Tales from the kitchen
Tag: mentalhealth
Mood food: The link between eating well and mental health
Have you ever noticed that lots of people in your local McHamburger joint look miserable? Turns out, those frequently partaking in McHamburgers might actually be miserable. World-leading Australian research suggests that our diets may have a significant impact on risk for major depressive illness. On the positive side though, eating well may protect not only the health of your body, but the health of your brain. Depression is one of the most common mental disorders in the world, with approximately 5% of the global population affected (1). It is a leading cause of disability and a major contributor to the burden of disease globally. Despite an increased understanding of both symptoms and effective treatments, rates of depression continue to rise (2). This has lead to questions regarding what else might contribute to...
Outsider to Insider: Rethinking mothering support
This week I had the great privilege of attending a lecture given by Dr Marjorie Aunos. Marjorie is both a colleague and friend, from the West Montreal Readaptation Centre in Canada. She has made a huge contribution to what we know about people with intellectual disability (ID) who are parents, and is a world expert in the field of parenting with ID. In January 2012, on her way to work, Marjorie's car slipped on black ice into the path of an oncoming truck. In a quarter of a second she became a paraplegic. And her life changed. There were skills to learn, and skills to relearn. There were long weeks in a hospital bed as her body recovered....
We care about maternal mental health
This Wednesday 4 May is the first ever global Maternal Mental Health Day, a worldwide effort to raise awareness for maternal mental health issues so that more women will get treatment and fewer will suffer.