anxiety

The climate anxiety is real

In one week this year I have skied at lower than -30°C and higher than 0°C. We have what I’m sure is the best snow base in years, but it’s layered with freezing rain. We’ve had record breaking cold. And this past summer we had record breaking heat. Even without there being a global pandemic … Continue reading →

Find a way to get a plant

Even a cat cafe will do

Cortisol and Anxiety

Somebody asked me about the relationship between hormones and anxiety so I did some research and found some really interesting information about cortisol and anxiety. Rather than focus on a particular study I’m going to just go through some of the more interesting connections. Cortisol is a long-term (more than 3 minutes) stress hormone that … Continue reading →

Let the music play: Music and anxiety

We are living in interesting times. With the threat of getting sick from Covid-19, which is enough to cause anxiety, we are also isolating and restricting our movements. I’ve noticed an upsurge on views on my post on exercise and mental health so I thought I would look into a related topic: music and anxiety. … Continue reading →

Bonus post: Mental health and exercise

This is an extra post this week in recognition of Bell’s Let’s Talk Day in Canada. I’m pretty diligent with my exercise and have been for most of my life. There have been times though when I’ve been criticized for this commitment. I distinctly remember one of my office mates during my PhD questioning me … Continue reading →

Mini post: Keep a plant at your desk to reduce stress

There’s a lot of research about the benefits of being able to see trees outside of your window while you work (e.g., Kaplan, 1993) or while you recover from surgery (e.g., Ulrich, 1984) but what about having a small plant on your desk? Toyoda, Yokota, Barnes, and Kaneko (2019) conduced a research study in an … Continue reading →

Thinking critically about our connections with our phones

One day I forgot my phone. I was supposed to meet someone after work, but, as is typical in the age of cell phones our version of concrete plans was, I’ll text you when I leave and let you know where I’ll meet you. This obviously wasn’t going to work when I didn’t have my … Continue reading →