Mindfulness for Depression and Anxiety

/in /by

Jon Kabat Zinn is said to be the forefather of modern mindfulness. He is the man responsible for bringing this Eastern practice to the West. He defines mindfulness as:

“paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally. It’s about knowing what is on your mind.”

One of the first studies that Kabat-Zinn performed was in 1979 where he recruited chronically ill patients who were not responding to mainstream treatments for mental ill health. Kabat-Zinn’s study allowed for participants to participate in his eight-week stress reduction program, which he called the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). This proved successful and has since seen a substantial body of research providing more evidence of its efficacy. The research shows that mindfulness can improve mental and physical health comparably to other psychological interventions. Furthermore, mindfulness offers clients the ability to self-teach and use the tools anytime anywhere.

Everyone will experience restless nights and lack of sleep on occasion. However, if sleep is disrupted for weeks or months, insomnia can become a nightmare. Sleep disorders such as sleep apnea require medical attention as they can really reduce the quality of life of the individual suffering, but for those suffering from insomnia, anxiety can be the root cause.

There are different types of insomnia. Chronic insomnia is where there is disturbed sleep for at least 3 days a week for more than 3 months and it affects around 7-13% of the population. Genetics, environmental issues, and long-term stress can be the cause of chronic insomnia. Primarily older people, “worriers”, and females, tend to be more at risk. Also, those with health complications such as obesity can be at further risk. The above factors, plus a stressful situation may be enough to cause a good sleeper to develop insomnia. Similarly, adrenaline pumping events can also influence sleep.

Once a sleep problem has begun, a person may worry about being unable to fall asleep which can cause the cycle to continue. The more a person is worrying about not sleeping, the worse their problem gets. Rather than counting sheep, mindfulness can help with insomnia by breeding an awareness of what comes into mind from paying attention to the present moment and being nonjudgemental of thoughts.

Mindfulness can help us let go of the past and stop worrying about the future. It is essentially embracing the thought, showing compassion to it, and letting it go. Jon Kabat-Zinn noticed a marked improvement in sleep quality for those that participated in mindfulness-based interventions. Mindfulness can improve sleep by breaking the cycle of rumination- unhelpful worrying-and worrying about not sleeping or having enough sleep. By letting go, clients can embrace the fact that sleep will come at its own time.

Practising relaxation in bed through mindfulness-based interventions can also be very beneficial, promoting both sleep, and energy for the following day. Mindfulness also reduces stress and anxiety and can break the vicious cycle whereby clients read electronic devices or watch TV before bed. This blue light interferes with the sleep-awake cycle by affecting the hormone, melatonin, and keeps people awake longer than they should be. Mindfulness and Chronic Pain and Depression Kabat-Zinn’s work also focused on how mindfulness can help those with chronic pain and depression.

Alongside his colleagues, Segal and others, Kabat-Zinn wrote the book The Mindful Way Through Depression, and states that by not focusing on the pain, worrying about it, or trying to eliminate it, chronic pain sufferers open up space to enjoy other happier and joyous life moments. Those with chronic pain will often agonise and worry about their health and suffering, often to the point that the stress and worry exacerbates symptoms. By opening up room where the patient does not focus solely on their pain and suffering, clients can then begin to enjoy small moments within the day and gradually more as they work their way through practising mindfulness.

In those that suffer from depression, Kabat-Zinn argues to start small and focus on breathing. They can eventually work their way up to tackling their negative emotions. What the focus is on is for clients to anchor themselves and so when a negative emotion comes to the surface it doesn’t automatically trigger a whole heap of associations for the person. These can render a person helpless and ruminate in their trauma. When the person is anchored and negative thoughts can leave easily, the person can mindfully choose a response to deal with the thoughts. They move from reactive to responsive and are in a much more controlled state.

Segal, a colleague of Kabat-Zinn, argues that when a person has received mindfulness training, their responses to sadness change. When someone without mindfulness training experiences sadness, a part of the brain that seeks to diagnose is activated. This causes the person to become overwhelmed because they feel far more than just allowing themselves to feel the feeling. In those that have received mindfulness training, the two parts of the brain are able to balance each other out and the person can respond in a more responsive, controlled manner. Research into the effectiveness of MBCT for those with chronic or potentially recurring depression have shown that MBCT is 43% effective in reducing relapse in sufferers of depression and is seen to be as effective as antidepressants. Furthermore, those that have done mindfulness training begin to see if as a way of life as opposed to a treatment.

How Gratitude Improves Our Health

/in /by

Gratitude can help us physically, psychologically, and socially.

Physically, gratitude can help boost our immune systems, lower pain and blood pressure, and have better sleep. Gratitude can also build positive emotions, we feel more alert, experience more joy and pleasure, and feel more optimistic. It boosts our social lives through being more helpful, generous, compassionate, forgiving, feeling less lonely and isolated too. We become more outgoing and friendly when we experience gratitude.

The Two Stages of Gratitude

According to Dr. Robert Emmons, the feeling of gratitude involves two stages. The first one is that we acknowledge the goodness in our life. At this stage, we realise that life is good. The second stage is that we acknowledge the source of goodness lies outside of us. We are then grateful for other people, animals, blessings that have come our way.

We are grateful for the goodness in our life and where that source of goodness comes from.

Purpose of Gratitude

The purpose of displaying gratitude is that it boosts wellbeing and it also helps harness pro-social behaviour. Simply being grateful for being alive motivates us to seize opportunities. The idea that tomorrow is not guaranteed is motivating for many.

Being grateful and displaying gratitude is a selfless act. Gratitude is displayed without expecting anything in return. Displaying gratitude can be cathartic.

Reciprocity can also emerge as a result of displaying gratitude. While one does not expect an exchange from the act of gratitude, often it can spur the recipient of gratitude to reciprocate with a kind gesture. This leads to a social exchange known as ‘paying it forward.’

Trait or State?

Gratitude is regarded as a trait (dispositional) or state (how we feel). According to McCullough, Emmons, and Tsang (2002), gratitude is considered a character strength that can be used as part of everyday living, and it can be harnessed and developed (Peterson and Seligman, 2004). When emotion is displayed in response to another person’s expression of gratitude, this is called a state (Watkins, Van Gelder, and Frias, 2009).

Neuroscience and Gratitude

Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) has been used in studies to assess the brain’s response to gratitude and has found that increased gratitude was associated with brain activity in the regions of the brain that deal with morality, reward, and value judgement. Gratitude is a social emotion that is linked to stress reduction, as an attitude of gratitude lowers levels of stress.

The Gratitude Letter:

Seligman, Steen, and Peterson (2005) asked participants to write a letter expressing gratitude to someone that had been kind to them, but who had never been properly thanked. The three steps to take in this gratitude letter are:

1. Identify the person that has done something important and wonderful for you, but you haven’t thanked properly.

2. Secondly, reflect on the benefits you received from this person and write them a letter expressing your gratitude for all they have done.

3. Finally, arrange to deliver the letter in person when you will both have time to talk about what you wrote.

Results have shown that those that wrote letters of thanksgiving had increased happiness for one month after writing the letter in comparison to a control group in the experiment.

Children can do this exercise to breed a heart of thankfulness.

Social bonds and relationships

Gratitude has also been linked to broader pro-social behaviour and benefits relationships. Barbara Fredrickson’s research into the Broaden and Build Theory (2004) highlights that anything that boosts positive emotions actually has an off-set response where further positive emotions are displayed. Happier, positive emotions, contribute to pro-social behaviour which means that we live out happier healthier lives, helping others, and building community. In a romantic relationship, gratitude serves to build a stronger bond, with less conflict. Being thankful for the things that your partner does only increases the amount they will continue to do. Feelings of gratitude have a reciprocal effect.

Gratitude not only boosts social wellbeing, but it increases career prospects too. It helps you manage better and cultivate better working relationships.

Understanding Neurodevelopmental Disorders: Autism, Aspergers, and ADHD Explained

/in /by

Autism and ADHD has been in the news quite a lot lately. With celebrities speaking out about their recent diagnoses, and long waiting lists for tests, social media has been rife with posts on this hot topic.

Autism and Asperger’s are disorders that impact on social functioning. They affect both children and adults alike, but less research is done on the adult population. Those that have autism or Asperger’s may have heightened intellectual capabilities, especially as they can focus on tasks very well, and often zone in on one particular topic, however, they may have problems with social functioning. But, what exactly are Autism and Aspergers?

The following are some of the characteristics and signs and symptoms of someone with Autism:

Characteristics of Autism Spectrum Disorders

• Social Difficulties

• Expressive and Receptive Communication Difficulties

• Restricted Repertoire

• Sensory Processing Difficulties

• Theory of the Mind

• Executive Functioning Issues

• Obsessions/ Rituals

• Compulsive mannerisms

• Self-stimulatory behaviour

• Withdrawal

• Self-injury

• Aggression

There are a number of areas that are associated with difficulty when it comes to Autism Spectrum Disorder and these areas include social life, being obsessive, black and white thinking, rigidity when it comes to schedule, not liking change, and difficulty regulating emotions.

Because individuals with autism may have sensory overloaded meltdowns, it is important that we are aware of some common stressors. These include unstructured time such as bus journeys, sensory overload such as chaos, noise, crowds and space, issues with organising and writing, and social events and changes. For this reason, it is best to make sure that the environment is as predictable as possible. Providing consistency and ensuring that the changes are voiced in advance can also be useful. You can reduce stressors by providing more enjoyable activities and decrease disliked and difficult tasks.

What is ADHD?

ADHD is a common behavioural disorder. It stands for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Those with ADHD act without thinking, are hyperactive, and have trouble focusing. They may understand what is expected of them, but have trouble following through because they cannot sit still, pay attention, or focus on details.

Some of the signs and symptoms of ADHD include:

• Lack of attention

• Hyperactivity

• Inability to focus

• Poor concentration

• Interrupting people

• Disorganisation

• Risk taking behaviours

ADHD can be a comorbid disorder, and sometimes it presents with disorders such as Asperger’s or Autism. Comorbidity is characterised by two presenting disorders. When a person has more than two diagnosed disorders, we call that multimorbidity.

People with ADHD may be seen to “misbehave” because they have a different perception of a situation. They may also not know how to ask to get what they need. They may feel misunderstood, hungry, or feel the environment is too chaotic.

As you may have seen on social media, some people with ADHD and Autism diagnoses have been sharing how it is their superpower. While neurodiversity can come with some challenges in a non-neurodiverse world, those that have ADHD or Autism, when accepted and accommodated, do thrive and exceed expectations. In fact, many many people with these diagnoses do great things.

Recovering From Mental Illness: A Non-Linear Process

/in /by

Recovery is an individual process. It is unique to each individual. Treatments will vary from person to person, even if individuals have the same disorder. This is because physiological responses differ. While there are standard medication and treatment options, these will be tailored to cater to each individual’s needs. Recovery is not a linear process. Some people recover quickly, while others take time.

Recovery may mean different things to different people too. For some, it is about managing symptoms, while for others it is about eradicating all symptoms and returning to full health.

What Does Recovery Look Like for Minorities?

Recovery is not always straight-forward. While there are milestones, it is not always a linear process. One of the biggest issues in recovery is whether a person belongs to a community that stigmatises mental illness. If this is the case, help-seeking behaviours will be compromised.

We live in a multi-cultural society. While decades ago, standard treatments may have been used to help all people, nowadays this is not the case. Vietnamese communities, for instance, may not seek out help and hold the belief that the community will support the wellbeing of the individual. Other cultures may also stigmatise and shame those that have mental illness, thus people actively avoid speaking out. In Australia, for instance, the aboriginal community still faces stigma around mental illness.

There is still stigma that looks at indigenous populations as prone to joblessness and alcoholism. These wider views make it difficult for indigenous populations to seek help, and it has also affected them because they are less likely to be employed. Cultural associations and prejudice can cause great harm to minority groups. It impacts on their help-seeking behaviours, because they may feel misunderstood. There is also the fact that indigenous populations have their own communication styles, beliefs and values. If practitioners are not trained in cultural safety, then they may inadvertently offend indigenous people.

Research into Ethnic Groups Accessing Services

There have been some studies into ethnic and indigenous populations accessing care. These have brought about great reform and changes. Services acknowledge the need for cultural understanding and awareness and to train their staff in cultural safety. The movie, Rabbit Proof Fence, highlighted the generational stigmatising of aboriginals that led to the stolen generation. This has caused great distress to the indigenous population of Australia and practitioners need to be aware of that. A Eurocentric or western style of healthcare is not always fitting to indigenous or ethnic people, so the workforce also needs to reflect the community more. There is a greater need for CALD professionals because of this.

It is important for practitioners to avoid a one-size fits all model for conceptualising mental illness. Training in mental health has often focused on a western perspective, but many cultures conceptualise illness differently. For some, mental illness is spiritual and dealt with by community spiritual leaders. Practitioners need to acknowledge the unique and diverse ways minority groups conceptualise their health. The person-centred approach is best for acknowledging the values and beliefs of each individual.

Beyond a Medical Model: Working with Diversity in Mind

/in /by

In their work, Culture, Illness, and Care: Clinical Lessons from Anthropologic and Cross-Cultural Research, Kleinman, Eisenberg and Good (1978) used the term ‘explanatory model’ that defines how patients conceptualise and construct their illness.

Conceptualising illness is an important facet of understanding the patient’s point of view, i.e., what their illness means to them. It offers up opportunities to reject a wholly biomedical model and opt for a holistic and person-centred approach that considers broader cultural perspectives. People from different cultures often conceptualise their illnesses and mental health in differing ways and these explanations may be counter to common western thought, thus isolating them from a wholly western model of care.

It would be advisable to not only gain an understanding of cultural conceptualisations of distress, but to understand that ethnic communities may conceptualise their illness in many ways. In fact, ethnic communities should not be treated as a homogenous group with a one-size fits all approach. But rather, a person-centred approach that understands the broader cultural dynamics at play, however, treats the patient as an individual with their own perspective.

Studies on conceptualisations of schizophrenia among four ethnic groups have found a range of formulations, for instance. They found that Bangladeshi and African-Caribbean groups attributed schizophrenia to social causes and the supernatural and this in turn impacted on the treatment they wanted. This also meant that these communities were seen to less likely to have insight into their mental health because their conceptualisation did not fit within the biomedical framework. This in turn meant these communities were more likely to be dissatisfied with treatment.

Help Seeking Behaviours in Ethnic Minority Groups

There have been a number of studies on help seeking behaviours in ethnic minority groups (Cochrane and Stopes-Roe, 1981; Bécares and Das-Munshi, 2013; Sue et al, 1991; Sheikh and Furnham, 2000, to name a few). Because of the number of different ways ethnic minority groups conceptualise their distress, studies have shown a number of help-seeking behaviours. Help-seeking has been linked to levels of satisfaction with services and number of previous hospital admissions, as well as how communities conceptualise their mental health. However, a study in the late 1980s found that African-Caribbean people were in receipt of an inferior level of care in the UK and were less satisfied with mental health services. Further to that, Asian communities were less likely to seek help because they were more likely to seek help within their community. Families of Chinese patients with Schizophrenia either attributed the disorder to internal or external events depending on social class.

Muslims were more likely to attribute their mental illness to the supernatural and found prayer was a way of overcoming distress. Some communities such as Indian migrants were less likely to suffer distress and seek help and other studies found a correlation between an increase in mental health disorders between White Irish people with each ten percent reduction in that community’s density. Problems arise when people from BME communities live in relative isolation and it would be beneficial to have an alternative way of accessing care.

Interventions for the Hard to Reach

Studies show that barriers to accessing care are linked to stigma attached to mental health problems and that some communities do not identify with what services are offering them. Further barriers to accessing care have been previous experiences of care, whether there is a mutual understanding between professional and patient, and language and communication barriers.

Given that there are a number of reasons why people from minority groups do not access care, a more pluralistic approach would be advisable. Firstly, interventions need to be more community-centred, with a wide range of cultural knowledge used to gain a better understanding of the needs of the individual from that community. Acknowledging the diversity within these communities has also been recommended. Further, reaching isolated individuals within communities is suggested because of the paradoxical nature of being a part of a community. The community can be both a site of knowledge of services, yet the place that hinders care through narratives of stigma.

It is important to hear the voices of individuals belonging to these communities. This will ensure that the best possible interventions reach hard to reach communities, who in turn will help improve mental health services and medical care at large.

*References available upon request

Read More…

How To Prevent Tech Neck by An Occupational Physician

/in /by

Organisations are taking an active role in educating their staff on how to develop and maintain good posture. They are often doing this by showing employees how to use technology correctly. That being said, many of us, in our rush to complete tasks, often bypass the advice and slump at our desks. This, naturally, compromises our wellbeing.

Posture is important to both physical and mental wellbeing.

Bad posture can impact on our mood, causing us to feel worse. Pain can also lead to negative emotional outcomes. Just as there is a psychological feedback loop with facial expressions, there is one with posture. Bad posture leads to low mood and a low mood can result in bad posture. Standing up straight and working on posture can thus result in a better mood.

Bad posture can lead to headaches, stress and tension, and, over time, crippling back pain that needs further medical care. Working on bettering your posture can lead to better health outcomes.

Tech Neck and Using Gadgets

Tech (or text) neck is the name given when we tilt our neck while using gadgets like mobile phones, tablets, and so forth, in an unnatural position. Over time, this tilting of the head can lead to bad posture and cause headaches, back, neck, and shoulder aches. The tilting can also cause a change in the position of our necks because we are looking down at technology all the time.

More and more people are working longer ours and not switching off. They may sit all day at their desks and then sit on the couch catching up on work emails when they get home. Not switching off and taking time to exercise and stretch can further heighten the risk of developing tech neck.

Stretches You Can Do At Home

Taking time out of your working day to do some stretches and exercises is key to helping maintain good posture. You should also check on posture, ensuring you’re not slumping at your desk. Doing stretches, such as the exaggerated nod, can help prevent tech neck from developing.

Pilates techniques are also great at helping maintain good posture. The downward dog pose can be very useful and there are plenty of free video guides on YouTube. A simple walk outside and mindfulness can help you become aware of any slumping of the back and shoulders. Holding your phone up higher instead of looking down will also help prevent the tilting of your neck. Lifting it up to eye level will be incredibly useful in preventing slumping.

Just remember, prevention is better than cure. Doing simple stretches and making small changes will go a long way in helping you maintain good posture.

 

Read More…

SMART Goals and Organisational Leadership

/in /by

Leaders and managers in the workplace can use the SMART model (setting specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound goals) to set direction and identify their goals. It is important that management and leaders have a strategy to identify what they would like to achieve. The SMART model is a time-tested way to do this.
In order for managers to utilise the SMART model, they need to think about what exactly it is they would like to accomplish. A vague idea can be given structure through the use of the SMART criteria.

Examples of how SMART can be used to help leaders
Managers and leaders should lead by example. They are in a position of influence over their workforce and therefore need to follow time-tested methods that work. These examples help set the culture of the workforce and ensure their subordinates follow suit.
A leader must lead by example and have goals that are clearly defined. SMART allows for leaders to set their intentions and values and showcase these to their team.
An example of this is the first part of the acronym, specific. Leaders and managers need to set specific intentions. They should have a yes be yes and a no means no approach to leading, showing consistency in their intent and objectives. An example of setting a specific goal or intention is for leaders to offer their team more feedback. Constructive feedback, according to Gallup, produces significantly higher engagement at work.
Measurable goals can help leaders and managers quantify their success. If we revert back to the last example, leaders that wish to offer more feedback can quantify the amount of feedback they offer and the outcomes achieved from this effort. Quantifying also allows leaders to place a cap on how much they do achieve, meaning their goals are realistic. Offering more feedback to employees may be the goal, but how much more feedback can they realistically offer?
When setting workplace goals, SMART helps managers and leaders stay relevant to their organisation’s needs. They need to ask questions about the overall vision and mission of the organisation and the key aims and objectives. Is their goal relevant to the organisation’s overall strategy and vision, for instance?
Lastly, managers and leaders need to set a fixed time to achieve the goals that they set. They need to show that they can manage their time effectively, which is the hallmark of a great leader, and achieve their goals in a realistic time frame. SMART can also be used alongside a SWOT analysis to check for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that may hinder or provide opportunities to achieve these goals.
SMART Goals and Motivation
Setting goals and achieving goals excites us. We get a hit of dopamine (a neurotransmitter linked to positive emotion) when we achieve a worthwhile pursuit. Motivation comes from creating and achieving a goal that we are excited about. Seeing our goals on paper can help motivate us to achieve them.
One such tactic is to have your SMART goals visible around your room, in the kitchen, your study, or bathroom, where you can be reminded of what you set out to achieve. A new body of research that focuses on the neuroscience of leadership identifies how people can set and achieve their goals with ease. These studies have shown that we can use our brain to our advantage and harness its power to rewire our neural pathways in a process called neuroplasticity. Neuroplasticity is linked to habit-formation and can influence and change the way we think about life. We can use the power of the brain through utilising whole-brain thinking, imagination and neuroplasticity to improve success in our own lives, as well as the lives of our clients.

Dark Triads: Working With Bad People

/in /by

The dark triad of personalities are as the name suggests; bad. They can be particularly challenging within the workforce. They are the personality traits of narcissism, Machiavellian, and psychopathy. These are the people that do great harm in the world. They lack empathy, seek power, and control, and manipulate for personal gain. They can cause terror and damaged self-esteem in their wake, but also fatalities. These are the people that you find in positions of power, or in prisons. They seek power and control and will manipulate to get what they want. There are three key personality types within the Dark Triad; narcissists, Machiavellian types, and psychopaths.

Narcissists

Narcissists are those that are incredibly self-absorbed, need constant affirmation, seek out strokes whether positive or negative, and engage
people to gain narcissistic supply. The term narcissist is quite ubiquitous, but few people actually fit the diagnostic term for narcissism.

Narcissists obsess about themselves. They focus on materialism and even their looks. They will often use people for personal gain before discarding them; they seek out people for narcissistic supply, emptying the person of emotions and leaving them feeling like a shadow of their former selves.

Machiavellian Personality Traits

Machiavellians are a scary bunch. This personality is based on Machiavelli himself. You may have read the book, Power. It was based on the ability to manipulate for control. Machiavelli’s, The Prince, was based on using immoral suggestions to maintain power. In The Prince, Machiavelli stated that it is the father that owns his children, and therefore, the father can choose whether he keeps them alive.

Machiavellians crave power and they don’t care about the means to which they gain it. They only care about themselves and their own goals and dreams. They prioritise money and power, lie and deceive others for personal gain, and lack a moral compass. Machiavellians, like narcissists, often come across as flattering and charming, with many saying that
they “have the gift of the gab.” Despite this, Machiavellians may be difficult to get to know, they will often be cynical of goodness and morality, questioning those that display these traits, and will have low levels of empathy.

We know a lot more about narcissism and psychopathy than we do Machiavellianism. However, the consequences of this personality are just as grave.

Psychopathy

Psychopathy is probably the most famous of the dark triad personalities. It is one that frequently appears in the media. Psychopaths have no empathy or remorse. They are often without feeling, which is the scary part, as
it means that nothing disturbs them. They are prone to pathological lying, are extremely charming, need stimulation, have poor impulse control, are callous, are grandiose, manipulative, and live a parasitic lifestyle.

Psychopaths, if they are not in prison, often rise to the top of the ranks in the business, finance, political, legal or medical professions. Their craving for power, and lack of sensitivity and empathy, makes them particularly frightening. They are the ones that are in prison for murder, whose modus operandi is to hide the bodies of their victim so that they are continuously on a power trip. When they aren’t overt criminals, they can wreak havoc in senior positions in the workforce, crushing subordinates in their desire for control.

Those with a dark triad personality are great at superficial relationships due to their charm. The following characteristics are normal:

  1. Love bombing: this is when the person with a dark triad personality will throw out all the stops. They may be overtly affectionate, often making the other person feel so loved, like they have never felt so before. As they do not feel empathy, the love bombing is a way to
    get their ego stroked and fed.
  2. Mimicking: people that have the dark triad personality traits will often mimic other people’s emotions as they do not know how to show and feel empathy.
  3. Gaslighting: this is when the person with a dark triad personality will deny the reality of a situation. It has their victims questioning their reality, often feeling like they are going insane. They do this to damage the person’s self-esteem so that they feel like they are going crazy.
  4. Exhausting victims: dealing with somebody with a dark triad personality is exhausting as it often feels like you are jumping through hoops.
  5. Rage: while the person with the dark triad will often feel emotionless, if their ego is not stroked, they may fly into rage.
  6. Repetitive behaviour: a person who has a dark triad personality will repeat their style of behaviour with others. Without help, they will continue charming and then discarding their victims.

The Light Triad

Wherever you see a need for power and personal gain, the dark triad personality is at work. While there has been so much focus on the dark triads, more recent research is focusing on the light triads. These are the people like the mother Theresas of the world. These people are the
humanitarians. They display love, warmth, compassion, curiosity, zest, kindness, forgiveness, collaboration and gratitude. The Light Triad is a newer form of research. One thing it tells us that these traits, whether good or bad, are on a spectrum.

Read More… 

Knowing Your Macros from Your Micros: A Healthy Diet for Energy and Vitality

/in /by

A healthy diet is a diet that is nutritionally balanced and contains all of the essential vitamins and minerals, as well as the macro nutrients in the required portions. Macro nutrients include protein, the building blocks of tissue; carbohydrates that provide energy; and fats, which can be split into saturated, unsaturated, trans, polyunsaturated, and monounsaturated. Focusing on eating healthy fats from oily fish, nuts and avocadoes is important, and avoiding trans fats found in pastries and cakes, is key to getting the essential fatty acids that we need, while avoiding upping our cholesterol.

It’s so important to eat a varied diet. We need variety because we need to ensure we get a wide variety of vitamins and minerals (micronutrients) and the 3 macronutrients. Without a varied diet, we risk being under nourished. For instance, vegetarians may need to supplement their iron intake due to a lack of iron. It’s also important to look into having omega 3, 6, and 9 if you’re not eating oily fish.

A nutrient simply nourishes the body. Nutrients are vitamins and minerals that we need. Some are stored in the body and some are needed daily. There are fat-soluble and water-soluble vitamins. Fat-soluble vitamins are stored in the body, whereas water-soluble are needed on a daily basis. Vitamins A, D, E and K are fat soluble, whereas vitamins B (all of the B vitamins) and C are water-soluble. There can also be too much of a good thing. Too much vitamin A can be dangerous, whereas too much vitamin C is simply excreted. In terms of minerals, we need selenium, iron, iodine, phosphorous, manganese, magnesium, sodium, potassium, zinc, cobalt, molybdenum and copper to function effectively. When we under nourish, we may feel fatigued and unable to perform optimally.

Fruit and vegetables are a good source of nutrients. They contain a lot of plant sources of vitamins and minerals. Meat (organic especially), oily fish, and fortified milks and yoghurts can contain calcium. Nuts and seeds are good sources of omega and selenium too. These are good for giving us a more youthful glow.

The main factors that affect our nutritional needs are age, sex and activity. A pregnant woman will need to up her folic acid levels even while trying to conceive and throughout her pregnancy. Men need zinc for good quality sperm. Sedentary lifestyles will need different nutrient levels to that of an active person. If a person is sick, they may wish to up their nutrient levels to aid healing. Vitamin C is especially good for this.

Macronutrients, or macros, are the three types of food molecules the body can break down for energy:

  • Protein, which has 4 calories per gram.
  • Carbohydrates, which have 4 calories per gram.
  • Fat, which has 9 calories per gram.

Aiming for a healthy diet is a good form of self-care meaning we can avoid unnecessary illness and fatigue. We may also help the body recover in a swifter manner.

Read More…

Expertise That Delivers

Trusted by professionals across Australia

20+ Years

In Occupational & Environmental Medicine

200+

Organisations Served — From SMEs to Federal Departments

Acknowledgement Of Country

We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.