Perinatal e-News 
 
May 20, 2009
Issue #45
 
New Mental Health Public Education Campaign

Young Women Quitting Smoking May Do Better With Counseling Than Excercise

 





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New Mental Health Public Education Campaign

In honor of  Mental Health Month, Mental Health America has launched "Live Your Life Well," an innovative 10-tool public education campaign and Web site that provides people with strategies to deal with the stress of the current economic crisis.


According to the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, 58 percent of Americans reported struggling in their lives at the end of 2008.
Financial difficulties are just one area of stress that may increase the risk of depression and anxiety, and even stress-related physical ailments, like headaches, insomnia, overeating, back pain, high blood pressure, and vulnerability to infection

According to David Shern, PhD, the president of Mental Health America, good mental health is much more than just the absence of illness; it's about being able to handle life's challenges, and even flourish.

The "Live Your Life Well" campaign is the first national program in the U.S. to bring together the information needed to help all Americans in difficult times, and throughout their lives. The practical suggestions associated with each tool are based on thorough scientific research. The 10 tools of the "Live Your Life Well" campaign are:

  1. Connect with others
  2. Stay positive
  3. Get physically active
  4. Help others
  5. Get enough rest
  6. Create joy and satisfaction
  7. Eat well
  8. Take care of your spirit
  9. Deal better with hard times
  10. Get professional help if you need it

 Learn more:

View LA Best Babies Network's Policy Statement:
Access to Quality Care for Maternal Depression: Meeting the Challenge

Postpartum Support International

Live Your Life Well


More information on locating mental health resources and professionals:

Healthy City resources

Mental Health America.


Young Women Quitting Smoking May Do Better With Group Counseling Than Exercise

A new study by Temple University's Center for Obesity Research and Education, has found that group counseling may be a more effective approach to quitting smoking for young women than exercise. The findings were presented at the annual meeting of the  Society of Behavioral Medicine in Montreal. "A lot of college-age women smoked to keep their weight down and for body image reasons," states lead author, Melissa Napolitano, MD.

The study was carried out in two phases.  The first phase studied five focus groups of 43 college-age women to gain an understanding of their smoking behaviors.   In the second phase of the study, 24 female college-age smokers were randomly selected and divided into two groups. One group participated in a supervised exercise program, while the other was offered group counseling focusing on body image. Both groups were provided with a nicotine patch.

After eight weeks, the results revealed that the counseling group had more than twice the rate of smoking cessation as the exercise group. In addition, the group that received counseling lost 3.3 pounds more than the exercise group. Napolitano contends that if young women are provided with the information and skills to feel better about themselves, they will be less stressed and therefore will not need to smoke.

Learn More:

Smoking and Health
on LA Best Babies Network's Healthy Families Pages

World No Tobacco Day
 



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