Healthandwellness

What can you learn from a course on happiness? Over 3 million people have signed up to find out

The curriculum asks students to, among other things, track their sleep patterns, keep a gratitude journal, perform random acts of kindness, and take note of whether, over time, these behaviours correlate with a positive change in their general mood.

Year into the pandemic, the coronavirus is messing with our minds and our bodies

By interfering with normal immune function and blocking pain, the virus keeps the infected on their feet, spreading the virus.

Six-pack abs seem like a recent phenomenon, but notion of ideal male body has been shaped over centuries

Western culture’s fascination with chiseled abdominals can be traced to the late 18th and early 19th centuries, when the ideal male body image in the West started to shift.

Recuperating from COVID-19 is a long and arduous journey; here's how to not merely survive, but thrive

A first-person account about what you can expect after COVID-19, especially when the hospital declares you fit to rejoin mainstream society.

Bad influences: On the Santoshi Shetty row, and damaging perceptions about mental healthcare in India

There is a long way to go until reliable mental health treatments including psychotherapy and medication are de-stigmatised. But if we keep blurring the boundaries of expertise, we might just be taking a step backwards.

Understanding and unlearning ableism is an ongoing process and one we must work on day-to-day

"Ableism is violence," as Lydia XZ Brown notes.

In lockdown, a summer without another gaze, meeting my body without criticism

Nowadays, my kitten’s is the only opinion that matters. And he has no concept of judging someone based on their body.

Ritu Kumar to Masaba, how Indian designers have stepped up to address mask shortage during coronavirus crisis

As the demand for non-surgical masks outstrips supply during coronavirus crisis, leading Indian fashion designers have come forward to fill the gap

Understanding mental illness: When insurance and psychiatry meet, what language do they speak?

Insurance companies think mental illness can lead to physical illness or accident, and consequently reject what are termed bad lives or substandard lives. This is not surprising; viewed as a purely capitalist enterprise, insurance companies can be expected to only seek profit

World Autism Awareness Day 2020: Why 'acceptance' must be prioritised over initiatives like 'light it up blue'

World over, autistic people have challenged the normative idea of “lighting it up blue” with its harmful connotations, and sought a shift from ‘awareness’ to ‘acceptance’, celebrating April as #AutismAcceptanceMonth.