Why Nature Is Essential to Human Flourishing Part One: Calming the Mind and Changing Our Perspective The idea that nature can support our physical and psychological well-being is hardly new. The Japanese practice of shinrin-yoku, or forest bathing, has been part of the mainstream wellness conversation for years, and many of us instinctively recognize the relief that…

How Co-Living is Tackling Loneliness Across Generations Loneliness has become one of the defining social challenges of our time. Despite living in increasingly connected and densely populated communities, many people report feeling isolated from meaningful relationships. If you are a student who has moved to a new city without a support network, or a young professional…

More Than Mood Swings: Hormones and Mental Health Classically, mental health is discussed through the lens of psychology, stress, trauma, or environment, but as I wrote about a couple of months ago, biology also plays a powerful role. This month I want to take a look at how hormones influence our mood, cognition, sleep, emotional regulation,…

Caregivers are often described as the invisible backbone of health systems. Across Canada and around the world, millions of people quietly support loved ones living with illness, disability, aging, or mental health challenges. Yet while the health of patients and care recipients receives significant attention, the mental health of caregivers themselves has historically been overlooked. Today,…

I write frequently about mental health, as it remains one of the core focus areas of Viewpoint Foundation. For this issue of Invested, I wanted to step back and examine the question “what are the underlying causes of mental illness?” For decades, mental illness has been framed primarily as a disorder of the brain, a matter…

In the last issue of Invested, I touched briefly on a new category of AI tools that aims to fill the gap in access to mental health care professionals: therapist-focused chatbots. While the broader debate about AI and mental health often centres on general-purpose models like ChatGPT, there is a parallel ecosystem of purpose-built “digital…

In this issue of Invested, I am exploring the intersection of mental health and AI technology, as a growing wave of reporting has revealed the emergence of real-world psychological, emotional, and behavioural harms tied to the way people use AI chatbots. At the forefront, large-language-model (LLM) systems like ChatGPT are widely celebrated as tools that boost…