In a new move, doctors are using feature films in order to encourage their patients to talk more freely about their problems. Supporters of "film therapy (疗法)" say that discussing characters and plot lines from a proper film can help people to understand their feelings better.

One of those using the method is Bernie Wooder, a doctor from Elstree, who charges £45 for a one-hour "film therapy" session. He said, "I was treating a woman who had been badly let down in a relationship, and who was experiencing such strong feelings that it was difficult for her to speak about them. I told her that her situation reminded me of On the Waterfront, when Marlon Brando's character realizes his brother is dishonest and he feels a great sense of betrayal (背叛). My patient identified so easily with him that she started to cry. Watching and discussing the film unlocked all the feelings she had buried. Each time she watched and cried, she felt better."

Mr Wooder admits that film therapy does not work for everyone, but says he has used it successfully with about a third of his clients. "Through the films' characters, plots and even music, it allows people to face their problems." He said that Falling Down, in which Michael Douglas plays the part of an unemployed man who is so frustrated (沮丧的) that he uses violence, was an example of the dangerous implications (后果) of not letting anger go. "I used this film with a patient who was very upset because he was holding on to a lot of the anger he felt towards people who had frustrated him," said Mr Wooder. "We talked about Michael Douglas's character and the disastrous path he takes, and my patient then realized that he needed to let go of his feelings more regularly so as not to erupt (爆发) like a time bomb."

    Children who do better than their companions at school tend to go on to enjoy better health as adults, research suggests. The study was based on a 30-year follow-up of more than 14.000 children born in Sweden in 1953.

    The Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health study found the least popular children had a nine times higher risk of heart disease. They were also more at risk of diabetes (糖尿病),drugs, alcohol and mental health problems.

    The degree of popularity, power and status enjoyed by each child, was evaluated when the children reached sixth grade in 1966 by asking them who they most preferred to work with at school. Individual children were classified into five status bands depending on how many nominations (提名) they have received.

    The leader researcher Ylva Almquist, from the Center for Health Equity Studies at the University of Stockholm, said children with a low status might lack social support and information, this will lead to a more negative self-image, which could lead to lower expectations and poor choices in life.

    “For example, children in lower peer status may adopt a more health-damaging lifestyle, including behaviors such as heavy smoking and drinking. These behaviors are known to be major risk for heart disease.” she said.

    She said the study shows that schools should work to promote social equality in the classroom, and to improve children's self-image.

    Professor Alan Maryon-Davis, president of the UK Faculty of Public Health, said, “Children who feel undervalued or are bullied (欺凌) at school often grow up lacking self-confidence. They then seek comfort in overeating, smoking or drinking, and all too often find themselves in poor health. It is important to do whatever we can to help children and young people feel valued.”

    Most people agree that eating healthy food is important. But sometimes making good food choices can be difficult. Now, there are apps that can help people learn about the food they eat to improve their health and their dining out experience.

    Happy Cow app

    Vegetarians do not eat animal meat. Vegans do not eat any animal products. The HappyCow app is made for both groups. Users can search for vegetarian-vegan restaurants and stores around the world.

    Open Table app

    Open Table app helps people choose restaurants when they want to go out to eat. It is a free service that shows users restaurant available based on where and when they want to dine. It gives users points when they make reservations(保留，预定), which can add up to discounts on restaurant visits.

    Local Eats app

    Restaurant chains, like McDonalds, can be found almost anywhere a person might travel. But sometimes travelers want to eat like locals. The Local Eats app is designed for that. It can help you find local restaurants in major cities in the US and in other countries. It costs about a dollar.

Where Chefs Eat app

    "Where Chefs Eat" is a 975-page book. Most people would not want to carry that around. But there is a much lighter app version of the same name for just $15. Six hundred chefs provide information on 3,000 restaurants around the world on the Where Chefs Eat app.

    When I started working, I couldn't understand why there were some people who seemed to succeed in anything they tried, while there were others who just couldn't manage to achieve anything. After a while, I became amazed at the biggest difference lying in setting and reviewing goals regularly.

    Then I saw an academic study done by Dr. David Kohl on goals:

    80% of Americans claim that they don't have goals.

    16% of them have goals, but they don't write them down.

    Only 3% actually have written goals, but they don't review them regularly.

    Only 1% has written goals and they review them regularly, and these are among the highest achievers in the US.

    You need to set goals, independent of whether you want to achieve more or less. Goals are not only about achieving more or wanting to take on more in life-a goal starts with a simple desire.

    What do you do with your desires and wants in life? You could both ignore them and leave them to fade away in your mind, or listen to yourself and start taking action to get what you want in life.

    On the one hand, you can wish for a miracle, try to put the least amount of effort in, hoping to get the most out, and do nothing. On the other hand, you can get clear on the steps you need to take and take them, slowly, one by one until you reach success in that area and you will live with new amazing results in your life.

    Setting goals is the essential part to achieving success in any area. It begins with a desire, and then a written goal, followed by the right attitude and action, and that is your formula for success. Keep reviewing your goals and watch how your vision turns into your reality.

    When people find themselves in difficult conflicts, they often turn to mediation(调解). Mediator are advised to listen attentively, avoid favoring the ideas of one party, and make both sides feel at ease. Surprisingly, new research that my colleagues and I conducted shows that, to effectively help people settle their conflicts, mediators should adopt a hostile(敌对的) attitude rather- than a calming one. A hostile mediator, we find, brings better results than a nice one

    Why would adding more negativity to an already hostile situation prove beneficial? Consider how parents typically react when they can't get their children to stop quarreling: "I don't care who started it, both of you, go to your rooms!" At first sight, a calm mediator seems likely to be more effective. But as anyone with brothers or sisters knows, parents' seemingly unsympathetic treatment of the situation can have an unusual effect,

    In our research, we created situations in which pairs of negotiators were part of a heated conflict. In some cases, the mediator had a "nice" approach-calm and polite. In others, he was hostile-aggressive and somewhat rude. Across different types of conflicts, we found that negotiators were more willing and able to reach an agreement in the presence of a hostile mediator than in the presence of a nice one.

The main result of the test is not that hostility pays off. In fact, recent research has documented the social costs of negative behavior. For example, being the target of rude behavior reduces people's performance on a variety of tasks. Other research shows the social benefits of positive behavior. People are more likely to close deals and become future business partners.

    Even with the widespread social benefits of positive behavior and costs of negative behavior, hostility can pay off in certain situations.

    In 2011, the old style Malta buses were taken off the road and replaced by modern vehicles. Most of the old buses were deserted, a few were sold, and about 100 of them were put into storage in the hope of showing them in a museum at some stage.

    A pre-2011 visit to Malta wouldn't have been complete without a ride on one of the colorful buses. Until 1973 you could tell the destination of the bus just by looking at its color — Sliema was green and white, Zabbar was red and white with a blue stripe(条纹)etc. . Later, the buses all had numbers. For a while, they were all painted green and white before the ‘final' orange, yellow and white.

    In their prime, walking around the Triton fountain at the Valletta bus station, you would have found it very difficult to see two buses of exactly the same design. Most of them had locally built bodies. On the front of the buses carried names like Dodge, Leyland, Bedford etc. You were equally likely to find football pennants(锦旗)and the like decorating the cabs. Real bus experts would have recognized that these were there mainly for decorative reasons, and were seldom an accurate reflection of the vehicle's origins.

    Nowadays much more modern buses are to be found at the Floriana bus station. They are more environmentally friendly and possibly even more comfortable than the older types. However, I miss the old buses. I remember, when you boarded your bus, you had to prepare the correct change to pay the usually bad-tempered driver as you got on. If you were seated anywhere near the front, you would have noticed that most drivers sat well to the right of their steering wheel. The reason for this, as any Maltese would tell you, was to leave space for their pet to sit alongside them. I wonder where the pet sits these days.