Volume 49, Issue 6

Issue 6 Volume 49

October 17 2022

Mental Health Awareness

WORK BY MANJOT PABLA, PIERCE, 2021

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Editor | Larry Lau news@themedium.ca

Pierce Manjot Pabla Digital animation still, 2021 Pierce is about darkness—how it creates isolation and how it brings forth emotional thoughts. The darkness represents multiple psychologically impacting forces: trauma, existential crises, dissociation, or other personal interpretations on part of the viewer. The pitch-black space is a visualised extension of the mind as the body becomes invisible, separating its mental and physical form. This is the place where pain is processed, understood, and accepted. However, the still is part of a looping animation, illustrating the ongoing and repeating struggle of pain and acceptance. Though my animation is about exploring the acknowledgement of pain, the title calls to the moment just before it starts: where the pain originates.

Manjot Pabla is a recent graduate from the University of Toronto Mississauga and Sheridan College with a specialization in Art & Art History, primarily working in printmaking and design. Currently, she is the Design Editor for The Medium’s 49th volume—her second year fulfilling the role.

In her work, she explores themes of pain and suffering, specifically dealing with the philosophical and psychological impact it creates. Most of her work deals with internalized conflicts between the mind and the body.

Students face challenging mental health obstacles post Covid-19 Anxiety, isolation, and helplessness plagued post-secondary students during the pandemic, while lingering fear of the virus and uncertainty about the future takes the spotlight post Covid-19.

Sena Yurt Contributor Last names have been omitted to protect anonymity.

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uring the height of the pandemic, Ontario universities implemented remote learning as an emergency response to provincial stay-at-home orders. The Canadian Alliance of Student Associations conducted a survey on Canadian postsecondary students’ mental health in May 2020, discovering that 70 per cent of students reported feelings of anxiety, stress, or isolation during the health crisis.

A nation-wide poll conducted by the Canadian Mental Health Association found that post-secondary students experienced “elevated anxiety, stress, sadness, depression, substance use and suicidal thoughts” during the pandemic. Students needed to balance their studies alongside financial setbacks and, sometimes, grief over sick or lost family members.

The Medium spoke with two students at the University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM) about their experiences dealing with mental health.

Jordan, a fifth-year student, stated that her mental health deteriorated during the pandemic: “It was very difficult. I went through so many mental breakdowns trying to focus on my studies while also experiencing anxiety over my family’s health.”

“It was very difficult. I went through so many mental breakdowns trying to focus on my studies while also experiencing anxiety over my family’s health.”

Anjali, a fourth-year student, said that to cope with her mental health issues, she made the difficult decision of taking a break from her studies. “I never felt so much anxiety and depression. It was pretty tough to stay motivated during a pandemic when there were lots of uncertainties. I had a high GPA before the pandemic, with online learning my grades dropped significantly so I decided to take a break from my studies to heal from my anxiety attacks and depression.”

Although in person learning has returned and most health

restrictions have been lifted, students are still experiencing the lasting impacts of the pandemic on their mental health.

“It was pretty tough to stay motivated during a pandemic when there were lots of uncertainties.”

Denise Alton, the Lead Counsellor at UTM’s Health & Counselling Centre (HCC), wrote in an email interview with The Medium that “returning to in person learning has been challenging for most.” Notably, many UTM students feel anxious interacting with peers and professors now that the institution is operating fully in-person.

“Returning to in person learning has been challenging for most.”

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“In addition to the transition to in-person learning, many are new to being university students and all the challenges that come with newly found independence, new academic expectations and hopes, and new relationships that are being built,” explains Alton.

Alton reminds students that there are mental health resources available at UTM, stating: “[The] HCC provides open access to mental health care needs by offering same day appointments.

UTM also offers all students access to MySSP, a free, confidential source of professional counselling that is offered 24/7 by text or phone in over 100 languages.”

The Covid-19 pandemic presented many mental health challenges to UTM students, some of which linger as we move past the health crisis. Regardless, the HCC offers students with mental health care and personalized wellness plans consistent with their needs, allowing students to excel at their academics while readjusting to the “new normal.”

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The World Health Organization advocates for a worldwide reform of mental health support WHO reports mental disorders are the leading cause of disability and urges countries to accelerate plans to eliminate stigma towards mental illnesses.

Kirsty MacLellan Contributor

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n June 2022, the World Health Organization (WHO) released its largest mental health review since 2000. The review revealed that an alarming 14 per cent of the world’s adolescents are living with a mental disorder, and due to the Covid-19 pandemic, depression and anxiety rates rose by 25 per cent in 2020, making mental health disorders the leading cause of disability worldwide.

The pandemic’s pronounced effects on mental health have forced the general population to acknowledge depression and anxiety as valid illnesses. The WHO emphasizes this, stating that sufferers are likely to die 10 to 20 years earlier than non-sufferers due to preventable physical diseases.

The WHO highlights that 20 countries still criminalize suicide. Adding that stigma causes mental health to be ignored in both low-income and high-income countries. Notably, economically disadvantaged individuals suffer the most.

Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, rates of mental health disorders have risen. The Medium spoke with Dr.

Farah Ahmad, an associate professor at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, and a professor at York University, to discuss why the Covid-19 pandemic has been so hard on mental health, particularly amongst youth.

Dr. Ahmad highlights that the pandemic has left youths feeling a lack of purpose and belonging—noting their reduced opportunities to engage with their communities. Even small social interactions, such as helping a stranger out with their grocery shopping, or saying “thank you” at a store, “helps build [one’s] identity.” Unfortunately, these interactions were limited during the pandemic.

Dr. Ahmad emphasizes the importance of systematically valuing well-being. She highlights the need to support secondary and postsecondary students through support systems and community leaders’ actions. She explains that “waiting until they are diagnosed [is] too late.” Dr. Ahmad instead encourages communities and leaders to actively ask students how they would like to be supported throughout their lives.

Regarding what youths can do themselves, Dr. Ahmad urges them to exercise, to invest time into new hobbies, and to take a step back from social media if needed.

Although the pandemic has been especially tough on developing youths, Dr. Ahmad

sees optimism in the situation. She observes that the last two years has opened a dialogue on mental health care. Sharing her findings from focus groups with undergraduate U of T students, Ahmad states that students naturally “started to do informal check-ins” with themselves and with each other. She highlights that the pandemic has made us “much more aware of our mental health.” Prospectively, she encourages students to continue with casual check-ins as they promote well-being and balance in day-to-day life.

On the grander scheme of mental wellbeing, the WHO urges countries to devote more time, energy, and funding to mental health support: the goal is to eliminate stigma and promote mental health resources worldwide.

This call for increased support for mental health is nothing new. The WHO put forth its “Comprehensive Mental Health Action Plan 2013-2030,” which outlines the actions needed for countries to build systems focused on mental wellbeing.

Notably, building interconnecting public health networks that equally value mental and physical healthcare will be key in supporting the growing global population.

All 194 WHO member states have signed up to support the action plan. However, the WHO says transformative change is not coming fast enough. Mental health is still overlooked in public health policies, despite holding significant bearings in individual’s wellbeing. The WHO’s review reminds governments worldwide to address the ongoing mental health crisis, which may finally lead to people receiving the care they need.

Canada to introduce a suicide crisis line November 2023 to address mental health crisis The Covid-19 pandemic has led to a surge in suicidal ideation among Canadian adults, highlighting the need for more mental health support and resources in the nation.

Razia Saleh Staff Writer

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n August 31, 2022, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) announced that it will be using 9-8-8 as an emergency contact line for individuals requiring immediate mental health assistance. The line will be available for use across Canada starting on November 30, 2023.

Based on trends and reports released

by Statistics Canada, the pandemic had a significant impact on Canadian’s mental health. In 2021, the second year of the Covid-19 pandemic, 4.2 per cent of Canadian adults reported having suicidal thoughts.

This is an increase from 2.7 per cent in 2019, shortly before the pandemic started.

The Canadian Government revealed that suicide is the ninth leading cause of death in Canada. On average, 10 people commit suicide every day for an approximate 4,000 deaths by suicide annually. This problem is particularly apparent among the younger population, with suicide being the second

leading cause of death for Canadians aged 10 to 29.

The chairperson and CEO of CRTC, Ian Scott, stated that the implementation of the 9-8-8 hotline is “a significant step in making mental health and suicide prevention resources more accessible to everyone in Canada.” The hotline can be used by any individual requiring immediate care and

is available free of charge 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Scott emphasizes that mental health is an important issue and should be taken seriously. “Although much work is left to be done to bring help to people who need it, we have set accelerated timelines to ensure that 9-8-8 is implemented as quickly and as efficiently as possible.”

“Although much work is left to be done to bring help to people who need it, we have set accelerated timelines to ensure that 9-8-8 is implemented as quickly and as efficiently as possible.”

Today, there are numerous suicide prevention resources available to Canadians.

For example, Talk Suicide Canada is accessible toll-free at 1-833-456-4566. Additionally, the Hope for Wellness Help Line provides specialized support to Indigenous Peoples across Canada. They can be reached at 1-855-242-3310 or online through the Hope for Wellness chat.

According to the World Health Organization, suicides are preventable. Measures taken by communities and individuals can save lives. The introduction of the 9-8-8 hotline provides another method of prevention for the Canadian population.

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Mental illness to become a reason for medically assisted death in Canada Psychiatry faculty at U of T divided on Supreme Court’s new decision to revise MAiD regulations.

Hema Ramnarine Staff Writer

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n March of 2023, Canadian regulations surrounding euthanasia will allow people who suffer solely from mental illness to apply for medical assistance in death (MAiD). Currently, requests for MAiD that only cite mental disorders— which seldom lead to natural deaths on their own—usually fail to meet the “reasonably foreseeable natural death” criterion denoted by Bill C-14, causing them to be turned down.

In 2015, MAiD was decriminalized following the Supreme Court’s decision in Carter vs. Canada. There has been polarizing discourse about MAiD for mental illness. Even within U of T’s Faculty of Psychiatry, opinions are divided.

In a brief submitted to the Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs, U of T lecturer, Dr. Justine Dembo, expressed support for the upcoming changes to MAiD. She stated that the current exclusion of mental illness is “problematic” and promotes a stigma against people with mental disorders. “This exclusion also attempts to separate ‘mental’ from ‘physical’ illness. Given that the brain is a physical organ, […] the exclusion is not only false, but harmful,” wrote Dr. Dembo.

This view, however, is not shared by all members of the community. The Medium spoke to Dr. Sonu Gaind, a professor of the Faculty of Psychiatry and the physician chair of

Humber River Hospital’s MAiD team. Dr. Gaind advocates for the distinction of mental and physical illness. “Mental illnesses are valid illnesses, but that doesn’t mean they’re the same as everything else. […] There is no comparison between the degree of predictability of things like cancer or [amyotrophic lateral sclerosis], the things our MAiD laws have actually been formed around, and the unpredictability of mental illness.”

Dr. Gaind explains that the rates of remission for physical illnesses, like cancer, cannot be accurately compared to mental illness, stating: “For some forms of cancer, odds of spontaneous remission—recovery without treatment—range

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from one in a hundred thousand to one in a million. For depression, we’ve looked at naturalistic studies [where patients had no treatment] and we found that the majority had remission of their depression within a year.”

“We’re taking what amounts to transient suicidality and making it a permanent death,” explains Dr. Gaind, noting that people with mental illnesses may make an irreversible decision during a period of weakness.

While she recognizes the vulnerability of people suffering from mental disorders, Dr. Dembo states that a full exclusion to MAiD will not benefit sufferers who are already vulnerable: “Given that anyone has the potential to be vulnerable, patients deserve a careful assessment, on a case-by-case basis.”

Regardless, Dr. Gaind argues that things may not be as equal as they seem should MAiD access be expanded. The illnesses that render someone eligible for MAiD may be exacerbated by social factors, and this may lead to a disproportionate number of vulnerable people seeking and being approved for MAiD. Referencing the case of Sathya Kovac, a 44-yearold woman from Winnipeg who ended her life via MAiD, Dr. Gaind says, “We already have people getting it saying ‘it is my psychosocial suffering that is fueling this request.’”

Mental disorders are, by nature, more volatile and unpredictable than their physical counterparts. For this reason, the medical community as well as Canadians suffering from severe illness are faced with a complicated issue as new policies relating to mental illnesses are put forth for MAiD.

“Doomscrolling” is slowly eroding our mental health The phenomenon of doomscrolling reinforces pessimism and increases levels of stress.

Angelina Jaya Siew Contributor

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s the Covid-19 pandemic emerged, individuals turned to the Internet to find positive news. However, they were exposed to a flood of pessimistic messages, causing stress and anxiety. Researchers dub this phenomenon “doomscrolling.”

“Doomscrolling refers to a unique media habit where social media users persistently attend to negative information in their newsfeeds about crises, disasters and tragedies.”

According to a research article published in January 2022 in the Technology, Mind, and Behavior journal, “Doomscrolling refers to a unique media habit where social media users persistently attend to negative information in their newsfeeds about crises, disasters and tragedies.” A BBC article reveals that most individuals spent some portion of 2020 doom-

scrolling—so much so that the Oxford English Dictionary added the term and named it a “Word of the Year” for 2020.

There are various factors that contribute to the phenomenon of doomscrolling. A notable cause is the human tendency to make better sense of uncontrollable situations by filling the information gap caused by unforeseen events. Doomscrolling was most apparent during the Covid-19 pandemic because people were confined to their homes and flooded with news.

People flocked to social media to find positive information about the health crisis and alleviate their fears and stressors. Instead, they found pessimistic news which “further [exacerbated] feelings of anxiety, apprehension, uncertainty, and panic,” stated a study published in April 2021 in Perspectives in Psychiatric Care by researchers from the National Institute of Mental Health & Neuro Sciences in Bengaluru Karnataka, India.

The study also explains that journalism takes advantage of this human tendency, as news outlets use provocative headlines to capture a readers’ attention with fear. Social media users will often reinforce their concerns by continuously exposing themselves to pessimistic information, which can ultimately foster feelings of hopelessness.

“Journalism takes advantage of this human tendency, as news outlets use provocative headlines to capture a readers’ attention with fear.”

It has been observed that severe anxiety caused by doomscrolling can trigger panic attacks. Additionally, people may experience complicated emotions that lead to in-

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somnia, poor appetite, and decreased motivation to perform daily activities.

Regardless, the adverse psychological effects of doomscrolling can be reduced over time. According to an article published by the World Economic Forum, a non-profit organization based in Switzerland, restricting one’s consumption of news during the day and especially at night can limit the harmful psychological effects of doomscrolling.

The article stated that individuals can moderate the time spent on online platforms by switching off smartphone notifications and scheduling times during the day to browse through news.

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Virtual healing: How VR is being used to treat mental illness The Covid-19 pandemic and social distancing spurred researchers to investigate VR’s efficacy in treating mental illnesses and maintaining mental wellbeing.

Hema Ramnarine Staff Writer

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n a study released in April of 2022 by the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, researchers explored the efficacy of using virtual reality (VR) to treat mental illnesses. They found that using VR to simulate different environments causes emotions that reduce psychological stress.

They presented VR as an option for people with mobility issues to experience beneficial environments such as geographically distant tourist destinations.

In some cases VR mediation was even preferred over faceto-face instruction, which was most apparent during Covid-19 when social distancing was required.

The Medium spoke to U of T Professor Carmen Logie, an assistant professor at the Faculty of Social Work, through email about her work on using VR to treat mental health disorders.

“There was review of the effects of VR on mental wellness in 22 studies. They demonstrated that the strategies hold

“They found that using VR to simulate different environments causes emotions that reduce psychological stress.”

Likewise, another study published in February of 2021 in the journal of Health and Technology discovered that VR used in video games during the pandemic was highly effective for improving both mental and physical health. VR use increased dramatically during the Covid-19 lockdowns, with video games being the most common use, but many users reported using their VR headsets for physical fitness as well.

The use of VR for meditation was also examined. Using a “didactic, trauma-informed care approach to [instruct] mindfulness meditation,” researchers compared VR-led meditation to 2D meditation (watching a pre-recorded video on a screen) and real-life meditation. When compared to 2D meditation, VR meditation was found to be more relaxing and less tiring.

promise for improvements in mental wellness, including improved mood and reduced stress,” states Professor Logie, denoting the rationale behind using VR to raise mental health awareness and improve self-compassion. She explains that VR offers a plenitude of opportunities, allowing users to see, hear, and approach things from a different perspective.

Despite its positives, there are real-life issues that cannot be solved in VR’s fabricated world. “It doesn’t necessarily get to the root cause of your challenges if they lie in the structural and social world, for example someone who’s depressed because they’re in an abusive relationship,” states Professor Logie. There are also physical limitations to VR, as some patients may experience nausea when using headsets and other gear.

“Traditional therapy remains a valuable tool to reduce depression, anxiety, and other mental disorders. VR therapy will expand the toolbox.”

Prospectively, Professor Logie believes that traditional therapy remains a valuable tool to reduce depression, anxiety, and other mental disorders. VR therapy will expand the toolbox, serving as a complement rather than a replacement. She puts forth that “preparing people with a lot of options is the way forward.”

As we gradually enter the post-pandemic world, virtual alternatives to mental and physical health services are more important than ever. The growing use of VR IUM MED /THE T for therapy could be revolutionary, potentially improving S O PROV ETH B the mental wellbeing of the populace.

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A single faced coin—the mutual relationship of chronic illness and depression Poor mobility, grim outlooks, and anxiety over treatments serve to introduce and reinforce depressive disorders in patients with chronic illness.

Sukaina Rizvi Contributor

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2019 study released in the Journal of the American Medical Association revealed that patients afflicted by chronic physical and mental illnesses faced higher rates of hospitalization and visited emergency departments more frequently than those with only a chronic physical condition. This is problematic, as on average, patients with a chronic illness have a 25 to 33 per cent chance of becoming depressed.

The risks are higher if the patient has dealt with depression in the past.

“While a healthy lifestyle, a good diet, and medication, can improve the condition, it cannot be cured.”

Chronic illnesses are afflictions that last for an extended period. While a healthy lifestyle, a good diet, and medication, can improve the condition, it cannot be cured.

According to the Cleveland Clinic, chronic illnesses with the highest chance of accompanying depression are heart attacks, Parkinson’s Disease, and multiple sclerosis.

Many chronic illnesses leave individuals with limited mobility.

Adjusting to an illness that lim-

its one’s mobility and worrying about treatment can create a sense of hopelessness in patients, leading to decreased motivation to engage in activities. This is where the link between chronic illness and depression is established.

Depression can also cause chronic conditions to worsen. Studies have found that depression can cause a lowered glucose tolerance in diabetic patients, decreased amounts of physical activity, and an increased use of tobacco, alcohol, and drugs.

Additionally, physicians may overlook depression and only treat the chronic illness.

Naturally, both chronic and mental illnesses must be addressed during treatment. Failing to recognize the connection between these two types of illnesses can cause sluggish or halted recovery.

Over 80 per cent of depression cases can be treated using medicine, psychotherapy, or both. Medication used to treat depres-

sion include antidepressants, which can improve a patient’s mood by changing the way their brain uses chemicals. Antidepressants take effect after four to eight weeks and must be taken according to a physician’s instructions.

The second treatment used for depression is psychotherapy, which involves counselling an individual to help make behavioural changes. This can be accomplished through cognitive-behavioural therapy or interpersonal therapy.

Alongside the treatments, individuals must maintain a healthy lifestyle by incorporating a balanced diet and plenty of exercise in daily life.

Everyone is different and will respond to depression and chronic illnesses differently.

There is no “one size fits all.” However, by recognizing the link between chronic and mental illnesses, doctors may find new perspectives in the treatment of such health conditions, leading to the improved overall well-being of patients.

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Conflict in Iran intensifies as police forces crackdown on protests The death of Mahsa Amini sparked protests across Iran, exposing lack of respect for women’s rights while questioning the efficacy of theocracy in the nation.

Larry Lau News Editor

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n September 16, 2022, Mahsa (Zhina) Amini, a 22-yearold Kurdish woman, died in police custody in the Iranian capital of Tehran. A United Nations (UN) press release reveals that Amini was arrested on September 13 for “what was perceived to be ‘improper’ hijab,” which are the headscarves worn by many Muslim women for religious reasons.

“Reports state that Amini was physically abused by the police, suggesting the bruises and injuries sustained during her arrest and custody led to her death.”

Reports state that Amini was physically abused by the police, suggesting the bruises and injuries sustained during her arrest and custody led to her death.

She collapsed at a detention centre shortly after being apprehended and died three days later in a hospital in Tehran. The Iranian government disputes these claims.

Amnesty International, a non-governmental organization advocating for human rights, revealed that the cause of Amini’s death was investigated by the Ministry of Interior of the Islamic Republic of Iran, who is affiliated with the government. The coroner stated that Amini died from pre-existing medical conditions related to a brain tumour that was removed when she was 8-years-old.

flow of information and news.

As of October 12, the Iran Human Rights non-profit organization has determined the death toll to be at least 201 people, a number that is increasing daily.

Amnesty International reported that upwards of 82 people were killed by Iranian security forces in the provinces of Zahedan, Sistan, and Baluchistan on September 30. Named “Bloody Friday,” the deaths took place during protests calling for action against a police commander who reportedly raped a 15-year-old girl. To disperse the protests, security forces fired live ammunition and tear gas into the crowds.

“Violent conflict broke out in Iran’s Kurdish regions due to Amini’s Kurdish background and the continuous oppression Kurds have faced historically.”

Violent conflict broke out in Iran’s Kurdish regions due to Amini’s Kurdish background and the continuous oppression Kurds have faced historically. Reports state that the

Iranian government has mobilized tanks in the region.

Notably, the city of Sanandaj, the capital of the province of Kurdistan, saw violent clashes on October 8 and 9. Security forces opened fire on protestors, residents, and homes, killing four protestors and injuring hundreds of civilians.

International communities have condemned the Iranian government for using lethal weapons and suppressing freedom of speech.

U of T principal Meric Gertler issued a statement on October 5, 2022 expressing, “On behalf of the U of T community, I condemn the systemic violations of the rights of women that led to Mahsa Amini’s death.”

Gertler states that the university will support Iranian students seeking refuge from the ongoing crisis who are intending to study at U of T. Bursaries will be available to applicable students.

UTM principal Alexandra Gillespie echoed Gertler’s statement on October 6, 2022, in her message to the UTM community, also condemning the Iranian government for violations of women’s and protestor’s rights.

With increasing scale and frequency of protests, the situation in Iran is escalating rapidly as the Middle Eastern country’s theocratic rule comes under intense scrutiny.

“The unit actively patrolled the streets of Iranian cities for women who wear “loose hijabs.”

Amini was arrested by Iran’s “morality police.” As reported by Acting United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Nada Al-Nashif, in the past few months, the unit actively patrolled the streets of Iranian cities for women who wear “loose hijabs.” Such women were subjected to harassment, violence, and arrest by the police.

“Protestors are calling for the Iranian leadership to respect women’s rights, for Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to be overthrown, and for the abolishment of theocracy.”

Amini’s death sparked a wave of protests and demonstrations in many Iranian cities. Protestors are calling for the Iranian leadership to respect women’s rights, for Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to be overthrown, and for the abolishment of theocracy—a country led by clerical leaders and governed by religious law—in the Middle Eastern nation.

In response, the Iranian government has suppressed protests using lethal force. The government has also imposed restrictions on resident’s access to the Internet, limiting the

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MASTHEAD EDITORIAL BOARD Editor-in-Chief Elizabeth Provost editor@themedium.ca Managing Editor Aia Jaber managing@themedium.ca News Larry Lau news@themedium.ca Opinion Kareena Kailass opinion@themedium.ca Features Prisha (Maneka) Nuckchady features@themedium.ca A&E Julia Skoczypiec arts@themedium.ca Sports Alisa Samuel sports@themedium.ca Photo Samira Karimova photos@themedium.ca Design Manjot Pabla design@themedium.ca Copy Aidan Thompson aidan@themedium.ca Juliana Stacey juliana@themedium.ca Social Belicia Chevolleau social@themedium.ca Podcast Kareem Al-Sawalmeh message@themedium.ca

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OPINION

The dark side of being an international student Being an international student brings a lot more than just new faces, places, and opportunities.

Nessma Korideck Contributor

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eaving home and moving to university is highly anticipated.

We think about this moment for months, years even‚ and imagine what it will be like. We pack our best outfits and shop for room décor, convincing ourselves that this is just another part of our journey. Although this is true, no amount of self-motivation can really prepare you for leaving home and living abroad.

But once life in your new home begins to flow, you find yourself engulfed in this new world you’ve built yourself. I think in terms of mental health, the hardest part is not at the beginning of this new change, but rather near the middle, if not the end of the semester. Once the schoolwork starts to really pile, the homesickness starts to kick in, and you seriously start to ask yourself if you’re in the right place.

“The hardest part is not at the beginning of this new change, but rather near the middle.”

The thing about being an international student is that we don’t have the comfort of having a place we call “home” to return to every night. While trying to find the best in our living situations, it is not the same as having a comforting, accustomed home. And so, we must find comfort in other places, most of the time with the people we choose to befriend. Which is why it is essential—for an international student at least—to find a safe and trustworthy group of friends. Without that support system, life can feel very lonely very quickly.

“We must find comfort in other places, most of the time with the people we choose to befriend.”

Alongside this, who we choose to surround ourselves with is just as important. Everyone has different programs and different interests, and with that come different workloads and different priorities. Another challenge

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is staying focused on your own academic goals while also maintaining a healthy balance, which is why it’s important to surround yourself with people that will not only support you, but also push you to achieve your highest level of success.

Finally—and I think a lot of international students can relate to me saying this—the most straining aspect of university on our mental health is the pressure to succeed. By this, I mean the financial pressure that is directly connected to our studies. I know this might seem like news to some, but international students pay almost 20 thousand more dollars than domestic students in Canada.

“For many of us, retaking a course is simply not an option, and we only get one shot of doing well.”

Many are lucky enough to get scholarships, but others are not. And the weight that bears on our mental health is quite catastrophic. This is when the pressure to do well often creeps in. When exams are just around the corner, the expectations we put on ourselves push us to a dark place, leading us to believe that if we fail, we’re letting down our families, who are already sacrificing so much to send us here. For many of us, retaking a course is simply not an option, and we only get one shot of doing well. That pressure alone weighs us down.

If there is anything that I’ve learned from my experience, it is to surround yourself with good people. We all have our own baggage, and we’re all struggling in some form or another. Having people that you can lean on and simply relate to takes a major weight off our shoulders. And most importantly, at the end of the day, the priority is you. If you need to, take a break for yourself so that you can focus on your own goals, your own joys, and your own peace of mind. And if you need support doing so, there is no shame in asking for help.

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Mental health support is a form of health care There should never be wait times associated with accessing proper mental health resources.

The Medium

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eaching out for mental health resources can be an intimidating experience, and that’s perfectly normal—everyone moves at their own pace, and what’s important is that you feel supported and safe as you navigate through your own thoughts and feelings. What’s never okay, however, is not having access to the care you deserve. As our society continues to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic, alarming structural deficiencies within our healthcare system, especially when it comes to mental health, are being exposed.

According to the Canadian Institute for Health Information, “Half of Canadians wait up to a month for ongoing counselling services in the community.” Children and youth in Ontario are facing wait times of up to a year for counselling and therapy. This must change.

“Half of Canadians wait up to a month for ongoing counselling services in the community.”

The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) has found that “while mental illness accounts for about 10 per cent of the burden of disease in Ontario, it receives just [seven] per cent of health care dollars,” leaving our mental health care system at a deficit of around 1.5 billion dollars.

Access to mental health care in our province will never improve if we do not advocate for more funding and support. Governments need to recognize that, as CAMH states, “mental health is health,” and treatment for such conditions should be given the same importance as physical illnesses.

the province, like the Good2Talk helpline or My Student Support Program. You are never alone, and there will always be someone willing to help. The first step is always the hardest, but the one that brings the best change.

“You are never alone, and there will always be someone willing to help.”

Our team at The Medium encourages those struggling with their mental health to reach out, even if that means putting your name at the end of a long waitlist, because eventually, your name will be at the top. We also would like to remind you of the resources offered by the University of Toronto Mississauga, such as the Health and Counselling Centre, and by

Social media burnout is more common than you think What it is, how to spot it, and ways to prevent it.

Hannah Grace Wang Contributor

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orking with social media is often seen as glamourous, easy, and nothing more than just making fun TikTok videos or posting on Instagram. But this is not the truth. The reality of blending your personal and work life on social media is that you are more susceptible to social media burnout. It can be frustrating when people oversimplify the role and tasks of social media management. The term “burnout” can be used loosely, but because of its broad definition, many people apply the word to themselves—not just social media managers.

“The reality of blending your personal and work life on social media is that you are more susceptible to social media burnout.”

By: Reid Fournier

Dr. Michaela Dunbar, Clinical Psychologist and founder of @myeasytherapy on Instagram, defines social media burnout as a “form of online fatigue that can happen when you spend too much time on social networks.” According to Dr. Dunbar, feeling like you’re easily irritated, issues with motivation, being physically drained, having difficulty concentrating, and/or neglecting your own needs are signs of burnout to be on the lookout for.

When we are online so often, creating content and engaging with others (and the endless scrolling) seems almost natural. After all, it is a part of the reality that social media

managers face daily. With so many different platforms, maintaining an active online presence is challenging for social media teams, and especially draining for just one person.

Despite these challenges, social media itself isn’t the big bad enemy we seem to think it is. Social media allows us to connect with family, friends, customers, and like-minded individuals from the comfort of our phones and tablets. The number of small business start-ups that have gone viral and turned into blooming companies with the help of TikTok and Instagram Reels showcase the good that social media can do. Social media is not inherently harmful, but using it too much can have negative consequences.

"When you start to feel overwhelmed by having to maintain a social media presence, it’s probably a good idea to step back and re-evaluate how you spend your time online."

That’s not to say social media is all good either.

Like any tool, social media can be used with bad intentions. To be frank, too much of anything is bad, and yes, the same applies to social media. When you start to feel overwhelmed by having to maintain a social media presence, it’s probably a good idea to step back and re-evaluate how you spend your time online.

If you’re experiencing social media burnout, you’re not alone. It is not too late to start implementing steps to help avoid social media fatigue. To combat these challenges, try taking breaks from your screen, setting healthy boundaries for yourself, and moulding your social media presence to fit your schedule, rather than moulding your schedule to fit social media.

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Lonely in a crowded room A room full of people, and I’m trapped in the middle.

Aia Jaber Managing Editor

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oneliness is often viewed as this state of being physically alone. For me, loneliness is being surrounded by people that you love, and that love you, and yet you feel alone. I’ve felt alone a lot. Sometimes I’m sitting with my friends, laughing at a joke when all of a sudden, my heart sinks, my social battery dies, and I realize that I’d like to be anywhere but there. And in those moments, I think, “I do not feel comfortable enough to share how I feel with anyone around me.” So, I get up, say goodbye to everyone, and watch their mouths tug at frowns as I leave.

I have a handful of the most wonderful people in my life. Individuals who tell me they love me, and who gasp in excitement the second they see me in the halls. They are people who tell me they’re desperate to hear about my highs and lows, and who offer their message box to rant. But, I’m simply unable to open my mouth. It’s as if there’s a zipper with a lock on my mouth, and I can’t find the words or tone to express my feelings without also completely minimizing my struggles.

“It’s as if there’s a zipper with a lock on my mouth, and I can’t find the words or tone to express my feelings without also completely minimizing my struggles.”

Occasionally, I do talk about some of the sadder things in life, and for the past couple months, I’ve been opening up. But the loneliness is growing again, and I understand that the sadness will come in waves, just as happiness does.

“I’d lie to my family and say I was going to sleep when in reality, I would go to my room, turn on the fan so no one could hear me, and simply sob until I couldn’t anymore.”

Last winter, I felt terribly alone. I’d lie to my family and say I was going to sleep when in reality, I would go to my room, turn on the fan so no one could hear me, and simply sob until I

couldn’t anymore. My anxiety ran rampant, my self-loathing extreme, and my insecurities raged. I turned to counselling offered by the university and quickly gathered how little expertise these professionals actually had.

In truth, I liked my counsellor, and it was because she just listened to me—not because of her “methods.” I didn’t feel bad venting about everything upsetting me because I knew she was getting paid to listen to me—it was her job. She told me, after a few sessions, that I didn’t need counselling. She told me I was “an intuitive and intelligent girl” who figured her own problems out.

I beamed at her compliments but am now hesitant to seek counselling again because she’s right. I don’t need it. But I do want it.

I liked how she had to listen to me. I liked that it was her job to listen. I felt less lonely.

“I liked that it was her job to listen. I felt less lonely.”

I’m easy to please, except when it comes to my personal life.

Sick of hearing “you’ll be fine” and “don’t worry, you got this,” I eventually stopped confiding in people. I needed to avoid the “just move on” and “why don’t you journal?” because it felt like people didn’t care enough to truly think about empathy. Meanwhile, I sat there and put their worries before mine, just to make sure they never had to feel the way I did.

So, I’m not lonely in the physical sense—not in the slightest.

But I do feel lonely every once in a while, as I try to sacrifice for others while caring for myself. I’ve gotten better at this. I had fun in my second semester of third year and cared so little of what everyone thought of me. But I know that I am someone who needs and wants above average empathy, and I understand that not everyone has this—which is why I want people to know I can offer it.

“I’ve realized that I’ve felt the loneliest when I needed someone to care in the way I know best.”

I don’t always feel lonely. But I’ve realized that I’ve felt the loneliest when I needed someone to care in the way I know best.

I haven’t needed that for a long time, but now I do. Still, I’ve learned that “protecting my peace” means to avoid sharing what disrupts it. And while I feel intense frustration for holding it, that feeling beats thinking no one cares to truly listen.

Changing Leaves: Fake it ‘till you make it

Aia Jaber Managing Editor

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ver the last two years, I’ve been told that I “seem really put together,” and the truth is, I’m not. I have moments where I fall apart and episodes where I close my door at night and sob. I have impulses to delete my existence on social media and move to a country where no one knows me. Sometimes, I want to stop time or fast-forward. And sometimes, I don’t care for my present or my future.

My mental health fluctuates, like it does for many other people. I try really hard to avoid showing that I’m not doing well—at times hating myself for not keeping my largest smile. It gets so bad that I start being upset with myself for responding with “I’m okay,” instead of “I’m doing great,” when someone asks me how I am.

My social media presence is filled with friends and happiness, but my private stories occasionally catch a tear streaming down my flushed face. I feel like a nuisance— an annoying loose thread that you can’t seem to tug off your shirt.

I like to remind myself that happy moments are guaranteed, and that those smiles and laughs you have every once in a while are sufficient to get you to the next gleeful instance where you find yourself grinning like an idiot and twirling like you are the most graceful ballerina.

But sometimes, they’re not. And you might spend every day or every night wishing for better, crying for permanent change, and hoping someone will hear your pleas and provide you with the love and support you need.

Last winter wasn’t so great for me, and I feel myself falling back into that hole. But I knew that good times were coming, and they arrived and filled me with gratitude and happiness. I still have hope for happier times.

The bad, the good, the heartbreak, the love, the adventure, the failure—they’re all guaranteed in life.

I don’t feel shame for my sadness, despite my efforts to hide it. But if you ever wish to reach out and chat about your highs, your lows, and the in betweens, email managing@themedium.ca and know a friend is on the other end of the monitor.

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ELIZABETH PROVOST/THE MEDIUM

How I broke up with Jack Daniels A story of sobriety that doesn’t involve rehab, police, or overdoses.

Aidan Thompson Copy Editor

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n 2021, alcohol killed more people in the United States than drugs did at the peak of the opioid epidemic. In a single year, alcohol caused more deaths in the United States than guns and car crashes combined—a country that can’t go two minutes without someone calling for gun control.

And yet, it’s not only legal to blackout and wake up covered in Cheetos watching reruns of Full House, but it actually makes for a pretty hilarious story. But as soon as OxyContin, Xanax, or methamphetamines get involved, suddenly you’re no longer welcome at the family reunion.

“There was no emotional intervention or criminal record that demanded the change; I just came to the overdue realization that drinking wasn’t healthy for me.”

Now, before you start trying to pull me off my high horse, let me concede that alcohol is fun. It makes you sociable and there’s some cathartic anarchy that comes from it. Up until four months ago, I was drinking almost every day; sometimes it was a glass of wine with dinner, other times it was eight tequila shots and a 3 a.m. McDonald’s order. There was no emotional intervention or criminal record that demanded the change; I just came to the overdue realization that drinking wasn’t healthy for me.

In retrospect, the three-day-panic-inducing hangovers should have been clear evidence that drinking wasn’t beneficial to my mental health, but it never occurred to me that I should just stop. At the time, dancing shirtless on a stranger’s coffee table at 2 a.m. felt as much of a part of being in your twenties as struggling to pay your bills or eating out of Tupperware does.

In my life, alcohol worked on a cycle. I would go out, chase each drink with a poor decision, and then wake up at 8 a.m. too anxious to fall back asleep. My tongue would feel like sandpaper, my head like a bucket of nails, and I’d spend the entire day staring at the Netflix home page, unfit to make even the smallest of decisions. I’d profess that this would be “the last time” and that “I never want to get drunk again.” And then the weekend would pass, and come again, and I would make the same mistakes.

“My tongue would feel like sandpaper, my head like a bucket of nails, and I’d spend the entire day staring at the Netflix home page, unfit to make even the smallest of decisions.”

I wasn’t drinking any more than my friends. I just didn’t have the same resilience as the skinny-jeaned-fraternityhoused finance major who somehow made it to class after two hours of sleep and 12 Jagger bombs.

“Alcohol is so deeply engrained in Western society that the government is, quite literally, our dealer.”

Despite the hangovers and panic attacks, it took a conversation with a friend to alert me to the obvious toll that alcohol had on my mental health—that is how normalized drinking is amongst my friends, my family, and my culture.

Alcohol is so deeply engrained in Western society that the government is, quite literally, our dealer. Despite the immense collateral damage that alcohol causes, there is no way that this will ever change on an institutional level.

So, I made the change on an individual level.

I gave up drinking four months ago. There was no rehab or Alcoholics Anonymous meetings; it wasn’t a decision

born of necessity, but a chance to take a step towards improving my mental health. The first few weeks were challenging—I quickly realized how often you need to make a conscious choice not to drink. And with every soda water ordered, I felt compelled to offer some explanation to the people I was with, as if I needed a signed note from my doctor to excuse myself.

“There was no rehab or Alcoholics Anonymous meetings; it wasn’t a decision born of necessity, but a chance to take a step towards improving my mental health.”

If anything is a testament to alcohol’s entrenchment in Western society, it’s that you can’t stop drinking without people asking questions. Imagine if every time someone announced they got a membership to a gym or were trying a new diet, people were baffled, confused, and demanded answers as to why. But those conversations are temporary.

Even if my friends were disappointed, I wouldn’t be puking in the stall next to them at 11 p.m. on a Tuesday night, they eventually understood.

It’s now been four months since I’ve spent a morning with my head in a toilet bowl. That’s 4 months where I didn’t have to wake up and try to piece together my fragmented memories of the night out, or reserve my afternoon for laying starfished on the living room floor waiting for the world to stop spinning. For four months, I haven’t had a lingering hangover, an abusive bar tab, or a moment of sober regret. I feel I’ve found consistency in sobriety, and it works for me.

And yet, for many people, alcohol is not an issue. Some people can go out, drink until they’re dizzy, and wake up for a 9 a.m. lecture without much of a headache, let alone an existential crisis. Kudos to you. But if you’re like me, and you struggle with mental health, consider taking a hiatus from alcohol and see if it makes a difference. You never know, it might just be the change you need.

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Clubs on campus are disappearing Dear Covid-19, please give us our clubs back.

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(like selling things for profit), just to name a few. Other notable points would be the application process which includes supplying a mailing address and phone number, the total number of governing students, and a copy of the by-laws or constitution of the group.

Step three is writing the constitution, which must include a name, purpose and objectives, membership, executive list and duties, elections, finances, meetings, and amendments. Fees for club membership, if any, cap out at ten dollars. Any amount more than that must be justified.

And you’re done. Submit your application! There’s typically a rush of applications in August and September, but a member of the University of Toronto Mississauga Student Union’s Student Groups team will contact you to discuss further details about the club before accepting it. Soon enough, more members will pour in, and you’ll have the perfect club. Don’t be afraid to try new things, mingle with new people, and find your calling. After all, that’s what clubs are for.

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he first week of our semester whispered isolation. There were no clubs advocating for members as if students were depressed about their return. More likely, it was that many students were stepping on campus for the first time, even as third years. Covid-19 ruined our relationships, our self-esteems, and our favourite activities.

According to a study published in the Community Mental Health Journal, those with strong social relationships are 50 per cent more likely to thrive than those who keep to themselves. They state an association between social isolation and risk factors such as heart disease, arthritis, and increased blood pressure. But specifically, the dangerous effects on mental health. Not just students, but people who are isolated will have higher anxiety and depression.

Students want to socialize when they can, or when they deem safe. Even the shyest individuals want to break down their walls, and club activities allow students to do so. The

just trying to find their way around campus.

Covid-19 infected our social lives, and the two years of isolation have transformed campus life. But we can change that by making groups of our own.

Step one is to find members. To be considered a club, you must have at least five students.

Two of these students will be the signing officers of the group— the executives. With five members, you’re eligible to apply for student recognition by logging into the Student Organization Portal. Even alumni can apply.

Step two includes reading through the “University Policy on the Recognition of Campus Groups.” The rules are straightforward—follow the law, be a club of the student body, and don’t do commercial activities

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halls of the campus are filled with students with earbuds or headphones, studying, or on their phones, each confined to their own bubble. We speak with friends we make in our classes but forget about each other as soon as the semester ends.

Students don’t get much exposure to the clubs on campus. Club activities are a great way to socialize, network, and most importantly, enjoy campus life. However, this year, club executives only started to recruit students in the second week of the semester.

At the campus’ Club Fair, there were student associations like the Chinese Students and Scholars Association, and the standout club that caught the eyes of many students, the Archery Club. The booth had a 1.5-metrelong black and red bow showcased for all that skittered by to notice, stare, and, to the executive’s joy, touch, and spark conversation over.

For every club available, one was missing.

I didn’t see a Vietnamese Association or the other tens of cultural associations. I didn’t see niche activity clubs like the anime club or knitting club. I didn’t see the club booths line up to the Kaneff building like usual.

It’s understandable that many students are

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Alan Tran Contributor

Students with disabilities failed by Ontario’s Education System Universities knowingly lack accessible resources for students with disabilities.

Manisha Basuita Contributor

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he year was 2018. I was in my first year of my undergraduate studies at the University of Western Ontario (UWO). I remember experiencing intense emotions. I was anxious, stressed, excited, and confused—feelings shared by almost every student beginning university. I had never anticipated the added challenges of living away from home—especially with Multiple Sclerosis.

I felt more ill than ever before. Gaps between my classes were spent napping or attending doctors’ appointments at the campus Health and Wellness Centre. And after class, I found myself waiting in the emergency room at University Hospital in London.

I was falling behind. My grades were low. And all my accessibility advisor had to offer was advice on dropping my courses, so I was forced into taking a lighter course load. I went from taking five courses a semester, to four, to three, and eventually, two. No one was listening to the concerns I had. My chronic illness wasn’t going to magically go away or get better, and I didn’t want to spend ten years completing my undergrad—not that there’s anything wrong with that.

Most of my symptoms made it difficult to physically be on campus. Especially on days where I had classes from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. I often had numbness, tingling, severe fatigue, pain, muscle spasms, and pseudoseziures.

I decided to transfer to the University of Toronto Mississauga, which was closer to home, allowing me to have extra support from my parents when it came to dropping me off to class, picking up my homework, and taking me to doctor’s appointments. I had to transfer because it was

nearly impossible to do well while staying in my old environment. If I couldn’t attend a lecture or class in-person, there was no other option I had.

When the pandemic began, schools in Canada quickly moved to remote learning. UWO released a statement, like many other universities, announcing that effective the next school day, students would not need to attend in-person classes and instead would learn online through platforms like Zoom. Student safety was their “number one priority.”

It didn’t seem to matter when students like myself, who are disabled, struggled emotionally and physically to attend classes prior to the pandemic. Why does “student safety” matter to them now?

If I had an online learning option during my time at UWO, I wouldn’t have had to drop so many courses and miss so many classes. I could have attended classes remotely, and instead of falling behind, I would’ve been following along with the rest of my class. But no matter how many times I went to the accessibility office, remote learn-

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ing was never an option.

Not to mention, I was always worrying about my health.

Being severely immunocompromised meant that I had to take extra precautions even before Covid-19. If I caught the seasonal flu, I was glued to my pillow for weeks or hooked up to an intravenous device, receiving fluids. The university didn’t feel the need to protect my health or ensure I was safe then.

Virtual solutions can help disabled students overcome many of the physical challenges they experience accessing education. Online education for disabled students provides them with equitable access as nobody has to jostle for space in a crowded theatre or struggle to hear a lecturer.

And if the countless issues and complaints brought up by disabled students weren’t enough to demonstrate the importance of remote learning, Nicholas Gelbar, an Associate Research Professor at the Neag School of Education, conducted a study to consolidate it even further.

Gelbar’s study, published in the Journal of Postsecondary Education and Disability, surveyed students regarding the abrupt transition to online education in the spring semester of 2020. After tabulating the data collected from 340 student survey responses on personal experiences with remote learning, Gelbar concluded that “[disabled students] were able to change how they took notes, because they were able to watch an online lecture and then watch it over again.”

Universities should consider adding remote learning as an accessibility accommodation for students with disabilities. By doing so, we make education more accessible to students and create a warm, safe, and inclusive institution.

And to those who continue to, or have ever battled this, I stand with you. Mental health should never be ignored, regardless of your circumstances.

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features

Editor | Prisha (Maneka) Nuckchady features@themedium.ca

BRIANNA ACEBEDO/THE MEDIUM

On Demonic Infestations in 17th century Québec Professor Mairie Cowan explores how society’s understanding of demonic possession has changed over time.

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n the Autumn of 1660, residents in and around Québec reported strange sightings.

“A man enveloped in flames and a canoe on fire” were seen, and “lamentable cries and a thunderous, horrible voice” were heard, explains Professor Mairie Cowan. A teenager working as a servant in the manor house of Beauport named Barbe Hallay began to show signs of demonic possession. Hallay saw demons and failed to control her actions. She accused a local miller, Daniel Vuil—her romantic interest—of tormenting her with the “diabolical art” of witchcraft. Hallay was later treated at a hospital, and Vuil was imprisoned and later executed.

As a researcher of late medieval and early modern history, Professor Mairie Cowan specialises in the social and religious history of Scotland and New France. Her upcoming book, The Possession of Barbe Hallay: Diabolical Arts and Daily Life in Early Canada, analyzes a single case of possession to comment on the larger themes of colonial insecurity and the role of women in society. Microhistory—the detailed inquiry into a specific person, event, or community through primary sources such as first-hand accounts and documents—allows historians to understand wider historical contexts and broader themes of the period. Professor Cowan describes microhis-

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tory as “a historical approach that focuses on small things to ask big questions.”

Professor Cowan explains that she came across the riveting account of Barbe Hallay’s possession while on holiday in Québec.

She found the story in the letters of Marie of the Incarnation—a 17th century Ursuline nun of the French order. The story raises questions about widespread accounts of demonic possessions in New France (the area colonized

by France in North America).

Upon deeper investigation, the letters revealed interesting information about early colonial projects, women in 17th century society, religion, law, and beliefs about demonology and witchcraft.

Hallay’s claim of possession, and her accusation of Vuil being a warlock was accepted by the public because of the assumptions that existed at the time. First, her claim of demonic possession was easily accepted because her gender and age made her more susceptible.

Second, her accusation of Vuil was believable due to the political climate of the time, which corroborated suspicions about Vuil’s character. Professor Cowan explains that the French Crown had built Roman Catholicism into the political structure ELIZAB

Kiara Senanayake Contributor

of the new colony to “save souls.” The 1627 Charter of the Company of New France called for the “peopling of the colony exclusively with French Catholics,” shares Professor Cowan. Thus, being Catholic was an important part of the identity of New France. Vuil was deemed untrustworthy because he was not Catholic prior to arriving in New France.

Likewise, the French’s understanding of demonology included the belief that witches and warlocks were particularly motivated by spite and envy. This belief fit the claim made by Hallay, which was that Vuil used his witchcraft on her because she had rejected his marriage proposal.

The public’s response to Hallay’s accusation against Vuil was influenced by several specific conditions of Québec in the early 1660s. The most significant was that the French colony was insecure—the population was not very large and the Indigenous Peoples were not assimilating as some had arrogantly expected.

The colonial project in New France was “precarious,” explains Professor Cowan. Warfare had erupted between the Haudenosaunee

and the French in 1660, and the colonists were aware of their increased vulnerability when their communications with France were cut off for months each year due to the iced climate. Professor Cowan notes that there were rumours of invasions as the colony prepared for attacks, while suspicions of attacks of a supernatural nature grew from within.

She adds that Hallay was taken to the HôtelDieu Hospital, to be cared for by nuns. However, she was only healed two years later, in 1662, when the lady of the estate performed an exorcism (despite exorcisms only being performed by priests) using the rib bone of a French Jesuit missionary. Barbe Hallay eventually married and moved to a farm where she raised several children, and no possessions or witch hunts followed.

Eventually, tales of the supernatural began to decrease in colonial society. This was largely due to an elite population that was unwilling to prosecute crimes related to demons and witchcraft, despite the larger population still lending significance to them. “Discussion[s] of demonology were being characterised more and more by doubt,” states Professor Cowan.

Tales of a “diabolical” nature became forms of entertainment rather than sources of anxiety.

Though demonic stories make frequent appearances in Québecois and French-Canadian folklore, Professor Cowan notes that the devil appears as a force from the past rather than the present—a figure to be outwitted rather than feared.

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Advice for young daters: Managing relationships and sex Research from the RAWLab at UTM reveals important findings that can help you navigate today’s dating world.

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n today’s world of online dating and casual sex, relationships are more complicated than ever. Many of us come into university dreaming of supportive, committed relationships only to feel lost and confused.

But being in a relationship is also challenging. Many have no idea how to balance classes, assignments, and work with a romantic commitment.

The Relationships and Well-Being Lab (RAWLab), run by University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM) Psychology Professor Emily Impett, can help address these problems. The lab focuses on research topics at the intersection of relationships and wellbeing with the goal of understanding how the former shapes the latter.

In James Cameron’s 1997 film Titanic, Jack sacrificed his life so Rose could survive. King Edward VIII renounced his kingdom to be with Wallis Simpson. Prince Frisco of Netherlands renounced his claim to the throne to marry Mabel Wisse Smit.

Although many couples have made sacrifices in the name of love, a partner’s sacrifices

are not always beneficial for their relationship. Research suggests that sacrifice might be a double-edged sword. When a partner gives something up, there is only a 50 per cent chance that their sacrifice will be acknowledged by their partner.

Negative feelings from such a sacrifice can harm relationships: “People who sacrifice also experienced an increase in ambivalent feelings toward their partner, and this ambivalence, in turn, was longitudinally linked to thoughts of break up,” finds the RAWLab in their recent paper titled “Sacrifices: Costly prosocial behaviors in romantic relationships.” No matter what popular cultures show us, sacrifices are not always a great idea. They usually stem from good intentions by a partner, but they can have the opposite impact on the relationship.

Sexuality and relationships are also complex subjects for young daters. Communicating sexual desires is often considered a taboo.

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Malavika Puri Contributor

That makes sex even harder to discuss in a relationship. “In one study, 69 per cent of women and 57 per cent of men reported faking enthusiasm or arousal during sex,” concludes the RAWLab. Those part of the statistic did this to spare their partner’s feelings and reinforce their partner’s perception of security and satisfaction in their relationship. However, after doing this, partners felt less trust, closeness, and commitment toward their partner. On the contrary, people who positively disclosed their sexual desires predicted higher sexual and emotional satisfaction.

Research also shows that gender makes a difference between the expression of sexual desire and the mental well-being of a partner. According to research from the RAWLab, women fake sexual orgasms to spare their partner’s feelings more often, whereas “Men report using more de-

ceptive affection in their romantic relationships than women, […] and feel less guilt and shame after doing so” Rejection is difficult as people often don’t know how to deal with it or move forward from it. While both partners should feel comfortable and safe discussing their feelings and desires about sex in a relationship, rejecting sexual interests in a relationship can hurt a partner and become a contentious issue.

The RAWLab reveals that, “People reported feeling more rejected, insecure, and dissatisfied when their partner rejected their sexual advances than when their partner declined a request to engage in nonsexual activities.” Sexual activity can be a way for people to show affection and increase intimacy with their partner. Rejection of sexual activity can therefore feel like a rejection of their love.

Preserving mental health in relationships can be a tricky task. There are new things to learn regarding relationships but few trustworthy resources to learn from. Entering the dating scene should not be a nervewracking experience. Instead, it should be exciting and fun—its unique possibilities for social connections and learning experiences are endless.

U of T lecturer Taryn Grieder on selfperception, eating disorders, and disassociation Grieder discusses how we develop these disorders and how we can prevent them from getting worse.

Michaela Dimitrov Contributor

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lobally, one in eight individuals struggle with mental health illnesses. In Canada, this ratio is greater—one in four young adults experience mental health disorders. These include eating disorders and dissociative disorders. Together, they affect a large portion of the Canadian population. In her class on abnormal psychology (PSY346) at the University of Toronto Mississauga, Taryn Grieder, a lecturer and neuroscience researcher, discusses the importance of diagnosing these disorders and developing methods to treat them.

In an interview with The Medium, Grieder provides some examples of what an eating disorder can look like: “It includes disorders like anorexia, binging disorders, pica, and more.”

She describes it as an unhealthy relationship with food, where your self-perception is distorted. Similarly, Grieder says, “dissociative disorders are abnormal self-perceptions.” This can happen if someone doesn’t know who they are or if they have multiple personalities.

Both of these disorders are psychological responses to stress. People who inhabit high-stress environments are most at risk for developing these disorders. For example, many people with low social economic status, or those with sick family members are at higher risk because their circumstances make them more prone to stress.

Adolescents and young adults are especially prone to eating disorders. Grieder explains that eating disorders often don’t

fully develop until adolescence, when a person starts to learn more about the importance and effects of food. At this age, they also begin to perceive other people’s opinions of them and, unfortunately, start to grant them more importance than their own views.

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Factors like social media that encourage a distorted selfperception can give rise to eating disorders. Social media applies pressure on people to look a certain way. Consequently, adolescents can become overly cautious of what they eat in an attempt to “look good.” Grieder mentions that “about 10 per cent of the population will end up experiencing [an eating] disorder,” with most being female.

Dissociative disorders, however, are much less common.

Grieder states that “only about one to two per cent of the population identifies with this disorder.” It typically results from childhood experiences such as trauma or abuse. Grieder

comments that the “symptoms don’t start showing until later in life, in adulthood, with their friends and the environment they live in.”

Grieder strongly encourages those who are concerned they may be showing symptoms to seek help through counselling and therapy. These services address the problem immediately, provide advice on what to do next, or in some cases, involve other professionals for more support.

Finding symptoms in yourself or others is reasonably simple with eating disorders. In Grieder’s view, “[these] symptoms are visible instantly after the person starts falling into it.” Symptoms may include feeling guilty about what you eat, obsessively checking calories, not allowing yourself to eat, or being in denial about any of these actions.

Though symptoms of dissociative disorders are much harder to see, Grieder notes that addressing the illness and seeking help as soon as possible is crucial. She advises looking for unusual behaviours such as not remembering notable events that happened, like forgetting a significant purchase or an important conversation. Although zoning out is a regular occurrence for most, zoning out for very lengthy periods can indicate an onset of the disorder.

As of 2020, over one million Canadians have been diagnosed with an eating disorder. An additional 1.5 per cent of the population currently battles with a dissociative disorder.

Often, they can lead to further mental health issues. Alarmingly, eating disorders are the mental illness most responsible for suicide, the second main cause of death nationally. As such, Grieder stresses, “if you see someone or yourself showing symptoms, […] find help immediately.”

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“Checking in” with ourselves before it’s too late UTM psychology professor Norman Farb on surviving midterm season and prioritizing self-care.

Ottavia Paluch Contributor

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ith the lack of sunlight and 60-degree grades of midterms season arriving, many students at the University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM) might be feeling anxious, stressed, or burnt out. Sometimes it might feel as if your professors just don’t get it. But Professor Norman Farb does.

Professor Farb is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at UTM. His research focuses on how mindfulness, meditation, therapy, nudge interventions, and psychedelics can shape our emotional experiences and promote well-being.

Although research has shown that excessive social media use is a proponent of burnout and can lead to poor mental health, Professor Farb argues that “our own inability to take responsibility for our usage” is also to blame. “Social media is a tool that we don’t have [the] cultural maturity [...] to use. We’re like five-year-olds with hammers,” he states.

trying to determine how these small bumps can keep us engaged and ultimately, change a small portion of how we act or think.

Nudge interventions can play a role in the life of a UTM student as well. “If you nudge students by checking in on how they’re doing a few times a week, they will feel less stressed

“Just because something was okay last term doesn’t mean that it is now.”

One of Professor Farb’s most important findings is that stress causes people to shut down the parts of their brain that process sensations. “If you know that things aren’t going well and you stop letting in new information, you’ll never know anything beyond the fact that things aren’t going well,” he explains. “That eventually leads to burnout.”

Professor Farb defines burnout as, “You’re surviving, but you’re not actively growing or learning. It’s a type of manifestation of physiological exhaustion.” He notes that burnout is a response that dates back to 15,000 years ago when hominids—a primate group including modern and extinct great apes, such as humans—mobilized resources to escape predators. Similarly, burnout is a survival tactic our body uses when drained.

“Social media is a tool that we don’t have [the] cultural maturity [...] to use. We’re like five-year-olds with hammers.”

“The thinking is that we can’t handle something, so it’s better and safer to just not do it.”

That feeling of being overwhelmed can lead to procrastination, Professor Farb points out. Just like how we procrastinate on finishing our assignments or studying for exams, we can, and often will, procrastinate on taking care of our own well-being during midterm season. “The thinking is that we can’t handle something, so it’s better and safer to just not do it,” he explains.

“If you know that things aren’t going well and you stop letting in new information, you’ll never know anything beyond the fact that things aren’t going well.”

“You’re surviving, but you’re not actively growing or learning. It’s a type of manifestation of physiological exhaustion.”

ing and when you’re feeling overwhelmed.”

Self-care is essential. Professor Farb notes that this might look like taking on fewer responsibilities, prioritizing a healthy lifestyle, and asking for help when you need it.

DALAINEY GERVAIS/THE MEDIUM

“If you nudge students by checking in on how they’re doing a few times a week, they will feel less stressed when they’re going through midterms and finals.”

Professor Farb’s research also focuses on nudge interventions, which is an approach used by people, companies, and educators, to modify the behaviours of their audiences while safeguarding their freedom of choice.

This is accomplished by making small changes to both their internal and external environments instead of large ones. “If you want people to change, you can’t ask them to sacrifice their whole life and drop everything,” he explains. “Instead, you have to be like, ‘What’s a little thing we can get you to do?’” Researchers and teachers are actively

when they’re going through midterms and finals. It allows them to take a step back and look at what’s going on in their lives,” explains Professor Farb. Those small interventions can lead to students taking greater action later on, such as practicing mindfulness or meditating.

“You have to start checking in with yourself early on in the term and take notice of when things aren’t working and when you’re feeling overwhelmed.”

“Your habits take care of you in one way or another,” he says. “So, you have to start checking in with yourself early on in the term and take notice of when things aren’t work-

But we know that this is not a good longterm strategy for success. Professor Farb explains that our capacity to produce good results relies on maintaining our emotional well-being. “Part of continuing to be productive and doing well means checking in on yourself to make sure that things haven’t spiralled out of control.

Your opinion might not change from day-to-day, or from weekto-week, depending on what’s going on. But just because something was okay last term doesn’t mean that it is now,” he expands.

Changing our habits then, is crucial to our success as university students. For example, after realizing that the strategies that worked in high school might not bode well for us in university, adapting to new methods is essential.

“Many of us, myself included, don’t realize that we have limits.”

“Many of us, myself included, don’t realize that we have limits,” Professor Farb shares.

“You fail an exam, and your whole world crumbles, right? But [it doesn’t]. You just had too much stuff piled up to the point where you just couldn’t handle all of it.”

There will be times when we will feel that we need to take a step back and ask for help, and there will also be times when we will feel fine and seek to be challenged. That’s okay.

“You just need to be real with yourself on where you are,” says Professor Farb. “Take two minutes to ask yourself, ‘How did today go? Is there anything I could do to take care of myself better tomorrow?’ Just ask that question and be okay with not knowing the answer,” he concludes.

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“Everywhere is loud and everything is a blur” What university feels like for a student with ADHD as she navigates her studies and friendships.

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I

magine you have a quiz on Friday and decide to prepare for it in advance. But every time you sit down to study, a strange sound, like the crackling of a record player, echoes through your head. The sound grows louder and louder until you cannot focus anymore. You sleep three to four hours a night, studying late because your brain shuts down during the day from the scratchy noises. When the morning comes, you wake up early to revise. Instead, you end up scrolling on your phone for hours to take away the stress.

“People would always tell my mother ‘She is so smart, but if only she could focus better.’”

“People would always tell my mother ‘She is so smart, but if only she could focus better,’” says Rola Fawzy, reflecting on her early suspicions of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). She is a third-year student double majoring in Communications, Culture, Information, and Technology and Professional Writing and Communication at the University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM). Fawzy loves spending time with her friends, engaging in club activities on campus, writing in her journal, and dancing to relax after school. But Fawzy is also a struggling student who has a hard time paying attention in class, remembering her appointments, and turning in her assignments before their deadlines.

After two years at UTM, Fawzy was diagnosed with ADHD. “I knew it by then,” she admits. “I’ve seen it a lot in my immediate family. But because my sister has ADHD, my parents were always like, ‘No, not another child.’”

ADHD is among the most common neurodevelopmental disorders. It causes inattention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity. Scientists do not fully know the risk factors for ADHD, but current research shows that genetics plays an important role.

Children with this diagnosis usually have trouble paying attention and controlling impulsive behaviour. They talk too much, forget and lose things, and struggle to make friends. When they grow up and become teenagers and adults, they often fail to get their work done, or form long-lasting relationships with other people.

For many young women like Fawzy, ADHD is the reason they find university extremely difficult. Because ADHD manifests differently in girls compared to boys, it is more complicated to diagnose. In the end, young women often do not realize why they are struggling so much.

“ADHD manifests differently in girls compared to boys, it is more complicated to diagnose.”

Luckily, because of Fawzy’s sister, the diagnosis did not come as a surprise. Right away, she began making changes to her lifestyle. Now, Fawzy has curfews for all her electronics and social media apps. For the first two hours of her day, she tries not to go on her phone and meditates instead. “I feel like my brain just doesn’t like it if I don’t meditate for an hour every morning,” she says. “Otherwise, everything becomes a blur. And you’re like, ‘When did I start watching TikToks? How has it been an hour and a half?’”

Fawzy zones out like this often. It took her time to realize that asking countless questions would help her stay focused during lectures. And yet, some UTM professors see it as interference. She says that even after registering with UTM’s Accessibility Services, teaching assistants sometimes argue with her about extensions on assignments and tests, claiming that all students should have equal deadlines.

Every day, she continues to learn how to address the blur in her head. But sometimes, Fawzy’s anxiety is triggered by small things, like losing a U-Pass right before class. “There is no quick fix for ADHD,” she explains.

According to clinical psychologist Arthur Anastopoulos, university freshmen diagnosed with ADHD have more emotional difficulties than their peers without the diagnosis. They are less prepared to enter the independent, and sometimes isolating, facets of student life. They achieve less academically and tend to receive poor support in their friendships. Students with ADHD have fewer close friends they can open up to because not everyone can sympathize with what they deal with daily.

“I’ve disappointed an immense amount of friends in my life. I tell people that I’ll be somewhere at a certain time, and then I forget or misplace appointments,” says Fawzy. “Some people see me and think I’m too much for them with all my emotions. And that’s not a bad thing, because this way I can easily find out if they’re ‘my people’ or not.”

SAMIRA KARIMOVA/THE MEDIUM

Fawzy refuses to see herself as a victim anymore, because when she did, she ended up hating herself. She has accepted that sometimes she takes longer to finish assignments and cannot wait for her turn to answer a question in class. “I should take accountability for when I get things wrong.

But I also believe that it’s better to learn how to use my ADHD in a proper way,” she shares.

She says that the creativity that often comes with ADHD has healing power. It is Fawzy’s bursting emotions that make her writing so vibrant and relatable. Disassociating from reality bothers her during lectures but also helps her generate ideas that others might never think of.

She says writing, therapy, and a good cry from time to time help her overcome her anxiety and restlessness the most.

“U of T tends to accentuate the hustle culture. Don’t do that. It’s never worked for me and many of my friends with ADHD. Don’t force things and take your time. Also, use your 20 free sessions with a counsellor,” she states.

Fawzy’s final advice for new coming students to UTM who have ADHD is to never think that the world is ending even when everything seems bad. Only through multiple failures and heartbreaks is it possible to develop insights that can help accept the diagnosis and learn to love it.

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Arts

Editor | Julia Skoczypiec arts@themedium.ca

NETFLIX

How Stranger Things uses complex characters to explore mental illness From blood-thirsty monsters to a group of teenagers trying to save their town, the Duffer Brothers will surprise you with their complicated world of the “Upside Down.”

Leah MacKay Contributor

Spoiler alert: This article discusses scenes from Stranger Things.

I

f you didn’t spend this past summer binge-watching Netflix’s Stranger Things, the monstrous hive-mind clearly hasn’t ensnared you in the tentacled vines of the “Upside Down.” To put things simply, you are unaware of the kind of horror that’s been germinating under the surface.

“The series has unveiled its scariest monster yet, a human embodiment of psychological trauma known as Vecna.”

While Stranger Things has introduced creatures like the Demogorgon and the Mind Flayer—inspired by the tabletop fantasy game Dungeons & Dragon’s—the series has unveiled its scariest monster yet, a human embodiment of psychological trauma known as Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower).

With nostalgic 80s pop culture becoming a Duffer Brothers’ trademark, season four’s references have matured—with character storylines that parallel horror classics like A Night-

mare on Elm Street, Hellraiser, and Carrie.

The predatory and human-like characteristics of the new villain, Vecna, are reminiscent of 80s villains such as Freddy Kreuger and “the boogeyman” Mike Myers.

Despite more fantastical circumstances explored in previous episodes, the fourth season’s plot takes an unexpected turn.

Through progressively darker scenes, viewers are submerged in a psychological universe, journeying with each character through their individual mental health struggles. The cinematography brilliantly captures actions and dialogues based on survival, abuse, and trauma.

By exploring symptoms of traumatic memories, domestic abuse, and survivors’ guilt, this season sheds light on conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression.

Unfortunately, some characters find themselves vulnerable to Vecna—a psychological predator who feeds on individual weaknesses.

Vecna draws the teenaged char-

acters into his darkness by promising them refuge from their suffering.

One disorder omnipresent this season is “smiling depression”—a type of depression that hides behind a veneer of perfection and a shining smile. Viewers can identify this in many characters, such as Chrissy (Grace Van Dien)—Vecna’s first victim—who on the surface seems well-adjusted and popular. As Chrissy hides behind her struggles with an eating disorder and trauma from an abusive mother, she finds it difficult to feel connected to others—even when she is in a crowd.

“Stranger Things shows us how childhood trauma can translate into a life of suffering and mistakes.”

While society’s understanding and acceptance of mental illness is improving—akin to Vecna’s hidden but apparent presence—stigma still exists, causing many people to hide issues like depression.

Understanding that Vecna is of human origin is the cornerstone of the show’s plot.

When a curtain is pulled to reveal psychological influences, we eventually discover his true identity. We get a glimpse into Vecna’s childhood—a life filled with clear signs that foreshadow his future psychopathy.

Stranger Things shows us how childhood trauma can translate into a life of suffering and mistakes.

“Even those with the darkest wounds can find family, friendship, loyalty, and love.”

While tragedy and loss are common themes in the show, many examples emphasize that even those with the darkest wounds can find family, friendship, loyalty, and love. The relationships that the show portrays pull on the heartstrings of fans worldwide. Stranger Things online fangroups have become communities of likeminded misfits that are ready to recognize your SOS. As a member of these fan-groups, I feel like I am part of an empathetic family. I feel supported when fighting my own battles— something that I never thought I’d experience through my interest in the show. For those that have not watched Stranger Things, I encourage you to venture into the “Upside Down”—it may become your rescue mission.

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Mustafa the Poet—songs of pain and love Exploring how the Toronto-based artist shares his grief through music and poetry.

Jonina Rai Contributor

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ustafa, also known as Mustafa the Poet, is a Sudanese-Canadian singer, songwriter, poet, and filmmaker from Toronto. At only twelve-years-old, he rose to fame after performing his poem “A Single Rose” at his middle school. His local recognition led him to national success, with multiple news outlets and media platforms sharing his story. His poetry and music, which are heavily inspired and influenced by the neighbourhood and community that raised him, highlight the complexities of love and loss.

Born to Sudanese immigrants, Mustafa lived in Toronto’s Regent Park neighbourhood.

He made several close friends throughout his time there, but even they weren’t strangers to the systemic violence and gangs within the east-end community. In 2009, Mustafa wrote “A Single Rose” about his family and the struggles of poverty. Since then, he has co-written songs for many well-known artists, such as The Weeknd, Justin Bieber, and Camila Cabello.

Mustafa’s debut album, When Smoke Rises, highlights a collection of intimate ballads that

“Mustafa uses music to express grief, struggle, and hope.”

commemorate his friends and community members who were lost to violence. The album heavily relies on Mustafa’s somber vocals mixed with simple piano and guitar melodies. Through his tranquil and whisper-like voice, Mustafa uses music to express grief, struggle, and hope. All of his tracks also feature vocal samples from his close friends—including laughter, quotes, short poems, and slang. The title, When Smoke Rises, is a tribute to Mustafa’s late friend Smoke Dawg, who passed away in a daylight shooting in 2018. The album came out last year in May and won the 2022 Juno Award for “Alternative Album of the Year.”

The longest and most powerful track on the album is “What About Heaven.” The song appears to sound like a conversation between Smoke Dawg and Mustafa and touches on the idea of death through all the “missing words” they didn’t say. In the chorus, Mustafa sings: “We forgot to talk about heaven, and leavin’, and what it would mean, and how I would grieve.” The song lyrics are authentic and capture the feelings of despair after a sudden loss. Through the incorporation of traditional Egyptian and Sudanese instrumental music, this track speaks to the life and culture that made Mustafa the artist he is today.

Mustafa is a storyteller. His music and poetry naturally reflect his stories of grief and loss. From a young age, he made communities aware of the poverty that exists in Toronto and acted as a social justice advocate.

Now, he raises awareness for violence and discrimination. Through music, Mustafa transforms his pain into beautiful and thought-provoking ballads.

BETHANY MOLLENKOF

Rupi Kaur’s latest collection prompts personal healing Through empowering words and personalized exercises, Kaur’s Healing Through Words allows readers to reflect on difficult emotions.

Yusuf Larizza-Ali Contributor

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upi Kaur is a Canadian author known for her graceful yet minimalistic poetry style. Her most recent book, Healing Through Words, illustrates her struggles with mental health through meaningful, short poems and includes a writer’s handbook with exercises for readers.

Throughout her poetry, Kaur touches on themes of sexual violence, love, anxiety, fear, and coping with grief. She provides commentary on these emotions and offers advice on conquering them. Kaur believes that while her works are simple, her style infers deeper meanings. Her poems allow readers to contemplate strong emotions related to mental health.

about love and reminds readers that another person cannot make us complete—only we can do so for ourselves.

Through the book’s exercises, readers are prompted to write how and what they feel. In doing so, Kaur encourages us to heal and cope with our own traumas while also

“Her collection encourages us to share our trauma in ways that empower us.”

Kaur advises readers to think about irrational fears as subjects that we can speak to directly. As she subtly speaks of her gut-wrenching experiences with sexual assault, she states that ignoring our fears gives them power. Fears consume us in ways that prevent healing. Through Kaur’s words, she hopes to break the stigmas of fears as “weakening.” Her straightforward words, targeted to female readers, deliver a simple yet empowering message of staying true to our inner feelings and needs. She encourages us to love ourselves for who we are—fears and all.

“Kaur touches on a multitude of emotions—from heartbreak to healing.”

“Fears consume us in ways that prevent healing.”

GOODREADS

Healing Through Words investigates some of Kaur’s previous works. She dissects a poem about love from her book Milk and Honey in three parts: a declaration, her needs, and a goal. Throughout the collection, Kaur touches on a multitude of emotions—from heartbreak to healing. Her words help us understand the essence of romantic relationships and how sometimes, they don’t last. Kaur builds on breakups and motivates readers with the message that heartache doesn’t have to impede on our happiness. Her poetry serves as commentary on society’s unrealistic views

sharing hers. She speaks of her anger towards a partner she deemed as selfish and reminds women about their right to bodily autonomy. Her collection encourages us to share our trauma in ways that empower us. Many exercises are open-ended, allowing for a diary-like experience.

As both an aspiring writer and someone with anxiety, Healing Through Words spoke to me. I received practical advice for my writing and was able to process many emotions—a process that was, indeed, healing. Kaur’s collection offers incredible messages that stay with readers long after the final page. Anyone who has ever felt burdened by heavy emotions can benefit from this book.

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Blonde—a repulsive depiction of Marilyn Monroe’s legacy Andrew Dominik’s latest biopic portrays one of Hollywood’s most iconic stars with disgrace.

Paige France Contributor TW: Sexual assault Spoiler warning: This article mentions scenes from Blonde.

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londe, directed by Andrew Dominik, gives poor insight to the rise, and eventual demise, of actress Marilyn Monroe. Just when we thought that Kim Kardashian ripping her infamous 60-year-old dress would be the worst thing to happen to Monroe in 2022, this new biopic comes along to prove us all wrong. Since its premiere at the Venice Film Festival in September, the film’s mortifying depiction of the starlet has stirred immense controversy.

Portrayed by Ana de Armas, the film centres around Monroe’s choice to have an abortion in order to star in the musical comedy Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953). Years later, when Monroe is pregnant again, she converses with her unborn, digitalized fetus image. “You won’t hurt me this time, will you?”’ the baby asks. “Not like you did last time?”

She decides to keep the baby but suffers a miscarriage.

In true biographical context, there is no proof that Monroe ever had an abortion. Due to her battle with endometriosis, Monroe had fertility issues—responsible for her three miscarriages within a four-year period. As yet another movie that objectifies female suffering and pain, Planned Parenthood, for a statement in Variety, accused the film of being “anti-abortion propaganda.” IndieWire claimed it to be an “anti-choice statement.”

The film also includes a graphic sexual assault scene involving US president John F. Kennedy—another scene that

frames Monroe’s experiences through a fictional lens.

Through its partially make-believe embellishments, the film fixates on glamourizing drama by revealing the pitfalls of an objectified, exploited woman. Monroe has had a long history of oversexualization and abuse. Following Monroe’s overdose in 1962, men such as Hugh Hefner, Founder of Playboy magazine, and Richard Poncher, a businessman from Los Angeles, followed the star beyond her grave. The two men were obsessed with the blonde bombshell and exploited her body by purchasing crypts beside hers.

Painted as an overemotional, male-obsessed woman, Monroe is praised for her body—as opposed to her personality.

In a fictitious “throuple” with Charlie “Cass” Chaplin Jr. and Edward G. “Eddy” Robinson Jr, both men collectively oversexualize her.

Blonde only revels on Hollywood’s favourite trauma story: the breaking point of famous women. Monroe overdosed on sedative drugs that were prescribed to treat her depression. The film recreates Monroe’s death scene in the exact location where the real star died. It is astounding that Dominik spent ten years creating this film and nobody raised concerns.

With Brad Pitt behind the project as a co-pro-

ducer—a Hollywood big shot who recently has been under fire for allegedly abusing his ex-wife Angeline Jolie and children—it goes without saying that there are repercussions when abusers are given creative advantages on largescale productions such as Blonde.

This film is an insult to abused individuals.

It prompts no valuable conversations that Monroe’s true story has to offer. To put things simply, Blonde has an insensitive agenda that should have been rejected by Netflix.

PAIGE FRANCE/THE MEDIUM

A breathtaking representation of society in A Clockwork Orange This 1971 classic unpacks psychological themes that leave significant impacts on today’s viewers.

Daanish Alvi Contributor

Spoiler warning: this article mentions detailed plot points from A Clockwork Orange.

Beethoven and ultraviolence. The teens spend their nights committing heinous acts for the sake of appealing to their own fantasies. After the group gets caught by the authorities, Alex is arrested. Once in solitary confinement, Alex is presented with an opportunity to reduce his

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eleased in 1971, and based on Anthony Burgess’ novel of the same name, it is no secret that Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange (1971) broke new ground in cinema.

From its deeper meanings pertaining to free will and humanity to its truly distinctive stylistic elements, the film is complex—even though its storyline is relatively simple.

“The film is complex— even though its storyline is relatively simple.”

A Clockwork Orange follows a gang of juveniles led by Alex DeLarge (Malcolm McDowell)—a teenager obsessed with

IMDb.com

sentence if he agrees to take part in an experimental therapy program. He reluctantly agrees.

As a result, Alex is forced to become devoid of the violence that shapes his character.

“The definition of evil becomes blurred.”

Multiple academic analyses have been done since this film’s release. Many critics pose questions with relation to the essence of evil. Based on Alex’s gang and their violent acts, it becomes easy for viewers to associate the gang with evil. However, the definition of evil becomes blurred once Alex is re-educated at the hands of the State—are they not evil for forcefully removing Alex’s sense of free will and turning him into a servant of the government? After Alex leaves prison, he notices his old friends still committing violent acts. These crimes are suddenly acceptable as his friends acquire the titles of officers—an interesting insight into the often-unjust workings of the State.

Outside of his violent nature, Alex’s charm and heightened intelligence are identifiable

throughout the film. Coupled with his lack of empathy towards his victims, a psychology study shows that Alex displays symptoms of antisocial personality disorder—a mental health illness where a person shows no regard for ethics. As the film progresses, Alex becomes a tragic product of the world he lives in.

Kubrick manages to tell the story of someone torn between good and evil—creating a sympathetic tether between Alex and each viewer.

The film’s depiction of a controlling State partners with Alex’s psychological struggles to tell a powerful narrative.

“Alex becomes a tragic product of the world he lives in.”

Visually breathtaking and endlessly riveting, the inherent ambiguity in A Clockwork Orange is unlike any other film. With its release, Kubrick posed an important challenge to the film industry on the representation of social conditions—a challenge that often ripples through Hollywood even today.

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KIRSTY MACLELLAN/THE MEDIUM

Vincent van Gogh: An art prodigy with a missing ear An analysis of van Gogh’s paintings, his writing, and his struggles with mental illness. was a talented, ingenious artist, who we often acknowledge as “the one who cut his ear off.”

But to me, he will remain the epitome of postimpressionist art, and a man who communicated his personal struggles far better than I ever will. He was honest, both in work and in word. His paintings, and his character, deserve to be looked at through a new lens—one without the bias of his struggle but through the admiration of his skill.

Elizabeth Provost Editor-in-Chief

D

uring the early hours of December 24, 1888, a man toppled into the HôtelDieu, a hospital in Arles, France. He was severely wounded and hallucinating. His blood dripped onto the floor as he was rushed through the halls of the hospital. A police officer followed, handing the man’s severed ear to Dr. Félix Rey, a young intern from the University of Montpellier. The ear belonged to Vincent van Gogh. He had sliced it off in a frustrated fury that night.

After 15 days under the care of Dr. Rey, van Gogh returned home. In January of 1889, he painted “Portrait of Dr. Felix Rey.” I came across this painting on a visit to The State Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow. At the time, I wasn’t fluent in post-impressionist art. The piece’s colourful, patterned background was unfamiliar, and the pointillistic technique caught my eye—drawing me in with its organized laxity and clashing palette.

“His paintings, and his character, deserve to be looked at through a new lens—one without the bias of his struggle but through the admiration of his skill.”

VINCENT VAN GOGH, ALMOND BLOSSOM, 1890 VAN GOGH MUSEUM

ily member the artist was not estranged from.

A recurring character in his tales was Dr. Rey—van Gogh admired and credited much of his mental health healing to him.

“But I’ve already told Rey that at the slightest serious symptom I’d come back and then subject myself to the alienist doctors of Aix or to himself.”

VINCENT VAN GOGH, PORTRAIT OF DR FELIX REY, 1889 WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

“Despite van Gogh’s mastery of visual art, he was also a passionate writer.”

Despite van Gogh’s mastery of visual art, he was also a passionate writer. He shared his personal struggles, his small triumphs, and his deepest secrets in over 2,000 letters. Most were addressed to his brother Theo—the only fam-

On February 3, 1889, van Gogh wrote to his brother revealing that there was a vocal and visual presence in his mind. He said, “I feel so weak with all that. Especially when my physical powers return. But I’ve already told Rey that at the slightest serious symptom I’d come back and then subject myself to the alienist doctors of Aix or to himself.”

In the same letter, the artist shared that he was dependent on his work as a means to distract him and keep him “in order.” He made a promise to his brother by writing, “Our ambition has sunk so low. So let’s work very calmly, look after ourselves as much as we can and not wear ourselves out in sterile efforts at reciprocal generosity.” Van Gogh spent the rest of that year in a mental hospital in Saint-Rémyde-Provence.

Despite his mental state, van Gogh was immensely productive at the psychiatric facility.

That year, he painted over 150 paintings—including one of his most famous works: “The Starry Night.” He worked in the courtyard and the clinic organized a room to be used as a studio. His healing, however, was not linear.

In certain manic episodes, van Gogh ate his oil paints.

During the week of May 31, 1889, van Gogh wrote to Theo, “As for me, my health is good, and as for the head it will, let’s hope, be a matter of time and patience.” While van Gogh was at Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, Theo married Johanna Bonger. They welcomed their son, Vincent Willem van Gogh—named after the child’s uncle—in January of 1890.

Van Gogh sent his sister-in-law and newborn nephew a painting titled “Almond Blossom.” In a letter to his mother on February 19, 1890, van Gogh described the painting as “large branches of white almond blossom against a blue sky.” The blooming iconography served as the bulbs through which the artist stayed connected with his nephew from the hospital.

Losing his battle with mental illness, van Gogh committed suicide on July 29 of the same year.

As an admirer of van Gogh’s art, I am conflicted by how I appreciate his work. Van Gogh

The art and personal stories of van Gogh have been studied extensively in attempts to diagnose the artist’s ailments. Van Gogh himself struggled to describe them and attributed his mental state to alcohol, coffee, tobacco, and poor food—all a result of spending his brother’s allowances on art supplies. Van Gogh wondered what his work would look like if he wasn’t affected by mental illness. In one of his last letters, he wrote, “If I could have worked without this accursed disease, what things I might have done.”

“If I could have worked without this accursed disease, what things I might have done.”

VINCENT VAN GOGH, SELF-PORTRAIT, 1887 ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO

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sports & health

Editor | Alisa Samuel sports@themedium.ca

Recent research says the “forward momentum” narrative motivates athletes to keep going Whether coming off a victory or loss, competitive athletes are always training for their next game.

Sriya Yalavarthi Contributor

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atherine Tamminen, Associate Professor of Sport Psychology at U of T, describes her research as being “interested in understanding how athletes experience and cope with stress and adversity in their sport and in their lives.”

While primarily centred around understanding the experiences of athletes, her recent publication, “‘It’s easier to just keep going’: elaborating on a narrative of forward momentum in sport,” is a read that proves to be beneficial for a vast array of people.

One recurring theme across the interviews suggests that athletes generally believe hard work, resilience, and diligence eventually pay off in the form of performance improvement.

The study focuses on listening to diverse athletes and understanding how their stories fit into the narrative of “forward momentum,” or the idea of a progressive template which dictates how an athlete progresses through their career.

Study participant Sydney, a camogie player, focuses on

preparing for her next game after taking part in a competition. “In terms of the winning,” she says, “I think […] next one, next one, next one.”

Professor Tamminen and her team took note of whether a given athlete in their study sees themselves as the hero or victim of their story—are they positioning themselves as someone who has overcome adversity or someone who has been the target of injustices? “We looked at what these stories are doing in their telling,” Professor Tamminen says. “[That is], what is accomplished by telling these stories in these ways.”

In some cases, the forward momentum narrative served as a useful companion story. Victoria, for example, a soccer player who suffered a knee injury, single-mindedly worked towards rehabilitation because she wanted to compete in a tournament. Following through on a schedule she had made for herself, the narrative motivated her to overIC O ER come a challenge, and thereby led to H N AI her successful return to the field TR earlier than anticipated.

The forward momentum narrative, however, can also be a dangerous companion story. When hard work did not pay off for the athletes in the study (a phenomena Professor Tamminen refers to as a “contract violation”), they worked even harder to the point of burning out.

The forward momentum narrative is not inherently bad, nor is it inherently positive. It simply exists, and it is the way we interact with the narrative that determines our perception of our experiences.

When setting goals and making action plans to achieve those goals, Professor Tamminen encourages us to ask ourselves: “To what extent am I drawing on this narrative to shape my career and my life experiences? […]

Am I aligning myself with it and is that helpful for me?”

And as narratives influence our lives in many ways, Professor Tamminen warns of the importance of being “sure that you are not being dragged along by this story [of forward momentum], and rather you’re participating in it and writing it in a way that works best for you.”

Finding God in sickness: Numerous studies show the positive effects of prayer on mental health An old proverb says, “A healthy man has 1000 wishes, but a sick man has only one.”

Cristina Pincente Contributor

I

n exploring alternative methods of patient care, researchers from Yasuj University of Medical Sciences in Iran suggest there may be benefits to incorporating prayer into mental health treatment.

Their 2018 study published in the Journal of Religion and Health found that cancer patients receiving spiritual therapy experienced a decrease in anxiety, which in turn eased their physical pain.

The spiritual and religious approach is crucial to cancer treatments, say the researchers, as psychiatrists seek cheaper ways to improve the quality of life in patients.

The researchers asked individuals in a group of 76 pensioners about their age, gender, education, economic status, and field of study. The higher the score, the worse their health was.

“A score of 28-55 meant good general health, and a score of 56-84 meant undesirable general health.”

After a series of spiritual workshops and sessions, patients adopted “religious strategies to increase mental health and control pain.” Following the spiritual interventions, the mental health of the patients in the experi-

mental group significantly increased, while their levels of perceived pain lowered. For example, one patient began with a score of 60.51 for general health and 8.21 for pain. After the intervention, the patient scored 41.72 for general health and 5.61 for pain, revealing the improvement in his health and pain scores by approximately 30 per cent.

While the Iranian study demonstrates the positive effects of spiritual medicine on patients’ mental health, there are some inconsistencies amongst the results.

The multidimensionality of prayer types is one factor that can explain these mixed results. In 1989, Margaret M. Poloma and Brian F. Pendleton, sociology professors at the University of Akron, distinguished between four types of prayer that researchers continue to use today when testing their hypotheses on the relationship between prayer and mental health: petitionary prayer, which is when a person prays for themselves and others to gain concrete, material goods; colloquial prayer, which has a conversational tone as a person talks to God informally and lovingly with a request for guidance; medi-

tative prayer, which is a passive, quiet experience of listening for God’s presence and direction; and finally, ritual prayer, which involves reading scripted texts and reciting memorized prayers.

Most studies conclude that colloquial and meditative prayer cause an increase in mental health but the results for ritual and petitionary prayer vary.

The findings of a study published by the American Counseling Association in 2015 suggests that, when in a relationship with God, some prayer types are more valuable than others. The authors of the study measured closeness to God, God-mediated control, and a combination of both models in 330 Christian adults. Michigan professor Neal Krause defined God-mediated control as “the belief that God actively works together with people to influence the course of events in their lives.”

As the researchers expected, “the indirect relationships of colloquial and meditative prayers to mental health through closeness to God were significant and positive.” Petitionary and ritual prayer, however, were negatively

associated with mental health because they focus too heavily on the person and their individual behaviour.

The Association for Spiritual, Ethical, and Religious Values in Counseling suggests that counsellors take the client’s approach to religious coping into consideration with managing the effects of psychological distress and mood disturbance. Once counsellors begin spiritual assessments and consider patients’ prayer values, they can suggest changes in their clinical approaches accordingly. Clients’ meditative and colloquial prayer types, rather than petitionary and ritual, are encouraged.

According to research from Larry VandeCreek, a retired chaplain from the Ohio State University, self-disclosure is “the communicative process of sharing personal thoughts and feelings with another.” People who practice self-disclosure regularly are more likely to find positive emotional experiences. The second party can be God and does not have to be another person.

In a 2010 study, psychologists Stephenie R. Chaudoir and Jeffery F. Fisher, outline that the discloser must begin by stating a goal, something they hope to change. When an individual discloses stressful information to God, they experience a decrease in psychological distress, or a cathartic release.