December 3, 2025
(NPR) – If you have ever sworn off social media for a week or two because you sensed it was feeding your anxiety or dampening your mood, you may be on to something. A new study out last week in … Read More
December 3, 2025
(Axios) – Preteens who own smartphones are likelier to have depression, obesity and insufficient sleep than their peers, according to a new University of Pennsylvania-led study. Why it matters: Roughly half of American kids now own a smartphone by the … Read More
December 2, 2025
(After Babel) – I asked ChatGPT how it would destroy America’s youth. Its answers were unsettling — and all too familiar. So, borrowing from the cybersecurity concept of red teaming — the practice of hiring an entity to pretend they … Read More
November 25, 2025
(WSJ) – Chatbot maker Character[dot]AI is cutting off access, citing mental-health concerns. Teens are distraught: ‘I cried over it for days.’ Character.AI’s first version, launched in 2022, offered some of the earliest chatbots available to consumers. It quickly gained traction … Read More
November 24, 2025
(New York Times) – In tweaking its chatbot to appeal to more people, OpenAI made it riskier for some of them. Now the company has made its chatbot safer. Will that undermine its quest for growth? It sounds like science … Read More
November 21, 2025
(The Guardian) – Exclusive: Clinical guidelines should change to avoid exposing young people to potentially harmful side-effects, researchers say In the UK, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) guidance says under-18s with moderate to severe depression can be … Read More
November 20, 2025
(WSJ) – Ruthia He, whose company was the subject of a WSJ investigation, was accused of orchestrating a scheme to profit from Adderall prescriptions A jury found Ruthia He guilty of conspiring to distribute controlled substances after her startup Done … Read More
November 20, 2025
(The Verge) – Researchers warn existing guardrails do little to protect people vulnerable to eating disorders. In the most extreme cases, chatbots can be active participants helping hide or sustain eating disorders. The researchers said Gemini offered makeup tips to … Read More
November 20, 2025
(WSJ) – Powerful psychotropic drugs are often the next step, even though their combined effects in young children haven’t been studied closely. ‘I was living in a body hijacked by the medication.’ Tens of thousands of kids who take prescription … Read More
November 20, 2025
(Digital Detox) – Parents are spending serious money to fix their kids’ screen habits, turning to everything from one-on-one screen-time coaches to full-blown digital detox camps. These services are booming as many parents feel they’ve completely lost control over how … Read More
November 20, 2025
(Wired) – In a closed-door workshop led by Anthropic and Stanford, leading AI startups and researchers discussed guidelines for chatbot companions, especially for younger users. Some early takeaways from the meeting were the need for better targeted interventions inside bots … Read More
November 19, 2025
(Bloomberg) – Your next doctor’s visit may include a prescription to join a book club or go to a party. Doctors have for years dolled out healthy lifestyle orders: exercise regularly and keep a nutritious diet. They might ask basic … Read More
November 19, 2025
(Wired) – Schools in the US are installing vape-detection tech in bathrooms to thwart student nicotine and cannabis use. A new investigation reveals the impact of using spying to solve a problem. Public records obtained by The 74 from a … Read More
November 17, 2025
(Wired) – Deliriants like Benadryl can bring on terrifying hallucinations in high doses. Some Gen Z-ers are taking at least a dozen pills at a time—and challenging others to do the same. When used in high doses, diphenhydramine, an ingredient … Read More
November 12, 2025
(New York Times) – For the vast majority of my psychotherapy patients, the gravitational pull of phones and social media alters the most important aspects of who they are, their relationships with others and how they move through the world. … Read More
November 5, 2025
(STAT News) – The meeting comes amid mounting negative reports about conversational artificial intelligence tools A Food and Drug Administration advisory committee will meet Thursday to explore a topic that’s been taboo during the Trump administration: Regulating artificial intelligence. The … Read More
November 5, 2025
(The Atlantic) – The decline in drinking coincides with a decline in social activity more broadly. A variety of causes have been blamed for this trend toward isolation, phones chief among them. Maybe the phone theory is correct, and maybe … Read More
November 3, 2025
American Journal of Law & Medicine (vol. 51, no. 2, 2025) is available online by subscription only. Articles include:
October 29, 2025
(Gizmodo) – If gluten’s hard on you, but not because of celiac disease, you’re in good company, according to new research. Research out today finds that a substantial portion of people have a sensitivity to gluten or wheat but don’t … Read More
October 29, 2025
(NPR) – Shame is a common and highly uncomfortable human emotion. In the years since, Bynum has become a leading voice among clinicians and researchers who argue that the intense crucible of medical training can amplify shame in future doctors. … Read More
October 29, 2025
(NPR) – Teens who start using cannabis before age 15 are more likely to use the drug often later in their lives. They are also more likely to develop mental and physical health problems in young adulthood compared to their … Read More
October 28, 2025
(Wired) – OpenAI released initial estimates about the share of users who may be experiencing symptoms like delusional thinking, mania, or suicidal ideation, and says it has tweaked GPT-5 to respond more effectively. In a given week, OpenAI estimated that … Read More
October 27, 2025
(AP) – Patients often smile or nod along. Salaysay even sees changes in their vital signs like lower heart rate and blood pressure, and some may request fewer painkillers. “There’s often a cycle of worry, pain, anxiety in a hospital,” … Read More
October 24, 2025
(Medpage Today) – Here’s what concerns me most as a clinician: the absurdity of the notion that an artificially generated, non-sentient avatar could be a reasonable companion for a child or teen. It goes against everything we know about developmental … Read More
October 23, 2025
(WSJ) – An amended complaint from the parents of Adam Raine, a 16-year-old who died by suicide, alleges the changes were part of a push to increase engagement OpenAI twice loosened ChatGPT’s rules for discussing suicide in the year before … Read More
