Social Impact Initiative

Being a millennial living in the 21th century comes down to two things: Internet and technology. No less than 86% of internet use is dedicated to social media, while 30% of these users are between the age of 16 and 30. But, how reliable is what we see on social media? And most importantly, how does it impact those growing up and their view on life? One of the most alarming sites we can find online are those called “Pro-Ana (Anorexia) and Pro-Mia (Bulimia)” favouring and doing apology for the eating disorders. Just between 2006 and 2010 there was a 470% increase in the number of these websites. How does this affect teenagers going online and potentially receiving these types of messages? It has been proved in scientific literature that there is a correlation between being exposed to these kinds of messages and developing or presenting a negative evaluation of one’s body and body dissatisfaction. Even so, messages like #Thinspo or #thispo promoting the ideal of thinness kee...

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. ...