Battle Back Against Body Anxiety
Plus: Advice from our experts, great reads, and reader feedback
Welcome back to your weekly dose of wellness, helping you make tomorrow a little better than today . Below you’ll find several compelling health and wellness articles as always. But first …
THIS WEEK’S PRESCRIPTION: Battle Back Against Body Anxiety
We in Western societies are suffering an epidemic of anxiety over our bodies, caught between the subliminal messaging to seek some elusive outward perfection and the reactionary call to love and embrace our own body as it is.
“Body anxiety can be crippling,” therapist Giana Porpiglia writes in revealing her personal struggle with the demon. “It has made me late for work, prompted me to skip social events and avoid seeing family. Occasionally it stops me from going outside, exercising, or even grocery shopping. At its worst, it has persuaded me to skip meals and stay in bed for days.”
Her advice, or at least the nutshell takeaway: You are not your body, so try to separate your Self from the part of you that struggles with body anxiety. Learn how:
YOUR FEEDBACK
“It’s scary how difficult it is to get help, and even more scary to think about just how many of us need it. Waiting times here in the UK are no different, and the help, when it finally arrives, is often completely inappropriate.”
— Liz Barrett re: The Intolerable Wait in Line for Mental Health Care by Annie Foley
“Thank you for this article. It’s dispiriting but validating. I’m on week five of lower back pain that has laid me flat and I am seeing improvement — finally. But this whole thing is exhausting. Not just the back pain but trying to get help.”
— Tamara Embrey re: My Tortuous Journey with Severe Back Pain by John Kruse MD, PhD
“Makes me wonder about all those years I was working 10 hr days, 6 days a week at the auto plant. Maybe that’s one of the reasons car quality was so low back in the ’70s.”
—Roger Grant re: Here’s Why We Should All Take Friday Off by Robert Roy Britt
HEALTHY READING
A selection of this week’s other informative and insightful articles:
The Orgasm Gap: Why Women Climax Less than Men
During heterosexual sex, women have far fewer orgasms than men. Some think the reasons are all biological. But women seem to have no trouble generating orgasms when pleasuring themselves or when having sex with other women. This researcher and author says the problem involves social and personal factors. “Women are not getting the clitoral stimulation they need,” she writes.
— By Laurie Mintz, PhD
Does Filling Up on Water Really Help You Slim Down?
You may have heard that drinking a glass of water before a meal will promote weight loss. But the small body of research on the idea suggests it makes little difference. Water is good for you, for sure — especially if it’s a replacement for juice or sugary drinks. But if you want to lose weight, there are many other things to pay closer attention to than pre-meal hydration, as this doctor explains.
— By Eric J. Kort, MD
Most New Drugs Suffer from Moderate to Severe Ineffectiveness
New research finds more than half of new medications put on the market in the United States and Europe are no better than existing, cheaper drugs. Another study finds that the less effective an expensive new drug is, the more money Big Pharma pours into those slick ads with shiny happy (formerly sick) people. Smokey the Drug Bear would say only you can prevent prescriptions to costly meds of questionable use that you simply don’t need.
— By Robert Roy Britt
Charisma: The Dark Art of Bending Others To Our Will
“Charisma makes us more confident, it makes us feel better and it makes those in our orbit feel a bit better about themselves, too. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander. Charisma, so the argument goes, helps us all,” the author write. But not so fast. History reveals a decidedly dark sdie to charisma.
— By Niall Stewart
ADHD Impulsivity Can Play an Important Role in Suicide
We often avoid talking about mental health issues, particularly suicide. But when we do, we may address sadness, depression, alienation, and misery — which certainly play large roles in many suicides — while not acknowledging the role of impulsivity rooted in ADHD. The discussion is vital, this psychiatrist and neuroscientist argues, because impulsivity can lead to reflection reactions rather than reflectivity that might save a life.
— By John Kruse MD, PhD
Prostate Cancer Treatment isn’t Always the Best Option
With a prostate cancer diagnosis, it’s critical to decide between treatment and non-treatment. This cancer researcher walks her father through his diagnosis.
— By Luisel Ricks-Santi
RANDOM BIT OF WISDOM
“Healing is a matter of time, but it is sometimes also a matter of opportunity.” — Hippocrates
If you like what you see, please follow Wise & Well on Medium. Meanwhile, I hope we’ve helped you make tomorrow a little better than today. — Rob