The following is a thought provoking article about anxiety and its origins. The article suggests that the way we are doing things societally is a major contributor. It's hard to ignore what is being said by The Guardian journalist, Will Hutton. The link is here:

As a follow-up to last weeks Men's Health Summit in Christchurch, I thought it timely to comment on the emotional/social isolation that middle aged men who come to see me often describe. These men often speak of a lack of friendships with those outside of the primary relationship. And if there is no partner or, alternatively, there is distress in the relationship, the feeling of isolation can be magnified. Although Australian based, this article touches on the subject...

A very important event for men was held in Christchurch today. The Canterbury Men's Centre hosted a number of academics, politicians, clinicians, and other community organizations to discuss the issues facing men. 

Self-talk can be a great tool to maintain a positive frame of mind. However, self-talk can contribute to and even maintain the problem if mental resiliency is already at a low point. A local mental health support agency in Christchurch puts out a series of sayings for its followers. I particularly liked their recent reminder of the need to be less accepting of some of the negative messages we can say to ourselves at these times. Check out their site here.

We are all aware of the down turn of dairy prices in the farming sector over the past few years. This had placed financial pressures on farming families, particularly those who have completed recent conversions to dairy. There is an increasing awareness of the need to support those affected. See this one story about the pressure on mental wellbeing here.

So often we do things believing it is in our best interests when in fact the opposite may very well hold true. Check out this on friendship. It points out that self-disclosure in the form of vulnerability can be the the way to make friends instead of status, accomplishments, strengths, etc.

Thanks to Mental Health Education Resource Centre (MHERC) for their partnership in running the course 'Psychology of Men's Help-seeking' (Introductory Level) this past week. The participation in the course was great with a good variety of professionals interested in the topic. I'm looking forward to wirking with MHERC to run an advanced course for this later in the year. All the /mherc courses are available here