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 The medical model of contemporary psychiatry relies heavily on the prescription of antidepressant medication. Indeed a multi-billion dollar a year industry is dependent on the ongoing prescription of psychotherapeutic medication, in Australia this is a practice largely undertaken by GP's. But what is the real efficacy of this medication. Does it work? And what are the long-term implications of it's use?
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Language can be a tremendous barrier to being able to convey one's experience of anxiety and other conditions that aren't widely understood. Therapy is a good way to begin to name and expose those unhelpful inhabitants of our minds, but so too can art cut through to help. Artist Sophie Wright has created a wondrous series of 9 images that I think help to describe an experience of anxiety. Let me know what you think below! Next time you're tempted to tell someone to just get over it, stop yourself, and be kind instead. Many thanks to the work of Sophie Wright. Comments are most welcome below
Anecdotal evidence has indicated for some time an apparent connection between mental health and healthy gut flora. A recent study by neurobiologists at Oxford University has provided exciting evidence that such a link does indeed exist - and it has implications for treating anxiety and stress-related conditions naturally.    I am struck, while noting coverage of various ANZAC day ceremonies, how much is made of physical suffering, and how little of the mental scars that accompany war.
It's also not just enlisted personnel who suffer. Civilian support staff, local civilians, and those close to sufferers are also directly affected.  When confronted with something new, something personal, it's very difficult to know what to do. If a person in your world, be they a family member, a colleague or a friend unexpectedly began to behave very anxiously, what would you do? Of course, at these moments of confronting something new and unexpected, we tend to fall back on our social conditioning. Or do we?
There are two polls below. Answer the first with your immediate (socialised) reaction. Answer the second after some thought. Is there a difference? Are you aware of any discrepancy between what your automatic response is, and the way you would prefer to respond? Comments are most welcome below the two polls.  Contemporary society seems to be in the grip of a self-confidence crisis. I so commonly hear people report that they "have no self-confidence" or "have low self-esteem."
The response of many people to societal demands to be "confident," is to rush around doing constructive, visible things that can give us a sense that we have done what a "confident" person would, or that we've been noticed by others and praised, or that we can compare ourselves to others and feel somehow better than they are. This temporary ego inflation may make us feel good for a while, but it doesn't last. We end up in a cycle of ups and downs that is not only exhausting, but emotionally damaging as well. Ultimately it makes us fundamentally unhappy. One result of this damaging cycle are the innumerable clients who believe that they are "not good enough."  Phone Free February (or Fone Free Feb as it is actually know) is an organisation that has commenced this year to encourage us to put down our phones and engage with each other. Their idea is to encourage us "to foster and strengthen our relationships with those around us," to give us "a chance to be truly present, whether that is in your own company and the environment around you, or the company of your friends and family." What are the details around why they recommend giving up your phone, and what is the psychological impact of a constant attachment to our smart phones?
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Chris is a Counsellor and Psychotherapist at Engage Counselling, Sydney Archives
April 2023
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