Losing Touch: How Lack of Community Primes us for Conspiracies, Conflict and the Coffin

Antony MalmocommunityLeave a Comment

isolation conspiracy covid

Take Two Friends and Call Me in the Morning.  There’s a little town in England that’s done a remarkable thing. In a reasonably short amount of time, the township of Frome has been able to reduce emergency hospital admissions by 15%. Meanwhile, hospital admissions in neighbouring towns rose by 30%. What is Frome’s secret life-saving technology?  The local medical practice … Read More

The Social Prescribing Revolution is Here

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social health

Nursing one of his beloved daughters to her death at age ten led Charles Darwin to consider the role of suffering and compassion in natural selection. He would later theorise in Descent of Man that sympathy, a word probably closer to what we understand today as empathy, is an instinct even stronger than self-interest. Darwin’s work offers insight as to why the act of suffering together – … Read More

Suicide Prevention Starts With Community

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alone in fog

Suicide. Everyone has different reactions when I mention the word. These reactions include sadness, loss, guilt, interest, anger, surprise, concern, unsure, jokes, laughter, remembrance, and silence. For some, they remember the person they lost. Others talk about suicide with keen interest, perhaps from a philosophical, ethical, social, or personal viewpoint. No matter whom I’ve spoken with, I have found that … Read More

What a Car Accident Taught me about Pain and Community

Coralie PonsinetcommunityLeave a Comment

bicycle reflection

A summer day turned into the scariest day of my life Saturday 23rd December 2017 was a beautiful summer day in Melbourne. I was about to experience my first Christmas in summer, and my fiance had decided we would get ourselves some nice food from our favourite Italian supermarket. That morning he wanted to take the car, but I insisted … Read More