https://theconversation.com/explainer-whats-the-link-between-insomnia-and-mental-illness-49597
The relationship between insomnia and mental illness is bidirectional: about 50% of adults with insomnia have a mental health problem; up to 90% of adults with depression have sleep problems.
Participate in a survey about how mental health is viewed within the tech/IT workplace, and the prevalence of certain mental health disorders within the tech industry.
http://medicalxpress.com/news/2016-03-bad-decision-anxiety-blame.html
Most people experience anxiety in their lives. For some, it is just a bad, passing feeling, but, for many, anxiety rules their day-to-day lives, even to the point of taking over the decisions they make.
Scientists at the University of Pittsburgh have discovered a mechanism for how anxiety may disrupt decision making. In a study published in The Journal of Neuroscience, they report that anxiety disengages a region of the brain called the prefrontal cortex (PFC), which is critical for flexible decision making. By monitoring the activity of neurons in the PFC while anxious rats had to make decisions about how to get a reward, the scientists made two observations. First, anxiety leads to bad decisions when there are conflicting distractors present. Second, bad decisions under anxiety involve numbing of PFC neurons.
Hello world!
On this year’s World Mental Health Day, some info from Lifeline and Mental Health Australia:
Did you know 70% of people with mental health issues don’t seek help? […] As a community we can encourage others to take care of their mental health by breaking down the barriers that stop people seeking help when they need it.
Make your mental health promise and share it today. Encourage your friends and family to do the same and share their promises here or on social media using the hashtag #WMHD2015.
Here are some great tips and promises to make to yourself this 10/10 (October 10th):
Interesting find:
[…] interactive flow chart for people who struggle with self care, executive dysfunction, and/or who have trouble reading internal signals. It’s designed to take as much of the weight off of you as possible, so each decision is very easy and doesn’t require much judgement.
Some readers may find it of use. I think it’d be useful to have the source code for this available so that a broad group of people can tweak and improve it, or make personalised versions.
Staring at screens right before sleep turns out to be a lot worse than previously thought. Dr. Dan Siegel, clinical professor of psychiatry at the UCLA School of Medicine, lays out all of the negative effects that bedtime screen viewing can have on the brain and body.
And of course, that’s aside from the effects of the contents! If you read any news, you may find yourself all riled up and annoyed at something you can do absolutely nothing about (or at least not at that moment). If you check your work email, just as problematic.
http://wilwheaton.net/2015/08/tears-in-rain/
I walked out of the loading dock, through a cloud of rotting garbage, and into the alleyway behind the theater. A curtain of rain fell between me and my destination, a little over a block away.
“Do you want to wait here, while I get you an umbrella?” Liz, the producer from Wizards of the Coast, asked me.
“No,” I said, stepping into the rain, extending my arms outward and turning my palms and face to the sky, “it’s been so long since I felt rain fall on my body, I’m not going to let this opportunity pass me by.”
I walked down the sidewalk, surrounded by other PAX attendees. Some were not bothered by the rain, while others held up programs and newspapers and other things to keep it away. A man walked his dog next to me. The dog was unperturbed by the weather. We got to the corner and waited for the light to change. The rain intensified and it was glorious.
“Are you sure this is okay?” She said.
“Oh yes, this is so much more than okay,” I answered, “this is perfect.”
[…]
I’ve been feeling pretty much the opposite of awesome for several weeks, now, and actually getting to sit down, face to face, in a semi-quiet few moments with real people who wanted to be there with me was … restorative, I guess is the best word. One player told me, “Thank you for everything you do. From Tabletop to Titansgrave — which is the best thing I’ve ever seen — to talking so openly about anxiety and depression.”
[…]
Read Wil’s entire post at http://wilwheaton.net/2015/08/tears-in-rain/
The New York Times published an interesting review of a book entitled “NeuroTribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity”, authored by Steve Silberman (534 pp. Avery/Penguin Random House).
Silberman describes how autism was discovered by a few different people around the same time, but with each the publicity around their work is warped by their environment and political situation.
This means that we mainly know the angle that one of the people took, which in turn warps our view of Aspergers and autism. Ironically, the lesser known story is actually that of Hans Asperger.
I reckon it’s an interesting read.
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20150106-how-to-nap-like-a-pro
We’ve all heard of the merits of power naps, says Tiffanie Wen, but are there good and bad ways to sleep during the day?
