She believes that limiting exams and reducing the homework load would enable children to have a little more ‘down time’.

Atikinson, who was formally the director of children’s services at Gateshead council believes that more creative experiences are the way forward. She has championed foreign exchanges, overseas visits and outings to theaters and art galleries and says that scrapping Sats tests for 11-year-olds should be considered.

In her first interview in her new post, Atkinson warned that many children were under so much pressure to achieve high results in exams that they lacked a healthy balance between work and normal life and were at risk of becoming ill from stress.

One in 10 young people had “anxieties or diagnosable mental health problems”, and worries about achieving at school could translate into eating disorders and self-harming.

The menopause does not only change our bodies hormonally but it also changes our minds and the way we think about things. The Times article points out that what is lost through the hormones that contributed towards our female identity, is gained in other areas. Dr Louann Brizendine wrote a book about the matter. ‘The Female Brain’ explores the notion that postmenopausal woman are less concerned with the nuances of emotions and keeping the peace because these are aspects that are fuelled by the no longer present oestrogen. Instead women are able to experience a heightened sense of clarity, balanced perspective, peace of mind and an energy that has been absent for a long time.

The Times have compiled a list of tips to help women to nurture their new postmenopausal brain:

Lastly, be confident and don’t apologise. There is nothing to be sorry for even if they react badly try not to apologise and if you do then only apologise for the shock caused and nothing else.

The study was completed by Tel Aviv University, who followed 10,059 Israeli council workers and civil servants. The investigation began back in the 60’s when the participants completed a heart disease questionnaire.

Two years later and they were asked to rate their marriage as successful or unsuccessful or to say if they have never married.

They tracked the men to 1997 to check the cause of their death and the results showed what a huge influence a loving relationship can have on health.

Those who died from strokes had their results compared with that of the questionnaires completed in the 60s. After taking into account socio-economic factors and other issues that could effect the results such as smoking and blood pressure, the researchers found a striking link between fatal stroke risk and marital status.

Although researchers have stressed that the best way to avoid a stroke is through a healthy lifestyle they also found that single men had a 64% higher risk of fatal stroke than men who were married.

Researchers also found that the quality of the marriage was important, with men in an unhappy marriage having a 64% higher risk compared to the happily married.

Other studies have come up with similar findings, for instance we know from research that stressful relationships can boost the risk of heart problems.

If you are in an unhappy marriage and find it difficult to discuss our issues wife our partner then you should consider contacting a marriage counsellor who will help you to air your issues and will get your communication back on track. It is also important to consider that no matter what your marital stature, leading a healthy lifestyle, exercising regularly and consuming a diet low in saturated fat and salt are all ways to significantly reduce your risk of having a stroke.

It may not be physical but nevertheless can be just as damaging to a relationship. Growing technology has now made it simple to text flirt, send videos or pictures and generally are a dangerous weapon that could spell the end of a relationship.

Even when the texts are just texts and do not progress to anything physical the damage is still done. Any trust that was there will disappear as your partner creates a world that you are excluded from.

It is keeping secrets from your partner that is damaging. The Telegraph explains that idealising someone to whom you have constant access is never a good thing. There are some couples who manage to negotiate and create boundaries, but for most it is a dangerous game.

On the opposing side is Penny Mansfield, director of the relationship research organisation One Plus One. She said, “We tend to stress the damage technology can do to relationships, but a lot of people are using it to sort out problems.”

She used the example of many couples using text and email to confront topics that they are too afraid to discuss face to face. She even goes as far to say that in some cases, sexting can play a positive role in relationships. Often the texting doesn’t lead to anything physical but it is a way of an unhappy or frustrated partner to get through a difficult point in their relationship.

Working from home may sound like your dream situation but there are good reasons that not many of us do it. If you are thinking about setting up shop from home or making the move to work from a home office then here are some things to consider.

Work is work and home is home
Try to keep these areas as separate as possible. It is bad enough taking work home from the office with you but when your office is your home it becomes even more of challenge to separate and define these two very different areas of your life.

Try creating an office space that you look forward to walking into and make sure your work materials and filing etc are all grouped together and in this room. Having work papers staring at you from the dining room table or the mantle piece will only heighten your stress levels. When you finish work, close the office door, divert your work calls to voicemail and go home.

Loneliness
A huge factor of an office environment is the social element that comes with it. Often we develop some of our closest friends at work. Our colleagues are great people to bounce ideas off of even to have a good vent too. If its just little old you alone in the office you might find you miss the company you were used to in a bustling office and you’ll also miss out on great business contacts you could have made.

Extra costs
If you are working for yourself then you will not be entitled to any company perks such as a car, pension or paid holiday or sick leave. These are things that you will have to budget for yourself and can often mean you lend up with far less of an income than you had considered.

Professionalism
Don’t get sloppy because you are working from home. Everything needs to be just as professional. Letter heads, emails, voicemails, materials and your appearance!

Discipline and motivation
You are in charge of your schedule and this mean you have to have some serious self discipline. Taking random breaks to watch your favourite day time T.V is not professional and will not get you far. If you find it difficult to motivate yourself then create a daily schedule and learn to stick to it.

In general most people who work from home really enjoy the freedom and flexibility that it offers, don’t go handing in your notice just yet though. Consider all of the above and then decide if working from home is the most suitable option for you.

Local councils and health services also scored badly, with only 8% of participants scoring their local councils highly and only 27% believing they were receiving adequate childcare support. Seven out of ten hospitals were rating as not family friendly and six out of ten found that GPs’ surgeries failed to come up to scratch.

Parents have called for services to offer more flexible opening hours such as evenings and weekends, enabling them to get help without complications. Other parents have called for more after school activities for children and to be more welcoming to fathers. Notably, more than 80% of the 2,000 adults questioned criticised politicians for being out of touch with their lives.

The children’s secretary Ed Balls has agreed that these are currently difficult times for families who are expected to hold down jobs to make ends meat as well as bringing up the children and often caring for elderly relatives all at once. He is calling for public services to become more flexible and welcoming. “The Family Commission found that most families are strong, resilient and positive about the future, but that they also want more support. It’s important that politicians like me really hear that message, and respond.Our Green Paper, and all the action that will follow from it, is a great opportunity for us to do so.”

On top of this we will also begin to start experiencing many other losses such as our homes, way of life, friends or even our partner. We will also spend time thinking about what could have been, the things we didn’t do, the places we didn’t go, the people we didn’t meet and it is natural and o.k to feel sad about all of this.

Don’t forget the you are still useful to other people. Perhaps if you feel you have lost your purpose then do some volunteer work at the local charity shop, see how you can help your National Trust, local museums, schools or even people worse of than yourself who can’t manage to get out or look after themselves.

Reach out when you least feel like it because this is the time when you will need it. Retiring and aging will often leave you feeling like you’ve been dropped by old friends but this is a transitional period that will take some getting used to. You will experience far more grief and depression in old age than in other periods of your life and remember that these emotions are strong and often make other people feel uncomfortable and could contribute to you and your friends drifting apart. Often they would like to offer their help but are waiting to be asked in fear of doing the wrong thing.

Make an effort to pick up the phone and call a friend or issue an invitation. Many old people are strapped for cash but it doesn’t have to be a lavish dinner, it can be coffee.Be aware of whats happening in the community and see what services are available for you then ask along a friend. Don’t wait to be asked because in the meantime you could become withdrawn. Be the one who takes the initiative.

Read the original article here.