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Participating in community service activities and helping others can help alcoholics and other addicts become and stay sober, according to a researcher from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine.

Maria E. Pagano, associate professor of psychiatry at the School of Medicine, in a review article shed light on the role of helping in addiction recovery.

From in.news.yahoo.com:

“The research indicates that getting active in service helps alcoholics and other addicts become sober and stay sober, and suggests this approach is applicable to all treatment-seeking individuals with a desire to not drink or use drugs. Helping others in the program of AA has forged a therapy based on the kinship of common suffering and has vast potential,” Dr. Pagano says.

In her research, Dr. Pagano highlights the helper therapy principle (HTP), a concept embodied by AA, as a means of diminishing egocentrism or selfishness, a root cause of addiction.

The HTP is based on the theory that, when a person helps another individual with a similar condition, they help themselves. The principle is reflected in the stated purpose of AA, which is to help individuals “stay sober and help other alcoholics achieve sobriety.”

Helping other alcoholics is viewed as the foundation for the alcoholic helper to stay on the path to recovery, Dr. Pagano says in her overview of the AA program. In addition to outlining the basis for AA-related helping,

Dr. Pagano reviews the data to date that illustrates the health and mental health benefits derived from helping others. She likewise examines several empirical studies she conducted previously which show how helping others in 12-step programs of recovery help the recovering individual to stay sober.

The article has been published in the Volume 29 issue of Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly.

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A new study has suggested that long-term committed relationships are good for physical as well as mental health and the benefits can increase over time.

Married people live longer on an average, according to David and John Gallacher from Cardiff University.

From in.news.yahoo.com:

They say that women in committed relationships have better mental health, while men in committed relationships have better physical health, and they conclude that, “on balance it probably is worth making the effort.”

Men’s physical health probably improves because of their partner’s positive influence on their lifestyle and “the mental bonus for women may be due to a greater emphasis on the importance of the relationship”, they write.

But the journey of true love does not always run smoothly, maintain the authors, pointing to evidence that relationships in adolescence are associated with increased adolescent depressive symptoms.

And not all relationships are good for you, they add, referring to evidence that single people have better mental health than those in strained relationships.

They also confirm that breaking up is hard to do, saying “exiting a relationship is distressing” and divorce can have a devastating impact on individuals. Having numerous partners is also linked with a risk of earlier death.

The study has been published in the Student BMJ.

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This YouTube video is all about the right nutrition and mental health. While many of us do realize the importance of physical health, mental health is often ignored and this video is an excellent compilation of mental health facts and is a good view for all.

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