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world health organisation

We've all experienced the feeling of "burning the candle at both ends"; intense stress, rising heart rate and endless exhaustion. 

This experience of fatigue and depression as a result of anxiety and lack of control is now formally recognised by the medical community: Burnout is now an official workplace syndrome.

The workplace disorder is now classified as “a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed,” according to WHO.

Burnout is now included in the International Classification of Diseases, the World Health Organisation’s handbook which helps medical providers in terms of diagnosis.

Initial reports characterised the classification as a medical condition, but WHO clarified that it's an 'occupational phenomenon'.

The common symptoms of burnout include energy depletion or fatigue, increased medical distance from one's job or feelings of negativity or cynicism related to one's employment. Reduced professional efficacy is also included in the list.

The handbook notes that the syndrome “should not be applied to describe experiences in other areas of life" outside of occupation.

CNN claims that the science behind burnout dates back to a 1974 study by the psychologist Herbert Freudenberger.

Burnout has widely been infused into society as a talking point of stress and workplace exhaustion, but wasn't taken seriously as a legitimate medical condition and was associated with younger generations.

Many young people claim that they have internalized the idea that they should be working 24 hours a day. This new classification can help validate those who need medical assistance to help them manage burnout.

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As a woman in society, it would be quite unusual to have never ever experienced any form of sexism. 

From leering, uncomfortable catcalls, wage inequality, and being forced to continue with unwanted pregnancies (thanks for that one Ireland), it's no wonder that The World Heath Organisation has indicated that gender specific factors have a negative impact on female mental health. 

'Depression, anxiety, psychological distress, sexual violence, domestic violence and escalating rates of substance use affect women to a greater extent than men across different countries and different settings.'

'Depression, anxiety, somatic symptoms and high rates of comorbidity are significantly related to interconnected and co-occurrent risk factors such as gender based roles, stressors and negative life experiences and events.'

'Pressures created by their multiple roles, gender discrimination and associated factors of poverty, hunger, malnutrition, overwork, domestic violence and sexual abuse, combine to account for women's poor mental health.'

'Gender specific risk factors for common mental disorders that disproportionately affect women include gender based violence, socioeconomic disadvantage, low income and income inequality, low or subordinate social status and rank and unremitting responsibility for the care of others.'

The World Health Organisation goes on to point out that sexist elements of society can dictate not only how women feel in regards to mental health, but also hopw those issues get treated in both men and women. 

'Gender stereotypes regarding proneness to emotional problems in women and alcohol problems in men, appear to reinforce social stigma and constrain help seeking along stereotypical lines.'

'They are a barrier to the accurate identification and treatment of psychological disorder.'

So I guess those 'wow, she must be on her period' or 'calm down, you're just being over emotional' comments were wrong all along (not that we didn't know that).

As it turns out, societal sexism can be a contributing factor for a women's mental health. 

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We all love sticking our headphones in and listening to our favourite podcast or playlist on our commute home from work. 

Especially if you've had a bad day, it can be tempting to whack the volume right up to drown out the sounds of our fellow commuters and the world at large,..

However, listening to the latest album or podcast episode at a high can seriously damage our hearing. 

We all know that it's important to protect our precious hearing, but the World Health Organisation has cited audio device usage as one of the top causes of acquired hearing loss. 

'Recreational exposure to loud sounds such as that from use of personal audio devices at high volumes and for prolonged periods of time and regular attendance at concerts, nightclubs, bars and sporting events' is on the list of causes for hearing loss at all ages. 

Deafness can be permanent, and we probably all know that freaky feeling of being temporarily hearing impaired after an unsafely loud gig.

Education on the risks in essential, according to WHO, so here's your PSA.

Use personal protective devices such as earplugs and noise-cancelling earphones and headphones to reduce exposure.

Or, simply ensure that you keep your volume scale at the halfway mark at all time – even if that fellow commuter is having an obnoxiously loud phone call right beside you. 

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The World Health Organization is warning against the spread of a strain of gonorrhoea

At least three people worldwide are infected with the untreatable superbug strain.

The disease is spreading thorough unprotected sex, WHO said. 

'Gonorrhea is a very smart bug,' said Teodora Wi, a human reproduction specialist.

'Every time you introduce a new type of antibiotic to treat it, this bug develops resistance to it.'

No known antibiotic is effective on the particular strain of the STI. 

The three cases were found in Japan, France and Spain.

The number of sexually transmitted infections grew by 10 per cent in 2016 in Ireland, according to the HSE’s Health Protection Surveillance Centre, and gonorrhoea saw one one the biggest spikes.

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Earlier this week, the meat industry took a huge blow when it was revealed processed meats can cause cancer, but it seems we don't need to turn vegetarian just yet.

A new report by the World Health Organisation published last Monday suggested that processed pork and red meat could be as dangerous for our health as smoking.

Needless to say, the world as a whole freaked out. After all, a large proportion of us would consider pork, beef and lamb as a part of our regular diet.

Now though, WHO has said the message in the report may have been "misinterpreted" and that we don't need to cut out processed meats completely.

The meats were classified alongside tobacco, alcohol and even asbestos as carcinogenic substances, which WHO spokesperson Gregory Härtl admits is a "shortcoming" in the organisation's classification system.

"We do not want to compare tobacco and meat because we know that no level of tobacco is safe," he explained to the Irish Times.

"We’re not saying stop eating processed meats altogether. Do not cut out meats completely as it has nutrients.

"But we do not want to do anything to excess."

According to the WHO report, daily consumption of processed meats could increase the risk of colorectal cancer by up to 18 per cent.

Mr Härtl said that further clarification on the levels of processed meats that could be eaten within the context of a healthy diet could be given. 

For now though, he suggests maintaining balance and not indulging in too much of anything.

"Eat healthily means eating a balanced diet, too much of anything is not good," Mr Härtl said.

With that in mind, we won't give up our Sunday fry, but we might say no to that second helping of rashers.

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