Category: Yleinen
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Coronavirus pandemic – what have we learned?
Now it has been 5 years since the start of the corona pandemic. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the COVID-19 pandemic to have begun on March 11, 2020. Prior to this, the WHO had already declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) on 30 January 2020, but the actual pandemic status did…
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Where to find Christmas peace?
A well-known Finnish Christmas carol “Joulumaa” (Christmas Land) tells where peace of mind can be found. The singer looks at the stars in the sky and their string of pearls and says that ” I have to find Christmas peace inside my mind”. “Christmas Land is more than just fells and snow, Christmas Land is…
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How to protect mental health?
It has been shown that mental health disorders have become more common everywhere in western world. Many things threaten our mental health. Difficult events and traumas, illnesses and aging can expose you to them. News about wars and climate change can also increase people’s susceptibility to anxiety and depression. The Covid pandemic had an extraordinary…
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Sacred values that we need
Sweden has been the target of hatred from Islamic countries after the Koran has been burned in Sweden. The protester himself is a Christian, and he justified his action by saying that the Koran is dangerous to Swedish society and should be banned. Sweden has previously had a law on blasphemy since the 1500s (https://www.eurel.info/spip.php?rubrique542&lang=en).…
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What is health?
As a doctor for over forty years, I have observed some factors that are common to healthy people. Such people live longer (https://www.bmj.com/content/bmj/377/bmj-2021-068390.full.pdf ), but their lives are also of a higher quality (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3681202/) . A healthy lifestyle has spill-over effects on society’s economy: lifestyles that weaken health significantly increase society’s costs. Physical activity throughout…
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Covid pandemic, can the individual’s right to self-determination be limited?
The pandemic highlighted – at least in Western countries – an important divide in society. While some wanted to protect citizens from the consequences of the serious disease and health care from spiraling into chaos, others rebelled and were skeptical of regulations that interfered with individual freedom. In the past, too, the fight against communicable…
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The Growing Dissatisfaction with the Green Party That Led to My Departure
I have always been fascinated by nature. Back in my teenage years, I was already involved when awareness of nature conservation began to grow in Finland as well, and people started talking about protecting trees from logging. I was also always interested in influencing. I wanted to make a difference in the things around me…
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Why We Need Silence: Mental Health in Busy Environments
We live in a constant storm of sensory stimulations, that compete for our attention. We spend more and more time on social media or mobile phone apps or games, which consist of rapidly changing images and sounds. Our attention is drawn to these ever-changing objects, and our ability to concentrate for longer is continuously damaged.…
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Fat Acceptance and Its Impact on Health: A Doctor’s View
Fat acceptance s a movement that emerged in the US in the 1960s with the goal of changing negative attitudes towards obesity,. The National Association to Aid Fat Americans was founded (National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance (NAAFA)). The Fat Pride movement was born from this ground. In early 70s, the feminist group The Fat Underground…
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Activism: How to Make a Difference in Your Community
Climate change is a scientific fact. How it is handled is based – or at least should be based – on scientific evidence, but also on rational logic: the fact that I turn off the lights in my apartment will not affect climate change in any way. Change is made by rational means. Not irrationally…
Esa's Notebook 