Evaluating Sources of Health Information

Making good choices about your own health requires reasonable evaluation. A key first step in bettering your evaluation ability is to look carefully at your sources of health information. 【小题1】. Besides, how to separate fact from opinion, how to recognize poor reasoning, and how to analyze information and the reliability of sources are of great importance. The following suggestions can help you sort through the health information you receive from common sources.

Go to the original source. 【小题2】. Find out for yourself what a study really reported, and determine whether it was based on good science. Think about the type of study. And examine the findings of the original research.

Watch for misleading language. Some studies will find that a behavior “contributes to” or is “associated with” an outcome; this does not mean that a certain course must lead to a certain result. Be aware that information may also be incorrectly explained by an author’s point of view. 【小题3】.

Use your common sense. If a report seems too good to be true, probably it is. 【小题4】. The goal of an ad is to sell you something. Evaluate “scientific” statements carefully, and be aware of quackery (江湖骗术).

【小题5】. Friends and family members can be a great source of ideas and inspiration, but each of us needs to find a healthy lifestyle that works for us.

Developing the ability to evaluate reasonably and independently about health problems will serve you well throughout your life.

You’re faced with a lot of decisions in everyday work. There are multiple tasks calling for your focus, and you are burning daylight or even burn out trying to decide what comes first. 【小题1】

If you’re going to think smarter about how you prioritize (排序) tasks, you have to invest a little time away from your to-do list. Here’s the thing: what you work on confirms your values. You may think it’s no big thing to work overtime for a little while, but something will be sacrificed with this decision. If you’re a parent, you might spend less time with your kids. Similarly, if you choose not to work much or effectively, you’re deciding that your values lie outside your career. 【小题2】

Write all the tasks down and create four boxes containing all of things you care about. This could be: helps the community, helps one-to-one relationships, makes money, and things you find personally fulfilling. Then place them in the boxes and see how many of the boxes each one takes up. Anything that fills just one box has to be reconsidered. Anything that fills nothing should not be considered at all. 【小题3】From here, the rest of the prioritization gets a little easier. You now have a better idea where the efforts are really paying off. You also know when you are wasting your own time.

In order to figure out a plan for yourself, the first thing you should be doing is gathering all of your tasks, large and small. 【小题4】 Other people are counting on you or your future self will depend on them somehow. These are actually easier to prioritize. Then break down large tasks into smaller pieces. That helps put things in order. Part of the reason we do the small things first is that being productive feels good. Acknowledging accomplishments makes you more likely to keep going and pushes you through the more complicated tasks.

【小题5】 Notice when your energy levels are high and when they are weak. Be aware when you’re more productive for social activities and when you’re better off. The more you study yourself, the easier planning becomes.

Now that you have your priorities in order, go ahead and you will boost your productivity.

The great 18th-century author Montesquieu once put it, “I have never known any stress that an hour’s reading does not reduce." And now many argue for a return to this view of literature as therapy, even using the word “bibliotherapy"（阅读疗法）to describe it.

So what does literature provide, beyond entertainment? It can act as a guide.Those who show great respect for Shakespeare, Milton or Proust should keep in mind that even the most famous author was still a human being.In other words, great writers have been through the same things as you.Like you, they found themselves in this strange world and they tried to make sense of it.And this is what most literature consists of: people trying to make sense of the world.

No matter what your fears or concerns may be, chances are some great writer has written about them.Before seeking （寻求）suggestions, cither from a professional or a well-read friend, be clear about what is troubling you.For example, let's say you were raised in a religious （信仰宗教的）family but now, in later life, have lost your faith （信仰）.This is painful to you and you feel empty and alone.Countless writers have gone down this path before you and have found a way out — the German poet and novelist Hermann Hesse, for example, wrote the wonderful little novel Siddartha about this search for spiritual peace.

It would also help to consider your particular life stage.Someone from a poor background about to set off for a great college will want a different set of reading from a retired woman whose husband has died.To take another example, let's imagine you had a childhood of abuse （虐待）.For years you have suffered from depression.In that case, you could try Edward St Aubyn's The Patrick Melrose Novels.St Aubyn's father abused him, while his mother escaped into drink, but Aubyn wrote a series of splendid novels based on his life, charting a man's journey through the hard situation of abuse and out the other end.