"We camouflage our true being before others to protect ourselves against criticism or rejection.  This protection comes at a steep price.  When we are not truly known by the other people in our lives, we are misunderstood.  When we are misunderstood, especially by family and friends, we join the "lonely crowd."  Worse, when we succeed in hiding our being from others, we tend to lose touch with our real selves.  This loss of self contributes to illness in its myriad forms. "


Posts tagged with 'diet'

How can we best assess the healthiness of our diet?

12th November 2012

I have recently written a couple of blog posts about diet and mental health - "Emerging research on diet suggests it's startlingly important in the prevention of anxiety & depression" and "So what dietary advice should we be following - for psychological as well as physical health?" An obvious related …

So what dietary advice should we be following - for psychological as well as physical health?

22nd September 2012

A couple of days ago I wrote a blog post that I think makes a very important point - "Emerging research on diet suggests it's startingly important in the prevention of anxiety & depression". Much of what the post said is downloadable in Powerpoint and can be printed out as …

Emerging research on diet suggests it's startlingly important in the prevention of anxiety & depression

20th September 2012

The key points of this blog post can be downloaded & printed out as a helpful 6-slide-miniatures-to-a-page Powerpoint handout. Back in December 2009 I wrote a blog post entitled "New research shows diet's importance for preventing depression" where I commented "You know how it is - no buses in sight, …

Seven recent research studies: folate & depression; grain, cancer & weight control; protein & increased cardiovascular disease

16th August 2012

It's been a while since I wrote a blog post on diet. However there is a good deal of accuracy in the comment "You are what you eat". This is definitely an area it's crucial to consider for improvements in stress, health & wellbeing. So in previous posts, I have …

Commitment contracts: a personal example

23rd March 2012

(This post is downloadable as a Word doc or a PDF file). I've already written a couple of posts about commitment contracts - "Commitment contracts: another good way of helping us reach our goals" and "Orientation, practicalities & use as therapeutic tools". I'd like to illustrate some points about setting …

Commitment contracts: orientation, practicalities & use as therapeutic tools

22nd March 2012

(This post is downloadable as a Word doc or a PDF file). I wrote yesterday about "Commitment contracts: another good way of helping us reach our goals". In today's post I'd like to look a bit more at the practicalities of setting up and using commitment contracts. I'll illustrate this …

Commitment contracts: another good way of helping us reach our goals

21st March 2012

(This post is downloadable as a Word doc or a PDF file).In a paper - "Commitment contracts as a way to health" - published a little earlier this year in the British Medical Journal, the authors (Halpern, Asch & Volpp from the University of Pennysylvania "Center for Health Incentives") wrote …

Health crisis for Britain's middle-aged

10th September 2011

Ouch, a very interesting international health survey, that has just been released, reports: "Middle-aged Britons are experiencing a mid-life health crisis, according to new research from Bupa, which shows that those aged 45-54 are more likely to be obese, more likely to smoke and more likely to suffer from depression …

Mental contrasting: a way to boost our commitment to goals we care about

20th February 2011

This blog post is downloadable both as a Word doc and as a PDF file. What is ‘mental contrasting'? Mental contrasting (MC) is a way of boosting our energy and commitment for goals that are important to us. It helps us turn our hopes and dreams into realities. Interestingly, and …

Recent research: six lifestyle & health studies - two on sleep, two on smoking, one on diet & one on weight

13th January 2011

Here are half a dozen recent research papers on lifestyle and health - fuller details, abstracts & links to all studies mentioned are listed further down this post. The first couple are on sleep. I live a pretty healthy life, but I do "short change" myself a bit on sleep …