HEALTH AND LIFESTYLE

Winter Dreaming: Les Portes du Soleil

by PATRICK ROBERTSON

Anticipation is the feeling of excitement when you are planning a new travel adventure. It is that anticipation that raises your level of happiness and it can bring your spirits up for a couple of months before you even leave, according to studies. In Fernie at this time of year, the anticipation is for a great ski season. The dream of all those perfect days of blasting down the slopes with a smile from ear to ear.

When I was a boy, I used to dream all day long about skiing for several months before the actual ski season began. The anticipation was the driver to change the exercise routine and work out those muscles needed for skiing. Equipment needed to be serviced, new inner and outer wear had to be found, and a financial commitment was made by buying a seasons’ pass.

In town is a buzz of anticipation. Businesses are ramping up and new people are moving in for the season. There is an increased level of activity. Just think, this is happening all through the many outdoor recreation towns all over North America, Europe and the rest of the world. The ski season is coming.

The trip I am personally anticipating is a momentous week-long adventure skiing across kilometre after kilometre of vast ski terrain in Europe from one ski resort to another moving from valley to valley and country to country just on skis. Relaxing and sleeping in different lodges and eating wonderful foods that are specialties of the village are residing in.

The largest unified ski area in the world is Les Portes du Soleil; Gateway to the Sun. It consists of 12 ski resorts with 200 lifts, 650 km of trails and 14 villages. Les Portes du Soleil spans France and Switzerland with 10,000 foot peaks as backdrops including the Matterhorn, Mont Blanc and les Dents du Midi; the Teeth of Noon. Five main villages offer most of the accommodations. Each one is different and unique to one another.

Getting to Les Portes du Soleil is easy. Thirteen-hour direct flights from Calgary to Geneva are available and then it is an hour car ride to Morzine. I would spend the first night here. A six-day pass runs about $400 that gives you access to all 200 lifts to tour the area.

Local guides say that one of the things that Canadians do not grasp is the enormity and scale of the area. I am planning an itinerary that will take me to all 12 resorts and 14 villages during the six days. Some of the resorts are large with a large variety of accommodations, eating places and nightlife while others are small lodges with no nightlife. It is nice to have a mixture - some busy and others very laid back.

Timing is important. January is a quiet time right after the New Year with lower prices for accommodations but can be cold with minimal snow. February is a busy month and is high season so accommodation is going to expensive if you can find any as people are booking a year in advance. March is the time of year when the snowpack is at its greatest, the weather is warmer.

Make sure that you go during the full moon. If you get clear skies, you will have spectacular nighttime views of the mountains with stars as the background. Taking a night horse drawn sleigh ride in Avoriaz above Morzine would be the topping of a remarkable ski holiday.

Les Dents du Midi | Submitted Photo

Tik Tok is Not Therapy

by TYLA CHARBONNEAU

Just because your ex was mean to you does not make them a narcissist.

I, like so many, have been down my share of internet reel rabbit holes. If I were to follow the advice of several Tik Tok and Instagram mental health stories I might come to believe: All relationships are toxic, any child who has energy or difficulty concentrating has ADHD, my moody family members are bi-polar and should be on medication, but most medications do not work, and therapy is a waste of time. Unfortunately, some of this messaging can cause significant harm as it can be difficult to tease out the healthy information from the unhealthy information.

The stories and quotes are relatable and there is a lot we can learn from the lived experiences of others. These reels tend to be quick, catchy, and are often set in a nice background with calming music. We can all benefit from messaging that hits home or that encourages us to make improvements to our life. The issue with social media is that no one is vetting the information presented. We therefore have no way of knowing if the person speaking is a licenced professional or officially diagnosed by one. Anyone is able to include hashtags for depression, anxiety, and mental health. The algorithms provide you more of what you watch the most of and sadly, not everyone has your best interest in mind. Messages are often repeated and become familiar. What we see as familiar we often begin to see as true, even without doing the research to explore the validity.

It is important to remember that only a qualified healthcare professional can provide a mental health diagnosis. Ethically, none of them would vicariously diagnose someone in your life who is not their client. So, what pulls us then to make decisions about others? These reels play on our emotions and speak to our experiences. We often feel seen or understood and this feels really good. The downside is in these moments we often do not consider our own accountability in the relationship. With the exception of domestic violence, it is extremely rare for an unhealthy relationship to be all one person’s fault. Additionally, much of the information presented is not entirely accurate. For example, the criteria in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Health Disorder-5 for Narcissistic Personality Disorder is actually quite different than the symptoms often presented in social media. In watching the stories, we can start to only look for the symptoms presented while ignoring behaviour that may be fully in contradiction to diagnostic criteria. Finally, there is a lot more to a diagnosis than meeting the criteria. One of the most important, and often ignored on the internet, aspects of diagnosing is the presence of significant impairment to social, educational, or occupational functioning. A person showing signs or symptoms of a disorder, especially personality disorders is not enough, it also has to significantly impair functioning in their life.

There are several online sources that can be helpful in learning about mental health. However, none of them are a substitute for consulting with mental health professionals. Please keep in mind that anyone can call themselves Doctor online and it is helpful to use critical thinking skills, research someone’s credentials, and consider the implications of blindly following advice on Tik Tok. If you are looking for a few reliable mental health accounts here are a few to follow:

Romantic relationships @gottmaninstitute

Mental health in general @the.holistic.psychologist @drjulie @psychcentralofficial @brenebrown @ adamMGrant

V.Croome Photo

“The algorithms provide you more of what you watch the most of and sadly, not everyone has your best interest in mind...What we see as familiar we often begin to see as true, even without doing the research to explore the validity.”

Psychology Today @psych_today

Children, youth, and parenting mental health @foundry_bc @Keltycentre

The content provided in this article is for information purposes only. It is not meant as a substitute for professional medical or psychological advice, diagnosis, or treatment. If you find yourself in distress, please reach out to your local physician who can provide mental health resources in your community.