It is natural to have big aspirations for your future and what you want to do with your life. However, achieving these dreams requires action from yourself. One way you can work towards your dreams and aspirations is to practice setting goals for yourself and to make it a consistent routine in your life. It is essential to stay motivated and to complete tasks on time. That is why it is critical to understand the importance of establishing goals and develop a consistent plan to achieve them. Keep reading to learn how to set goals and how these two elements can help you in the present and future. How you…

It can be difficult to find time for yourself amidst the busyness of school and managing various tasks. Whether you are overwhelmed with projects, assignments, or upcoming due dates, finding a balance can be a challenge. Learning to balance your academic responsibilities while focusing on your personal needs is important. Not only will a lack of balance affect your performance in school, but it could also affect your physical and mental well-being. When you are caught up with planning your academic goals and future, it is easy to lose yourself in the process. That is why balancing your schoolwork and personal life is essential so that you do not lose…

Incorporating exercise into an everyday routine may be daunting at first. It can be hard to know where to start and what to do, especially without a personal trainer to look out for your individual needs and goals. Walking, however, does not require any extra workout equipment and can be done at your own pace according to your personal schedule. Despite its simplicity, walking still brings about several health benefits. Keep reading to learn how daily walking can be a beneficial addition to any routine. Improved mood Like other forms of physical activity, walking regularly helps to improve the release of endorphins in the brain. These hormones act as natural…

Many children are enrolled in sports at a young age in hopes of keeping them active. While this may be seen as the most common benefit of team sports, it is far from the only positive these activities provide. According to an article by the University of Missouri Health Care, “Fighting for a common goal with a group of players and coaches teaches you how to build teamwork and effectively communicate to solve problems.” Figuring out what is required to win and learning how to get around problems on the fly is a valuable skill that can be carried over into life outside of sports, such as work or personal…

Maintaining positive mental and physical health plays a major role in living a happy and healthy life. However, while our physical environment plays an equally important role in this achievement, it is often a forgotten part of the conversation.   Many factors in our personal environment directly impact our health and well-being. Creating the right environment can be an important part of changing lives positively. Therefore, it is important to be able to identify a positive or negative environment. A good way to start is by attempting to eliminate bad habits. A common bad habit found in children, teens and young adults is bad posture. An article by the National Institutes…

It’s 6 a.m., and you awake abruptly as your alarm blares in intermittent agitating tones. As the lethargy begins to subside, anxiety sets in, and you guzzle black coffee. While desperately awaiting the caffeine hit, you make a mental checklist of what you must accomplish today, tomorrow and in the next five years. It’s now 6:30, and you sit down at your desk, crack your back and flip open your laptop. You have 150 pages to read on Epicureanism before today’s lecture at 9:30 (you get through 50 of them). You race out the door at 9:15 and walk into class at 9:40. The teaching assistant flashes you a captious…

Health advice is everywhere, from magazines and social media, to books and blogs. In the current age of accessible information, this ‘advice’ can become overwhelming. Most Canadians are divided about diets. Findings by the Angus Reid Institute in 2019 claimed 48 per cent of Canadians found it easy to eat healthy. The other 48 per cent said it wasn’t easy to accomplish long term. Six-in-ten Canadians (61 per cent) say they have a hard time keeping track of what ‘healthy’ really is, due to constant changes in diet trends.   In the time of information overload, the diet promising the quickest and easiest results can be the most attractive route. But…

150 minutes of moderate physical activity or 75 minutes of vigorous weekly exercise, is ideal, according to University Hospitals. Being physically fit improves physical health, prevents disease and makes everyday activities easier to practise. Despite its importance, many people don’t exercise. According to Statistics Canada, only 16 per cent of Canadian adults are achieving the recommended weekly exercise.  One of the main reasons is money.  Buying gym memberships or even at-home equipment can be expensive. Many are discouraged by the cost and may avoid exercise entirely. However, exercise doesn’t necessarily require a major financial investment. There are a variety of workouts and activities that can be done from home or…

The cultural narrative of autism  The current narrative of autism in today’s culture is wrong, according to a growing number of advocates.  “I think a lot of people get stuck in this very narrow, medical model of disability that really doesn’t work well when talking about autistic people,” says Harmon Pope, an Ontario-based autism advocate. The “medical model” Pope references is a body of research and advocacy efforts from the past several decades that suggests autism should be treated like a disease. More specifically, a disease that should be cured, despite it not being viewed as a disease by experts. Even still, great efforts have been made to “cure” autism…

Cindy Hershal*, an English major studying at the University of Toronto (U of T), has always struggled with anxiety. She dealt with social anxiety and the fear of public speaking throughout all of elementary and secondary school.  When Hershal had her first panic attack during class, things began to spiral. Feeling lightheaded, dizzy and short of breath, she abruptly left the classroom. Hershal found a private washroom to be alone and calm her nerves.  The terror was visceral.  “I thought I was going to die. Or just completely lose my grip on reality. It was so scary,” she says. This first attack left Hershal frightened about it happening again. She…

According to researchers at Youth Mental Health Canada, around 1.2 million youth in Canada suffer from mental illness. Only about 20 per cent receive appropriate treatment such as support from mental health services.  Statistics Canada also reports that Canadians aged 15 to 24 have the highest rate of depression. Roughly a quarter of deaths in this age group are caused by suicide.   Depression and anxiety are among the most common disorders that affect youth. In more severe cases, either can lead to consequences like isolation or death. In fact, most of those affected don’t receive proper help.  Options like exercising frequently or talking to a therapist can be inaccessible and…

People space out from time to time, especially while doing everyday activities. Daydreaming becomes part of daily life—washing the dishes, attending a meeting or the morning commute to work. It’s an entirely innocent escape from what is happening in front of a person and is caused by someone being lost in their thoughts while awake.    However, some people go into an entirely different realm when they detach from what is happening in front of them. When this feeling becomes frequent and intense, this could be a result of someone experiencing dissociation.  A 2021 article by WedMD says that dissociation is a complete disconnect from reality as well as a person’s…

When people hear the word loneliness, they often associate it with a negative connotation.  Feeling lonely can be uncomfortable due to the social pressures of having friends to talk to and do activities with.  Alone time is looked down on because people are naturally social creatures. People desire companionship throughout their lives, so the thought of being alone can seem unnatural. But being lonely is a frame of mind, because it’s more about feeling alone than actually being alone. It causes people to feel undesired by others, and it is this mindset that makes it even more difficult to venture out and seek human connection. In other words, loneliness can…

When Alyssa Alibaksh entered the workforce in 2020, she had never expected to be working from home and spending most of her time on digital devices. Not only was she online for seven to eight hours a day for work, but she also found herself looking at screens a lot during her free time.  “I end up going from one screen to another and even though the other half of my day is spent looking at things just randomly and leisurely and not anything focused on work, it’s still a great amount of time spent staring at a screen,” says Alibaksh, who works as a communications specialist at a bank. …

If you’ve been menstruating for a while, you’ve probably experienced premenstrual syndrome (PMS) at some point.   PMS affects up to 75 per cent of menstruating individuals, according to a report published by UpToDate. It causes physical and behavioural symptoms, like fatigue and irritability, that will usually begin during the 14th day of a menstrual cycle and can last until seven days after the start of menstruation.  Usually the symptoms are mild or moderate, but for some these symptoms can be much more serious. Premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) is a severe form of PMS that causes symptoms and intervenes with daily functioning.  Here is some information to learn more about PMDD,…

Over the years, the mental health community has stretched and expanded to support people with a variety of mental health issues. The Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) says that one in five Canadians will experience a mental health problem in their life. Youth continue to take the biggest hit, as roughly 10 to 20 per cent of Canadian youth are affected by mental health problems.  The mental health community should be all-inclusive, but the reality is that it can leave the potential for some issues to fall by the wayside. Once a mental health problem is socially neglected, those who suffer from that problem may feel confused about what they…

Emotions can be complex and puzzling, and not only affect your daily life but your outlook on the world around you. Sometimes, whirling thoughts can cause a state of brain fog and make it hard to put your emotions into words. This can be especially difficult when you try to address your mental health issues through traditional therapy that involves talking with a professional.  Luckily, there’s an alternative to the one-on-one therapy method: art therapy. Resources to Recover defines art therapy as a personal therapeutic session dedicated to using the visual arts as the main treatment tool. It puts a literal meaning to facing your problems. Don’t worry about not…

Did you know that a common birth control method used in ancient Egypt involved crocodile poop?  Yes, you read that correctly.  Ancient Egyptians would mix crocodile poop together with some other ingredients to create a blocking device that was then inserted into the vagina as a way to prevent pregnancy. The jury is still out on whether or not this technique actually had any medical merit (maybe a lack of willing research participants?). Today we’re lucky to have a wide selection when it comes to birth control methods, none of which involve any type of animal poop.  Read ahead to learn about the available options and decide which one works…

Beige tote bags with the print “mental health over everything” lined the table outside of the entrance of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health’s auditorium on the night of Nov. 1, 2021.  Guests arriving to see Rosa Laborde’s True—a play about the traumatic effects that alcoholism and domestic violence can have on a family—were offered self-care bags that included resources such as tissues, a note pad, pen, a bag of stress relief tea and a stone engraved with the word “hope.”  True is one of the many pieces involved in Rendezvous with Madness Festival (RVWM)—an annual event that shines a light on mental health through art installations, educational workshops,…

In Canada, many services like vision care, dental care and pain management like physiotherapy are not covered by provincial insurance plans. This is also the case for prescription drug coverage.  Some people need help with extra healthcare costs more than others. For example, people who require medications may need assistance with costs, as well as someone in need of frequent dental work and vision care.  This has led to some Canadian artists taking on two or even three jobs to fulfil different needs. One job may be an artistic “passion job” that brings joy and a sense of purpose, while other jobs may be imperative to gain access to healthcare…