Military veterans in the United States can now avail of free treatment when stuck in an “acute suicidal crisis”. Free treatment, including inpatient care of up to 30 days, and outpatient care of up to 90 days will now be available to them.

The mental health care plan was announced by the Department of Veterans. Announcing the move on Friday, Secretary for Veterans Affairs (VA) Denis McDonough in a statement that is available on the VA website said, “Veterans in suicidal crisis can now receive the free, world-class emergency health care they deserve–no matter where they need it, when they need it, or whether they’re enrolled in VA care.”&nbsp;

Watch |&nbsp;A silent Pandemic

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“This expansion of care will save Veterans’ lives, and there’s nothing more important than that,” he added.

As per the release, the care can be availed in both VA and non-VA healthcare facilities, and even those veterans that are not enrolled in the VA system can avail of the benefit.

Veterans who were discharged from the military after a minimum of two years of service are eligible for this care facility. However, those who were dishonourably discharged are not eligible.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/mental-health-matters-what-is-post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd-477702">Mental health matters: What is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)?</a>

Additionally, “former members of the armed forces, including reserve service members, who served more than 100 days under a combat exclusion or in support of a contingency operation either directly or by operating an unmanned aerial vehicle from another location who was discharged under conditions other than dishonourable,”&nbsp;can also avail the suicide care.

The policy will also apply to veterans who suffered “a physical assault of a sexual nature, a battery of a sexual nature, or sexual harassment while serving in the armed forces”.

According to the release statement, the policy will pay directly or reimburse treatment costs of eligible veterans.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/trending/over-50-per-cent-of-trans-and-non-binary-youth-in-us-considered-suicide-says-survey-543991">Over 50% of trans and non-binary youth in US considered suicide in 2022, reveals survey</a>

The move is reportedly a key part of the Joe Biden- Kamala Harris administration plan for reducing military and veteran suicides.&nbsp;

Every year, hundreds of veterans haunted by their time in the army, suffering from mental health issues like PTSD, take their own lives. Suicide, as per a VA report, is the 13th leading cause of death among former army personnel. As per the report, in 2020, 6,146 US veterans died by suicide. Another report, this one by the US Defence Department, shows that in 2021, 519 US service members, including active duty, Reserve, and National Guard troops, died by suicide.

(With inputs from agencies)

If you or someone you know wants help for mental well-being, don't hesitate to talk to a professional. Aasra (Mumbai) 022-27546669, 98204 66726, Sneha (Chennai) 044-24640050, Sumaitri (Delhi) 011-23389090, Cooj (Goa) 0832- 2252525, Jeevan (Jamshedpur) 065-76453841, Pratheeksha (Kochi) 048-42448830, Maithri (Kochi) 0484-2540530, Roshni (Hyderabad) 040-66202000, Lifeline 033-64643267 (Kolkata), Parivarthan (Bangalore) +91 76766 02602

WION is not associated with any of these organisations and does not make any recommendations.

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Military veterans in the United States can now avail of free treatment when stuck in an “acute suicidal crisis”. Free treatment, including inpatient care of up to 30 days, and outpatient care of up to 90 days will now be available to them.

Military veterans in the United States can now avail of free treatment when stuck in an “acute suicidal crisis”. Free treatment, including inpatient care of up to 30 days, and outpatient care of up to 90 days will now be available to them. The mental health care plan was announced by the Department of Veterans. Announcing the move on Friday, Secretary for Veterans Affairs (VA) Denis McDonough in a statement that is available on the VA website said, “Veterans in suicidal crisis can now receive the free, world-class emergency health care they deserve–no matter where they need it, when they need it, or whether they’re enrolled in VA care.” Watch | A silent Pandemic “This expansion of care will save Veterans’ lives, and there’s nothing more important than that,” he added. As per the release, the care can be availed in both VA and non-VA healthcare facilities, and even those veterans that are not enrolled in the VA system can avail of the benefit. Veterans who were discharged from the military after a minimum of two years of service are eligible for this care facility. However, those who were dishonourably discharged are not eligible. Also read | Mental health matters: What is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)? Additionally, “former members of the armed forces, including reserve service members, who served more than 100 days under a combat exclusion or in support of a contingency operation either directly or by operating an unmanned aerial vehicle from another location who was discharged under conditions other than dishonourable,” can also avail the suicide care. The policy will also apply to veterans who suffered “a physical assault of a sexual nature, a battery of a sexual nature, or sexual harassment while serving in the armed forces”. According to the release statement, the policy will pay directly or reimburse treatment costs of eligible veterans. Also read | Over 50% of trans and non-binary youth in US considered suicide in 2022, reveals survey The move is reportedly a key part of the Joe Biden- Kamala Harris administration plan for reducing military and veteran suicides. Every year, hundreds of veterans haunted by their time in the army, suffering from mental health issues like PTSD, take their own lives. Suicide, as per a VA report, is the 13th leading cause of death among former army personnel. As per the report, in 2020, 6,146 US veterans died by suicide. Another report, this one by the US Defence Department, shows that in 2021, 519 US service members, including active duty, Reserve, and National Guard troops, died by suicide. (With inputs from agencies) If you or someone you know wants help for mental well-being, don't hesitate to talk to a professional. Aasra (Mumbai) 022-27546669, 98204 66726, Sneha (Chennai) 044-24640050, Sumaitri (Delhi) 011-23389090, Cooj (Goa) 0832- 2252525, Jeevan (Jamshedpur) 065-76453841, Pratheeksha (Kochi) 048-42448830, Maithri (Kochi) 0484-2540530, Roshni (Hyderabad) 040-66202000, Lifeline 033-64643267 (Kolkata), Parivarthan (Bangalore) +91 76766 02602 WION is not associated with any of these organisations and does not make any recommendations. WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

US army veterans can now avail free 'suicide help'

The public school district in Seattle has filed a novel lawsuit against the tech giants behind TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and Snapchat, seeking to hold them accountable for the mental health crisis among youth.

WION Pulse: Seattle schools file lawsuit against four tech giants

While getting more exercise, eating right, and making new friends are all good habits, new CU Boulder research suggests the addition of gardening can have a powerful impact. Funded by the American Cancer Society, the first-ever, randomised, controlled trial of community gardening found that those who started gardening ate more fibre and got more physical activity, two known ways to reduce the risk of cancer and chronic diseases. They also saw their levels of stress and anxiety significantly decrease.

The findings were published in the journal Lancet Planetary Health. “These findings provide concrete evidence that community gardening could play an important role in preventing cancer, chronic diseases, and mental health disorders,” said senior author Jill Litt, a professor in the Department of Environmental Studies at CU Boulder.

Filling the research gap!

Litt has spent much of her career seeking to identify affordable, scalable, and sustainable ways to reduce disease risk, especially among low-income communities. Gardening seemed an ideal place to start.

“No matter where you go, people say there’s just something about gardening that makes them feel better,” said Litt, who is also a researcher with the Barcelona Institute for Global Health.

But solid science on its benefits is hard to come by. Without evidence, it’s hard to get support for new programs, she said.

Some small observational studies have found that people who garden tend to eat more fruits and vegetables and have a healthier weight. But it has been unclear whether healthier people just tend to garden or whether gardening influences health.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/entertainment/lifestyle/news-_-secrets-to-longevity-from-the-centenarians-of-okinawa-537851">Four secrets to longevity from the centenarians of Okinawa, the land of immortals</a>

Only three studies have applied the gold standard of scientific research, the randomized controlled trial, to the pastime. None have looked specifically at community gardening.

To fill the gap, Litt recruited 291 non-gardening adults, an average age of 41, from the Denver area. More than a third were Hispanic and more than half came from low-income households.

After the last spring frost, half were assigned to the community gardening group and half to a control group that was asked to wait one year to start gardening.

The gardening group received a free community garden plot, some seeds and seedlings, and an introductory gardening course through the nonprofit Denver Urban Gardens program and a study partner.

Both groups took periodic surveys about their nutritional intake and mental health, underwent body measurements, and wore activity monitors.

A fibre boost!

By fall, those in the gardening group were eating, on average, 1.4 grams more fibre per day than the control group–an increase of about 7 per cent.

The authors note that fibre exerts a profound effect on inflammatory and immune responses, influencing everything from how we metabolize food to how healthy our gut microbiome is to how susceptible we are to diabetes and certain cancers.

While doctors recommend about 25 to 38 grams of fibre per day, the average adult consumes less than 16 grams.

“An increase of one gram of fibre can have large, positive effects on health,” said co-author James Hebert, director of the University of South Carolina’s cancer prevention and control program.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/entertainment/lifestyle/news-study-reveals-travelling-far-from-home-is-good-for-health-550032">Study reveals travelling far from home is good for health</a>

The gardening group also increased their physical activity levels by about 42 minutes per week. Public health agencies recommend at least 150 minutes of physical activity per week, a recommendation only a quarter of the U.S. population meets. With just two to three visits to the community garden weekly, participants met 28 per cent of that requirement.

Study participants also saw their stress and anxiety levels decrease, with those who came into the study most stressed and anxious seeing the greatest reduction in mental health issues.

The study also confirmed that even novice gardeners can reap measurable health benefits of the pastime in their first season. As they have more experience and enjoy greater yields, Litt suspects such benefits will increase.

Blooming relationships

The study results don’t surprise Linda Appel Lipsius, executive director of Denver Urban Gardens (DUG), a 43-year-old nonprofit that helps about 18,000 people each year grow their own food in community garden plots.

“It’s transformational, even life-saving, for so many people,” Lipsius said.

Many DUG participants live in areas where access to affordable fresh fruits and vegetables is otherwise extremely limited. Some are low-income immigrants now living in apartments–having a garden plot allows them to grow food from their home country and pass on traditional recipes to their family and neighbours.

The social connection is also huge. “Even if you come to the garden looking to grow your food on your own in a quiet place, you start to look at your neighbour’s plot and share techniques and recipes, and over time relationships bloom,” said Litt, noting that while gardening alone is good for you, gardening in the community may have additional benefits. “It’s not just about the fruits and vegetables. It’s also about being in a natural space outdoors together with others.”

Litt said she hopes the findings will encourage health professionals, policymakers and land planners to look to community gardens, and other spaces that encourage people to come together in nature, as a vital part of the public health system. The evidence is clear, she added.

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While getting more exercise, eating right, and making new friends are all good habits, new CU Boulder research suggests the addition of gardening can have a powerful impact.

While getting more exercise, eating right, and making new friends are all good habits, new CU Boulder research suggests the addition of gardening can have a powerful impact. Funded by the American Cancer Society, the first-ever, randomised, controlled trial of community gardening found that those who started gardening ate more fibre and got more physical activity, two known ways to reduce the risk of cancer and chronic diseases. They also saw their levels of stress and anxiety significantly decrease. The findings were published in the journal Lancet Planetary Health. “These findings provide concrete evidence that community gardening could play an important role in preventing cancer, chronic diseases, and mental health disorders,” said senior author Jill Litt, a professor in the Department of Environmental Studies at CU Boulder. Filling the research gap! Litt has spent much of her career seeking to identify affordable, scalable, and sustainable ways to reduce disease risk, especially among low-income communities. Gardening seemed an ideal place to start. “No matter where you go, people say there’s just something about gardening that makes them feel better,” said Litt, who is also a researcher with the Barcelona Institute for Global Health. But solid science on its benefits is hard to come by. Without evidence, it’s hard to get support for new programs, she said. Some small observational studies have found that people who garden tend to eat more fruits and vegetables and have a healthier weight. But it has been unclear whether healthier people just tend to garden or whether gardening influences health. Also read: Four secrets to longevity from the centenarians of Okinawa, the land of immortals Only three studies have applied the gold standard of scientific research, the randomized controlled trial, to the pastime. None have looked specifically at community gardening. To fill the gap, Litt recruited 291 non-gardening adults, an average age of 41, from the Denver area. More than a third were Hispanic and more than half came from low-income households. After the last spring frost, half were assigned to the community gardening group and half to a control group that was asked to wait one year to start gardening. The gardening group received a free community garden plot, some seeds and seedlings, and an introductory gardening course through the nonprofit Denver Urban Gardens program and a study partner. Both groups took periodic surveys about their nutritional intake and mental health, underwent body measurements, and wore activity monitors. A fibre boost! By fall, those in the gardening group were eating, on average, 1.4 grams more fibre per day than the control group–an increase of about 7 per cent. The authors note that fibre exerts a profound effect on inflammatory and immune responses, influencing everything from how we metabolize food to how healthy our gut microbiome is to how susceptible we are to diabetes and certain cancers. While doctors recommend about 25 to 38 grams of fibre per day, the average adult consumes less than 16 grams. “An increase of one gram of fibre can have large, positive effects on health,” said co-author James Hebert, director of the University of South Carolina’s cancer prevention and control program. Also read: Study reveals travelling far from home is good for health The gardening group also increased their physical activity levels by about 42 minutes per week. Public health agencies recommend at least 150 minutes of physical activity per week, a recommendation only a quarter of the U.S. population meets. With just two to three visits to the community garden weekly, participants met 28 per cent of that requirement. Study participants also saw their stress and anxiety levels decrease, with those who came into the study most stressed and anxious seeing the greatest reduction in mental health issues. The study also confirmed that even novice gardeners can reap measurable health benefits of the pastime in their first season. As they have more experience and enjoy greater yields, Litt suspects such benefits will increase. Blooming relationships The study results don’t surprise Linda Appel Lipsius, executive director of Denver Urban Gardens (DUG), a 43-year-old nonprofit that helps about 18,000 people each year grow their own food in community garden plots. “It’s transformational, even life-saving, for so many people,” Lipsius said. Many DUG participants live in areas where access to affordable fresh fruits and vegetables is otherwise extremely limited. Some are low-income immigrants now living in apartments–having a garden plot allows them to grow food from their home country and pass on traditional recipes to their family and neighbours. The social connection is also huge. “Even if you come to the garden looking to grow your food on your own in a quiet place, you start to look at your neighbour’s plot and share techniques and recipes, and over time relationships bloom,” said Litt, noting that while gardening alone is good for you, gardening in the community may have additional benefits. “It’s not just about the fruits and vegetables. It’s also about being in a natural space outdoors together with others.” Litt said she hopes the findings will encourage health professionals, policymakers and land planners to look to community gardens, and other spaces that encourage people to come together in nature, as a vital part of the public health system. The evidence is clear, she added. WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

Gardening can help reduce cancer risk & boost mental health, new study finds

From birthing PTSDs to baby blues, it takes a toll on the mental health. A new research reveals the longer women spend time on mom focused social media sites, the higher their stress levels. Watch this to know more.

Do mom groups really help?

A new study suggests that learning a musical instrument like the piano may help people deal with mental health difficulties like depression and anxiety.&nbsp;A research by the University of Bath had 31 adults participate in a randomised control study. They were divided into either a music training, music listening, or control group.

As per a PTI report, people who had no prior musical instruction or expertise were told to complete weekly one-hour sessions. The control group either listened to music or used the time to accomplish schoolwork while the intervention groups engaged in musical activity.

Dr Karin Petrini of the University of Bath, one of the authors, said, "We know that playing and listening to music often brings joy to our lives, but with this study we were interested in learning more about the direct effects a short period of music learning can have on our cognitive abilities."

Each music training session had two portions. Finger exercises took up the first 20 minutes of the programme.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/jaw-dropping-study-of-toothed-bird-fossil-leads-to-insight-into-structure-of-birds-beaks-539103">Jaw-dropping: Study of toothed bird fossil leads to insight into structure of birds' beaks</a>

For the second part, students spent 40 minutes studying songs from the ABRSM piano grade one test list for the 2017–2018 academic year. Each training session was conducted in a one-on-one setting.

These compositions were taught to participants in the following order: William Gillock A Stately Sarabande, Classic Piano Repertoire (Elementary), Johann Christian Bach Aria in F, BWV Anh. II 131, Giuseppe Verdi La donna è mobile (from Rigoletto), Bryan Kelly Gypsy Song: No. 6 from A Baker's Dozen and, finally the traditional American folk song, 'When the saints go marching in', said the PTI report.&nbsp;

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/experimental-drug-slows-down-cognitive-decline-in-alzheimers-patients-heres-what-you-need-to-know-538818">Experimental drug slows down cognitive decline in Alzheimer's patients: Here’s what you need to know</a>

Once they were able to play the previous song accurately and fluidly, they moved on to the next one.

According to Petrini, the results of the study indicate that this has a considerable, favourable impact on how the brain interprets audio-visual information even in adulthood when brain plasticity is decreased.

Therefore, the authors speculate that learning music might be helpful for those who are struggling with mental health issues. However, additional research is needed to verify this.

(With inputs from agencies)

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A new study suggests that learning a musical instrument like the piano may help people deal with mental health difficulties like depression and anxiety. A research by the University of Bath had 31 adults participate in a randomised control study.

A new study suggests that learning a musical instrument like the piano may help people deal with mental health difficulties like depression and anxiety. A research by the University of Bath had 31 adults participate in a randomised control study. They were divided into either a music training, music listening, or control group. As per a PTI report, people who had no prior musical instruction or expertise were told to complete weekly one-hour sessions. The control group either listened to music or used the time to accomplish schoolwork while the intervention groups engaged in musical activity. Dr Karin Petrini of the University of Bath, one of the authors, said, "We know that playing and listening to music often brings joy to our lives, but with this study we were interested in learning more about the direct effects a short period of music learning can have on our cognitive abilities." Each music training session had two portions. Finger exercises took up the first 20 minutes of the programme. Also read | Jaw-dropping: Study of toothed bird fossil leads to insight into structure of birds' beaks For the second part, students spent 40 minutes studying songs from the ABRSM piano grade one test list for the 2017–2018 academic year. Each training session was conducted in a one-on-one setting. These compositions were taught to participants in the following order: William Gillock A Stately Sarabande, Classic Piano Repertoire (Elementary), Johann Christian Bach Aria in F, BWV Anh. II 131, Giuseppe Verdi La donna è mobile (from Rigoletto), Bryan Kelly Gypsy Song: No. 6 from A Baker's Dozen and, finally the traditional American folk song, 'When the saints go marching in', said the PTI report. Also read | Experimental drug slows down cognitive decline in Alzheimer's patients: Here’s what you need to know Once they were able to play the previous song accurately and fluidly, they moved on to the next one. According to Petrini, the results of the study indicate that this has a considerable, favourable impact on how the brain interprets audio-visual information even in adulthood when brain plasticity is decreased. Therefore, the authors speculate that learning music might be helpful for those who are struggling with mental health issues. However, additional research is needed to verify this. (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

Playing piano may help deal with mental health issues, overcome depression: Study

The rape case retrial against former political adviser Bruce Lehrmann has been dropped, as it poses a "significant and unacceptable risk" to the woman complainant's life.&nbsp;The 27-year-old former adviser was accused of raping his colleague Brittany Higgins inside Australia's Parliament House.&nbsp;

As per the accuser, on March 22, 2019, Lehrmann&nbsp;sexually assaulted her on a minister's sofa after a night out. She said both had drinks with colleagues and others and she later fell asleep on a sofa in defence industry minister Linda Reynolds's office, and had woken up to find Lehrmann having sex with her.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/australian-court-begins-trial-of-former-staffer-bruce-lehrmann-accused-of-sexual-assault-in-parliament-house-522340">Also read |&nbsp;Australian court begins trial of former staffer Bruce Lehrmann accused of sexual assault in Parliament House</a>

Lehrmann denied doing so. He maintained that no sex took place. His lawyer said that Higgins's accusations are "totally and utterly inconsistent."&nbsp;

However, the prosecutor said that the ongoing risk to Higgins's mental health for retrial is not in the public interest.&nbsp;

The case was dropped in October due to misconduct by the jury. This is because after 12 days of testimony and five days of discussion in the trial,&nbsp;it was found that one of the jurors had brought in academic research papers looking at false accusations in the sexual assault case.&nbsp;

Watch |&nbsp;Australia rape case: Brittany Higgins vs Bruce Lehrmann; After a 12-day trial, Jury discharged

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Higgins's friend Emma Webster said that she is currently in the hospital for treatment to deal with the trauma of the alleged incident. In a statement, Webster said that the last couple of years were difficult for Higgins and that she is disappointed that the trial has ended in this way.&nbsp;

Higgins waived her right to privacy by disclosing her narrative to authorities in early 2021 and went public with her allegations in some television interviews.

Her&nbsp;accusations acted as the catalyst for Australia's "Me Too moment," which then sparked demonstrations over women's safety. She reported her case days after the incident as she feared for her career, a jury head claimed.&nbsp; 
 
The incident led to a damning review the finding of which showed that a third of the woman employees in the federal parliament had faced sexual harassment.

(With inputs from agencies)

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The rape case retrial against former political adviser Bruce Lehrmann has been dropped, as it poses a "significant and unacceptable risk" to the woman complainant's life.

The rape case retrial against former political adviser Bruce Lehrmann has been dropped, as it poses a "significant and unacceptable risk" to the woman complainant's life. The 27-year-old former adviser was accused of raping his colleague Brittany Higgins inside Australia's Parliament House. As per the accuser, on March 22, 2019, Lehrmann sexually assaulted her on a minister's sofa after a night out. She said both had drinks with colleagues and others and she later fell asleep on a sofa in defence industry minister Linda Reynolds's office, and had woken up to find Lehrmann having sex with her. Also read | Australian court begins trial of former staffer Bruce Lehrmann accused of sexual assault in Parliament House Lehrmann denied doing so. He maintained that no sex took place. His lawyer said that Higgins's accusations are "totally and utterly inconsistent." However, the prosecutor said that the ongoing risk to Higgins's mental health for retrial is not in the public interest. The case was dropped in October due to misconduct by the jury. This is because after 12 days of testimony and five days of discussion in the trial, it was found that one of the jurors had brought in academic research papers looking at false accusations in the sexual assault case. Watch | Australia rape case: Brittany Higgins vs Bruce Lehrmann; After a 12-day trial, Jury discharged Higgins's friend Emma Webster said that she is currently in the hospital for treatment to deal with the trauma of the alleged incident. In a statement, Webster said that the last couple of years were difficult for Higgins and that she is disappointed that the trial has ended in this way. Higgins waived her right to privacy by disclosing her narrative to authorities in early 2021 and went public with her allegations in some television interviews. Her accusations acted as the catalyst for Australia's "Me Too moment," which then sparked demonstrations over women's safety. She reported her case days after the incident as she feared for her career, a jury head claimed. The incident led to a damning review the finding of which showed that a third of the woman employees in the federal parliament had faced sexual harassment. (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE

Australia: Rape retrial against Bruce Lehrmann dropped due to fears over accuser Higgins's mental health 

We are living in an age of misinformation. The sources of information are many, but the trustworthy ones are few. In this day and age of "fake news", "conspiracy theories", "deepfakes" and "trolls", the Merriam-Webster word of the year 2022 is "gaslighting".

The word is by no means new, but this year saw an ever-increasing interest in it, with over 1740 per cent increase in instances of people looking for its meaning.

What does 'Gaslighting' mean?

As per Merriam-Webster, there are two definitions of the word, but both of them have to do everything with disorientation, mistrust, manipulation and selfish motives.

One way to describe it is an "act or practice of grossly misleading someone, especially for one’s own advantage."

Another definition describes gaslighting as the "psychological manipulation of a person usually over an extended period of time that causes the victim to question the validity of their own thoughts, perception of reality, or memories and typically leads to confusion, loss of confidence and self-esteem, the uncertainty of one's emotional or mental stability, and a dependency on the perpetrator".

As per Psychology Today, "The “I’m sorry you feel that way” approach, along with avoiding an argument in lieu of admitting fault, is good old-fashioned gaslighting".&nbsp;

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/as-crisis-after-crisis-plague-the-world-permacrisis-becomes-collins-word-of-the-year-530270">As crisis after crisis plague the world, 'Permacrisis' becomes Collins' word of the year 2022</a>

<h2>When was the word coined?</h2>

The origin story of gaslighting is interesting, to say the least. In 1938 British novelist and playwright &nbsp;Patrick Hamilton wrote a play, that tells the story of a dysfunctional couple.

It is a dark tale of "a marriage based on deceit and trickery", in which the husband Jack Manningham tries to steal from his wife Bella, resorting to antics that escalate to the point of driving her insane.

His mysterious activities in the attic cause the house's lights to dim. When Bella mentions the strange phenomenon, Jack insists that the lights are not dimming. the repeated denial makes Bella doubt her sanity.&nbsp;

This sinister story titled 'Gas Light' gave birth to many play and movie adaptations and the word "Gaslighting".

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/here-are-the-newest-cool-words-that-you-need-to-add-to-your-vocabulary-513864">Here are the newest 'cool' words that you need to add to your vocabulary</a>

<h2>What are some examples of gaslighting?</h2>

Generally, the word is used in the context of romantic relationships that have inklings of psychological manipulation and resulting trauma.

However, as the word gains popularity, it is making appearances in other areas too.&nbsp;

"Medical gaslighting" has been used to describe doctors who inappropriately, unfairly dismiss patients' concerns.

The word gaslighting may be "in" right now, but remember, it remains a serious psychological manipulation that can make its victim suffer distress at a level where their self-worth suffers and they're "second-guessing everything".&nbsp;

If this article resonates with you and you think that you may be a victim of gaslighting, seek professional help; talking to a therapist can help you unravel and deal with the trauma.

<hr />
If you or someone you know wants help for mental well-being, don't hesitate to talk to a professional. Aasra (Mumbai) 022-27546669, 98204 66726, Sneha (Chennai) 044-24640050, Sumaitri (Delhi) 011-23389090, Cooj (Goa) 0832- 2252525, Jeevan (Jamshedpur) 065-76453841, Pratheeksha (Kochi) 048-42448830, Maithri (Kochi) 0484-2540530, Roshni (Hyderabad) 040-66202000, Lifeline 033-64643267 (Kolkata), Parivarthan (Bangalore) +91 76766 02602

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We are living in an age of misinformation. The sources of information are many, but the trustworthy ones are few. In this day and age of "fake news", "conspiracy theories", "deepfakes" and "trolls", the Merriam-Webster word of the year 2022 is "gaslighting".

We are living in an age of misinformation. The sources of information are many, but the trustworthy ones are few. In this day and age of "fake news", "conspiracy theories", "deepfakes" and "trolls", the Merriam-Webster word of the year 2022 is "gaslighting". The word is by no means new, but this year saw an ever-increasing interest in it, with over 1740 per cent increase in instances of people looking for its meaning. What does 'Gaslighting' mean? As per Merriam-Webster, there are two definitions of the word, but both of them have to do everything with disorientation, mistrust, manipulation and selfish motives. One way to describe it is an "act or practice of grossly misleading someone, especially for one’s own advantage." Another definition describes gaslighting as the "psychological manipulation of a person usually over an extended period of time that causes the victim to question the validity of their own thoughts, perception of reality, or memories and typically leads to confusion, loss of confidence and self-esteem, the uncertainty of one's emotional or mental stability, and a dependency on the perpetrator". As per Psychology Today, "The “I’m sorry you feel that way” approach, along with avoiding an argument in lieu of admitting fault, is good old-fashioned gaslighting". Also read | As crisis after crisis plague the world, 'Permacrisis' becomes Collins' word of the year 2022 When was the word coined? The origin story of gaslighting is interesting, to say the least. In 1938 British novelist and playwright Patrick Hamilton wrote a play, that tells the story of a dysfunctional couple. It is a dark tale of "a marriage based on deceit and trickery", in which the husband Jack Manningham tries to steal from his wife Bella, resorting to antics that escalate to the point of driving her insane. His mysterious activities in the attic cause the house's lights to dim. When Bella mentions the strange phenomenon, Jack insists that the lights are not dimming. the repeated denial makes Bella doubt her sanity. This sinister story titled 'Gas Light' gave birth to many play and movie adaptations and the word "Gaslighting". Also read | Here are the newest 'cool' words that you need to add to your vocabulary What are some examples of gaslighting? Generally, the word is used in the context of romantic relationships that have inklings of psychological manipulation and resulting trauma. However, as the word gains popularity, it is making appearances in other areas too. "Medical gaslighting" has been used to describe doctors who inappropriately, unfairly dismiss patients' concerns. The word gaslighting may be "in" right now, but remember, it remains a serious psychological manipulation that can make its victim suffer distress at a level where their self-worth suffers and they're "second-guessing everything". If this article resonates with you and you think that you may be a victim of gaslighting, seek professional help; talking to a therapist can help you unravel and deal with the trauma. If you or someone you know wants help for mental well-being, don't hesitate to talk to a professional. Aasra (Mumbai) 022-27546669, 98204 66726, Sneha (Chennai) 044-24640050, Sumaitri (Delhi) 011-23389090, Cooj (Goa) 0832- 2252525, Jeevan (Jamshedpur) 065-76453841, Pratheeksha (Kochi) 048-42448830, Maithri (Kochi) 0484-2540530, Roshni (Hyderabad) 040-66202000, Lifeline 033-64643267 (Kolkata), Parivarthan (Bangalore) +91 76766 02602 WION is not associated with any of these organisations and does not make any recommendations. WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

'Gaslighting' is Merriam-Webster dictionary's word of the year 2022. Here's what it means

India accounts for nearly one lakh (0.1 million) deaths due to suicide every year, said a report by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Therefore, with the aim to reduce suicide mortality, the government, on Monday, announced the first of its kind, National Suicide Prevention Strategy (NSPS) in India. It maps New Delhi’s time-bound action plan to reduce suicide mortality by 10 per cent (approximately 10,000) by 2030.&nbsp; 
 
India’s record number of suicides

In the last three years, the suicide mortality rate has increased from 10.2 to 11.3 per 100,000 population, said a report by the health ministry. Additionally, the country with the highest youth population also accounts for the most number of suicides recorded among people aged 15-29 years. Furthermore, around 71 per cent of males and 29 per cent of females account for the total number of deaths by suicide in India.&nbsp;

ALSO READ |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/india-ncrb-data-shows-increase-in-deaths-by-suicide-in-2021-511188">India: NCRB data shows increase in deaths by suicide in 2021</a>

The report also said that the most common reason for committing suicide included family problems (34 per cent) and illnesses (18 per cent). It also noted the economic and professional status of an individual as a factor in the number of suicides as 63.3 per cent occurred among those who earn less than Rs. 1 lakh per annum ($0.1 million) in 2020.&nbsp;

This number nearly halved among those earning between Rs. 1 lakh and Rs. 5 lakh ($0.5 million) per annum in the same year. The document highlights that across the world at least one in three women who commit suicide are in India while men account for one in four along the same parameter. According to the report, over 60 per cent of suicides happen among people aged 18-45 years.&nbsp;

Last year, India’s rate of deaths by suicide reached a record high with 1,64,033 who took their lives due to various reasons, said a report by the country’s National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). This is a 7.2 per cent increase from the preceding year and implies that India saw over 400 deaths due to suicide every day in 2021.&nbsp;

What is the National Suicide Prevention Strategy (NSPS)?

The health ministry, citing the grim data, broadly seeks to establish effective surveillance mechanisms in the next three years to achieve a 10 per cent reduction in suicide mortality by 2030 through the NSPS.&nbsp;

ALSO WATCH |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/videos/gravitas-more-indians-died-of-suicide-than-of-covid-19-in-2020-426247">Gravitas: More Indians died of suicide than of Covid-19 in 2020</a>

Some of these mechanisms include establishing psychiatric outpatient departments through the District Mental Health Programme in all districts across the country by 2027 to provide suicide prevention services. Additionally, in line with this programme, the government will also incorporate courses related to mental well-being in educational institutes across India within the next eight years.&nbsp;

In a statement, India’s Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said that preventing suicides is now a public health priority and impacts all sections of society. Therefore, it requires “concerted and collaborative efforts” from individuals as well as the community at large.&nbsp;

One of the priorities of this NSPS also includes reducing easy access to means of suicide, in line with which the government plans to phase out hazardous pesticides. The report also noted that the most common method of committing suicide is hanging and poisoning, followed by drowning and immolation. The government also plans to create guidelines for the media on responsible reporting about suicides.

ALSO READ |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/india-takes-huge-step-forward-by-announcing-mental-health-initiatives-in-its-budget-449965">How India took a huge step forward by announcing mental health initiatives in its budget</a>

“The most important is early identification of psychiatric illness and early treatment by 80-90%. Because the main problem with suicide is hidden psychiatric morbidity,” said Dr Rajesh Sagar, head of the psychiatric department at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and one of the authors of the report.&nbsp;

Furthermore, citing the report he said that in nearly every case of one suicide there have been at least 10-20 previous attempts to do so and it could be higher. He added, “Therefore, we have suggested several protective factors against suicide such as early primary treatment, psychological support, access to quality treatment, restrict access to means of suicides.”&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies) &nbsp;

If you or someone you know wants help for mental well being, don't hesitate to talk to a professional. Aasra (Mumbai) 022-27546669, 98204 66726, Sneha (Chennai) 044-24640050, Sumaitri (Delhi) 011-23389090, Cooj (Goa) 0832- 2252525, Jeevan (Jamshedpur) 065-76453841, Pratheeksha (Kochi) 048-42448830, Maithri (Kochi) 0484-2540530, Roshni (Hyderabad) 040-66202000, Lifeline 033-64643267 (Kolkata), Parivarthan (Bangalore) +91 76766 02602

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India accounts for nearly one lakh (0.1 million) deaths due to suicide every year, said a report by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Therefore, with the aim to reduce suicide mortality, the government, on Monday, announced the first of its kind, National Suicide Prevention Strategy (NSPS) in India.

India accounts for nearly one lakh (0.1 million) deaths due to suicide every year, said a report by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Therefore, with the aim to reduce suicide mortality, the government, on Monday, announced the first of its kind, National Suicide Prevention Strategy (NSPS) in India. It maps New Delhi’s time-bound action plan to reduce suicide mortality by 10 per cent (approximately 10,000) by 2030. India’s record number of suicides In the last three years, the suicide mortality rate has increased from 10.2 to 11.3 per 100,000 population, said a report by the health ministry. Additionally, the country with the highest youth population also accounts for the most number of suicides recorded among people aged 15-29 years. Furthermore, around 71 per cent of males and 29 per cent of females account for the total number of deaths by suicide in India. ALSO READ | India: NCRB data shows increase in deaths by suicide in 2021 The report also said that the most common reason for committing suicide included family problems (34 per cent) and illnesses (18 per cent). It also noted the economic and professional status of an individual as a factor in the number of suicides as 63.3 per cent occurred among those who earn less than Rs. 1 lakh per annum ($0.1 million) in 2020. This number nearly halved among those earning between Rs. 1 lakh and Rs. 5 lakh ($0.5 million) per annum in the same year. The document highlights that across the world at least one in three women who commit suicide are in India while men account for one in four along the same parameter. According to the report, over 60 per cent of suicides happen among people aged 18-45 years. Last year, India’s rate of deaths by suicide reached a record high with 1,64,033 who took their lives due to various reasons, said a report by the country’s National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). This is a 7.2 per cent increase from the preceding year and implies that India saw over 400 deaths due to suicide every day in 2021. What is the National Suicide Prevention Strategy (NSPS)? The health ministry, citing the grim data, broadly seeks to establish effective surveillance mechanisms in the next three years to achieve a 10 per cent reduction in suicide mortality by 2030 through the NSPS. ALSO WATCH | Gravitas: More Indians died of suicide than of Covid-19 in 2020 Some of these mechanisms include establishing psychiatric outpatient departments through the District Mental Health Programme in all districts across the country by 2027 to provide suicide prevention services. Additionally, in line with this programme, the government will also incorporate courses related to mental well-being in educational institutes across India within the next eight years. In a statement, India’s Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said that preventing suicides is now a public health priority and impacts all sections of society. Therefore, it requires “concerted and collaborative efforts” from individuals as well as the community at large. One of the priorities of this NSPS also includes reducing easy access to means of suicide, in line with which the government plans to phase out hazardous pesticides. The report also noted that the most common method of committing suicide is hanging and poisoning, followed by drowning and immolation. The government also plans to create guidelines for the media on responsible reporting about suicides. ALSO READ | How India took a huge step forward by announcing mental health initiatives in its budget “The most important is early identification of psychiatric illness and early treatment by 80-90%. Because the main problem with suicide is hidden psychiatric morbidity,” said Dr Rajesh Sagar, head of the psychiatric department at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and one of the authors of the report. Furthermore, citing the report he said that in nearly every case of one suicide there have been at least 10-20 previous attempts to do so and it could be higher. He added, “Therefore, we have suggested several protective factors against suicide such as early primary treatment, psychological support, access to quality treatment, restrict access to means of suicides.” (With inputs from agencies) If you or someone you know wants help for mental well being, don't hesitate to talk to a professional. Aasra (Mumbai) 022-27546669, 98204 66726, Sneha (Chennai) 044-24640050, Sumaitri (Delhi) 011-23389090, Cooj (Goa) 0832- 2252525, Jeevan (Jamshedpur) 065-76453841, Pratheeksha (Kochi) 048-42448830, Maithri (Kochi) 0484-2540530, Roshni (Hyderabad) 040-66202000, Lifeline 033-64643267 (Kolkata), Parivarthan (Bangalore) +91 76766 02602 WION is not associated with any of these organisations and does not make any recommendations WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

In a first, Indian government announces strategy for suicide prevention: Here’s what you need to know

Kindness never goes out of fashion and is always welcome, in any form or way! To have better relationships, improve self-esteem, gain confidence, happiness, success and even good mental or physical health, one must be kind, both to themselves and others. It's a virtue every religion encourages us to have. And, what better day than World Kindness Day to remember the same and also remind others?&nbsp;

November 13 marks World Kindness Day every year. It was first observed in 1998 and is celebrated annually to remind everyone that what matters the most is how kind, compassionate and humble you are and that even small acts of kindness can make a big difference.

<h2>Simple acts of kindness you can do every day</h2>

<ul>
	<li>Give someone a genuine compliment and don't hold back praises</li>
	<li>Buy a bunch of chocolates and give them to kids you meet on the streets</li>
	<li>Pay for a meal for someone in need</li>
	<li>Help someone carry their luggage or grocery bags</li>
	<li>Stop to assist someone with directions if they look lost</li>
	<li>Feed stray dogs and cats</li>
	<li>Leave leftover food for pigeons on your terrace</li>
	<li>Donate money to NGOs and elderly homes</li>
	<li>Volunteer in organisations that offer free services to underprivileged communities</li>
	<li>Offer your seat to an elderly or pregnant woman on a bus, metro or train</li>
</ul>

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/node/533213" hreflang="en">3 dermatologists share beauty secrets; reveal their winter skincare routines</a>

<h2>Benefits of being kind on one's mental health</h2>

Humans are biologically wired to be kind and one can develop this trait further through practice and self-awareness. But, one must also remember that it is very easy to lose this inherent ability due to outside influences or increased stress levels. If you keep the many physical, emotional and mental benefits of kindness in mind, you might feel more incentified to act a certain way, in future. So, here we have listed the science-backed benefits of being kind on mental health.

Did you know being kind can release feel-good hormones?

Giving someone a helping hand, making donations or simply putting a smile on someone's face with a compliment instantly makes one feel better. That's because being kind and doing nice things for people boosts serotonin and dopamine levels in the brain, which are basically just neurotransmitters that give you the feeling of satisfaction and cause the pleasure/reward centres of your brain to light up.

It can also ease anxiety &amp; stress

Other than meditation, exercise and prescribed medications, being kind is a quality that helps reduce anxiety and stress. And, it won't be wrong to say that it is the most inexpensive way to keep stress and anxiety at bay.

According to a study conducted by the University of British Columbia on happiness, people who engage in kind acts display a significant increase in Positive Affect (PA), which is associated with social anxiety and stress. For those uninitiated, Positive Affect refers to an individual's experience of positive moods such as joy, interest, and alertness.

Kindness is also great for your heart

Several studies suggest that kindness strengthens one's heart physically and emotionally. Being kind to others helps your brain release the oxytocin hormone, which "causes the release of a chemical called nitric oxide in blood vessels, which dilates (expands) the blood vessels and reduces blood pressure".

According to Dr David Hamilton, oxytocin is also known as a "cardioprotective" hormone because it protects the heart by lowering blood pressure.

Want a longer life? Just be kind

Scientifically speaking, being kind to others helps you live longer and there's evidence that proves the same. According to a 2018 meta-analysis published by the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, doing good things for people is an "effective way of improving well-being".&nbsp;

Furthermore, a 2017 study published by Evolution and Human Behavior study stated that people who were&nbsp;voluntary caregivers to others lived longer than individuals who were not.

Kindness never goes out of fashion and is always welcome, in any form or way! To have better relationships, improve self-esteem, gain confidence, happiness, success and even good mental or physical health, one must be kind, both to themselves and others.

Kindness never goes out of fashion and is always welcome, in any form or way! To have better relationships, improve self-esteem, gain confidence, happiness, success and even good mental or physical health, one must be kind, both to themselves and others. It's a virtue every religion encourages us to have. And, what better day than World Kindness Day to remember the same and also remind others? November 13 marks World Kindness Day every year. It was first observed in 1998 and is celebrated annually to remind everyone that what matters the most is how kind, compassionate and humble you are and that even small acts of kindness can make a big difference. Simple acts of kindness you can do every day Give someone a genuine compliment and don't hold back praises Buy a bunch of chocolates and give them to kids you meet on the streets Pay for a meal for someone in need Help someone carry their luggage or grocery bags Stop to assist someone with directions if they look lost Feed stray dogs and cats Leave leftover food for pigeons on your terrace Donate money to NGOs and elderly homes Volunteer in organisations that offer free services to underprivileged communities Offer your seat to an elderly or pregnant woman on a bus, metro or train Also read: 3 dermatologists share beauty secrets; reveal their winter skincare routines Benefits of being kind on one's mental health Humans are biologically wired to be kind and one can develop this trait further through practice and self-awareness. But, one must also remember that it is very easy to lose this inherent ability due to outside influences or increased stress levels. If you keep the many physical, emotional and mental benefits of kindness in mind, you might feel more incentified to act a certain way, in future. So, here we have listed the science-backed benefits of being kind on mental health. Did you know being kind can release feel-good hormones? Giving someone a helping hand, making donations or simply putting a smile on someone's face with a compliment instantly makes one feel better. That's because being kind and doing nice things for people boosts serotonin and dopamine levels in the brain, which are basically just neurotransmitters that give you the feeling of satisfaction and cause the pleasure/reward centres of your brain to light up. It can also ease anxiety & stress Other than meditation, exercise and prescribed medications, being kind is a quality that helps reduce anxiety and stress. And, it won't be wrong to say that it is the most inexpensive way to keep stress and anxiety at bay. According to a study conducted by the University of British Columbia on happiness, people who engage in kind acts display a significant increase in Positive Affect (PA), which is associated with social anxiety and stress. For those uninitiated, Positive Affect refers to an individual's experience of positive moods such as joy, interest, and alertness. Kindness is also great for your heart Several studies suggest that kindness strengthens one's heart physically and emotionally. Being kind to others helps your brain release the oxytocin hormone, which "causes the release of a chemical called nitric oxide in blood vessels, which dilates (expands) the blood vessels and reduces blood pressure". According to Dr David Hamilton, oxytocin is also known as a "cardioprotective" hormone because it protects the heart by lowering blood pressure. Want a longer life? Just be kind Scientifically speaking, being kind to others helps you live longer and there's evidence that proves the same. According to a 2018 meta-analysis published by the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, doing good things for people is an "effective way of improving well-being". Furthermore, a 2017 study published by Evolution and Human Behavior study stated that people who were voluntary caregivers to others lived longer than individuals who were not.

World Kindness Day 2022: Here's how being kind benefits one's mental health

Yale University has been accused of being insensitive to the students suffering from mental health issues after a 21-year-old girl opened up about her suicide attempt and subsequent episodes of the trauma she suffered due to the University's stringent reinstatement rules.

The student, known only as S., told The Washington Post that when the University was informed about her suicide attempt in June 2021, she was told to take a "medical withdrawal" from college.&nbsp;

ALSO READ |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/us-suicide-rate-rose-in-2021-after-falling-for-two-years-521635">US suicide rate rose in 2021 after falling for two years</a>

“They make you feel like you’re the best of the best, like this bright and shiny thing. But as soon as something’s wrong, they want nothing to do with you," she said.&nbsp;

ALSO READ |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/suicide-by-firearms-among-youth-in-the-united-states-highest-in-20-years-report-484444">Suicide by firearms among youth in the United States highest in 20 years</a>

Of the 14,500 students enrolled at Yale, roughly 34 per cent or 5,000 students sought mental health counselling in 2021, a 90 per cent increase since 2015, the report said.&nbsp;

Yale's reinstatement policy

According to Yale University's reinstatement policy, students who have either attempted suicide or are deemed suicidal, are not allowed on campus. To return, they must reapply, by writing a personal statement and sending in Letters of Recommendation.

Up until April 2022, they were required to take two courses at another four-year university to prove their academic worth.&nbsp;

WATCH |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/videos/reports-us-soldiers-dying-more-of-suicide-than-covid-19-443807">US soldiers dying more of suicide than COVID-19</a>

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"Yale has policies that facilitate a medical withdrawal followed by a return to campus life. Medical withdrawals allow students to take time away from Yale to focus on their well-being. The vast majority of students who take medical withdrawals are reinstated and return to complete their degrees successfully," a Yale University spokesperson was quoted as saying by Daily Mail.

On July 8 this year, S. was reinstated at Yale. She was 19-year-old when she last sat in a Yale classroom and was 21 when reinstated.

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Yale University has been accused of being insensitive to the students suffering from mental health issues after a 21-year-old girl opened up about her suicide attempt and subsequent episodes of the trauma she suffered due to the University's stringent reinstatement rules.

Yale University has been accused of being insensitive to the students suffering from mental health issues after a 21-year-old girl opened up about her suicide attempt and subsequent episodes of the trauma she suffered due to the University's stringent reinstatement rules. The student, known only as S., told The Washington Post that when the University was informed about her suicide attempt in June 2021, she was told to take a "medical withdrawal" from college. ALSO READ | US suicide rate rose in 2021 after falling for two years “They make you feel like you’re the best of the best, like this bright and shiny thing. But as soon as something’s wrong, they want nothing to do with you," she said. ALSO READ | Suicide by firearms among youth in the United States highest in 20 years Of the 14,500 students enrolled at Yale, roughly 34 per cent or 5,000 students sought mental health counselling in 2021, a 90 per cent increase since 2015, the report said. Yale's reinstatement policy According to Yale University's reinstatement policy, students who have either attempted suicide or are deemed suicidal, are not allowed on campus. To return, they must reapply, by writing a personal statement and sending in Letters of Recommendation. Up until April 2022, they were required to take two courses at another four-year university to prove their academic worth. WATCH | US soldiers dying more of suicide than COVID-19 × "Yale has policies that facilitate a medical withdrawal followed by a return to campus life. Medical withdrawals allow students to take time away from Yale to focus on their well-being. The vast majority of students who take medical withdrawals are reinstated and return to complete their degrees successfully," a Yale University spokesperson was quoted as saying by Daily Mail. On July 8 this year, S. was reinstated at Yale. She was 19-year-old when she last sat in a Yale classroom and was 21 when reinstated. WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

Yale University insensitive to mental health issues, forces suicidal students to withdraw: Report

India's insurance regulator has issued a circular mandating insurance companies to cover mental illness in their policies. Mohammed Saleh brings you more.

WION Fineprint | Health insurance to cover mental illnesses in India

India has rolled out a new initiative for mental health issues. It's called 'Tele-Manas' - an affordable platform to help Indians fight depression & anxiety. What does this initiative entail? How will it work? Molly Gambhir explains on Gravitas Plus.

Gravitas Plus:  India's 'Tele-Manas' Mental Health initiative

Have you ever thought why hearing birds chirp in the mornings seems to be so calming? According to a recent study, listening to bird sounds can aid humans in overcoming tension and anxiety. A group of researchers from Germany assessed the impact of urban traffic noise versus natural bird singing on the participants' cognitive and emotional function.

Another objective was to assess the impact of lower vs. higher soundscape variety by varying the number of various typical traffic noises or different bird species' songs within the respective soundscapes, according to a study published in the Nature portfolio magazine Scientific Reports.

295 participants were randomly chosen&nbsp;for&nbsp;one of four treatments—traffic noise low, traffic noise high, birdsong low, and birdsong high diversity soundscapes—for six minutes in an online experiment conducted by the researchers. Before and after the exposure, the subjects also completed digit-span and dual n-back tasks, as well as surveys for sorrow, anxiety, and paranoia.

A Newsweek report says&nbsp;that as the world rapidly urbanises, so does the environment in which people live. Around 70% of the world's population is projected to live in cities by 2050, with certain regions, like Europe, already exceeding this percentage.

Given that urbanisation has been linked to worse mental health outcomes, understanding how the urban environment affects our wellbeing is crucial. However, traditional psychological research usually undervalues the impact of environmental influences on human wellbeing and cognition.

The Lise Meitner Group for Environmental Neuroscience at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development and the University Medical Center Hamburg-Department Eppendorf of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy are partners with the German researchers, according to Newsweek.

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Have you ever thought why hearing birds chirp in the mornings seems to be so calming? According to a recent study, listening to bird sounds can aid humans in overcoming tension and anxiety.

Have you ever thought why hearing birds chirp in the mornings seems to be so calming? According to a recent study, listening to bird sounds can aid humans in overcoming tension and anxiety. A group of researchers from Germany assessed the impact of urban traffic noise versus natural bird singing on the participants' cognitive and emotional function. Another objective was to assess the impact of lower vs. higher soundscape variety by varying the number of various typical traffic noises or different bird species' songs within the respective soundscapes, according to a study published in the Nature portfolio magazine Scientific Reports. 295 participants were randomly chosen for one of four treatments—traffic noise low, traffic noise high, birdsong low, and birdsong high diversity soundscapes—for six minutes in an online experiment conducted by the researchers. Before and after the exposure, the subjects also completed digit-span and dual n-back tasks, as well as surveys for sorrow, anxiety, and paranoia. A Newsweek report says that as the world rapidly urbanises, so does the environment in which people live. Around 70% of the world's population is projected to live in cities by 2050, with certain regions, like Europe, already exceeding this percentage. Given that urbanisation has been linked to worse mental health outcomes, understanding how the urban environment affects our wellbeing is crucial. However, traditional psychological research usually undervalues the impact of environmental influences on human wellbeing and cognition. The Lise Meitner Group for Environmental Neuroscience at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development and the University Medical Center Hamburg-Department Eppendorf of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy are partners with the German researchers, according to Newsweek. WATCH WION LIVE HERE:

Listening to birdsongs can help alleviate stress and anxiety in humans: Study

Do you know around 1 in 7 of the world's adolescents has a mental disorder? On the occasion of World Mental Health Day, here's how you can take care of your mental health.

World Mental Health Day: Here's how you can take care of your mental health

October 10th is observed as World Mental Health Day. The annual awareness programme brings attention to mental health issues and how they affect people.

World Mental Health Day: Why do we hesitate to seek help?

Iga Swiatek lost to&nbsp;Czech Republic's Barbora Krejcikova in the&nbsp;Ostrava Open final, going down&nbsp;7-5, 6(4)-7, 3-6 in three hours and 16 minutes on Sunday (October 9). After her defeat, despite being touted as a favourite, Swiatek won hearts by showing her full support to mental health issues.

After the summit clash, Swiatek made heads turn by announcing that she will donate her prize money from the Ostrava Open in support of mental health. "I really wanted to play well here to have a big amount of money to donate ... and I'm pretty happy that I could do that," Swiatek said in her on-court interview.

"I really want to spread awareness and let people know that they can use the help if they need it, or help others if they have resources. I'm pretty happy to use my position that way," she added.

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ALSO READ |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/novak-djokovic-beats-stefanos-tsitsipas-in-astana-open-final-to-bag-90th-career-title-523826">Novak Djokovic beats Stefanos Tsitsipas in Astana Open final to bag 90th career title</a>

Later, Swiatek also congratulated her opposition Krejcikova, who made a stunning comeback to win despite being a set down. "Too emotional and too tired right now to express how challenging and unique today has been. I am so grateful...and I just want to say congrats to Barbora Krejcikova. What a battle, what a performance. So great that you are back," Swiatek tweeted.

While she may have lost the battle, the Pollish star Swiatek has won hearts for her gesture in support of mental health. Following her heartfelt gesture,&nbsp;ATP World No. 3 Casper Ruud took to his Instagram story to laud the world number one. He wrote, "Wow Iga Swiatek, thank you for raising awareness to the world mental health day today."

Swiatek has been an advocate of mental health for quite some time. The 21-year-old's maturity is being hailed all across the sporting fraternity.

Iga Swiatek lost to Czech Republic's Barbora Krejcikova in the Ostrava Open final, going down 7-5, 6(4)-7, 3-6 in three hours and 16 minutes on Sunday (October 9).

Iga Swiatek lost to Czech Republic's Barbora Krejcikova in the Ostrava Open final, going down 7-5, 6(4)-7, 3-6 in three hours and 16 minutes on Sunday (October 9). After her defeat, despite being touted as a favourite, Swiatek won hearts by showing her full support to mental health issues. After the summit clash, Swiatek made heads turn by announcing that she will donate her prize money from the Ostrava Open in support of mental health. "I really wanted to play well here to have a big amount of money to donate ... and I'm pretty happy that I could do that," Swiatek said in her on-court interview. "I really want to spread awareness and let people know that they can use the help if they need it, or help others if they have resources. I'm pretty happy to use my position that way," she added. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Women’s Tennis Association (@wta) × ALSO READ | Novak Djokovic beats Stefanos Tsitsipas in Astana Open final to bag 90th career title Later, Swiatek also congratulated her opposition Krejcikova, who made a stunning comeback to win despite being a set down. "Too emotional and too tired right now to express how challenging and unique today has been. I am so grateful...and I just want to say congrats to Barbora Krejcikova. What a battle, what a performance. So great that you are back," Swiatek tweeted. While she may have lost the battle, the Pollish star Swiatek has won hearts for her gesture in support of mental health. Following her heartfelt gesture, ATP World No. 3 Casper Ruud took to his Instagram story to laud the world number one. He wrote, "Wow Iga Swiatek, thank you for raising awareness to the world mental health day today." Swiatek has been an advocate of mental health for quite some time. The 21-year-old's maturity is being hailed all across the sporting fraternity.

'I want to spread awareness' - Iga Swiatek to donate Ostrava prize money for mental health, wins hearts

Did you know smoking can make you age faster? Did you also know that feeling depressed or lonely can make you age faster than smoking? So, if you've given up smoking for the sake of looking younger, what's stopping you from taking care of your mental health? Listen in to Priyanka Sharma.

Gravitas: Feeling depressed or lonely makes people age faster

Richa Moorjani, who plays Kamla in the Netflix show 'Never Have I Ever' speaks to WION about her journey as South Asian actress, the years of struggle before she landed a role in the Netflix show. Moorjani also talks about mental health, her origins and more.

Richa Moorjani on 'Never Have I Ever', mental health and South Asian representation

Shedding light on the importance of mental health, a US-government-backed medical expert panel has recommended that adults under the age of 65 in the US get routinely screened for anxiety disorders.

Shedding light on the importance of mental health, a US-government-backed medical expert panel has recommended that adults under the age of 65 in the US get routinely screened for anxiety disorders. The recommendation has been given by an influential advisory group called US Preventive Services Task Force which has added that all adults should be checked for prevailing mental ailments such as depression. Reportedly, the guidance, currently in draft form will be finalised in the coming months after receiving comments from the public. Lori Pbert, a member of the panel and professor at the University of Massachusetts stated that the study could not have come at a more critical time. "When you go to your primary care provider, you get screened for many, many preventive conditions, blood pressure, heart rate, all kinds of things. Mental health conditions are just important as other physical conditions, and we really need to be treating mental health conditions with the same urgency that we do other conditions." Read more: Women's mental health deteriorated more in Covid pandemic: Study It is pertinent to note that the findings of the panel are from the pre-pandemic period. After the pandemic, mental health ailments have increased staggeringly across the planet. However, the study cited a report saying that the percentage of adults having symptoms of anxiety or depressive order had increased to 41.4 per cent from 36.4 per cent between August 20 to February 2021. “Covid has taken a tremendous toll on the mental health of Americans. This is a topic prioritised for its public health importance, but clearly, there’s an increased focus on mental health in this country over the past few years,” added Pbert. Earlier, the panel had recommended anxiety screening for children and teenagers aged between eight and 18. While the recommendations of the panel are not binding or mandatory, the influence it wields can certainly change the way doctors practice medicine in the US. Asn reported by WION, the World Health Organisation (WHO) in a report earlier this year said that cases of anxiety and depression have surged by over 25 per cent globally. Moreover, there was a 27.6 per cent increase in cases of major depressive disorder in the year 2020. Read more: Anxiety and depression cases surged by over 25% due to Covid: WHO "In terms of scale, this is a very large increase. It shows that Covid-19 has had a large impact on people's mental health and wellbeing." said an official at WHO's mental health and substance use department. While the screening recommendation is laudable, the reality is that there is a huge dearth of workforce to put emphasis on mental health well-being. Experts believe that until the number of mental health professionals is not increased, there will not be a major change on the ground. (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE:

Adults under 65 should get routinely screened for anxiety, recommends a US study panel

Many in power would prefer to kick questions like “what caused the mental health crisis?” And “who benefits?” Out of sight. Don’t let them.

What if the cure for our current mental health crisis is not more mental health care?

The mental health toll of the Covid-19 pandemic has been the subject of extensive commentary in the United States, much of it focused on the sharp increase in demand for mental health services now swamping the nation’s health care capacities. The resulting difficulty in accessing care has been invoked widely as justification for a variety of proposed solutions, such as the profit-driven growth of digital health and teletherapy start-ups and a new mental health plan that the Biden administration unveiled earlier this year.

But are we really in a mental health crisis? A crisis that affects mental health is not the same thing as a crisis of mental health. To be sure, symptoms of crisis abound. But in order to come up with effective solutions, we first have to ask: a crisis of what?

Some social scientists have a term — “reification” — for the process by which the effects of a political arrangement of power and resources start to seem like objective, inevitable facts about the world. Reification swaps out a political problem for a scientific or technical one; it’s how, for example, the effects of unregulated tech oligopolies become “social media addiction,” how climate catastrophe caused by corporate greed becomes a “heat wave” — and, by the way, how the effect of struggles between labour and corporations combines with high energy prices to become “inflation.” Examples are not scarce.

For people in power, the reification sleight of hand is very useful because it conveniently abracadabras questions like “Who caused this thing?” and “Who benefits?” out of sight. Instead, these symptoms of political struggle and social crisis begin to seem like problems with clear, objective technical solutions — problems best solved by trained experts. In medicine, examples of reification are so abundant that sociologists have a special term for it: “medicalisation,” or the process by which something gets framed as primarily a medical problem. Medicalisation shifts the terms in which we try to figure out what caused a problem, and what can be done to fix it. Often, it puts the focus on the individual as a biological body, at the expense of factoring in systemic and infrastructural conditions.

Once we begin to ask questions about medicalisation, the entire framing of the mental health toll of the Covid crisis — an “epidemic” of mental illness, as various publications have called it, rather than a political crisis with medical effects — begins to seem inadequate.

Of course, nobody can deny that there has been an increase in mental and emotional distress. To take two of the most common diagnoses, a study published in 2021 in The Lancet estimated that the pandemic had caused an additional 53.2 million cases of major depressive disorder and 76.2 million cases of anxiety disorder globally.

Let’s think about this. The fact that incidences of psychological distress have increased in the face of objectively distressing circumstances is hardly surprising. As a coalition of 18 prominent mental health scholars wrote in a 2020 paper in The Lancet: “Predictions of a ‘tsunami’ of mental health problems as a consequence of [Covid] and the lockdown are overstated; feelings of anxiety and sadness are entirely normal reactions to difficult circumstances, not symptoms of poor mental health.”

Things get even less surprising when you look more closely at the data: If you bracket the (entirely predictable) spike in psychological distress among health care workers (a fact that itself only reinforces the idea that the major causal vectors in play here are structural), the most relevant predictors of mental health are indexes of economic security. Of course, it’s not simply a question of the numbers on your bank statement — although that is a major predictor of outcomes — but of whether you live in a society where the social fabric has been destroyed.

Before we go further, let me be clear about what I am not arguing. I am not arguing that mental illnesses are fake, or somehow nonbiological. Pointing out the medicalisation of social and political problems does not mean denying that such problems produce real biological conditions; it means asking serious questions about what is causing those conditions. If someone is driving through a crowd, running people over, the smart move is not to declare an epidemic of people suffering from Got Run Over by a Car Syndrome and go searching for the underlying biological mechanism that must be causing it. You have to treat the very real suffering that is happening in the bodies of the people affected, obviously, but the key point is this: You’re going to have to stop the guy running over people with the car.

This principle is what some health researchers mean by the idea that there are social determinants of health — that effective long-term solutions for many medicalised problems require nonmedical — this is to say, political — means. We all readily acknowledge that for diseases like diabetes and hypertension — diseases with a very clear biological basis — an individual’s body is only part of the causal reality of the disease. Treating the root cause of the “epidemic” of diabetes effectively, for example, would happen at the level of serious infrastructural changes to the available diet and activity levels of a population, not by slinging medications or pouring funding into clinics that help people make better choices in supermarkets filled with unregulated, unhealthy food. You’ve got to stop the guy running over people with the car.

But if the public health consensus around diabetes has shifted somewhat in response to what we know, it’s been remarkably hard to achieve the same when it comes to mental health.

Psychiatric sciences have long acknowledged the fact that stress is causally implicated in an enormous range of mental disorders, referring to the “stress-diathesis model” of mental illness. That model incorporates the well-documented fact that chronic stressors (like poverty, political violence and discrimination) intensify the chance that an individual will develop a given diagnosis, from depression to schizophrenia.

The causal relationship may be even more direct. Remarkably, all throughout decades of research on mood disorders, scientists doing animal studies had to create animal models of anxiety and depression — that is, animals who showed behaviours that looked like human anxiety and depression — by subjecting them to weeks or months of chronic stress. Zap animals with unpredictable and painful shocks they can’t escape, force them to survive barely survivable conditions for long enough, put them in social situations where they are chronically brutalized by those higher up in the social hierarchy — and just like that, the animals will consistently start behaving in a way that looks like human psychopathology.

This doesn’t mean that all psychiatric symptoms are caused by stress, but it does mean that a whole lot of them almost certainly are. There is increasingly strong evidence for the idea that chronic elevation of stress hormones has downstream effects on the neural architecture of the brain’s cognitive and emotional circuits. The exact relationship between different types of stress and any given cluster of psychiatric symptoms remains unclear — why do some people react to stress by becoming depressed, while others become impulsive or enraged? — indicating that whatever causal mechanism exists is mediated by a variety of genetic and social conditions. But the implications of the research are very clear: When it comes to mental health, the best treatment for the biological conditions underlying many symptoms might be ensuring that more people can live less stressful lives.

And here is the core of the problem: Medicalising mental health doesn’t work very well if your goal is to address the underlying cause of population-level increases in mental and emotional distress. It does, however, work really well if you’re trying to come up with a solution that everybody in power can agree on, so that the people in power can show they’re doing something about the problem. Unfortunately, the solution that everyone can agree on is not going to work.

Everyone agrees, for instance, that it would be good to reduce the high rate of diabetes plaguing the United States. But once we begin to de-medicalize it, diabetes starts to look like a biological problem arising from a vast swathe of political problems: transportation infrastructure that keeps people sedentary in cars, food insecurity that keeps a racialized underclass dependent on cheap and empty calories, the power of corporate lobbies to defang regulations, and so on. These are problems that people do not agree on how to solve, in part because some are materially benefiting from this state of affairs. This is to say, these are political problems, and solving them will mean taking on the groups of people who benefit from the status quo.

That the status quo is once again benefiting the usual suspects is all too obvious in the booming market of V.C.-backed mental health tech start-ups, which promise to solve the crisis through a gig economy model for psychiatric care that has been criticized for selling psychiatric medication irresponsibly, with little accountability.

But even publicly funded solutions risk falling into the trap of medicalising a problem and failing to address the deeper structural causes of the crisis. President Biden’s plan for mental health, for instance, makes many genuflections to the language of “community” and “behavioral health.” A section outlining a plan for “creating healthy environments” makes a great show of saying the right things, including: “We cannot transform mental health solely through the health care system. We must also address the determinants of behavioral health, invest in community services and foster a culture and environment that broadly promotes mental wellness and recovery.”

But then the plan goes on to focus on several proposals aimed at regulating social media platforms — a strange target that seems relevant only in a downstream way from major infrastructural determinants of health, like wealth inequality and public services — until you remember that it’s one of the few policy goals that both Democrats and Republicans share.

Sure, parts of the proposal do seem to offer genuinely needed care. For instance, a proposal to establish scores of behavioural health clinics that can offer subsidized substance use treatment like methadone tapering is an exigently needed — if depressingly belated — response to the phenomenon of mass opiate addiction pushed by corporations like Purdue Pharma and Walgreens.

But despite the fact that much of the proposal seems to have been drafted with the opiate addiction crisis in mind, the billboard-size implications of the so-called opioid epidemic seem to have failed to register. It is hard to imagine a clearer demonstration of political conditions undergoing the reification switch into a medicalised epidemic than what everyone now knows happened: The despair of the post-industrial underclass was methodically and intentionally milked by pharmaceutical companies for all it was worth. It was so obvious that at last even a political establishment that remains largely indifferent to the poor eventually had to get around to sort of doing something.

And yet when the plan addresses suicide, it focuses on crisis intervention — as if suicide were a kind of unfortunate natural occurrence, like lightning strikes, rather than an expression of the fact that growing numbers of people are becoming convinced that the current state of affairs gives them no reason to hope for a life they’d want to live.

The proposal’s main plan to address the so-called epidemic of suicide has been the rebranding of a national suicide hotline — which will encourage callers on the brink of killing themselves to refrain from doing so, and may or may not connect them to resources like three cognitive behavioural therapy sessions (most likely conducted through teletherapy) that insurance companies will be required to cover for their customers — depending on what the state the caller is in has decided about funding. (Like all of Biden’s proposal, the plan is yet to be passed into law.) It’s not so much that the hotline is a bad idea; it’s that the sheer scale of failure to comprehend the political reality that it displays, the utter inability to register how profoundly the “suicide epidemic” indicts the status quo, is ultimately more terrifying than outright indifference. It’s worth recalling that in the 2016 presidential election, even though Hillary Clinton touted a “suicide prevention” campaign plank, communities most affected by so-called deaths of despair voted overwhelmingly for Donald Trump, who addressed, however disingenuously, their economic situation and promised to bring back jobs.

Solving the mental health crisis, then, will require fighting for people to have secure access to infrastructure that buffers them from chronic stress: housing, food security, education, child care, job security, the right to organize for more humane workplaces and substantive action on the imminent climate apocalypse.

A fight for mental health waged only on the terms of access to psychiatric care does not only risk bolstering justifications for profiteering invoked by start-ups eager to capitalize on the widespread effects of grief, anxiety and despair. It also risks pathologising the very emotions we are going to need to harness for their political power if we are going to win solutions.

Many in power would prefer to kick questions like “what caused the mental health crisis?” And “who benefits?” Out of sight. Don’t let them. What if the cure for our current mental health crisis is not more mental health care?

Many in power would prefer to kick questions like “what caused the mental health crisis?” And “who benefits?” Out of sight. Don’t let them. What if the cure for our current mental health crisis is not more mental health care? The mental health toll of the Covid-19 pandemic has been the subject of extensive commentary in the United States, much of it focused on the sharp increase in demand for mental health services now swamping the nation’s health care capacities. The resulting difficulty in accessing care has been invoked widely as justification for a variety of proposed solutions, such as the profit-driven growth of digital health and teletherapy start-ups and a new mental health plan that the Biden administration unveiled earlier this year. But are we really in a mental health crisis? A crisis that affects mental health is not the same thing as a crisis of mental health. To be sure, symptoms of crisis abound. But in order to come up with effective solutions, we first have to ask: a crisis of what? Some social scientists have a term — “reification” — for the process by which the effects of a political arrangement of power and resources start to seem like objective, inevitable facts about the world. Reification swaps out a political problem for a scientific or technical one; it’s how, for example, the effects of unregulated tech oligopolies become “social media addiction,” how climate catastrophe caused by corporate greed becomes a “heat wave” — and, by the way, how the effect of struggles between labour and corporations combines with high energy prices to become “inflation.” Examples are not scarce. For people in power, the reification sleight of hand is very useful because it conveniently abracadabras questions like “Who caused this thing?” and “Who benefits?” out of sight. Instead, these symptoms of political struggle and social crisis begin to seem like problems with clear, objective technical solutions — problems best solved by trained experts. In medicine, examples of reification are so abundant that sociologists have a special term for it: “medicalisation,” or the process by which something gets framed as primarily a medical problem. Medicalisation shifts the terms in which we try to figure out what caused a problem, and what can be done to fix it. Often, it puts the focus on the individual as a biological body, at the expense of factoring in systemic and infrastructural conditions. Once we begin to ask questions about medicalisation, the entire framing of the mental health toll of the Covid crisis — an “epidemic” of mental illness, as various publications have called it, rather than a political crisis with medical effects — begins to seem inadequate. Of course, nobody can deny that there has been an increase in mental and emotional distress. To take two of the most common diagnoses, a study published in 2021 in The Lancet estimated that the pandemic had caused an additional 53.2 million cases of major depressive disorder and 76.2 million cases of anxiety disorder globally. Let’s think about this. The fact that incidences of psychological distress have increased in the face of objectively distressing circumstances is hardly surprising. As a coalition of 18 prominent mental health scholars wrote in a 2020 paper in The Lancet: “Predictions of a ‘tsunami’ of mental health problems as a consequence of [Covid] and the lockdown are overstated; feelings of anxiety and sadness are entirely normal reactions to difficult circumstances, not symptoms of poor mental health.” Things get even less surprising when you look more closely at the data: If you bracket the (entirely predictable) spike in psychological distress among health care workers (a fact that itself only reinforces the idea that the major causal vectors in play here are structural), the most relevant predictors of mental health are indexes of economic security. Of course, it’s not simply a question of the numbers on your bank statement — although that is a major predictor of outcomes — but of whether you live in a society where the social fabric has been destroyed. Before we go further, let me be clear about what I am not arguing. I am not arguing that mental illnesses are fake, or somehow nonbiological. Pointing out the medicalisation of social and political problems does not mean denying that such problems produce real biological conditions; it means asking serious questions about what is causing those conditions. If someone is driving through a crowd, running people over, the smart move is not to declare an epidemic of people suffering from Got Run Over by a Car Syndrome and go searching for the underlying biological mechanism that must be causing it. You have to treat the very real suffering that is happening in the bodies of the people affected, obviously, but the key point is this: You’re going to have to stop the guy running over people with the car. This principle is what some health researchers mean by the idea that there are social determinants of health — that effective long-term solutions for many medicalised problems require nonmedical — this is to say, political — means. We all readily acknowledge that for diseases like diabetes and hypertension — diseases with a very clear biological basis — an individual’s body is only part of the causal reality of the disease. Treating the root cause of the “epidemic” of diabetes effectively, for example, would happen at the level of serious infrastructural changes to the available diet and activity levels of a population, not by slinging medications or pouring funding into clinics that help people make better choices in supermarkets filled with unregulated, unhealthy food. You’ve got to stop the guy running over people with the car. But if the public health consensus around diabetes has shifted somewhat in response to what we know, it’s been remarkably hard to achieve the same when it comes to mental health. Psychiatric sciences have long acknowledged the fact that stress is causally implicated in an enormous range of mental disorders, referring to the “stress-diathesis model” of mental illness. That model incorporates the well-documented fact that chronic stressors (like poverty, political violence and discrimination) intensify the chance that an individual will develop a given diagnosis, from depression to schizophrenia. The causal relationship may be even more direct. Remarkably, all throughout decades of research on mood disorders, scientists doing animal studies had to create animal models of anxiety and depression — that is, animals who showed behaviours that looked like human anxiety and depression — by subjecting them to weeks or months of chronic stress. Zap animals with unpredictable and painful shocks they can’t escape, force them to survive barely survivable conditions for long enough, put them in social situations where they are chronically brutalized by those higher up in the social hierarchy — and just like that, the animals will consistently start behaving in a way that looks like human psychopathology. This doesn’t mean that all psychiatric symptoms are caused by stress, but it does mean that a whole lot of them almost certainly are. There is increasingly strong evidence for the idea that chronic elevation of stress hormones has downstream effects on the neural architecture of the brain’s cognitive and emotional circuits. The exact relationship between different types of stress and any given cluster of psychiatric symptoms remains unclear — why do some people react to stress by becoming depressed, while others become impulsive or enraged? — indicating that whatever causal mechanism exists is mediated by a variety of genetic and social conditions. But the implications of the research are very clear: When it comes to mental health, the best treatment for the biological conditions underlying many symptoms might be ensuring that more people can live less stressful lives. And here is the core of the problem: Medicalising mental health doesn’t work very well if your goal is to address the underlying cause of population-level increases in mental and emotional distress. It does, however, work really well if you’re trying to come up with a solution that everybody in power can agree on, so that the people in power can show they’re doing something about the problem. Unfortunately, the solution that everyone can agree on is not going to work. Everyone agrees, for instance, that it would be good to reduce the high rate of diabetes plaguing the United States. But once we begin to de-medicalize it, diabetes starts to look like a biological problem arising from a vast swathe of political problems: transportation infrastructure that keeps people sedentary in cars, food insecurity that keeps a racialized underclass dependent on cheap and empty calories, the power of corporate lobbies to defang regulations, and so on. These are problems that people do not agree on how to solve, in part because some are materially benefiting from this state of affairs. This is to say, these are political problems, and solving them will mean taking on the groups of people who benefit from the status quo. That the status quo is once again benefiting the usual suspects is all too obvious in the booming market of V.C.-backed mental health tech start-ups, which promise to solve the crisis through a gig economy model for psychiatric care that has been criticized for selling psychiatric medication irresponsibly, with little accountability. But even publicly funded solutions risk falling into the trap of medicalising a problem and failing to address the deeper structural causes of the crisis. President Biden’s plan for mental health, for instance, makes many genuflections to the language of “community” and “behavioral health.” A section outlining a plan for “creating healthy environments” makes a great show of saying the right things, including: “We cannot transform mental health solely through the health care system. We must also address the determinants of behavioral health, invest in community services and foster a culture and environment that broadly promotes mental wellness and recovery.” But then the plan goes on to focus on several proposals aimed at regulating social media platforms — a strange target that seems relevant only in a downstream way from major infrastructural determinants of health, like wealth inequality and public services — until you remember that it’s one of the few policy goals that both Democrats and Republicans share. Sure, parts of the proposal do seem to offer genuinely needed care. For instance, a proposal to establish scores of behavioural health clinics that can offer subsidized substance use treatment like methadone tapering is an exigently needed — if depressingly belated — response to the phenomenon of mass opiate addiction pushed by corporations like Purdue Pharma and Walgreens. But despite the fact that much of the proposal seems to have been drafted with the opiate addiction crisis in mind, the billboard-size implications of the so-called opioid epidemic seem to have failed to register. It is hard to imagine a clearer demonstration of political conditions undergoing the reification switch into a medicalised epidemic than what everyone now knows happened: The despair of the post-industrial underclass was methodically and intentionally milked by pharmaceutical companies for all it was worth. It was so obvious that at last even a political establishment that remains largely indifferent to the poor eventually had to get around to sort of doing something. And yet when the plan addresses suicide, it focuses on crisis intervention — as if suicide were a kind of unfortunate natural occurrence, like lightning strikes, rather than an expression of the fact that growing numbers of people are becoming convinced that the current state of affairs gives them no reason to hope for a life they’d want to live. The proposal’s main plan to address the so-called epidemic of suicide has been the rebranding of a national suicide hotline — which will encourage callers on the brink of killing themselves to refrain from doing so, and may or may not connect them to resources like three cognitive behavioural therapy sessions (most likely conducted through teletherapy) that insurance companies will be required to cover for their customers — depending on what the state the caller is in has decided about funding. (Like all of Biden’s proposal, the plan is yet to be passed into law.) It’s not so much that the hotline is a bad idea; it’s that the sheer scale of failure to comprehend the political reality that it displays, the utter inability to register how profoundly the “suicide epidemic” indicts the status quo, is ultimately more terrifying than outright indifference. It’s worth recalling that in the 2016 presidential election, even though Hillary Clinton touted a “suicide prevention” campaign plank, communities most affected by so-called deaths of despair voted overwhelmingly for Donald Trump, who addressed, however disingenuously, their economic situation and promised to bring back jobs. Solving the mental health crisis, then, will require fighting for people to have secure access to infrastructure that buffers them from chronic stress: housing, food security, education, child care, job security, the right to organize for more humane workplaces and substantive action on the imminent climate apocalypse. A fight for mental health waged only on the terms of access to psychiatric care does not only risk bolstering justifications for profiteering invoked by start-ups eager to capitalize on the widespread effects of grief, anxiety and despair. It also risks pathologising the very emotions we are going to need to harness for their political power if we are going to win solutions.

Mental health is political

In the Belgian capital of Brussels, psychiatrists are taking a novel approach to treat people suffering from depression, stress or anxiety.

For the past five months, one of the city’s largest hospitals has been offering “museum prescriptions” as a method to cure depression.&nbsp;

This cure entails a free visit with a few friends or family to discover one or more of Brussels’ cultural institutions, reports the Guardian.

Brussels deputy mayor in charge of culture, Delphine Houba, claims that the project is the first of its kind in Europe.&nbsp;

Speaking to the Observer, she said that the first aim of this pilot project is to reinforce access to culture after the pressured days of lockdown.&nbsp;

“I want everybody back in our cultural institutions… but we know that, even before Covid, for some people it [was] not easy to open the door of a museum, they don’t feel at ease, they don’t think that it’s for them. And I really want to show that cultural venues are for everybody.”

While the second objective is to provide doctors “a new tool in the healing process”, she said.

When asked how she first got the idea of such a unique approach to tackle depression, the young socialist politician cited a similar project in Canada, where doctors have been issuing prescriptions to the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts since 2018.

This pilot project involves touring five museums that are directly under the control of city authorities. These include the city’s history museum, a centre for contemporary art, and the fashion and lace museum.

“Anything could have therapeutic value if it helps people get a good feeling and get in touch with themselves,” said Dr Johan Newell, a psychiatrist at Brugmann University Hospital, which is taking part in the pilot scheme.

He believes that the concept of museum prescriptions would find takers from people suffering undergoing depression, anxiety, autism spectrum disorders, psychosis and bipolar disorder.&nbsp;

“I think almost anyone could benefit from it. It would probably be more adapted for people who are already a little bit further on in the recovery process”, he said. 
&nbsp;

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In the Belgian capital of Brussels, psychiatrists are taking a novel approach to treat people suffering from depression, stress or anxiety. For the past five months, one of the city’s largest hospitals has been offering “museum prescriptions” as a method to cure depression.

In the Belgian capital of Brussels, psychiatrists are taking a novel approach to treat people suffering from depression, stress or anxiety. For the past five months, one of the city’s largest hospitals has been offering “museum prescriptions” as a method to cure depression. This cure entails a free visit with a few friends or family to discover one or more of Brussels’ cultural institutions, reports the Guardian. Brussels deputy mayor in charge of culture, Delphine Houba, claims that the project is the first of its kind in Europe. Speaking to the Observer, she said that the first aim of this pilot project is to reinforce access to culture after the pressured days of lockdown. “I want everybody back in our cultural institutions… but we know that, even before Covid, for some people it [was] not easy to open the door of a museum, they don’t feel at ease, they don’t think that it’s for them. And I really want to show that cultural venues are for everybody.” While the second objective is to provide doctors “a new tool in the healing process”, she said. When asked how she first got the idea of such a unique approach to tackle depression, the young socialist politician cited a similar project in Canada, where doctors have been issuing prescriptions to the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts since 2018. This pilot project involves touring five museums that are directly under the control of city authorities. These include the city’s history museum, a centre for contemporary art, and the fashion and lace museum. “Anything could have therapeutic value if it helps people get a good feeling and get in touch with themselves,” said Dr Johan Newell, a psychiatrist at Brugmann University Hospital, which is taking part in the pilot scheme. He believes that the concept of museum prescriptions would find takers from people suffering undergoing depression, anxiety, autism spectrum disorders, psychosis and bipolar disorder. “I think almost anyone could benefit from it. It would probably be more adapted for people who are already a little bit further on in the recovery process”, he said. WATCH WION LIVE HERE:

In Brussels, people with anxiety, depression being given 'museum prescriptions'

Suicide, a self-inflicted death people commit to escape from reality. Suicide has become so common nowadays.

Day by day, the number of suicide cases is rising. Suicide has now become a public health issue, having a significant effect on people.

For every suicide, 25 individuals make an attempt, and many more experience suicidal thoughts.

To lower this, it is important to increase awareness about it, remove the stigma around it, regularly check on your loved ones and promote informed actions.&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/is-long-covid-linked-to-suicide-scientists-warn-of-a-hidden-crisis-514126">Also read |&nbsp;Is long Covid linked to suicide? Scientists warn of a hidden crisis</a>

Every year, September 10 is observed as World Suicide Prevention Day (WSPD). It was established in 2003 by the World Health Organisation along with the International Association for Suicide Prevention.&nbsp;

The main objective of this day is to increase global awareness of the issue of suicide. This can be done by enhancing skills and spreading encouraging and educational messages to the public and promoting open dialogue on mental health and its importance.&nbsp; 
Some of us require a little more assistance.

Significance:

An estimated 703,000 people commit suicide every year, or at least one in every 45 seconds. Horrifying, isn't it? But it's the truth.

As per WHO figures, nearly 108 million people are deeply impacted by suicidal behaviour, with up to 135 people experiencing intense grief for every suicide or being negatively affected in some other way.&nbsp;

Theme:

The three-year theme for World Suicide Prevention Day (2021–2023) is "Creating hope through action."

The theme attempts to instill hope and brightness in all of us by serving as a reminder that there are alternatives to suicide.&nbsp;

The theme aims to show people feeling suicidal that through our actions we can show them there is hope. We care for them, we'll help them, just don't give up.&nbsp;

It is essential for nations to make suicide prevention a top priority for public health and mental health care.

Another major reason for mental stress is COVID-19. The coronavirus has left a huge impact since some have had long-lasting infections. According to the WHO, long Covid is difficult to diagnose medical illness with over 200 symptoms.&nbsp;

Individuals have mentioned neurological effects, such as low concentration levels or difficulty thinking, when it comes to long Covid. The symptoms, the virus brings include depression, headaches, sleep issues, and dizziness which to an extent stresses people.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/delhi-man-leaves-77-page-suicide-note-details-how-he-killed-his-mother-513381">Also read |&nbsp;Delhi man leaves 77-page suicide note, details how he killed his mother</a>

To prevent this, we must know how to identify when someone is suicidal. The following are the symptoms to know when someone is suicidal:

When an individual has a mental condition like depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, etc., or an individual affected by stressful circumstances for a long period of time, someone dealing with substance abuse, has endured trauma or violence in childhood, or past suicide attempts,

It is very important these days to check on your loved ones. And it's also important for everyone to express themselves, and their problems, if not to someone you know, consult a counselor, just don't give up. There's hope, you just need to take that one step, that one action! Know that you are not alone.

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Suicide, a self-inflicted death people commit to escape from reality. Suicide has become so common nowadays. Day by day, the number of suicide cases is rising. Suicide has now become a public health issue, having a significant effect on people.

Suicide, a self-inflicted death people commit to escape from reality. Suicide has become so common nowadays. Day by day, the number of suicide cases is rising. Suicide has now become a public health issue, having a significant effect on people. For every suicide, 25 individuals make an attempt, and many more experience suicidal thoughts. To lower this, it is important to increase awareness about it, remove the stigma around it, regularly check on your loved ones and promote informed actions. Also read | Is long Covid linked to suicide? Scientists warn of a hidden crisis Every year, September 10 is observed as World Suicide Prevention Day (WSPD). It was established in 2003 by the World Health Organisation along with the International Association for Suicide Prevention. The main objective of this day is to increase global awareness of the issue of suicide. This can be done by enhancing skills and spreading encouraging and educational messages to the public and promoting open dialogue on mental health and its importance. Some of us require a little more assistance. Significance: An estimated 703,000 people commit suicide every year, or at least one in every 45 seconds. Horrifying, isn't it? But it's the truth. As per WHO figures, nearly 108 million people are deeply impacted by suicidal behaviour, with up to 135 people experiencing intense grief for every suicide or being negatively affected in some other way. Theme: The three-year theme for World Suicide Prevention Day (2021–2023) is "Creating hope through action." The theme attempts to instill hope and brightness in all of us by serving as a reminder that there are alternatives to suicide. The theme aims to show people feeling suicidal that through our actions we can show them there is hope. We care for them, we'll help them, just don't give up. It is essential for nations to make suicide prevention a top priority for public health and mental health care. Another major reason for mental stress is COVID-19. The coronavirus has left a huge impact since some have had long-lasting infections. According to the WHO, long Covid is difficult to diagnose medical illness with over 200 symptoms. Individuals have mentioned neurological effects, such as low concentration levels or difficulty thinking, when it comes to long Covid. The symptoms, the virus brings include depression, headaches, sleep issues, and dizziness which to an extent stresses people. Also read | Delhi man leaves 77-page suicide note, details how he killed his mother To prevent this, we must know how to identify when someone is suicidal. The following are the symptoms to know when someone is suicidal: When an individual has a mental condition like depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, etc., or an individual affected by stressful circumstances for a long period of time, someone dealing with substance abuse, has endured trauma or violence in childhood, or past suicide attempts, It is very important these days to check on your loved ones. And it's also important for everyone to express themselves, and their problems, if not to someone you know, consult a counselor, just don't give up. There's hope, you just need to take that one step, that one action! Know that you are not alone. WATCH WION LIVE HERE

World Suicide Prevention 2022: Theme, Significance, and everything you need to know 

Hollywood actor Zac Efron revealed that his 'Baywatch' body was not sustainable, and he suffered from `bad depression` while training for the movie. 
 
The 34-year-old actor stated in a 2017 interview with Men`s Health Magazine that he is no longer concerned with keeping the physique he had for the filming of `Baywatch` in 2017." 
 
That 'Baywatch' look, I don`t know if that`s really attainable. There`s just too little water in the skin," he told the outlet.&nbsp; 
 
"Like, it`s fake, it looks CGI`d. And that required Lasix, powerful diuretics, to achieve. So, I don`t need to do that. I much prefer to have an extra, you know, two to three per cent body fat." 
 
Efron revealed to Men's Health that while undergoing the demanding training needed for `Baywatch,` he experienced "severe sadness" and felt exhausted.&nbsp; 
 
The actor thought he was prepared to modify his approach to exercise after the 2020 pandemic."I started to develop insomnia," he added in the magazine's October 2022 cover story.&nbsp; 
 
"I fell into a pretty bad depression for a long time. Something about that experience burned me out. I had a really hard time recentering. Ultimately, they chalked it up to taking way too many diuretics for way too long, and it messed something up." 
 
The 'High School Musical' star altered his food and sleeping schedule significantly. According to his Netflix show 'Down to Earth' alongside fitness expert Darin Olien, Zac Efron had been a vegan for around two years. 
 
Efron took a hiatus from performing and relocated to Australia during the pandemic. "At one point, that was a dream of mine -- what it would be like to not have to be in shape all the time," he said. 
 
"What if I just say, `F--k it,` and let myself go? So, I tried it, and I was successful. And for all the reasons I thought it would be incredible, I was just miserable. My body would not feel healthy. I just didn`t feel alive. I felt bogged down and slow."According to Fox News, Efron also addressed "Jaw-gate," the incident in 2021 in which he was alleged to have had plastic surgery on his face. It happened after he shattered his jaw. He hit it on a granite fountain after running through his home in socks and slipping.&nbsp; 
 
Zac worked with a specialist and did physical therapy, but he explained that as his jaw healed, "the masseters just grew. They just got really, really big." 
 
The masseter muscles, which are used to tighten the jaw, typically cooperate with the other facial muscles.Efron told the source that he tries not to spend too much time on social media, so he wasn`t aware of the plastic surgery rumours until he received a call from his mother.&nbsp; 
 
"If I valued what other people thought of me to the extent that they may think I do," he said, "I definitely wouldn`t be able to do this work." 
 
The Greatest Beer Run Ever, Efron`s most recent film, will be released in cinemas on September 30 and streamable on Apple TV+. 
&nbsp;

Hollywood actor Zac Efron revealed that his 'Baywatch' body was not sustainable, and he suffered from `bad depression` while training for the movie. The 34-year-old actor stated in a 2017 interview with Men`s Health Magazine that he is no longer concerned with keeping the physique he had for the filming of `Baywatch` in 2017.

Hollywood actor Zac Efron revealed that his 'Baywatch' body was not sustainable, and he suffered from `bad depression` while training for the movie. The 34-year-old actor stated in a 2017 interview with Men`s Health Magazine that he is no longer concerned with keeping the physique he had for the filming of `Baywatch` in 2017." That 'Baywatch' look, I don`t know if that`s really attainable. There`s just too little water in the skin," he told the outlet. "Like, it`s fake, it looks CGI`d. And that required Lasix, powerful diuretics, to achieve. So, I don`t need to do that. I much prefer to have an extra, you know, two to three per cent body fat." Efron revealed to Men's Health that while undergoing the demanding training needed for `Baywatch,` he experienced "severe sadness" and felt exhausted. The actor thought he was prepared to modify his approach to exercise after the 2020 pandemic."I started to develop insomnia," he added in the magazine's October 2022 cover story. "I fell into a pretty bad depression for a long time. Something about that experience burned me out. I had a really hard time recentering. Ultimately, they chalked it up to taking way too many diuretics for way too long, and it messed something up." The 'High School Musical' star altered his food and sleeping schedule significantly. According to his Netflix show 'Down to Earth' alongside fitness expert Darin Olien, Zac Efron had been a vegan for around two years. Efron took a hiatus from performing and relocated to Australia during the pandemic. "At one point, that was a dream of mine -- what it would be like to not have to be in shape all the time," he said. "What if I just say, `F--k it,` and let myself go? So, I tried it, and I was successful. And for all the reasons I thought it would be incredible, I was just miserable. My body would not feel healthy. I just didn`t feel alive. I felt bogged down and slow."According to Fox News, Efron also addressed "Jaw-gate," the incident in 2021 in which he was alleged to have had plastic surgery on his face. It happened after he shattered his jaw. He hit it on a granite fountain after running through his home in socks and slipping. Zac worked with a specialist and did physical therapy, but he explained that as his jaw healed, "the masseters just grew. They just got really, really big." The masseter muscles, which are used to tighten the jaw, typically cooperate with the other facial muscles.Efron told the source that he tries not to spend too much time on social media, so he wasn`t aware of the plastic surgery rumours until he received a call from his mother. "If I valued what other people thought of me to the extent that they may think I do," he said, "I definitely wouldn`t be able to do this work." The Greatest Beer Run Ever, Efron`s most recent film, will be released in cinemas on September 30 and streamable on Apple TV+.

Zac Efron reveals he suffered from 'bad depression' while training for Baywatch

In India, a recent National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) survey on mental health and well-being of students revealed that studies, examinations and results are major causes of anxiety among school students while over 33 per cent comply with peer pressure most of the times.&nbsp;

As per the survey, at least 73 per cent of students are satisfied with their school life and over 45 per cent of students are not satisfied with their body image. The NCERT surveyed over 3.79 lakh students from 36 states and UTs.&nbsp;

In this year's budget, the government of India took an initiative at a national level for mental health issues and awareness, which is extremely important in the post-covid era.&nbsp;

While presenting the Union Budget for the year 2022-2023, India's Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a National Tele Mental Health Programme keeping in view of 'long Covid'.&nbsp;

Long Covid is the phenomenon of coronavirus-related ailments remaining in patients long after they recover. The government also informed about the rolling out an open platform for the National Digital Health Ecosystem.&nbsp;

The recent NCERT survey emerged to be quite encouraging as it attempts to understand the mental health of students who are going to be the future of the country.&nbsp;

The survey tells that a total of 29 per cent of school students lack concentration, while 43 per cent of students between classes 6 to 12 have mood swings.&nbsp;

The Manodarpan Cell of the NCERT undertook the task of conducting the survey to help understand the perceptions of school students on aspects related to their mental health and well-being.

It collected information from students across gender and grades, middle state (6-8) and secondary stage (9 to 12) between January to March 2022.&nbsp;

The NCERT said that the anonymity of participants was ensured by making the name column optional, allowing students the comfort, privacy and independence to respond.&nbsp;

The survey report released on Tuesday said, "Decline in satisfaction with personal and school life is seen as students shift from middle to secondary stage."&nbsp;

It added, "The secondary stage is marked by challenges of identity crisis, increased sensitivity towards relationships, peer pressure, fear of board examination, anxiety and uncertainty experienced by students for their future admissions, career etc."&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)&nbsp;

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In India, a recent National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) survey on mental health and well-being of students revealed that studies, examinations and results are major causes of anxiety among school students while over 33 per cent comply with peer pressure most of the times.

In India, a recent National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) survey on mental health and well-being of students revealed that studies, examinations and results are major causes of anxiety among school students while over 33 per cent comply with peer pressure most of the times. As per the survey, at least 73 per cent of students are satisfied with their school life and over 45 per cent of students are not satisfied with their body image. The NCERT surveyed over 3.79 lakh students from 36 states and UTs. In this year's budget, the government of India took an initiative at a national level for mental health issues and awareness, which is extremely important in the post-covid era. While presenting the Union Budget for the year 2022-2023, India's Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a National Tele Mental Health Programme keeping in view of 'long Covid'. Long Covid is the phenomenon of coronavirus-related ailments remaining in patients long after they recover. The government also informed about the rolling out an open platform for the National Digital Health Ecosystem. The recent NCERT survey emerged to be quite encouraging as it attempts to understand the mental health of students who are going to be the future of the country. The survey tells that a total of 29 per cent of school students lack concentration, while 43 per cent of students between classes 6 to 12 have mood swings. The Manodarpan Cell of the NCERT undertook the task of conducting the survey to help understand the perceptions of school students on aspects related to their mental health and well-being. It collected information from students across gender and grades, middle state (6-8) and secondary stage (9 to 12) between January to March 2022. The NCERT said that the anonymity of participants was ensured by making the name column optional, allowing students the comfort, privacy and independence to respond. The survey report released on Tuesday said, "Decline in satisfaction with personal and school life is seen as students shift from middle to secondary stage." It added, "The secondary stage is marked by challenges of identity crisis, increased sensitivity towards relationships, peer pressure, fear of board examination, anxiety and uncertainty experienced by students for their future admissions, career etc." (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

India: Studies, examination and results major causes of anxiety among school students, tells NCERT survey

Recent studies suggest that being lonely might increase the likelihood of being unemployed in the future. Later, losing a job is substantially more likely for those who often feel lonely.

The study was published in the journal ‘BMC Public Health.’

Previous studies have shown that unemployment can lead to loneliness, but this is the first study to specifically investigate whether the opposite is also true among people of working age. The study also found that people who were unemployed were more likely to suffer from loneliness.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/dangling-upside-down-some-spiders-may-sleep-and-dream-like-humans-study-suggests-508739">Dangling upside down, some spiders may sleep and dream like humans: Study</a>

Nia Morish, the lead author of the study, said, "Given the persisting and potentially scarring effects of both loneliness and unemployment on health and the economy, prevention of both experiences is key. Decreased loneliness could mitigate unemployment, and employment abate loneliness, which may, in turn, relate positively to other factors including health and quality of life," ANI reported.

Morish further added that in order to promote health and wellness, it is important to pay special attention to loneliness and provide employers with additional support. The lead author further added that after the COVID-19 pandemic started, people started working from home and many felt isolated, which increased the need to focus on people’s health and wellbeing.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/smoking-alcohol-high-bmi-study-reveals-risk-factors-responsible-for-almost-half-of-cancer-deaths-508353">Smoking, alcohol, high BMI: Study reveals risk factors responsible for almost half of cancer deaths</a>

According to Professor Antonieta Media-Lara, "Loneliness is an incredibly important societal problem, which is often thought about in terms of its impact on mental health and wellbeing only."

The professor further continued, "Our findings indicate that there may also be wider implications, which could have negative impacts on individuals and the economy. We need to explore this further, and it could lay the foundations for employers or policymakers to tackle loneliness with a view to keeping more people in work," ANI reported.

This is the first study that identifies those lonely people of any working age who are at greater risk of becoming unemployed or jobless.

(With inputs from agencies)

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Recent studies suggest that being lonely might increase the likelihood of being unemployed in the future. Later, losing a job is substantially more likely for those who often feel lonely.

Recent studies suggest that being lonely might increase the likelihood of being unemployed in the future. Later, losing a job is substantially more likely for those who often feel lonely. The study was published in the journal ‘BMC Public Health.’ Previous studies have shown that unemployment can lead to loneliness, but this is the first study to specifically investigate whether the opposite is also true among people of working age. The study also found that people who were unemployed were more likely to suffer from loneliness. Also read | Dangling upside down, some spiders may sleep and dream like humans: Study Nia Morish, the lead author of the study, said, "Given the persisting and potentially scarring effects of both loneliness and unemployment on health and the economy, prevention of both experiences is key. Decreased loneliness could mitigate unemployment, and employment abate loneliness, which may, in turn, relate positively to other factors including health and quality of life," ANI reported. Morish further added that in order to promote health and wellness, it is important to pay special attention to loneliness and provide employers with additional support. The lead author further added that after the COVID-19 pandemic started, people started working from home and many felt isolated, which increased the need to focus on people’s health and wellbeing. Also read | Smoking, alcohol, high BMI: Study reveals risk factors responsible for almost half of cancer deaths According to Professor Antonieta Media-Lara, "Loneliness is an incredibly important societal problem, which is often thought about in terms of its impact on mental health and wellbeing only." The professor further continued, "Our findings indicate that there may also be wider implications, which could have negative impacts on individuals and the economy. We need to explore this further, and it could lay the foundations for employers or policymakers to tackle loneliness with a view to keeping more people in work," ANI reported. This is the first study that identifies those lonely people of any working age who are at greater risk of becoming unemployed or jobless. (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

Study reveals loneliness may increase risk of unemployment in future

Mental health issues are the bane of any athlete. Considering the expectations and responsibilities that those competing in international settings shoulder, the onset of such issues is effectively inevitable. The case of&nbsp;Indian cricketing icon Virat Kohli is no different. He recently offered fans unadulterated insight into the problems that he has faced while playing at the highest level for years.

ALSO READ:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/have-experienced-times-when-i-felt-alone-in-a-room-full-of-people-who-love-me-virat-kohli-on-mental-health-507858" hreflang="en">Have experienced times when I felt alone in a room full of people who love me: Virat Kohli on mental health</a>

In response to his comments, representatives of his management company released a statement. Kohli's agent Bunty Sajdeh admitted that the Indian star has faced his fair share of problems prompted by&nbsp;mental health issues over the course of his career. However, he expressed disappointment in the fact that significant terms like depression were being thrown around a bit too casually.&nbsp;

"The representation of a severe condition like depression is very well understood by Virat. He's spoken openly on the mental challenges of playing the sport at the highest level and he hasn't shied away from admitting them. Having said that, he's mentioned that he's experienced mental challenges at only a certain stage in his career," said Sajdeh&nbsp;during a recent interaction with the media.

ALSO READ:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/14-years-ago-virat-kohli-takes-trip-down-memory-lane-celebrating-his-stint-in-international-cricket-508022" hreflang="en">'14 years ago'- Virat Kohli takes a trip down memory lane, celebrating his stint in international cricket</a>

The&nbsp;CEO of Cornerstone Sport, the company that manages a deep roster of talent and athletes, including Virat Kohli himself, also offered his two cents on the recently emerged comments attributed to Kohli.

"Virat for one will never feel alone when he's around people who love and support him. That's where he has got his mental strength from. Every top athlete has gone through mental challenges of dealing with pressures and expectations that come with the positions they are at. Depression is too big and significant a term to be used so loosely," Sajdeh said.

&nbsp;

Mental health issues are the bane of any athlete. Considering the expectations and responsibilities that those competing in international settings shoulder, the onset of such issues is effectively inevitable.

Mental health issues are the bane of any athlete. Considering the expectations and responsibilities that those competing in international settings shoulder, the onset of such issues is effectively inevitable. The case of Indian cricketing icon Virat Kohli is no different. He recently offered fans unadulterated insight into the problems that he has faced while playing at the highest level for years. ALSO READ: Have experienced times when I felt alone in a room full of people who love me: Virat Kohli on mental health In response to his comments, representatives of his management company released a statement. Kohli's agent Bunty Sajdeh admitted that the Indian star has faced his fair share of problems prompted by mental health issues over the course of his career. However, he expressed disappointment in the fact that significant terms like depression were being thrown around a bit too casually. "The representation of a severe condition like depression is very well understood by Virat. He's spoken openly on the mental challenges of playing the sport at the highest level and he hasn't shied away from admitting them. Having said that, he's mentioned that he's experienced mental challenges at only a certain stage in his career," said Sajdeh during a recent interaction with the media. ALSO READ: '14 years ago'- Virat Kohli takes a trip down memory lane, celebrating his stint in international cricket The CEO of Cornerstone Sport, the company that manages a deep roster of talent and athletes, including Virat Kohli himself, also offered his two cents on the recently emerged comments attributed to Kohli. "Virat for one will never feel alone when he's around people who love and support him. That's where he has got his mental strength from. Every top athlete has gone through mental challenges of dealing with pressures and expectations that come with the positions they are at. Depression is too big and significant a term to be used so loosely," Sajdeh said.

'Depression is too big a term' - Virat Kohli's management team clarifies his remarks on mental health issues

Inflation in UK has surged to a new 40-year high and it's now in double digits. Britain is facing rising food prices, worsening cost of living crisis and the prospect of a recession. While businesses bear the brunt of high inflation, households are also adversely affected, take a look at our next report.

UK inflation hits 40-year high, financial worries are affecting people's mental health

Former Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli is one of the most popular cricketers of the current generation and is widely regarded as one of the best batters of the present era. Kohli has been one of the most consistent performers for the Indian team across formats in international cricket and has shattered several records with his remarkable performances over the years.

Kohli stressed the importance of focusing on mental health for young athletes as they have to constantly deal with pressure and expectations. Kohli, who has himself faced several highs and lows in his career so far, revealed he has had to deal with numerous difficult phases and there was a point when he felt alone despite being surrounded by his loved ones.

The senior Team India batter believes sport&nbsp;brings the best out of a player but at the same time dealing with the staggering amount of pressure can have an adverse effect on the mental health of athletes. The Indian captain has himself had to deal with intense criticism over the past couple of years due to his ongoing lean patch with the willow.

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/virat-kohlis-childhood-coach-shares-slight-concern-for-his-pupil-ahead-of-pakistan-clash-in-asia-cup-507807">Virat Kohli's childhood coach shares 'slight concern' for his pupil ahead of Pakistan clash in Asia Cup</a>

"For an athlete, the sport can bring the best out of you as a player but at the same time, the amount of pressure that you are constantly under, can affect your mental health negatively. It is definitely a serious issue and as much as we try to be strong at all times, it can tear you apart," Kohli told The Indian Express.

Kohli has not been on top of his game for a while now as he continues to struggle for runs across formats. Kohli was once known for his incredible consistency and kept notching up centuries for fun, however, things have gone haywire for the former skipper in the last couple of years.

Despite being under constant scrutiny, Kohli has managed to stay strong and is expected to bounce back soon. He is currently enjoying a break and will be back in action in the upcoming Asia Cup 2022. Recalling the difficult situations he had to face, Kohli said mental health is as important as physical fitness for an athlete.

Also Read:<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/i-cant-compare-myself-to-dhoni-or-rohit-as-a-leader-their-achievements-are-far-greater-kl-rahul-507841">&nbsp;I can't compare myself to Dhoni or Rohit as a leader, their achievements are far greater: KL Rahul</a>

"My tips to aspiring athletes would be that yes, physical fitness and focus on recovery are the key to being a good athlete, but at the same time, it is crucial to consistently keep in touch with your inner self," said the Indian superstar, who is arguable one of the most followed cricketers in the world.

"I personally have experienced times when even in a room full of people who support and love me, I felt alone, and I am sure that this is a feeling that a lot of people can relate to. So, take out time for yourself and reconnect with your core self. If you lose that connection, it wouldn’t take very long for other things to crumble around you."

"You need to learn how to compartmentalise your time so that there’s balance. It takes practice like anything else in life, but it’s something worth investing in, that’s the only way to feel a sense of sanity and enjoyment while doing your work," he added.

&nbsp;

Former Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli is one of the most popular cricketers of the current generation and is widely regarded as one of the best batters of the present era.

Former Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli is one of the most popular cricketers of the current generation and is widely regarded as one of the best batters of the present era. Kohli has been one of the most consistent performers for the Indian team across formats in international cricket and has shattered several records with his remarkable performances over the years. Kohli stressed the importance of focusing on mental health for young athletes as they have to constantly deal with pressure and expectations. Kohli, who has himself faced several highs and lows in his career so far, revealed he has had to deal with numerous difficult phases and there was a point when he felt alone despite being surrounded by his loved ones. The senior Team India batter believes sport brings the best out of a player but at the same time dealing with the staggering amount of pressure can have an adverse effect on the mental health of athletes. The Indian captain has himself had to deal with intense criticism over the past couple of years due to his ongoing lean patch with the willow. Also Read: Virat Kohli's childhood coach shares 'slight concern' for his pupil ahead of Pakistan clash in Asia Cup "For an athlete, the sport can bring the best out of you as a player but at the same time, the amount of pressure that you are constantly under, can affect your mental health negatively. It is definitely a serious issue and as much as we try to be strong at all times, it can tear you apart," Kohli told The Indian Express. Kohli has not been on top of his game for a while now as he continues to struggle for runs across formats. Kohli was once known for his incredible consistency and kept notching up centuries for fun, however, things have gone haywire for the former skipper in the last couple of years. Despite being under constant scrutiny, Kohli has managed to stay strong and is expected to bounce back soon. He is currently enjoying a break and will be back in action in the upcoming Asia Cup 2022. Recalling the difficult situations he had to face, Kohli said mental health is as important as physical fitness for an athlete. Also Read: I can't compare myself to Dhoni or Rohit as a leader, their achievements are far greater: KL Rahul "My tips to aspiring athletes would be that yes, physical fitness and focus on recovery are the key to being a good athlete, but at the same time, it is crucial to consistently keep in touch with your inner self," said the Indian superstar, who is arguable one of the most followed cricketers in the world. "I personally have experienced times when even in a room full of people who support and love me, I felt alone, and I am sure that this is a feeling that a lot of people can relate to. So, take out time for yourself and reconnect with your core self. If you lose that connection, it wouldn’t take very long for other things to crumble around you." "You need to learn how to compartmentalise your time so that there’s balance. It takes practice like anything else in life, but it’s something worth investing in, that’s the only way to feel a sense of sanity and enjoyment while doing your work," he added.

Have experienced times when I felt alone in a room full of people who love me: Virat Kohli on mental health

Quiet resigning, a new workplace practice gaining traction on TikTok, involves employees establishing clear work-life boundaries to decrease stress — but without really leaving the business payroll, as the term implies. The new silent resigning trend has prompted over 3.9 million video views on TikTok, as well as pieces on The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, and other publications. Hundreds of silent quitters are speaking up about how they're focusing more on maintaining a good work-life balance and less on exceeding expectations outside of their job descriptions while remaining at their present positions.

"People aren't going above and beyond — they're not sacrificing their emotional and physical health for their employers anymore," Allison Peck, a career counsellor with over 400,000 TikTok followers, says "They're doing what they're hired to do."

Who is taking part in the quiet quitting?

While many of those speaking out about silent resigning on TikTok are younger, polls show that individuals of all ages have similar opinions regarding being engaged at work.

According to a Gallup study issued earlier this year, only 32% of employees were engaged, compared to 36% in 2020. According to Gallup, the negative shift between 2020 and 2021 was the first yearly fall in involvement in over a decade.

Millennials and baby boomers were among those asked, and both groups reported being involved between 31% and 33% of the time.

Employees who worked remotely or on a hybrid schedule had 37% greater levels of engagement than those who worked in the office or on-site, who had 29%.

What can companies do in reaction to silent resignations?

To counteract leaving, Jim Harter, Gallup's chief scientist of workplace and well-being, says that it all starts at the top.&nbsp;

"Managers are really crucial, and it all starts at the top," Harter explained. "It is critical to have the proper talks at the right time so that people understand what is expected of them and their position, as well as how their job links to something larger."

Natalie Flores, a worker who engages in silent resignation, says that it's all about recognizing your worth.

"For me, quietly resigning means acting on my pay and understanding that my time is valued," Flores explained.

Clayton Farris, an actor, and self-proclaimed silent quitter stated in a video that he continues to work as hard as he did previously.

"I still get just as much done," he added. I just don't stress and tear myself apart inwardly. And it's stunning!"

Quiet resigning, a new workplace practice gaining traction on TikTok, involves employees establishing clear work-life boundaries to decrease stress — but without really leaving the business payroll, as the term implies.

Quiet resigning, a new workplace practice gaining traction on TikTok, involves employees establishing clear work-life boundaries to decrease stress — but without really leaving the business payroll, as the term implies. The new silent resigning trend has prompted over 3.9 million video views on TikTok, as well as pieces on The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, and other publications. Hundreds of silent quitters are speaking up about how they're focusing more on maintaining a good work-life balance and less on exceeding expectations outside of their job descriptions while remaining at their present positions. "People aren't going above and beyond — they're not sacrificing their emotional and physical health for their employers anymore," Allison Peck, a career counsellor with over 400,000 TikTok followers, says "They're doing what they're hired to do." Who is taking part in the quiet quitting? While many of those speaking out about silent resigning on TikTok are younger, polls show that individuals of all ages have similar opinions regarding being engaged at work. According to a Gallup study issued earlier this year, only 32% of employees were engaged, compared to 36% in 2020. According to Gallup, the negative shift between 2020 and 2021 was the first yearly fall in involvement in over a decade. Millennials and baby boomers were among those asked, and both groups reported being involved between 31% and 33% of the time. Employees who worked remotely or on a hybrid schedule had 37% greater levels of engagement than those who worked in the office or on-site, who had 29%. What can companies do in reaction to silent resignations? To counteract leaving, Jim Harter, Gallup's chief scientist of workplace and well-being, says that it all starts at the top. "Managers are really crucial, and it all starts at the top," Harter explained. "It is critical to have the proper talks at the right time so that people understand what is expected of them and their position, as well as how their job links to something larger." Natalie Flores, a worker who engages in silent resignation, says that it's all about recognizing your worth. "For me, quietly resigning means acting on my pay and understanding that my time is valued," Flores explained. Clayton Farris, an actor, and self-proclaimed silent quitter stated in a video that he continues to work as hard as he did previously. "I still get just as much done," he added. I just don't stress and tear myself apart inwardly. And it's stunning!"

What is quiet quitting and why is it trending?

Ezra Miller has spoken out for the first time in months after grabbing headlines for their erratic behaviour. Miller has addressed the string of controversies they have faced in the past few months and revealed that they have been suffering "from complex mental health issues" and have started treatment.&nbsp; 
 
Since March, Miller has been making headlines for all reasons. They were arrested twice in Hawaii, including for disorderly conduct and harassment at a karaoke bar. The second incident was for second-degree assault. Earlier this month, the actor was charged with felony burglary in Stamford, Vermont. 
 
Miller issued a statement explaining their behaviour to Variety and apologised for their past behaviour.&nbsp; 
 
"Having recently gone through a time of intense crisis, I now understand that I am suffering complex mental health issues and have begun ongoing treatment. 
 
"I want to apologize to everyone that I have been alarmed and upset with my past behaviour. I am committed to doing the necessary work to get back to a healthy, safe and productive stage in my life," they said. 
 
Miller, who identifies themselves as non-binary and uses they and them pronouns, played the DC Comics character Barry Allen aka The Flash in 2017's 'Justice League' and 'Zack Snyder's Justice League', the 2021 director's cut of the film. 
 
Miller's behaviour and subsequent arrest have delayed their next project 'The Flash'- a standalone movie on the superhero from Warner Bros/DC. It has Miller playing the lead character. The film is still scheduled to release on June 23, 2023, but industry insiders are sceptical about the film's fate following Miller's string of controversies. 
&nbsp; 
Meanwhile, a source close to the studio says that Warner Bros supports Miller's decision to seek professional help.Miller was last in 'Fantastic Beasts 3'.&nbsp;

Ezra Miller has spoken out for the first time in months after grabbing headlines for their erratic behaviour. Miller has addressed the string of controversies they have faced in the past few months and revealed that they have been suffering "from complex mental health issues" and have started treatment.

Ezra Miller has spoken out for the first time in months after grabbing headlines for their erratic behaviour. Miller has addressed the string of controversies they have faced in the past few months and revealed that they have been suffering "from complex mental health issues" and have started treatment. Since March, Miller has been making headlines for all reasons. They were arrested twice in Hawaii, including for disorderly conduct and harassment at a karaoke bar. The second incident was for second-degree assault. Earlier this month, the actor was charged with felony burglary in Stamford, Vermont. Miller issued a statement explaining their behaviour to Variety and apologised for their past behaviour. "Having recently gone through a time of intense crisis, I now understand that I am suffering complex mental health issues and have begun ongoing treatment. "I want to apologize to everyone that I have been alarmed and upset with my past behaviour. I am committed to doing the necessary work to get back to a healthy, safe and productive stage in my life," they said. Miller, who identifies themselves as non-binary and uses they and them pronouns, played the DC Comics character Barry Allen aka The Flash in 2017's 'Justice League' and 'Zack Snyder's Justice League', the 2021 director's cut of the film. Miller's behaviour and subsequent arrest have delayed their next project 'The Flash'- a standalone movie on the superhero from Warner Bros/DC. It has Miller playing the lead character. The film is still scheduled to release on June 23, 2023, but industry insiders are sceptical about the film's fate following Miller's string of controversies. Meanwhile, a source close to the studio says that Warner Bros supports Miller's decision to seek professional help.Miller was last in 'Fantastic Beasts 3'.

Ezra Miller undergoing treatment for 'complex mental health issues', apologises for past behaviour

Teenage angst, troublesome teens, temperamental teenagers; these are just some of the words that we use to describe the many issues that take center stage during teenage years. It's high time we stop doing that because young people's mental health is getting worse.

WION Dispatch: Tackling teen mental health issues in schools

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