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12 October 2020
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Story Dr Cindé Greyling
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Photo Supplied
Exercise and nutrition can work wonders for your mental health – you don’t even have to ‘feel like’ or ‘enjoy’ moving around and eating well for it to work – it does its thing anyway.
Nowadays, people talk about mental health like it is the common cold – which is good! But do you know what it really means? Being mentally healthy does not only refer to the absence of a mental illness but includes your emotional and social well-being. One would almost want to add physical well-being too, since a healthy body does indeed support a healthy mind. However, since so many people consider themselves ‘mental health experts’, some myths have been sold as truths.
Myth #1 – You are doomed.
Nope. Never. You are never doomed. There is always help. Mental-health therapies range from self-help, talk therapy, medication, to hospitalisation in some cases. Somewhere on this spectrum of treatments, there will be something that works for you. But you must be willing to get the help and do the work. For starters, exercise and nutrition can work wonders – you do not even have to ‘feel like’ or ‘enjoy’ moving around and eating well for it to work – it does its thing anyway.
Myth #2 – It won’t affect you.
It may. Research suggests that one in five people may suffer from a mental illness at some point in their lives. Being well now does not mean that it will stay that way. Biological and environmental factors both impact your mental health. Hopefully not, but at some point, you may experience an event that affects your mental health.
To remain integrated in a community is always beneficial
for anyone suffering from a mental or physical condition.
Myth #3 – Someone struggling with mental health must be left alone.
Hardly! To remain integrated in a community is always beneficial for anyone suffering from a mental or physical condition. You do not need to fix them, but to remain a friend. Continue to invite them, even if they decline. Do not judge, and do not try to understand. Just stay around.
Go and be kind to yourself, and to those around you.
Australian academics present research seminar on education
2012-11-14
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At the research seminar were, from the left Prof. Marie Brennan, Prof. Melanie Walker and Dr Lew Zipin.
Photo: Amanda Tongha
14 November 2012 |
The Research Centre on Higher Education, Development and Capabilities recently hosted two international visitors, Prof. Marie Brennan and Dr Lew Zipin from Victoria University in Australia. They discussed future visits and research collaboration with Prof. Melanie Walker, Professor of Higher Education and Human Development. They presented a well-attended research seminar on ‘Educating for futures in marginalized regions: a sociological framework for rethinking and researching aspirations’.
Prof. Brennan and Dr Zipin have been involved in researching education for social justice in teacher education and higher education in Australia for many years. Most recently, they have been researchers on prestigious Australian Research Council projects. These include: (i) Capacitating Student Aspirations in Classrooms and Communities in a High Poverty Region, 2012-2014; and (ii) Pursuing equity in high poverty rural schools: improving learning through rich accountabilities, 2010-2012. They recently co-edited Re-positioning University Governance and Academic Work that was published by Sense Publications in 2010.