Community voices and knowledge sharing

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Community voices and knowledge sharing


Case Studies and Personal Experiences

 

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The hidden aspirin epidemic?

Harvard researchers are advising millions of people who take aspirin every day to prevent heart attacks to stop their daily use.

Some 29 million people 40 and older were taking an aspirin a day in 2017 despite not having a heart disease. The study also found that about 6.6 million of them were using aspirin on their own even though a doctor never recommended it to them. And nearly 10 million people over 70 who don’t have heart disease were taking daily aspirin for prevention.

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Apathy: The forgotten symptom of dementia

Apathy is the most common neuropsychiatric symptom of dementia, with a bigger impact on function than memory loss. A new study has found that apathy is present nearly half of all people with dementia, with researchers finding it is often distinct from depression.

Although common, apathy is often ignored as it is less disruptive in settings such as care homes than symptoms like aggression. Defined by a loss of interest and emotions, it is extremely distressing for families and it is linked with more severe dementia and worse clinical symptoms.

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Psychiatric diagnosis 'scientifically meaningless'

A new study, published in Psychiatry Research, has concluded that psychiatric diagnoses are scientifically worthless as tools to identify discrete (either you have it or you don't) mental health disorders.

The main findings of the research were:

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Vaping on the rise with teens

According to Statistics Canada, 23% of high school students across the country have tried a vaping product. Of that total, teens and young adults — between the ages of 15 and 24 — report the highest rates of vaping.

“It’s the ‘in’ thing now,” said Robert Schwartz, a senior scientist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). “Smoking amongst teens is acceptable, but it’s not the cool thing to do anymore.”

Schwartz said teens are likely attracted to vaping because the term “vaping” suggests water vapour, but it’s actually nicotine they’re taking in.

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Ramadan with depression and anxiety (BBC video)

My Ramadan Diary: Fasting for 18 hours with depression and anxiety

The long hours of fasting for Ramadan can be challenging but what's it like when you're doing it with mental health issues?

Not eating food or drinking water makes each hour of the day harder for Maryam, who also writes as Maz Halima. But something else adds to the struggle - her depression and anxiety.

So what does a day look like for her during Ramadan? We wake up with Maryam at 2am, meet an imam, and find out why she thinks it's worth it.

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"A man in love who was exhausted and couldn't stand to see his wife suffering any longer" - The accused lawyers

A Montreal man was found guilty of manslaughter and has been sentenced to two years less a day for killing his wife, who was in the late stages of Alzheimer's disease (source). His lawyers portrayed him as an exhausted caregiver. They argued their client's judgment on the day of his wife's death was clouded by a major depression and years of suffering.

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The message that addiction is a disease makes substance users less likely to seek help

Research finds that people with substance-use problems who read a message describing addiction as a disease are less likely to report wanting to engage in effective therapies, compared to those who read a message that addiction behaviors are subject to change.

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Contact with nature during childhood could lead to better mental health in adulthood

Adults who had close contact with natural spaces during their childhood could have better mental health than those who had less contact, according to a new study by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health.

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Stigma deterring elite athletes with mental health issues from seeking help

Stigma is the main reason why elite athletes with mental health issues don't seek the help they need, finds a summary of the available evidence. But a poor understanding of mental illness, busy schedules, and gender stereotyping also play their part, the findings suggest.

Mental illness affects up one in three elite athletes every year. The elite sports culture, with its heavy training demands and constant drive to improve performance, only serve to heighten the risk, the evidence suggests.

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What if Twitter knew someone was depressed 3 months before before a diagnosis?

Twitter users with depression and anxiety were found to be more likely to post pictures with lower aesthetic values and less vivid colors, particularly images in grayscale, according to a new study led by researchers at Penn Medicine. Additionally, they found that users tended to suppress positive emotions rather than outwardly display more negative emotions, such as keeping a straight face instead of outright frowning, in their profile pictures. 

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