Client: The MindBio Therapeutics
Project: a series of mental health-related feature articles
MindBio Therapeutics is an Australian company pioneering clinical studies into the microdosing of psychedelic medicines to treat a range of mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety, PTSD, panic disorder, chronic pain and opiate addictions.
In 2021/2022, I was asked by the company’s CEO to craft a series of comprehensive science-based feature articles delving into various aspects of mental health. In these articles, which were featured on the company’s LinkedIn profile, as well as made into explainer videos or shared as scripts for health conferences, I explored topics such as children's anxiety, sexual wellness, neurodivergence and the evolving role of psychedelics. All with one aim: to Illuminate the complexities of the changing mental health landscape and foster an understanding of non-mainstream healing modalities.
As unsexy as it sounds, sexual wellness in relationships is a by-product of healthy communication and equal division of labour.
Sex. What a powerful word. Everyone seems to be talking about sex. Thinking about sex. Dreaming about sex. But not that many people, as research suggests, are regularly enjoying the pleasures of sex.
In 2022, researchers from the Kinsey Institute at Indiana University found that nearly half of their respondents (both couples and singles) reported a decline in the frequency of sexual behaviour, including masturbation, in the year prior to the study. In long-term relationships, the situation has been grimmer.
Statistics show that around one in six marriages is sexless.
According to an older study by the University of Chicago sociologist Edward Laumann, about 14 per cent of married men and 15 per cent of married women had little or no sex in the previous year.
An epidemic of low libido and sexual incompatibility that the world seems to be experiencing could be explained by the increasingly stressful modern life, the tense global financial situation and the post-traumatic effects of the recent pandemic.
But after reading through numerous studies, reminiscing on my own experiences and talking with many women in long-term relationships, I tend to disagree. Lack of sexual wellness is not an issue of having too many financial stressors or going through burnout, as some glossy magazines would like us to believe.
Instead, it’s a result of an overwhelming lack of communication in intimate relationships and the subsequent modern evolution of their power structure, both of which have just reached a tipping point.
The men’s and women’s ways of being in the world have changed, with women assuming more positions of power and men having to adapt to a life of less freedom and more domestic responsibility.
The sweet ‘power pie’ is shifting towards a 50-50 split of work and pleasure, but somewhere in between, nobody has the time or energy to eat that cake.
All the restructuring of modern relationship patterns is long overdue. Yet the good news is that, as with all turbulent changes, what comes right after the turmoil is often the most transformational. As a global community, I believe we can come out on the other side healthier, more vibrant, and what’s most important – having an aligned and bountiful sex life.
The Mindfulness of Intimacy
Published: 17 April 2023
Holidays – whether it’s Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter or some time off work to spend with the family – can wreak havoc on our mental health.
Along with the romanticised idea of cookie baking, gift-wrapping and watching family movies curled together on the sofa, I'm getting ready for the end-of-the-year festive season full of joy yet sprinkled with heavy mental stress.
For years, scientists have been perplexed by the seemingly counter-intuitive fact that many people suffer from increased anxiety, depression and other ill health symptoms over holidays.
In the late 90s, a group of researchers from the University of Southern California, led by Professor Robert A. Kloner, decided to analyse why there's been a spike in cardiac mortality in Los Angeles over winter.
"When we plotted daily rates of death from ischemic heart disease in Los Angeles County during November, December and January, we were struck by an increase in deaths starting around Thanksgiving, climbing through Christmas, peaking on New Year's Day, and then falling, whereas daily minimum temperatures remained relatively flat during December and January," Professor Kloner explained.
In this study, researchers concluded that – along with staffing shortages and a delay in seeking medical attention – emotional stress was the third most important factor for a health phenomenon called the "Merry Christmas Coronary" and "Happy New Year Heart Attack".
The Key to Happiness – Lower Your Expectations!
Published: January 6, 2023
