Health Briefs TV Celebrates National Public Health Week

The first full week of April is designated National PublicHealth Week in the United States. Health Briefs TV celebrates this national initiative to help promote healthy lives for everyone.

Throughout every state and every county in the state, no two health departments are the same. Each one has its own unique community and population striving to serve through program and services tailored to its residents, and often with dwindling funds. The people and community will change over the years, and as it does, the Health Departments have to change too. Here’s a look, nationally, at what this week is all about:

• Building healthy communities by committing funds to healthier schools, homes, parks, and community centers.
• Providing quality healthcare no matter the age, race, sex, income level of the resident.
• Ensuring that schools and other facilities provide healthy meals and exercise programs.
• Finding and implementing ways to curtail stress.
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The Health Briefs TV show also notes some of the top public health concerns Americans may have to contend with: obesity and diabetes, high blood pressure, Zika infection, climate change and how it affects public health, community environmental challenges and how to combat them, and keeping seniors healthy and mobile, and ensuring every person in the United States has clean, safe drinking water. Join us as we share news about National Public Health Week.

Health Briefs TV Explores Mental Health

Mental health is making the news this week as the UK’s popular Duchess and the US’ First Lady publish online articles to raise awareness of the topic. Health Briefs TV explores some of the issues concerning mental health.

Even talking about mental health in a casual setting can invoke a negative stigma. No one wants to bring the topic up. Yet, millions of people manage every day live with depression, anxiety, nervousness, PTSD, and other afflictions of the brain and mind.  But no one is really talking about it.  Until now.

One in five Americans live with a diagnosable mental health illness today.

Many mental health problems can be treated with medication or therapy. Meditation and yoga are well-known to help calm an anxious mind, and come without the side effects of often prescribed drugs.  People from every background and age group live with depression and anxiety. Young and old, poor or wealthy, Veteran or civilian, executive or staff worker – anyone can battle through the symptoms silently, afraid of others finding out and thinking less of them.  The stigma can be almost as debilitating as the mental illness.

Health Briefs TV asks readers to learn and recognize the five signs of someone struggling through a mental health problem. If any of these signs are familiar, talk to the person privately about them. Learn more about it from changedirection.com.

1. Personality change
2. Agitation
3. Withdrawn from others
4. Change in personal care
5. Feeling hopeless

Every person in our lives matters. It’s easy to see when someone is feeling physically unwell. It is much more difficult to see when someone is feeling mentally not well.  Don’t be afraid to reach out to someone and ask them. It could save their life.