When those with mental illness experience prejudice and discrimination in the form of stigma, it can make their suffering considerably worse. Spreading awareness and understanding through education is one of the strategies used to tackle the problem. Years of public education campaigns have helped open the conversation. Yet evidence suggests that stigma against people with […] … learn more→
Blog Archives
From recognition to transformation: How digital technology can reduce mental illness stigma
How sport for development and peace can transform the lives of youth
Thousands of young athletes have been competing at the 2020 Youth Winter Olympic Games in Lausanne, Switzerland, this month. But there are actually millions more young people participating in sports, and not just to bring home medals — but to bring peace. In December, the Peace and Sport Forum took place in Monaco to discuss the work of […] … learn more→
Why it’s unclear whether private programs for ‘troubled teens’ are working
I first became interested in what I’ve learned is called the “troubled teen industry” more than 20 years ago, when my parents sent me away to a program they thought would help me finish high school. At that point I was skipping a lot of school and running away. Simply put, I was seeking emancipation, […] … learn more→
Virtual reality may be the next frontier in remote mental health care
In recent years, experts have focused on finding better ways to improve remotely delivered mental health care. Now, virtual reality (VR) may pave the way for myriad new opportunities. Using VR for remote therapy involves conducting “face-to-face” sessions in a virtual environment. This mode of treatment could make counselling more accessible to those living and […] … learn more→
Do androids dream of big data domination?
The incredible exponential growth in the volume of research data shows no signs of slowing down. Take the databases used by the European Bioinformatics Institute, headquartered in Cambridge, which continue to double in size every one to two years. And, thanks to powerful digital processors, advances in materials science and innovations around data transfer, the […] … learn more→
Communities can combat racism, hate and extremism with education
Late one afternoon this past summer, after leaving my Winnipeg office, I came across a poster that read: “When the house of cards comes crashing down, we’ll be ready. Will you join us?” In the background of this poster, the bridge that connects St. Boniface at the Forks was visible, while in the foreground, a masked soldier […] … learn more→
Indigenous song keepers reveal traditional ecological knowledge in music
Since the beginning of time, music has been a way of communicating observations of and experiences about the world. For Indigenous Peoples who have lived within their traditional territories for generations, music is a repository of ecological knowledge, with songs embedding ancestors’ knowledge, teachings and wisdom. The music carries the word of the ancestors across […] … learn more→
Detransitioned students form group to help trans-people de-transition
It’s hard to come up with a decent title for today’s post. A while back I wrote how daughters coming home with mustaches and breasts removed is a thing now. When I first heard of this, I greeted the news with skepticism because it was just so wacky…but I confirmed things as best I could […] … learn more→
Origins and kinships of the cartoon
The comic constitutes a unique cultural phenomenon: until very recently, it barely raised academic interest. Due to the satirical tone and the caricatural bias that cultivated in the nineteenth century; or to the childish character, often moralizing, that was in the XX; or the popularity – not free of vulgarity – that reached between 1930 and 1960, has […] … learn more→
When the author of the “Lord of the Rings” lent his pen to Santa
Like so many other parents around the world, JRR Tolkien, the famous author of The Lord of the Rings , has spent a lot of time and effort making Christmas a joy for his children. Except that it is about a man whose imagination has given life to a vast world , concealing thousands of years of legends. He has brought […] … learn more→