Social Impact Initiative

Nowadays, detecting gender violence exerted on oneself or other people in our social environment is often difficult. This is mainly due to the ignorance of the indicators of gender violence, or to judging or misinterpreting such situations because of myths and prejudices present in our society, and what we have learned. There is a common perception that this violence only occurs when a man rapes, kills or hits a girl. However, there are many other ways in which gender violence is manifested that are not visible or recoverable as such. For this reason, this type of violence is considered an iceberg in which there are different ways that it manifests itself. It’s important to recognise all of them not as love, but as violence in order to the victims to get help and stop it. Photo reference: https://workplace.ourwatch.org.au/why-do-this-work/understanding-violence-against-women/ What is the gender violence?   According to the European Commission, gender violence i...

“Sometimes, the best therapist has fur and four legs” - Unknown The above quotation is something that one may see frequently on social media, often captioning a photo of a pet with its owner. In the following article, we will be looking into just how true this saying is through the lens of science! Pets have been around for a while … Archaeologic studies have shown that some animals, mostly dogs, have been man’s best friends for a very long time - around 12,000 to 14,000 years in fact! This is evident in the way that these furry family members were buried with their masters to provide companionship and protection in the afterlife, according to Morey, 2006. The same study shows that cats were also especially important in Ancient Egypt and that birds were the second most popular choice of domesticated animals after dogs in Ancient Greece - probably because of their ability to sing.  Pet Therapy In 1969, Boris Levinson was the one to introduce the idea of i...

Do you want to know what is it like to deal with eating disorders? Then read this interview. We talked to a 22-year old sales school student who enjoys playing in cuddling with animals (any kind, any time), watching series and drawing. Her struggle with eating disorders started in 2012, when she was 15. After 7 years her condition is much better, although her battle is not completely over, yet. According to the American Psychological Association (2017) eating disorders are characterised by severe disturbances in eating behaviours and related thoughts and emotions. People with eating disorders typically become pre-occupied with food and their body weight. Keep reading if you are interested in her answers. How would you describe your mental disorder? It’s sometimes like you don’t want to eat although your body needs the food, other times it’s like you know you have to eat but your body doesn’t let you. For every meal you struggle and fight before, after and/or in betwee...

Why do I not like my body? This is one of the questions that someone with body dissatisfaction could ask themselves. Sometimes it is not the whole body, but those parts of me that ... I wish! I wish they were a little thinner, more defined, larger or smaller, somewhat less wrinkled or without these ugly spots! We know that body dissatisfaction, understood as "a concern that produces discomfort towards some imaginary or extreme defect of   physical appearance "(1), is a risk factor for   developing and maintaining an eating disorder(anorexia and bulimia, mainly) (2). But almost all of us have something in our bodies that we would like to change, not just those who suffer from clinical problems. Why? People internalise the ideals of beauty that society transmits to us and we compare that with our own appearance. As long the way we perceive ourselves does not fit the ideal of beauty we will be dissatisfied with our bodies (3). The role of social media. ...

Hi there. I am a 22 year old student finishing my Bachelor degree. In my free time I like to read, write, watch movies, hike in the nature and take photos. I also like to spend time with my friends and family, probably just like you. If I had to point out something, that makes me different from most of you, I'd probably mention I am suffering from panic disorder. Panic disorder is characterized by reoccuring panic attacks, which are periods of intense fear that include somatic symptoms, like shortness of breath, palpitations etc. They lead to different behavioral and cognitive outcomes, such as avoidance of places associated with one of the attacks. In this interview, psychology students from EFPSA's Social Impact Initiative explored how life with this condition is like for me, and if you want to know more, you're most welcome to read it. . How would you (figuratively) describe your mental disorder? I would describe it as a ghost that starts strangling ...