The crucial link between food and mental illness

John Strachan’s career began as a chef. Several years ago, as outer sector manager for residential centres that house people with severe mental illness in Adelaide, he saw a gaping hole in their health care team: there were no nutrition professionals.

The crucial link between food and mental illness 89a308ca141e46fe79c2ca00deafbb4b73f804ae

The crucial link between food and mental illness 89a308ca141e46fe79c2ca00deafbb4b73f804ae

Residents tended to subsist on takeaway food, and some drank two litres of soft drink a day. This, despite research which indicates that people with severe mental illness also suffer high rates of chronic diseases like diabetes, obesity and heart disease.

The lives of people with severe mental illness are cut short up to 32 years earlier than average due to poor health. This state of affairs was described by the UK Royal College of Psychiatrists in 2011 as a “scandal… that contravenes international conventions for the ‘right to health’”.

Anti-psychotic medications contribute to metabolic derangements. They can increase appetite and sugar cravings. Meanwhile, lifestyle factors like smoking, inactivity and poor diet also play a major role, and are related to the disadvantage and poverty experienced by many with severe mental illness.

So Strachan joined forces with researchers from the University of South Australia to launch a program of nutrition education and cooking workshops in the Trevor Parry Centre at Noarlunga, within the Local Southern Adelaide Health Network.

https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/health-and-wellness/the-crucial-link-between-food-and-mental-illness-20180515-p4zff0.html

The crucial link between food and mental illness

The crucial link between food and mental illness

Anarcho-Capitalist Categorical Imperatives

AnCaps & Psychology, Edumbcation, Even IndoctriNation