June 20, 2024
(The Guardian) – Artificial intelligence is creating companions who can be our confidants, friends, therapists and even lovers. But are they an answer to loneliness or merely another way for big tech to make money? Could you fall in love … Read More
June 19, 2024
(The Atlantic) – So youth in English-speaking Canada are becoming sadder faster than those in French-speaking Canada, and measures of teen suicidality are rising in the Anglosphere but less so in similar less-English-speaking countries. What’s the deal with Anglosphere despair? Maybe … Read More
June 19, 2024
(Smithsonian Magazine) – Whoever said the eyes are the windows to the soul probably didn’t imagine them being a key to diagnosing severe mental health conditions. But some research shows that what a person focuses on and how their pupils respond, … Read More
June 18, 2024
(STAT News) – I have spent my career studying infectious diseases that fall under the heading of neglected tropical diseases. Now I have a neglected disease — long Covid — an incurable (for now and for me) disease. As a medical anthropologist working in global … Read More
June 18, 2024
(Generation Tech) – Self-harm is much more common among girls than among boys, so we’ll focus on girls. The CDC keeps data on emergency room admissions for intentional self-harm, and the 2022 data were just released. The news is not good. ER admissions … Read More
June 18, 2024
(New York Times) – The mental health crisis among young people is an emergency — and social media has emerged as an important contributor. Adolescents who spend more than three hours a day on social media face double the risk of anxiety and … Read More
June 17, 2024
(Associated Press) – The U.S. surgeon general has called on Congress to require warning labels on social media platforms and their effects on young people’s lives, similar to those now mandatory on cigarette boxes. In a Monday opinion piece in the The New York Times, … Read More
June 17, 2024
(ABC News) – On June 3, NYSOFA announced that it will give away 4,725 additional robotic pets to seniors in ongoing efforts to combat senior loneliness. Greg Olsen, the acting director of NYSOFA, said that loneliness has grave health consequences for … Read More
June 17, 2024
(Los Angeles Times via MSN) – An investigation by The Times, in conjunction with cannabis industry newsletter WeedWeek, found alarming levels of pesticides in cannabis products available on dispensary shelves across the state, including some of the most popular brands of … Read More
June 14, 2024
(ABC News) – Top executives of a California-based online mental health company were arrested on allegations of improperly prescribing addictive stimulants like Adderall during the coronavirus pandemic and exacerbating the shortage of the drugs for those who medically need them, officials … Read More
June 14, 2024
(MedPage Today) – Disrupted access to prescription stimulants for patients with attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) may increase risks of injury or overdose, the CDC warned on Thursday following the indictment of executives of an online ADHD medication prescriber over fraud allegations. Several … Read More
June 13, 2024
(NPR) – The psychedelic drug MDMA is near the end of a decades-long effort to enter mainstream medicine but instead of celebrating, supporters now find themselves wondering if the treatment will actually make it to market anytime soon. Last week, … Read More
June 12, 2024
(Axios) – Almost two years after the debut of a revamped national suicide hotline, its promise of a quicker, more seamless crisis response across the country is still a work in progress. Why it matters: Congress gave states $1 billion … Read More
June 7, 2024
(UPI) – The popular underground drug midomafetamine, also called MDMA and “ecstasy,” failed to win an advisory panel’s support as a treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder Tuesday. The independent federal advisory panel voted 9-2 against authorizing the drug’s use for … Read More
June 6, 2024
(BBC) – One out of every six people have symptoms when they stop taking antidepressants – fewer than previously thought, a review of previous studies suggests. The researchers say their findings will help inform doctors and patients “without causing undue … Read More
May 29, 2024
(NBC via Yahoo!) – The Food and Drug Administration approved the drug in August, but it took months for supply to become available. Several psychiatrists said they’re just starting to write their first prescriptions, since it has taken time to … Read More
May 29, 2024
(ProPublica) – The second time Sydney Jones experienced delusions, in 2023, a family member contacted the local community mental health center for help. Police officers with mental health training came and called an ambulance to take Jones to Baptist Memorial … Read More
May 28, 2024
(CBS News) – MDMA is part of a new wave of psychoactive drugs that show great potential for treating conditions such as severe depression and PTSD. Investors are piling into the nascent field, and a host of medications based on … Read More
May 24, 2024
(UPI) – Doctors have long known that excessive marijuana use can trigger psychosis, especially in the young. But new research suggests the link is stronger that ever imagined before. Teens who use cannabis face 11 times the odds for a … Read More
May 24, 2024
(Axios) – COVID forced us to talk — a lot — about Americans’ deteriorating mental health. Four years later, the scale of the problem hardly appears to have gotten better, in large part because the system (perhaps unsurprisingly) remains ill-equipped … Read More
May 23, 2024
(NPR) – About 1 in 9 children in the U.S., between the ages of 3 and 17, have been diagnosed with ADHD. That’s according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that calls attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder … Read More
May 22, 2024
(Associated Press) – Authorities have opened an investigation into how Matthew Perry received the supply of ketamine that killed him, police said Tuesday. Los Angeles police are working with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service … Read More
May 22, 2024
(MedPage Today) – For more than 3 years — 1,193 days to be exact — the patient had been confined to an acute care bed despite the fact that for 948 days, or 80% of that time, he had no … Read More
May 22, 2024
(TIME) – Millions of people in the U.S. report using marijuana daily or nearly every day, according to an analysis of national survey data, and those people now outnumber those who say they are daily or nearly-daily drinkers of alcohol. Alcohol … Read More
May 21, 2024
(New York Times) – The annual gathering of the American Psychiatric Association is a dignified and collegial affair, full of scholarly exchanges, polite laughter and polite applause. So it was a shock, for those who took their seats in Room … Read More
