Medcast news and blog
Why are we so bad at making the self-care message stick?
Put self-care into your web browser and you will not be able to see the end of the list of hits you get. I tried for “self-care strategies” and got 658 million hits! With so much information out there about how to look after ourselves it can be overwhelming. No wonder people close their ears.
READ ON
These findings are important in showing that delivering MBCT via the internet can be just as successful in helping improve outcomes for patients with depression, and it may be more accessible than face-to-face therapy.
Day to day within my role I have been providing clinical support to an exciting new mental health program being funded by SA Health and trialled in two large hospitals in Adelaide. This pilot program, called the Rapid Hospital Avoidance Program, aims to provide an alternative to hospitalisation for people presenting with acute mental health issues
This year I’ve decided to practice what I preach. I’m starting with something that has evolved from last year’s eye-opening experience with keeping a gratitude diary when, along with other members of my team at work, I participated in the 6-week Mental Fitness Challenge on the BiteBack website. BiteBack is a positive psychology-based website for ad
I had an interesting experience at my GP recently. I don’t go to the GP very often. Mostly I don’t get sick. Sometimes I treat my own ills or just soldier on. On the few occasions that I have been to see someone about something concerning me, my overwhelming experience has been of being judged and dismissed. I feel that they think that, as a doctor, I should have not only made the diagnosis but also treated myself. In fact, I should have been better way before I thought to come along!
I talk to a lot of health professionals and it amazes me how often people look at me blankly when I introduce the subject of self-soothing activities. As the conversation progresses I can see most of the blank looks turn to some degree of understanding as they begin to acknowledge the familiarity of the concept in their own lives, but GPs in particular are not generally familiar with the fact that teaching people about emotional management strategies is a core part of therapy, and an intervention that is entirely available to them in general practice.
At the RACGP annual conference this year (GP19) Dr Anita Elias spoke eloquently and persuasively about the psychological impact of young people’s access to, and use of, online pornography. It is no longer just a speculative idea based on clinical anecdotes. Research evidence confirms that viewing pornography at a young age is having a significant and damaging impact on young people’s sexual attitudes and behaviours and their emotional states.
Parenting is often challenging - particularly for us as mental health-interested GPs - as we know full well how important it is to get it right with attachment. Thank goodness for Winnicott’s “good enough mother” idea to get us through those sleepless nights!
Like many people with ageing brains I am concerned about the things I might fail to remember. My life is full of new experiences. I like to travel and while I’m away I take photos so I will remember those experiences better (a bit like people with early dementia learn to write themselves notes) and so that I can share the memories with others.
We have been talking about mindfulness in mental health for some time. It’s sometimes hyped as the universal panacea for all things anxious and depressed. Easy, cheap and with no side effects!