The World Health Organisation predicts that depression will be the second most common disease by 2010. Among the many research studies trying to pinpoint causes of depression, a growing number are reporting that our consumeristic lifestyle may be at fault.

Stuff vs Self: Materialism Blamed for Increase in Depression 

John Abela, professor of psychology at McGill University has conducted a study of teenagers in Montreal and Shanghai, and he believes that China’s recent massive cultural change and eager adoption of materialism is to blame for increased depression rates in the country.

Similar research has found that nearly 50% of American students had suffered from depression, anxiety, or feelings of hopelessness at least once in the year 2006. And, as in China, materialism is once again suspected as being a big part of the problem.

In McGill University magazine professor Abela states: “Materialists have a fragile sense of self because their worth depends on attaining external things. The quality of their interpersonal relationships suffers and they feel more stress while pursuing extrinsic goals.”

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Anger sounds like an upfront and obvious emotion and it can be when it erupts and everyone around you gets to feel the heat, but anger can also burn you from the inside, and it can happen beneath your level of conscious awareness. This unhealthy simmering anger can seriously affect your health and the quality of your life if you leave it bubbling beneath the surface.

We don’t like to think of ourselves as angry. We try to appear cool and calm when we are in company, and we like to convey the impression that everything is well in our world. But many of us have anger lurking beneath our apparently calm exterior, and while it may not be so obvious to others, hidden anger is a potential danger to our health and greatly affects the quality of our lives and our relationships.

Healthy Anger

Anger properly expressed is healthy, so long as it is dropped once it has served it's purpose. Ayurveda (India's ancient science of natural health) teaches that properly expressed anger is natural and nourishing to our self-esteem. When anger becomes a problem is when it is held onto for long periods, or when we hold it inside ourselves...

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Many of my blogging friends enjoy crafting posts on paper. While we spend most of our time at the keyboard, there’s nothing quite like the smooth page of a moleskin notepad for planning an article or scribbling a quick Mind-Map to brainstorm a project. Aside from that small luxury, we’re looking at ways to cut back on using paper.

Debra Moorhead started a 30 day paper-less experiment which makes interesting reading.

 

Here are 5 ways that your PC can help you reduce your paper consumption and waste...

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As I sat amidst a pile of presents waiting to be wrapped yesterday I slid into a spell of sadness over the amount of "stuff" that gets accumulated at Christmas.

Sure we'll recycle our wrapping and I love to give gifts to my family and friends but I always have a twinge of discomfort at the wastefulness of it all. Annie Leonard has made a movie called The Story of Stuff that looks at the impact our accumulation and disposal lifestyle has on our world.

 

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Q: From a Living by Design Reader: “I’m stressed and I know I would benefit from relaxation, but I feel too tense to start. Whenever I try and slow down, things seem too slow and I feel frustrated that I could be getting things done rather than sitting “doing nothing”. How can I find a way to try relaxation and get used to the feeling?”

When you’re busy and getting lots done it feels as if you are moving fast, like when you’re driving on a motorway, you are covering distance at speed, when you take an exit and have to slow your speed down, it feels really slow in comparison to the pace you where travelling at just seconds ago.

For many busy people, relaxation feels the same way. Rather than settling into the pleasure and calm of a contemplative state, they find it too slow, or too alien to their usual state of productivity and drive.

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