Breast cancer awareness month is October. I decided to take this opportunity to discuss the factors why some women do not get their mammograms done and subsequently present with cancerous lumps at a much later stage of the disease. I have found them and their family members to share guilt and shame regarding the very … Read more
Women are far more susceptible to urinary symptoms than men. We do not usually have clear information available to the public that helps them to identify the differences between some of these conditions which are often lumped under the possibility of a UTI (urinary tract infection). A UTI could be a bladder infection or it … Read more
On average, 10 in 100 women have heavy menstrual bleeding, which is more than 80ml of blood in the entire menstrual cycle. 80ml equals 1/3rd of a cup or more than 5 tablespoons. Flooding = Leaking through despite using a tampon or pad Clots = Clumps of blood and lining tissue The average menstrual cycle … Read more
Emotions and experiences that a child cannot manage in a safe manner tend to get trapped within the child’s body and mind. This trapped experience is either ‘avoided, deflected, projected or suppressed.’ Unfortunately, these ‘fright, flight, freeze, fawn’ responses do cause compensatory behaviours as well. Here is one such example. If a child has witnessed … Read more
Today’s world and lifestyle is pushing us all into a spiral where the more we do, the more we feel left behind. It seems like a race with the finishing line moving farther away no matter how fast we go. Perhaps that’s where we are doing things wrong. We keep trying to do more and … Read more
As human beings we all experience feelings and emotions and often people start thinking that doing so makes us become a problem. Unfortunately, it’s not feeling the emotions that could be viewed as problematic but how we respond/react to emotions. For example, Mr X has lost his job. He’s the sole earner in his family … Read more
Children are known to be self-centred and honest because that is how they learn about the world they will grow up in. They are naturally inclined towards protecting their own safety, needs and desires and often end up ‘triggering’ the adults around them by stirring their emotions around their own unmet needs as individuals. When … Read more
We all have experienced this phenomenon even as children. If a 4-year-old trips and falls, the other children would probably giggle, ignore them or tell them off for being clumsy. The handful who don’t react in these ways might feel they are the odd ones out; unpopular, different (read weird) and hence wrong! Clearly if … Read more
Trauma is not the actual event but the long lasting impact left on our minds and bodies after that event that continues to cause physical and psychological harm” – Gabor Maté Physical and emotional pain are both perceived similarly by the brain. However, because emotional pain is not necessarily caused by physical causes, it can … Read more
Some things I said to my patients that might resonate with others too: As a parent, you’re usually trying to respond to your child/children’s needs. However, when your own emotional reserve is depleted, your behaviour can be more impulsive, reactive, and not what you genuinely want. That doesn’t make you a bad parent. Just a … Read more
