New Mental Health Public Education Campaign
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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:
- Connect with
others
- Stay
positive
- Get physically active
- Help others
- Get enough rest
- Create joy and satisfaction
- Eat well
- Take care of your spirit
- Deal better with hard times
- 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.
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Young Women Quitting Smoking May Do Better With Group
Counseling Than Exercise
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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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