Assorted content to end your week. – Oshan Jarow discusses Sapien Labs’ work measuring mental health levels around the globe – and the resulting conclusion that “conveniences” including smartphones and ultra-processed foods may contribute to a lower level of mental wellness. And Michelle Gamage writes about the plummeting life expectancy of
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Things Are Good: Hot People are More Likely to be Depressed
There’s a popular theory that hot people have it easier in life, and that might be true for looks but not for temperature. People were asked to self report their levels of depression and it turns out that there’s a correlation between their body temperature and mood. The results revealed
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – David Macdonald highlights yet another record-breaking year of Canadian CEO income compared to the pay of the average worker. – Lisa Young’s wish for the new year is for better public health – though the hostility to the concept from Danielle Smith
Continue readingwmtc: what i’m reading: the invisible kingdom: reimagining chronic illness
The Invisible Kingdom: Reimagining Chronic Illness by Meghan O’Rourke is a important book. I would even call it a landmark. For ten years, O’Rourke suffered from a debilitating condition that was either misdiagnosed or dismissed. Her search for answers forms the structure of this book. Although the author writes about her
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: Too Poor to Live, But Not Too Well to Die
In March 2024, Canadians with mental health problems who haven’t found significant relief from their condition will be able to get Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD). As I wrote recently of the mental health crisis, “We no longer lock people up in asylums; instead, we give them less than they
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: Disagnosing Mental Illness During Difficult Times
A guest essay in the NY Times makes some excellent points about the way we’re framing mental health issues in kids. Psychologist Darby Saxbe discusses the well-intentioned but problematic way many schools have added mental health resources, like those focusing on emotional regulation or mindfulness: “Recent studies have found that
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: Inaccessible Accessibility
Why is remote learning suddenly so difficult to access when we have all the tech we need to pull it off? When I was in grade 12, I started to just show up to classes I needed to go to. I had high 90s, so I just went for clarification when
Continue readingwmtc: real heroes for real reasons: female athletes moving the world forward
These days I can’t blog about events or issues that are meaningful to me until they’re old news — which of course in today’s world can mean only days or weeks past. The upside of my delayed response is an opportunity to use a wider lens and see more connections
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: Staying Healthy Takes Work
If social media is any barometer of this, anti-mask abuse appears to be skyrocketing. Fixed it for ya! There are tons of comments by the Covid cautious about about being accosted at stores and in the street, followed by others suggesting that’s just not happening. I wrote about being harassed
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: On Helping Professions
Should mental health professionals be more concerned about the spread of a brain-invasive virus that affects mental health by doing a number on the brain?? Amanda Hu wrote “I feel like therapists and counselors as an entire profession (save a few individuals) not understanding how serious Covid is, thinking it’s
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: Children Risk More Illnesses after Covid
What every pediatrician in the world needs to read – from tern: Correct me if I’m wrong, but this is a really bad thing, isn’t it? I wonder what the percentage is after the 2nd, 5th, 8th, and 12th infection? Here’s a really really interesting point in the study: Only
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: Fraud Fest in Waterloo Region
Catherine Fife and Debbie Chapman speaking to protesters. It feels like we turned a dark corner in Ontario. In my hometown in particular. Doug Ford came to K-W to be greeted by tons of protesters including overt representation from ETFO, OSSTF, OECTA, CUPE, OBSCU, Liberals, Greens, and, of course, the
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Afternoon Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – The Associated Press reports on how the climate breakdown is producing every form of extreme weather everywhere all at once, while E.M. Fischer et al. study how even more intense heat waves are an imminent possibility. And Brishti Basu points out how younger
Continue readingwmtc: re-setting expectations: let’s all stop apologizing for not being instantly available all the time
Long ago, when emailing first became widely used, I had several long-distance friendships that were conducted entirely by email. I noticed that almost every email began the same way: “Sorry I haven’t written in so long…” or “Sorry I’ve been out of touch…” or something similar. That’s when I instituted
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: Maté: Part Depth Psychology, but Part Questionable Quick Fix
He received the Order of Canada, profoundly helped many people with addiction on the streets of Vancouver, and is much loved and admired, but some of Dr. Gabor Maté’s claims feel like they don’t hold water. And some claims might actually be dangerous if blindly accepted. I’ve encountered Maté in
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: ASD Assessments
Assessments for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are sometimes a piece of work. I’ll look at two of them here. As a reminder, everyone with ASD is really different from one another. If you know one person with autism, you know one person with autism. The diagnostic categories are general and
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: Problems with Psychiatry
Paul Minot, MD, wrote a thread inviting other threads on the practice of psychiatry. Caveat, I have no idea of the credibility of any of these claims, but some make a lot of sense to me: “I’ve been practicing psychiatry for 38 years. I love my job, my peers, and
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: Chris Hedges on Our Current State of Paralysis
Hedges writes on Substack now, if you haven’t been able to find him lately, and his piece today is excellent. He starts by pointing out the growing rich-poor divide that is seeing the top earnings increase by almost 90% in the last decease in the states, while the lowest struggle
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: Forced Exposure in Hospitals
If you’re feeling unwell, McMaster is advising you to NOT go to a hospital because they no longer require masks there, and they don’t want people in there spreading their diseased germs around. Wha…?? Some doctors and nurses are excited to ditch their masks, despite the potential harm that could come
Continue readingwmtc: "can you see the head?" : things i heard at the library: an occasional series, #39
At the Port Hardy library, we serve many marginalized people. They are poor, street-involved, struggling with the intertwined impacts of intergenerational trauma, mental illness, and addiction. The most common impact we see is alcohol addiction. The reasons are no mystery: alcohol is cheap, legal, and readily available. I have no
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