Holidays are ideal tonic for improved mental and physical health

A few years ago I went to see my doctor. He said the words we all long to hear: “You need a holiday.” Of course I did. Stressed from work and life matters, I’d been getting lots of opportunistic bugs and sicknesses, and was visiting him every other week about something or other.

But it was still wonderful to be given permission. “Yes, I do need a holiday,” I concurred. “I’m thinking a week in the sun up north.” He shook his head. “No, not a short beach holiday, a significant travel break. Something that takes you out of the country and away from everything familiar and stimulates your mind. You need at least three weeks in Europe or India. Have you ever done Vietnam and Cambodia?”

But he persisted and what he said stayed with me. “I can’t help with the cat-sitting, but I can ­alleviate your money or work concerns by telling you that I calculate my patients save at least $3000 to $5000 in medical expenses per holiday they take. So you either take the holiday or pay the doctor.

But if you are not with a partner, don’t despair. There’s always the massage and pampering that comes with holidays, with studies showing that skin stimulation can trigger release. It is not just whimsical to stay well pampered by a partner or ourselves. While low serotonin levels are linked to weakened immune function and depression, raised levels are a fountain of youth, more so since serotonin stimulates melatonin for that much needed catch-up on sleep in our big comfy hotel beds — sleep being one of the most ­important contributors to vital good health.

Number Of Children Waiting In A&E With Mental Health Problems Soars

The number of children with mental health problems forced to spend long hours in A&E has soared under the Tory-led Government, new figures reveal.


The total number of cases of under-18s reporting to NHS Accident and Emergency units with 'psychiatric conditions' – and having to wait more than the Government’s target of four hours - has nearly trebled since David Cameron came to power in 2010.

Labour claims that growing pressure on inpatient services follows cuts to early intervention and community based services for mental health.

A report by the Health Select Committee last year, following its official inquiry into children's mental health services, warned that “in many areas early intervention services are being cut or are suffering from insecure or short term funding”.

Critics claim that out of desperation, many children and young people are turning up to hospital emergency units – where they then have to wait long periods for treatment.

However, the longer waits in A&E may also point to the wider crisis in Accident and Emergency units over the past year in particular.

A written Parliamentary answer by Health Minister Alistair Burt revealed that provisional figures for the first six months of 2015/16 have a stubbornly high number of admissions waiting in A&E for more than four hours, with 237 cases in September last year.

The statistics, in answer to Parliamentary questions from Labour’s Shadow Mental Health minister Luciana Berger, were revealed as cross-party support mobilised behind the Duchess of Cambridge’s call for more focus on children’s mental health in Young Minds Matter, which saw her guest edit The Huffington Post UK on Wednesday.

Can treating past trauma lead to big US health savings?

For two decades, there's been evidence that people who suffered childhood trauma — violence, sexual abuse or family dysfunction — are much more likely to have a chronic health problems and engage in risky behavior.


Now, 14 community health centers around the U.S. are acting as laboratories for an experiment to see if screening and then treating people for trauma can improve the results from treatment they get for their diabetes, heart disease, pulmonary disease or other ailments.

While the main goal of that project is to get participants leading healthier, happier and longer lives, there's also a potential positive financial side effect. If the project works — and the lessons learned are expanded on a large scale — it may help create savings of billions of dollars for the health-care system by reducing overall medical spending.

Kaiser Permanente is backing the Trauma Informed Primary Care project, which is being conducted by the National Council for Behavioral Health, a group of about 2,500 mental health and treatment organizations. Kaiser Permanente operates a health insurance plan with nearly 10 million members, and as such has an interest in strategies that could hold down medical costs.

Since last spring, the centers participating in the project have been screening groups of clients: Each center decides what physical conditions to focus on, and what level of trauma to use as a cut-off point. Patients who meet those criteria are given the option of receiving help to deal with their trauma along with their chronic condition.

Health + Medicine

This was the year of the health review – on mental health care, the response to ice, Medicare, private health insurance, the pharmacy industry … and the list goes on.


Paying doctors a fixed sum to care for a patient for the entire year, rather than a fee for each visit or service, is one solution, Peter Sivey wrote.

Another is to better target the tests and treatments that are given, and to tame the tsunami of too much medicine, Ray Moynihan explained. The current review of the Medicare schedule presents an opportunity to do just this.

Population health, a push to keep people healthy and out of the hospital, gained traction in multiple settings across the U.S., including accountable care organizations, bundled-care plans and clinically integrated health-care networks. These networks link patients to the full spectrum of services, from preventive care to highly specialized hospital care. The goal is to help keep people healthy and intervene before costly care is necessary.

Consumerism is expanding. Wearable medical devices, cloud-based computing and transparency initiatives enable consumers to make more informed health care choices. Consumers also have more choice; they can purchase coverage privately, through their employers or through state and federal insurance marketplaces. Employers, in some cases, have established their own marketplaces. Those shopping for insurance can choose between comprehensive or high-deductible plans.