From 600+ conversations with the world’s leading thinkers.
To break the silence around sexual abuse, more people need to speak about it… normalise it… and by doing so, hopefully we can start to get our children talking, and make some real progress to eliminate these acts from our society.
Loneliness is thought to be as bad for our health as smoking 15 cigarettes per day. We're essentially creatures of togetherness. We are hardwired to connect and so when we're lonely, an alarm bell goes off within our bodies that triggers fight or flight mode. Our heart rate goes up, our stress levels go up, our pulse rate goes up and our blood pressure goes up.
Once released, former hostages encounter a myriad of practical issues—closed bank accounts, lapsed insurance, and the need for specialised medical and dental care that isn't readily available. They might also require physical therapy among other medical treatments.
Asserting that one is healthy without being fit is a tough proposition. The hard truth is that a lack of fitness tends to correlate with subpar health, and this isn't a bold claim on my part – it's a conclusion that is well-supported by objective research.
When it comes to claims like 'pets alleviate depression,' there's really no solid evidence. In fact, the findings so far are pretty ambiguous. And—I don't really want to tell you this—but in one study that found no significant overall effect, cat owners were actually more depressed than the control group.
Interestingly, the same hormonal cascade occurs when we feel excitement. Essentially, whether we're excited or stressed, our physiological response is similar. The key differentiator is our perception of these sensations. Reframing stress as our body's way of gearing up to tackle challenges can be a potent tool.
Research shows that individuals who are slower to habituate to negative events tend to be more prone to depression. This ability to habituate is crucial for moving forward.
My own life has improved in pretty much every way. These days, 95 percent of the time I get eight hours of sleep a night. Now, instead of waking up to the sense that I have to trudge through activities, I wake up feeling joyful about the day's possibilities. And I'm also better able to recognize red flags and rebound from setbacks. It's like being dialed into a different channel that has less static.
Anxiety isn't one thing, it's two. It's the anxieties of the mind, but it's also this alarm state, this state of constant protective hyper vigilant alarm, physiological activity in the body. And each of them energises the other.
Unfortunately, we've become so adept at concealing our problems that we often brush aside reproductive and women's health issues. It's as though discussing them is taboo. Now, it feels like showing strength means not voicing any discomfort or pain. However, there comes a point when silence is no longer an option.
Fear is like being shot out of a cannon. Imagine a car has fallen on someone I love—I get this clear, calm, intense bolt of energy. In that heightened state, I could lift the car off them (as has happened before in rare cases). Anxiety, on the other hand, is like being haunted. You never actually see what's scaring you—it's just a story in your head that never goes away.
I think social media is a great example of this. It feels a little bit like social connection, but I often joke that it's the 'NutraSweet' version—it seems good but doesn't deliver the psychological benefit we expect.