Chronic pain affects approximately 100 million adults in the U.S. and exacts a huge toll on rehabilitation resources, health care costs and lost worker productivity. It also burdens the sufferer and their significant others. One way to help those who suffer chronic pain is with pain-related self-efficacy (PRSE) beliefs, which describe a range of behaviors...Continue reading
Loneliness kills. According to former U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, isolation and weak social connections “are associated with a reduction in lifespan similar to that caused by smoking fifteen cigarettes a day and even greater than that associated with obesity.” Even when it’s not fatal, loneliness makes life a lot less pleasant. We’ll talk about...Continue reading
While Men’s Health Month came to end this past week, it’s still important to talk about men’s health issues year-round. As a woman, men’s health might not be at the forefront of our minds but it is increasingly essential that women start talking about depression and suicide in men. Already nationally, there has been increased...Continue reading
Chronic and excessive anger causes the following problems: Increases a man’s risk for high blood pressure and heart-disease. Stresses relationships and causes women to withdraw. Is related to male-type depression. Creates separation between men, women, and children. Is linked to both high levels of testosterone and low levels. Is being played out on a national...Continue reading
The most tragic indictor of a world out of balance is the suicide rate in males. At every age, males take their own lives at rates much higher than females: Male 10 to 14-year-olds have suicide rates 1.8 times higher than females Male 15 to 19-year-olds have suicide rates 4.0 times higher than females. During...
The #MeToo movement has drawn attention to much horrific male behavior and deservedly has received much coverage. The Kavanaugh hearings also brought forth a torrent of discussion of what is sometimes called toxic masculinity. Headlines and social media posts about sexism, sexual assault, and men’s general piggishness abound. The harmful effects of misogyny, male boorishness...Continue reading
The six weeks encompassing Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s—collectively called “the holidays”—are for most a magically unique time of year, filled with holiday carols, reunions, displays of colorful lights, love, and affection, often expressed through gift giving. But for some, the holidays bring hurt. Caused by factors including the weather, separation, death, stress, unrealistic expectations,...Continue reading
I’ll be 75 years old this year. My wife, Carlin, will be 80. Even our 5 children are rushing past mid-life. We’ve all had health challenges that we talk about with family, friends, and our health-care providers. But there’s one problem that remains hidden. It’s depression and bipolar disorder. My father suffered from them for...Continue reading
We’ve bought into the greatest con job in human history. We’ve been taught that civilization is the pinnacle of human achievement and saved us from a life that was solitary, poor, nasty, and brutish as the philosopher Thomas Hobbs described it. In fact, it is civilization that is solitary, poor, nasty, and brutish. We’ve been...Continue reading
Derrick, a 28-year-old Richmond, Ca., man with an associate’s degree, loves his job doing after-school mentoring, tutoring, and coaching sports with elementary students in west Oakland, but with only 21 hours at work each week at $12.50 per hour, he struggles to pay his $1,400 rent and take care of his 1-year-old daughter. “I like...