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[24 Oct 2012 | Comments Off on Dealing with depression | ]

Everyone acknowledges depression differently. Many perceive it as a disorder stemming from a chemical imbalance in the brain. Others ignore the science completely and see it as a state of lingering despair often brought on by life changing events. For Daniel Bowker, a former resident of Hamilton now living in his native UK, two circumstances in particular began to have an effect on his mental health.
Dan, a former Mohawk College student who studied early childhood education, later worked as an educational assistant at Sir William Osler in Dundas. He began …

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[19 Oct 2012 | Comments Off on Internet Addiction: on its way to becoming a recognized mental illness? | ]

Phones in pockets, Bluetooth in ears, and computers on laps; we are almost constantly connected to the Internet in some way. Now the American Psychiatric Association is taking steps to classify ‘Internet addiction’ or ‘Internet use disorder’ as a treatable mental illness. The new conditions could appear in the next Statistical Manual of Mental Illness, the proverbial bible for those in the field of mental illness.
Dr. Charl Els, an addiction specialist at the University of Alberta Hospital, says some sort of inclusion of ‘Internet Addiction’ in the DSM5  is likely.
“Whether …

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[19 Oct 2012 | Comments Off on Preventing suicide | ]

Suicide is a leading cause of death by injury in Hamilton. Between 2001 and 2005 there were 222 suicide deaths: almost twice as many deaths as occurred due to motor vehicle collisions. Yet getting the exact statistics on suicide is difficult.
“Many people who die by suicide, it’s not reported because of the stigmas behind suicide they keep it to themselves,” said Terry McGurk, vice chairman of the Suicide Prevention Community Council in Hamilton.
Mohawk College is having its own seminar to raise awareness to the dangers of suicide. Safe Talk is …