Author: fitness-expert
In this post I want to make a few remarks about men who engage in risky sex. These won’t be evidence based remarks, more a speculative discussion based on my experience of working with men who engage in risky sex. I guess the place to start is to give an indication of what I mean by ‘risky sex’. I mean any kind of outdoor sex which contravenes laws of public decency. At a relatively mundane level, there is the thrill of joining the mile high club, or sex on the beach. Where men can really get into difficulties, though, is…
We all know that exercise is good for us. Exercise means we live longer and suffer from less physical illness. That is an established fact. What is less well understood is that exercise is also a boost to your mind. Exercise is great for your mental health too. Vigorous exercise for at least half an hour three times a week can be just as effective as an antidepressant or a talking therapy for people who are depressed. It is so important, I always encourage my clients to become more physically active to help improve their emotional well-being. The link between…
As a therapist that specialises in working with men, I have attracted a certain amount of media interest. At first I was flattered by the attention, after all, it gave me the opportunity to promote my practice. Then, as a pattern emerged, I became bemused and intrigued. The issue I am most often asked to comment on is “men’s midlife crisis”. From Red magazine to BBC Radio Manchester, successions of media reporters have been interested in my take on the topic. All of the interest, it must be said, is from female reporters working on female orientated platforms. Why, I…
Sociobiology is the branch of biology that tries to explain social behaviour, including sexual behaviour, in evolutionary terms. This book provides a great introduction. But it also does two other things. First, the book provides a robust defence of sociobiology from its main detractors, notably the political left and feminism. (Useful arguments to having your toolkit if you should run into Germaine Greer.) Second, it provides a great rationale for why sociobiological ideas are relevant to human beings. Unfortunately this is where the book falls down. Having set the reader up to understand human sociobiology (fascinating stuff as it involves…
I read a couple of books recently by the peace activist and Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh. The focus of both books (titles given below) is the cultivation of mindfulness in our everyday lives, and in so doing, learning to be more alive. Thich Nhat Hanh has had the most remarkable life. He became a novice monk in Vietnam in 1942 at the age of sixteen, and it is claimed by some, to have achieved enlightenment in the Buddhist tradition. During the US war in Vietnam, Thich Nhat Hanh led a movement of ‘engaged buddhism’ inspired by Ghandi, where Buddhist…
The first weeks back after the Christmas holidays are historically the time solicitors issue the most divorce proceedings. This year, though, it is predicted to be a record breaker. The reason is the credit crunch. Research from the University of Essex suggests that for every 10% reduction in house prices, there is a 5% increase in separations. In fact a survey from the website InsideDivorce.com suggests that in the UK, 1.3 million married couples are considering splitting up. So what should you do if you want to save your marriage? My take on this is to first dispel two myths…
As a regular meditator, I was intrigued to read research in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology which claims that meditation makes you happy. There are two kinds of meditation, the first kind helps you focus your attention, for example, on the breath. The second kind of meditation helps you to cultivate certain positive emotions. It was the second kind of meditation that the researchers claims help improve mood. 139 volunteers were randomly assigned into two groups with one group being taught a meditation which helps cultivate “loving kindness”. Results showed that this meditation produced increases over time in…
Link Between Heart Disease and Depression Can a man die of a broken heart? “Yes” says Dr Martin Cowie, consultant cardiologist at the National Heart and Lung Institute in London. Most folk would have seen among their own friends, families and acquaintances (if not themselves!) how emotional stress can exacerbate heart disease and angina. A 1969 study of 4500 widowers, all over 55 years, published in the British Medical Journal, revealed that for these men, the risk of dying in the first six months after they lost their spouse was 40% higher than expected. The single most common cause of…
Coeliac disease (also called celiac disease, non-tropical sprue, c(o)eliac sprue and gluten intolerance) is an autoimmune disorder characterised by permanent damage or flattening to all or part of the villi lining the small intestine, causing scar tissue that cannot be used to absorb nutrients. This damage is caused by exposure to gluten and related proteins found in wheat, rye, malt and barley. Damage to the villi reduces the ability of the intestines to absorb nutrients, and it is believed that the resulting nutritional deficiencies likely cause the wide spectrum of symptoms associated with the disorder. Coeliac disease may lead to…
Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS), is an acquired immune-mediated inflammatory disorder of the peripheral nervous system (i.e. not the brain or spinal cord). It is also called acute inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy, acute idiopathic polyradiculoneuritis, acute idiopathic polyneuritis, French Polio and Landry’s ascending paralysis. Overview The pathologic hallmark of the disease is loss of myelin in peripheral nerves due to an acute and progressive inflammation of unknown cause. It is suggested that it is an autoimmune disease, in which the sufferer’s immune system is triggered into damaging the nerve covering. There is some support for this in that half of all cases occur…