APA Blogs
80 Results
Sports Organizations Take on Mental Health
Several professional and elite sports organizations have recently taken action to support their athletes’ mental health and well-being. In May, the NFL and the NFLPA announced a new initiative that will require teams to have a mental health professional on staff. The NBA announced the launch of a new Mental Health and Wellness Program in 2018, beginning with the hiring of a director of mental health and wellness.
Lifestyle Psychiatry
We are often reminded that exercise, good nutrition and enough sleep are good for your physical and mental health. Those are among the lifestyle aspects that are part of an approach to psychiatry called lifestyle psychiatry. Lifestyle psychiatry focuses on addressing psychiatric disorders through an integrated, holistic approach to health, which includes recommendations for exercise, diet, sleep and mindfulness practice for helping people manage their psychiatric disorders.
100 Day Step Challenge for Mental Health
Many employers offer wellness programs for their employees. A team of researchers in Australia wanted to explore the potential mental health benefits of a short-term workplace wellness program. Their study involved nearly 2,000 participants in a 100-day, 10,000-step challenge program. They found a small, but consistent effect on several measures of mental health over the term of the program. The positive mental health effect appeared regardless of whether a person reached the 10,000-step goal.
Men, Women, and Differing Responses to Stress
Stress affects people in several ways—it activates adrenaline and other hormones, the nervous system and immune system. While not all stress is harmful, and some can even be beneficial, chronic or toxic stress can contribute to health problems. “Men and women react differently to toxic stress because their brains are wired differently,” notes Bruce McEwen, Ph.D., of The Rockefeller University, * “and therefore they may be at risk for different stress-related illnesses.” For example, as a result of chronic stress, women may be more likely to experience symptoms of depression while men may be more likely to develop problems with substance use.
Teachers’ Mental Health and Well-being Linked to Students’ Mental Health and Well-Being
Teachers have important roles in the lives of the children they teach. That influence extends into the realm of mental health and well-being, according to research published in the Journal of Affective Disorders. Researchers found that teachers’ mental health and well-being was associated with the mental health and well-being of their students.