by Olivia | Jan 9, 2018 | Featured, GloWellness
Last year saw a significant increase in the number of women being prescribed antidepressants – with more than a one hundred percent increase in the past decade. Women have historically been known to multi-task far better than men, and the juggling act of work/lifestyle balance is always a challenge and can lead us into feeling inadequate and not being good at either. But are the pressures imposed by Society really a reason or even an excuse for the increase in this type of drug dependency? I could give you more facts and figures, but if it helps will give you two contrasting case studies that may throw some light on it for you. The first case study is a woman of 40 called Gemma who has had a successful career, but suddenly loses her husband to cancer, she then has a freak accident on a walking holiday, and breaks her ankle – two months later she is made redundant from her job of twenty years. She is immediately prescribed anti-depressants by her Doctor and refuses them, realising that they will only deaden the pain and demotivate her. Gemma makes the choice to re-evaluate her life and start out on a new path, which she has done successfully
without the help of anti-depressants. The second case is a younger woman called Sarah who has had a highly pressured six months running her new business, and still has huge potential but cannot cope with the demands that are thrown at her. She immediately requests anti-depressants to reduce her stress and is now emotionally dependent on them. Sarah has tried to come off them, and has been recommended to do so gradually by her GP, but as she reduces the dose she became uncontrollably anxious, and cannot cope without them. Her appetite has disappeared and her weight loss is worrying. You really cannot compare the problems of the two women, but the personalities differ in that Gemma who has the bigger issues is more prepared to cope, and does not take the easy option, whereas Sarah feels she can’t deal with the inevitable stresses of running a new business. Perhaps it is all too easy these days to succumb to the more available remedy of numbing the pain, but without the bigger picture of how it will ultimately lead to a dependency which is far more damaging. In both cases there is an absence of serious mental health issues, and yet these remedies are still prescribed and recommended. Some practitioners say that the good outweighs the bad with these prescriptive remedies, but it is a debate worth having, even just for the sake of the next generation. After all support groups and drug free counselling are better ways of overcoming stress than increasing the problem even more. As always at G
lotime we are recommending that you take control of your life if possible, and again as the New Year kicks in you can consider the route of either Gemma or Sarah – the choice is yours.
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by Gemma Thomas | Jan 2, 2018 | Featured, GloWellness
With Philip Hammond designating £500m to Artificial Intelligence is it surprising that we are all asking the question about how long it will be before Robots take over our jobs.
According to Stephen Hawking – Artificial Intelligence is imminent and says:
‘The outcome will depend on how things are distributed. Everyone can enjoy a life of luxurious leisure if the machine-produced wealth is shared, or most people can end up miserably poor if the machine-owners successfully lobby against wealth redistribution. So far, the trend seems to be toward the second option, with technology driving ever-increasing inequality.’
I think we all know this to be true, and I am not sure if it is comforting or worrying to know that Britain is way behind the US, France, Germany and Spain in the development of Artificial Intelligence.
But it is still predicted that four million jobs in the British private sector could be replaced by robots in the next decade.
Jobs in finance, accounting, transport, marketing and advertising are predicted to be run by machines within a few years, whereas jobs in the health and care sectors are more secure, still needing the human element.
The University of Oxford predicted 35% of jobs could be rendered obsolete by new technology, while the Bank of England predicted in 2015 that up to 15m jobs in Britain were at risk from robots “hollowing out” the workforce.
Asda for instance operates a fully automated distribution warehouse in West London; white-collar tasks are being automated by PwC, the accountancy firm, and Linklaters, the law firm, which have been developing software robots that use artificial intelligence to learn to do research tasks usually undertaken by junior accountants and lawyers. So there we have it.
But is there an up-side to this, and some people think there is, with the doomsters being overshadowed by the optimists who feel that the introduction of robots may increase the element of human contact in some cases.
Care homes for instance are testing the abilities of robots. One in Lincoln plans to use one to help residents remember daily necessities such as taking medication. The robot will also oversee the set tasks that a nurse would.
A care company in London, Three Sisters Home Care, will soon trial the use of robots for lifting people so only one care worker will be needed rather than two.
‘Three Sisters’ chief executive, Jobeda Ali, told the researchers: “If I don’t have to send a person to do a transfer job [lifting], I can send them to have a cup of tea and a chat. This is a much better use of their time than carrying patients or cooking meals.”
There is also an argument that the elimination of mundane jobs that can easily be performed by Robots, will inspire and give space to the creation of more human centric opportunities where individuals can utilise their more ‘touchy feely’ abilities, and enhance the human element in jobs. If only this were to be true, but we should perhaps hang onto that for fear of damaging our already gloomy outlook on job and wealth distribution.
There should certainly be some ethical guidelines in place as robotic job descriptions are created, to allow for the element of human intervention so that all is not lost for the human job force.
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by Olivia | Dec 22, 2017 | Featured, GloWellness
Self-belief has nothing to do with looks, ability or talent, it is something that is inherent in certain individuals, perhaps through confident parenting, a good mentor or teacher – or a strength that has been acquired through sheer determination.
Years ago I spoke to the famous Actor and Comedian Mel Smith who would be the first to admit was not known for his good looks. But in spite of his irregular appearance, Mel was extremely charismatic and self-assured, and put this down to a Head Teacher at his school in Chiswick, where he was given huge support and instilled with confidence – which set him up in his adult life.
The opposite can also occur, as in the case of a stunning female friend who is riddled with self-doubt because of her jealous Mother who undermined her at every turn, and was filled with distain and rage if she became her own person and acted independently. Consequently, she now suffers from acute anxiety and lack of belief in her abilities.
Insecure people are not good to be around, and can destroy a relationship, through their own inability to see the positive in others – being blinded by jealousy, envy or fear.
A recent meeting of minds was almost destroyed by one negative member of the team, who could only criticise and yet not come up with any helpful solutions, which could have created an impotent element of self-doubt. But due to the tenacity of the individuals, they identified the motive and removed the source, banishing the culprit from any future meetings.
I recently met a man who had separated from his wife after 20 years of marriage. He had endured mental cruelty for decades, as he had been subjected to years of negativity and criticism of all that he had achieved. He explained that when he met his wife, he had a thriving business, happy clients, and a wonderful circle of friends.
One by one all of this disappeared as she chipped away at his self-confidence, until he was almost bankrupt and socially isolated. It was only after a long illness that he decided he had enough, and is now rebuilding his life and re-connecting with his friends.
He is sad as he realised that his wife was desperately insecure, and criticised him to prevent her own deep insecurity ruining her life. She has of course had to take that back, and is now struggling to keep her head above water.
Negative people are dangerous – and if we recognise that we are home and dry. Remember THE SECRET which states that we are masters of our destiny and our own minds, and if we believe in ourselves we are on the way to victory. If we hang out with people who only see the negative, then we are on a self-destructive path ourselves.
Remember the Rudyard Kipling poem IF – my darling grandmother used to quote it time and time again, and I have to admit I used to yawn every time she did. But now I read it and think how clever Mr Kipling was to write this, years before any self-help books were published. The language may be old, but the sentiment is as current today as it was then, and it really says it all.
‘If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you’
Bottom line is, believe in yourself and you will find others follow suit. So let’s try it and see – and bit by bit you will notice a difference.
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