You've probably heard of “mindfulness.” It's the broad-brush name increasingly used to refer to a growing variety of mental self-help methods. Along with their popularity come red flags: Do they really help? Are they just about “me?” Are they some form of religion clothed in secular words? Blogs and would-be users evaluate the wide variety of methods almost as if all mental approaches to health are fundamentally the same. But they are not—probably not any more than all pharmaceutical approaches Continue Reading
Ebola–We Can Make It a Fairer Fight
Time Magazine has rightfully named all of the men and women fighting Ebola as “Person of the Year.” In every battle, those underdogs who win are often the ones who have found a way, even amid insurmountable odds, to make the fight more fair. Ebola is no different. Amid the calls for a larger Western response that funds and sends medical staff, equipment, and drugs, it’s clear that something more is needed to level the battle field. Perhaps that something is mental, rather than physical. Continue Reading