprits of the shocking numbers of physicians suffering from mental illness and suicidal ideation. Through her talk, Dr. Wible hopes to bring more light to this issue and encourage our learning institutions to bring about change in the medical classroom, so as to benefit the mental well-being of both our new physicians, as well as their future patients.

"Sleep deprivation is a torture technique. Fear as a teaching tool just teaches us to be afraid. I can help doctors, though there’s one group I can’t help—patients. From all over the country they write me, begging me to find them caring doctors. How can we give them the care we’ve never received?"

The Importance of "Emotional Hygiene"

3/3/2016

In his enlightening TED talk, psychologist Guy Winch, discusses how many of us place substantial importance on our physical health, and even from a young age, learn how to take care of our bodies and physical wounds. But what about our emotional and mental well-being? Winch argues that too often we fail to prioritize our psychological health, and forget to practice "emotional hygiene". It is Winch's powerful thought that if we took more diligent care of our minds and feelings, then perhaps we could develop psychological resiliency that may help us both overcome or cope with our emotional wounds, such as those related to loneliness and failure, as well as help prevent ‪mental health‬ conditions such as ‪‎depression‬.

"But what do we know about maintaining our psychological health? Well, nothing. What do we teach our children about emotional hygiene? Nothing. How is it that we spend more time taking care of our teeth than we do our minds. Why is it that our physical health is so much more important to us than our psychological health?

We sustain psychological injuries even more often than we do physical ones, injuries like failure or rejection or loneliness. And they can also get worse if we ignore them, and they can impact our lives in dramatic ways. And yet, even though there are scientifically proven techniques we could use to treat these kinds of psychological injuries, we don't. It doesn't even occur to us that we should ..."

A Psychologist Shares His Personal Story of Self-Harm

10/15/2015

In this eloquent, emotive, and incredibly personal TED talk below, Dr. Stephen Lewis tells his story of how being bullied in his youth led to ‪#depression‬ and self-loathing, which eventually led to self-harm behaviours in an effort to provide relief from his emotional pain.

Through his vulnerability and honesty, Dr. Lewis hopes to enhance society's understanding of self-injury and connect to others experiencing similar ‪‎mental health‬ issues to offer support and hope.

Dr. Lewis, who has since become a ‪‎psychology‬ professor at the University of Guelph, has used his personal experiences to direct his research, which particularly focuses on self-injury. More than that, Dr. Lewis has also co-founded Self-injury Outreach & Support, a collaboration between the University of Guelph and McGill University, "to provide information and resources about self-injury to those who need help, those who have recovered, and those who can help these individuals including families, schools and professionals."

"With depression came daily bouts of intense and seemingly insurmountable emotional pain. Like anyone would in that circumstance I just yearned for relief, just a temporary break from the pain that I felt inside. And so, out of desperation and in an attempt to feel anything that was going on inside, I cut myself. For me, self-injury provided needed relief from that emotional turmoil I was feeling inside. And although temporary, it was still relief and relief at the time that was so desperately needed and desperately sought. And because my depression and the pain that it bestowed persisted, and because at the time I had no other way with which to cope, I continued to self-injure. Beyond the relief that it provided, self-injury conveyed the words that I could not, it communicated the depth of my sadness, it communicated the immense hatred I was now feeling toward myself, it communicated the pain I felt as a child and a teenager. And yet, as much as that self-injury seemed to say, it seemed to also take away my voice. Indeed the more that I did it, the less I felt I could talk about my pain, let alone my self-injury. The self-injury that seemed to say so much and speak so loudly had paradoxically silenced me."

The Impact of Depression

3/24/2015

Kevin Breel, a comedian, student, and athlete, delivered a stirring talk May 2013 at TedxYouth about the severity of depression: "... every 30 seconds, someone, somewhere in the world, takes their life due to depression.... we say we're sad, we say we're sorry, but we also say 'so what?'". The entirety of his talk, including details of his personal struggle with depression, is below.

To answer Breel's posited 'so what?', here is a comic drawn by artist Erika Moen (more found at http://www.erikamoen.com) about just exactly 'so what' one of those suicides meant to her, and the impact it had on her life.

Meditation for Psychological Stress and Wellbeing

11/4/2014

Does meditating help improve levels of psychological stress and mental wellbeing? Goyal et al's recent review and metanalysis of the existing literature points to the intriguing possibilities - and limitations - of meditation and its role in stress and mood management. A preview of their conclusions: "... meditation programs can result in small to moderate reductions of multiple negative dimensions of psychological stress."

Here's neuroscientist Sara Lazar explaining some of the effects meditation can have on the mind and its ability to handle stress.

Let's talk about stress, baby: reconceptualizing physiological arousal to improve health and wellbeing.

10/28/2014

'The candle that burns twice as bright lasts only half as long'. 'Too much stress is bad for you.' 'You're going to work yourself into an early grave.' We have all heard these statements (or ones with similar themes) in our lives. Popular opinion holds that elevated levels of psychological stress is a predictor of poor health outcomes and premature death, the so-called disease of the Type A personality.

This old piece of 'common sense' is being challenged by new research that asks whether or not it is stress itself that leads to premature death and poor health outcomes, or if it is our conceptualization of stress as a negative that is the causative factor. In a recent paper published in Health Psychology, Keller et al (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22201278) use multiple logistic regression models in conjunction with US Health Interview Survey and National Death Index data to shed some light on the affect our attitudes have on our bodies.

Keller et al's (2012) research is just one piece of a larger puzzle that multiple research teams around the world are beginning to put together: how we think, how we feel, and how we understand the world around us contributes greatly to our health even in matters previously considered to be purely physical. Below, health psychologist Kelly McGonigal discusses our changing understanding of stress.

TED Talk: How to make stress your friend

How one teenager changed his struggle with depression with four simple words

10/13/2014

A very insightful TedTalk by a model high school student Kevin Breel explaining his personal struggles with depression. He explains his journey through depression and how the social stigma surrounding the illness has impacted his life. Kevin feels that those suffering from depression can take the first step towards change by truthfully expressing four simple words.

Watch here:
http://www.ted.com/talks/kevin_breel_confessions_of_a_depressed_comic?language=en