# 9: Re thinking Depression and Anxiety.

This talk has huge relevance for many of us today, be it ourselves, our children or our friends. How do we in our communities translate the message, ‘that perhaps depression and anxiety is about thae fact that you are a human being with unmet needs’ to the people we care about who show signs of being depressed or anxious? Is it loneliness? Is it instant gratification from consumerism instead of maintaining values, purpose and what is really important in life? Are we listening for the right signals? Interesting challenge. The talk links to many thoughts coming from modern philosophers like Yuval Harari and Mark Manson about the corruption of society that has taken place.

The talk links beautifully to the theme of 3E that teachers are focusing on this Friday and Saturday, from I to We.

Adrian

#8 It’s Time to Evaluate Your Parenting Style

From Growing Leaders by Tim Elmore

I recently had the privilege of meeting with parents and grandparents to discuss parenting styles across the country and through the years. As you might imagine, we laughed a lot at how times have changed—and how parenting methods and priorities have shifted as well.

We had four generations represented in the room:

1. Builder Generation—born between 1929-1945
2. Baby Boomer Generation—born between 1946-1964
3. Baby Busters (Generation X)—born between 1965-1982
4. Millennial Generation (Generation Y)—born between 1983-2000.

Veteran parents remarked how they were raised in a different culture, where mom and dad were consistent, but focused on their work. Families were larger so it was difficult to get to every recital. One man remarked, “My dad never came to watch me play a game or a match; he was busy at work. I never expected him to be there.”

Another responded, “Wow. I was raised in a culture where you were considered a poor mom or dad if you didn’t attend your kid’s ballgames or swim meets. Somehow, parents found a way to be there.”

Why Do You Lead the Way You Do?

I’ve noticed a pattern in parents and educators over the last four decades. We watch and learn from the mistakes of previous generations but tend to over-correct those styles. Beware: each new generation of adults is prone to behave in one of two ways:

1. We Respond – This is intentional but can be extreme.

This happens when our current generation observes an unhealthy habit in the past, but in our desire to correct it, we over-compensate. For example, my parent’s generation often raised kids who were not the center of attention in the home. Those moms and dads, raised during the Great Depression, prioritized work because it guaranteed survival and provision. As a result, the kids may have lacked attention or affection; they shared parents’ attention with many siblings; dad was often too busy to attend his child’s ballgame or recital.

So, late Baby Boomers and Generation X parents reacted to this preoccupied parenting style with a pandering parenting style. Instead of finding balance, too many parents swung the pendulum to the other extreme. I remember in 1990 speaking to a young mother who said her goal was to “delight in her children.” What a great goal. As I watched her children grow up, however, I saw spoiled teenagers who assumed they were the center of the universe. She overdid it. Specific examples of this shift are:

• Childhood safety – playground equipment was removed or changed; overprotective styles refused to let kids go unsupervised at any time.
• Childhood self-esteem – participation awards, graduation ceremonies at all levels; bumper stickers on our cars about our awesome kids.

2. We React – This is natural but can be unhealthy.

As Generation X and the Millennials became the parents, they reacted to the mistakes of previous parents, but too often reacted in an unhealthy manner. For instance, many have done away with the “participation trophy” realizing how it demotivated kids, especially boys. Frequently, however, the shift put too much pressure on Generation Z children to perform at a high level as early as elementary school age. Dads or moms can go ballistic on a little league field watching nine-year old’s play a game, as if scholarships are on the line and scouts are watching and recruiting.

The shift was another extreme. Sadly, it became about “us” instead of our kids. Too many moms are living out their unlived life through their daughter who is a ballerina or a gymnast. Too many dads are doing the same as they watch their son play baseball or soccer and critique them as if they’re going pro. We become blind to the fact that our kids begin burning out at age 13. We’ve all but removed normal childhood, replacing it with college prep lifestyles in primary school and no margins at all. Specific examples of this shift are:

• Childhood pressure – kids became the target of parent’s goals, to make the grade; make the team; gain the scholarship; make the dean’s list.
• Childhood priority – kids became the focal point of the family; the center of our solar system, which places too much pressure on them.

May I make a suggestion?  Parents—don’t let yourself get sucked into unhealthy patterns, keeping up with the Joneses just because you fear not looking good to other parents. Sometimes I think we don’t even see what’s happening to us. My wife and I set a goal (as our children grew up) to communicate that they were loved and valuable, but they were part of something bigger and it wasn’t about them. We all shared chores and we worked to celebrate each other. I think it prepared them better for life as an adult. I say: let’s make wise decisions, empowering our kids to grow up and do what they are gifted to do, not what we wish they would do. And maybe if we let them be children at young ages, they’ll be ready to be adults when it’s time.

#7 Laughing gas is no laughing matter

Following discussions with Heads from other international schools in HCMC it is clear that numbers of our students are engaging in an activity called “ballooning.” As this article in AsiaLife explains this is definitely a trend in HCMC nightlife. We do feel that it is important that you understand this practice and the Health risks that are involved. Hence when we came across this recent post I thought that we should share with you our community.

“Laughing gas is no laughing matter

Nitrous oxide, commonly known as "laughing gas", is a chemical compound with the chemical formula N2O. At room temperature, it is a colorless non-flammable gas, with a pleasant, slightly sweet odor and taste. It is used in surgery and dentistry for its anesthetic and analgesic effects. It is known as "laughing gas" due to the euphoric effects of inhaling it, a property that has led to its recreational use as an inhalant drug.

Nitrous oxide belongs to a class of recreational drugs known as inhalants. Inhalants can be dangerous because they can be commonly found in substances in the home or workplace. Because inhalants are often contained in substances which are readily at hand, many people may not realize they are dangerous or easily abused. Inhalants may also be abused more often by younger people - children and adolescents.

In Hanoi, nitrous oxide abuse is frequently disguised by using balloons. The balloons are very, very, common throughout Hanoi, particularly in bars, night clubs, and where beer and liquor are readily available. They are generally very cheap or given away free. As of May 29th, 2019, they were banned from Hanoi city limits, but are still found legally in other parts of the country, for example, the Halong Bay Party Cruise.

When inhaled, nitrous oxide immediately produces a strong dissociative state that lasts for roughly a minute or so. During this timeframe, the user typically loses all motor control and cannot stand up without help. These effects pass very quickly, and for this reason, abusers of the gas often inhale repeated doses during a single session of use.

Nitrous oxide inhalation blocks the normal flow of oxygen to the brain. This occurs when the gas builds up in the body more rapidly than it can be removed through natural  elimination. The technical term for nitrous oxide’s effects on oxygen levels is diffusion hypoxia. Prolonged hypoxia can lead to permanent damage to the brain, and the impact can be cumulative with repeated abuse of the inhalant. This means that people who use the gas multiple times or for extended periods of time during a single session can develop increasing levels of oxygen deprivation. In some cases, the deprivation of oxygen to the brain has resulted in death. “

#6 When Did College Turn So Cruel?

Why we need to create strong resilient students at ISHCMC, who know what they want from the world and don't just stand by and accept what they are given and refuse to accept the thinking that this is the way it has always been so that makes it right. 

CreditCreditRobyn Beck/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images


Paul Tough’s important new book on the broken promises of higher education begins with a chapter that he succeeds in making as suspenseful as the prologue of any serial-killer novel and as heart-rending as the climax of an epic romance. It describes a high school senior who is waiting to hear if she has been accepted at Princeton and the University of Pennsylvania.
Her name is Shannen. She’s from a poor family in the Bronx. She has worried so much and worked so hard that she’s underweight and permanently exhausted. And she believes — based on all the conversations around her, all the cultural cues — that her entire future hinges on the answers from these institutions. Her worth as a person hangs in the balance. The thought of college doesn’t flood her with excitement. It reduces her to a sobbing wreck.
I won’t tell you where she ends up, because that’s a spoiler. It’s also not the point of her story or of “The Years That Matter Most: How College Makes or Breaks Us,” which will be published next week. Shannen exemplifies how college — once a bright beacon of promise and potent engine of advancement — has turned into something that’s often dysfunctional and downright cruel.

At its best, it remains a ladder to higher earnings, greater economic security and dreams fulfilled. For some lucky students, it’s still an exhilarating and enormously fun rite of passage. And America’s standout schools inspire envy around the world.

But for too many students, college is a letdown, betrayal or taunt. And Tough — whose previous book, “How Children Succeed,” was an influential best seller — explores the various reasons and the toll on young adults at every socioeconomic level, though it’s poor and middle-class strivers who are the most badly served by far.

In an increasingly pessimistic country with fewer manufacturing jobs than decades ago and a widening chasm between the haves and have-nots, college looms enormous in young people’s psyches. But the mechanics of getting to and through it are messier than ever. As Tough writes: “A generation ago, earning a four-year college degree was rightly seen as a way for individuals to move up in the world. Today, for many young Americans, a B.A. is simply an insurance policy against moving down.
“That dark fact has changed the way many of us think about college,” he continues. “It means that when young people make their decisions today about college, they often are motivated less by hope and more by fear.”
He introduces student after student whose route to college and experience there are rocky in the extreme. There’s Shannen, tortured by how much social, cultural and financial importance is attached to a school whose acceptance rate is no higher than 10 percent and whose yardsticks for applicants favor those from backgrounds exponentially more privileged than hers.

There’s Clara, who should be joyful — she has no financial worries and many excellent college options — but is bullied by her parents to bypass Middlebury, which she prefers, for Yale, which is yet more exclusive. Hers isn’t a sob story, I know. But it’s a dispiriting confirmation of the bragging rights and brand obsession that pervert higher education today.
Along with Shannen’s distress, it may also help explain why more and more college students report and seek help for mental health issues. According to the American College Health Association, the percentage of students who profess a degree of anxiety that affects their studies has risen to 27.8 from 18.5 a decade earlier. The percentage who say that about depression has risen to 20.2 from 11.6.

In rural North Carolina, Tough meets and interviews Kim, whose working-class family doesn’t do much to encourage her ambition. She gets into Clemson all on her own. Then she can’t go, not right away, because the math of paying for it just doesn’t work. Her optimism collides with — and is put seriously to the test by — the punishingly high cost of college in a country where, according to the Federal Reserve, there are more than 44 million borrowers who owe $1.6 trillion in student loan debt.

KiKi nets the scholarships and financial aid she needs for Princeton. But she finds herself in such a tiny minority of poor students there that she feels culturally adrift. She’s routinely reminded of and stressed by the social and economic divisions between her and other students. Tough’s reporting makes clear how painfully common this experience is, because despite the most elite schools’ pledges and boasts about diversifying their campuses, they’re still theaters of extraordinary affluence, with screening practices that keep them that way.

All in all the landscape of higher education in America is forbidding to students of limited means. Many of them enter college academically behind their wealthier peers, who got better K-through-12 educations, and schools do too little to help them catch up. Many are lured to for-profit institutions that rake in money while failing to deliver on their promises.
And that has dire consequences not just individually but also nationally. To spur innovation, compete globally and nurture prosperity in a country where factory jobs have ceased to be the answer, we need more, better college graduates. So why aren’t we doing more to create them?

Near the end of his book, Tough recalls the high school movement of the early 20th century, when industrialization called for a more skilled work force and America responded by making sure more of its citizens finished high school. Only 9 percent of them did in 1910. By 1940, that figure was up to 50 percent.

In the current era of technology and automation, college is the new high school, but the share of Americans finishing it hasn’t grown at nearly that kind of pace. According to the Census Bureau, about 35 percent of Americans 25 years or older have earned four-year college degrees or more, in comparison with about 21 percent 30 years ago.

“We’re not responding in the same way,” Tough told me during a recent telephone interview. Instead, he said, the attitude is more along the lines of “you figure it out, you pay for it, and we’re going to make it as hard as possible.”

That needn’t be so. Among his book’s many vital contributions are its portraits of schools and programs that model a better way. He finds hope, for example, at the University of Texas at Austin, where admissions have been rethought, extra guidance has been provided and a few professors in particular have decided to go back to the beginning, more or less, and pour extra energy into actual teaching. For them and their students, college isn’t just a badge that you do or don’t get to display. It’s something infinitely more transformative. It’s an education.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/03/opinion/college-graduates.html

#5 Managing our minds

"Learning to manage your mind is crucial to both happiness and success. In this week’s episode of Don’t Tell Me The Score, Simon Mundie sits down with Professor Steve Peters, the English psychiatrist best known for his work in elite sport. He was integral in helping British Cycling become world beaters, has worked with Liverpool FC and the England football team- and has been credited with making arguably the greatest snooker player ever Ronnie O’Sullivan ‘the player he is today’. Steve famously created a model of the mind that was the subject of his first book ‘the Chimp Paradox’. Learning how to manage your inner chimp is the key to peace of mind, and getting ahead in sport and in life. In this episode, Steve explains what the inner chimp is and why we have to nurture it. He also reveals how negative self-beliefs are formed, and what to do about them, as well as the importance of establishing what your values are. He talks about working with kids – the subject of his new book ‘my hidden chimp’- and the importance of basing your self-esteem on the ‘human’ part of your mind. Crucially, he explains why working on your psychological health is one of the most important things you can do."

Although this podcast is 50 minutes long, and you may not be a professional athlete,  I think it has lots of very important information that can help us all better understand ourselves and our children. The first part of the conversation outlines how our minds work and what is the Chimp Paradox. 

In the second half of the conversation, there are very good insights into why we think the way we do, and how we can approach situations differently by controlling our own minds.

Enjoy,
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p072qx55

#4 Brain and Wellbeing: is you family living in the present enough?

During the summer I obtained a copy of Altered Traits; Science Reveals How Meditation Changes Your Mind, Brain and Body. It is certainly a good book for those who want to discover more about the science behind mindfulness and meditation as this review from PenguinRandom House explains:

"In the last twenty years, meditation and mindfulness have gone from being kind of cool to becoming an omnipresent Band-Aid for fixing everything from your weight to your relationship to your achievement level. Unveiling here the kind of cutting-edge research that has made them giants in their fields, Daniel Goleman and Richard Davidson show us the truth about what meditation can really do for us, as well as exactly how to get the most out of it.

Sweeping away common misconceptions and neuromythology to open readers’ eyes to the ways data has been distorted to sell mind-training methods, the authors demonstrate that beyond the pleasant states mental exercises can produce, the real payoffs are the lasting personality traits that can result. But short daily doses will not get us to the highest level of lasting positive change—even if we continue for years—without specific additions. More than sheer hours, we need smart practice, including crucial ingredients such as targeted feedback from a master teacher and a more spacious, less attached view of the self, of which are missing in widespread versions of mind training. The authors also reveal the latest data from Davidson’s own lab that point to a new methodology for developing a broader array of mind-training methods with larger implications for how we can derive the greatest benefits from the practice."

In these two 25 minute talks (not TED) Daniel Goleman and then Richard Davidson talk about their background in studying meditation, levels of study, how we all benefit regardless of our different levels of mindfulness experience, data on student benefits and how it can impact our desire to take action to help others. Goleman summarizes the key content of the 6,000 peer-reviewed research papers that show the changes that mindfulness practice can bring to us.

This article from Tricycle links with the above works and reinforces how consistent practice, as we have been told many times, is needed to develop altered traits. The article identifies traits that may also occur beyond those associated with a well being focussed approach to meditative practice.

The sense of a life mission centered on practice numbers among those elements so often left behind in Asia, but that may matter greatly. Among others that might, in fact, be crucial for cultivating altered traits:

• An ethical stance, a set of moral guidelines that facilitate the inner changes on the path. Many traditions urge such an inner compass, lest any abilities developed be used for personal gain.
• Altruistic intention, where the practitioner invokes the strong motivation to practice for the benefit all others, not just oneself.
• Grounded faith, the mindset that a particular path has value and will lead you to the transformation you seek. Some texts warn against blind faith and urge students to do what we call today “due diligence” in finding a teacher.
• Personalized guidance, a knowledgeable teacher who coaches you on the path, giving you the advice you need to go the next step.
• Devotion, a deep appreciation for all the people, principles, and such that make practice possible. Devotion can also be to the qualities of a divine figure, a teacher, or the teacher’s altered traits or quality of mind.
• Community, a supportive circle of friends on the path who are themselves dedicated to practice.
• A supportive culture, traditional Asian cultures have long recognized the value of people who devote their life to transforming themselves to embody virtues of attention, patience, compassion, and so on. Those who work and have families willingly support those who dedicate themselves to deep practice by giving the money, feeding them, and otherwise making life easier. This is often not the case in modern societies.
• Potential for altered traits, the very idea that these practices can lead to a liberation from our ordinary mind states—not self-improvement—has always framed these practices, fostering respect or reverence for the path and those on it."

#3 Sleep: Are you and your family getting enough sleep?

The second strand from Global Be Well day that I'd like to support your thinking about is sleep. I think that we are far more aware of the importance of sleep and its impact on learning and health than we were ten years ago. Understanding about sleep, its impact on health and wellbeing, doesn't only apply to students, we as adults also need to ensure that we are getting enough sleep so that we are energized and healthy for our lives. So how much sleep do we need?

Below are the recommended sleep times for different age groups as reported in the Independent newspaper article:

Newborns (0 - 3 months): 14-17 hours per day

Infants (4 - 11 months): 12-15 hours per day

Toddlers (1 - 2 years): 11-14 hours per day

Pre-school children (3 - 5 years) 10-13 hours per day

School age children (6 -13 years) 9-11 hours per day

Teenagers (14 - 17 years) 8-10 hours per day

Younger adults (18 - 25 years) 7-9 hours per day

Adults (26 - 64): 7 - 9 hours per day

Older adults (65 years+) 7-8 hours per day



Childmind.org has run a series of article about the importance of sleep and sleep patterns for adolescents. I have picked out two articles that I think are worth you taking a look at. The first is about why teenagers are sleep deprived. Here is the worrying conclusion to this article

"With more than half of American teenagers living with chronic sleep deprivation, parents and teachers tend to overlook the profound effects it has on kids’ physical, mental and behavioral health. The sleep deficit is not in fact, a normal part of being a teenager. It’s part of an invisible epidemic that we need to start addressing."

The second article is about the consequences of not getting enough sleep. The article raises the question that perhaps the teenage angst, stress depression, and anxiety that we are seeing today is not normal and is partially the result of sleep deprivation.

"It’s a radical thought, but what if the behavior we casually dismiss as “teenage angst” — the moodiness, the constant battles, the sleeping all day, the reckless, impulsive and careless behavior — is not in fact a normal part of being a teen? Or at least, not to the degree we assume it is. What if instead we are doing our teenagers a disservice by writing off as “normal” what are in reality the symptoms of chronic and severe sleep deprivation?
We know that the radical changes that occur in adolescence, including tremendous hormonal shifts and significant brain development, affect teenage behavior. But the physical, mental and behavioral consequences of chronic sleep deprivation are profound, too. With studies showing that 60 to 70% of American teens live with a borderline to severe sleep debt, we need to know how going without their recommended (optimal) nine hours a night affects them."

This article, Synchronizing education to adolescent biology: ‘let teens sleep, start school later’ is an academic paper on sleep and its importance and the link between our biorhythms and our ability to focus and concentrate. Below is the abstract to the article that starts with a good 4-minute Vimeo outlining the research findings. 

"Arne Duncan, US Secretary of State for Education, tweeted in 2013: ‘let teens sleep, start school later’. This paper examines early starts and their negative consequences in the light of key research in the last 30 years in sleep medicine and circadian neuroscience. An overview of the circadian timing system in adolescence leading to changes in sleep patterns is given and underpins the conclusion that altering education times can both improve learning and reduce health risks. Further research is considered from education, sleep medicine and neuroscience studies illustrating these improvements. The implementation of later starts is briefly considered in light of other education interventions to improve learning. Finally, the impact of introducing research-based later starts synchronized to adolescent biology is considered in practical and policy terms."

Here at ISHCMC over the past five years, we have done several things to address the importance of student sleep, most importantly moving the school day fro a 7:25 start to an 8:50 start in secondary. But we must not be complacent as there are still questions we have to ask ourselves about the pressures that students feel to work late on homework as they move up through the school, student time management skills and the use of technology and screen time late at night.

# 2 Nutrition: What is the best diet for humans?

For me, nutrition is an interesting strand of the Global Be Well Day programme. It is an area that we all think we know something about, have a perspective on, but in reality, do we know what is right for each of our students? How do we let our own biases affect the way we perceive nutrition or a good or bad diet? 

Hence I thought the best place to start this Food for Thought from is information relating to the question: What is the best diet for humans? The talk below by Eran Segal gives us insight into how what we eat impacts us. Its key finding is that the results show that it isn't just about the food it is about the person eating it. Some of the data that Eran's team discovered goes against what is traditional nutritional advice. We have talked a great deal about the threat of AI and algorithms but in this talk, you will hear about the power of them to help us as individuals shape our diet so it is right for us. This talk links with personalized learning, because as in education Eran's research shows that there is no perfect diet to suit everyone, our response to the food we eat depends on who we are and our microbiomes. 

If we take the information in the talk by Eran Segal it immediately undoes much of the nutritional information that determines how we feed ourselves, our family and students in the school cafeteria. Hence, as personalizing nutrition isn't that easy I just wanted to share some generalized and traditional information that you might find useful when dealing with this topic. The first piece of information comes from the, The Dietary Guidelines that are published every 5 years by the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services. It is designed for professionals to help all individuals ages 2 years and older consume a healthy diet that meets nutrient needs. The focus of the Dietary Guidelines is on disease prevention and health promotion. Although the Dietary Guidelines are not intended to treat disease, it can be adapted by nutrition and health professionals to describe healthy eating to patients and clients.

Finally, I looked at this site, Health Engine, that provided good nutritional information for school students in Australia. The post that I read ended by saying: 

"Habits developed in the formative years of life have a lasting effect on health. As a result parents need to set positive food culture through meal planning, keeping a variety of foods in supply, and setting a good example. The key points to remember as a parent/caretaker include the following:

• Adequate nutrition will help your child develop maximal intelligence (IQ) and well being.

• The child should be guided to make independent food choices and eat a variety of foods.

• Malnutrition and its consequences will be prevented by eating the right kinds and amounts of foods.

• Encourage your child to practice proper hygiene at all times."