How to be happier, from head to toe
For Mental Health Awareness Week 2019, we’ve picked seven Mosaic stories that explore different aspects of body image and how they can affect our mental health and self-esteem.
1. Messing with our heads
Like many balding men, Rhodri Marsden has learned to accept losing his hair. But male stoicism and other coping strategies — from hats and wigs to dark humour — often mask deep distress, and even suicidal feelings. Will modern medicine ever find a ‘cure’ — or does the solution lie elsewhere?
2. The hidden epidemic of compulsive hair pulling
Whether hair pulling, skin picking or cheek biting, body-focused repetitive behaviours blight many people’s lives. How can science help us understand and treat these distressing conditions better?
3. Facial discrimination
In a world obsessed with beauty, living with a facial disfigurement can be hard. In this long read, Neil Steinberg explores the past and present to find out what it’s like to look different.
4. Cancer I could deal with. Losing my breast I could not
For those with breast cancer, a mastectomy may seem the best option. Joanna Moorhead thought so — until the last minute. Now she’s glad she chose less extensive surgery.
5. My life with hypospadias
In this audio piece, three men talk about living with hypospadias, a condition that affects how the penis looks and works.
6. A grown-up approach to treating anorexia
Adults with anorexia often have distinctive traits that lock them into a destructive relationship with food. Carrie Arnold, who has been treated for anorexia, discovers how those same traits could help them escape it.
7. Doing disability differently
In Canada, wheelchair basketball brings people together regardless of their abilities. Lesley Evans Ogden asks whether this kind of integration could help dispel stigma, discrimination and misconceptions about disability more widely.
This week is Mental Health Awareness Week. If your mental or emotional state gets worse, or you’re worried about someone you know, don’t be afraid to ask for help.
You’re not alone. Talk to someone you trust. Sharing a problem is often the first step to recovery.
