The post follows on from last weeks Zen and Art of Psychopharmacology and links with Potentially Inappropriate Deprescribing PID on RxISK. Tullio Giraldi and I first e-met in 2009. Introducing himself, he painted an unusual background. He had been a pharmacologist but now his interests lay in Buddhism and psychotherapy. I learnt later that he was an enthusiastic sailor … [Read more...] about An Archipelago of Realities
Zen and the Art of Psychopharmacology
This post outlines an article that will appear in the next issue of Ethical Human Psychology and Psychiatry - Zen and the Art of MoodCycle Maintenance - borrowing from the title of a semi-philosophical book with Zen and MotorCyles in its title that was well-known when some of us were young. The full article with references and footnotes will be published imminently. It's … [Read more...] about Zen and the Art of Psychopharmacology
The Great Silence and Moral Injury
Assuming things around 1998 in the graph below were what most of us would have figured until recently was what normal should look like – by that I mean as we might have expected things to be – there has been a dramatic change since 1998. See Conspiracy of Silence. No one, until recently, would have expected teens to be collecting disability payments and the rate of disability … [Read more...] about The Great Silence and Moral Injury
The Welfare State Conspiracy of Silence
This graph recreates history. In Britain by 1935, Fertility Rates had fallen below 2.1 – the number of children women have on average - 1.8 and stayed there. The national replacement rate is 2.1. Given the steep slope down from 5.0 to 1.8 over less than 50 years, there is little reason to think in the ordinary course of events that Fertility Rates were likely for any obvious … [Read more...] about The Welfare State Conspiracy of Silence
Why the Kids Aren’t Growing Up
I was asked by Mandy Payne at Health Sense to review Bad Therapy due to be published today and agreed because an earlier book by Abigail Shrier, Irreversible Damage, had worked for me. Reviews of Bad Therapy are tumbling out at the moment - the Daily Mail has two - one by the Mail - Generation Sicknote and one by Abigail. The Mail front page review neatly has a link … [Read more...] about Why the Kids Aren’t Growing Up
It’s Health’s Illusions I Recall
There is a core concept shaping the ‘market’ in health, the concept of an assay. Few doctors or patients understand it. This article explains what assays are, how they entered healthcare and the consequences of failing to grasp the role they play. This post by Harriet Vogt and David Healy is an illustrated version of a peer-reviewed citable academic article Randomized … [Read more...] about It’s Health’s Illusions I Recall
Efficiency is not the Supreme Virtue
I was staying in Aubervilliers last November for a “Whistleblowers” Lanceurs d’Alerte conference. Aubervilliers is in the North-East of Paris – not one of the tourist areas. Some French friends suggested the reason Paris was hosting the Olympics was because it offered the authorities an opportunity to flatten that part of the city and regenerate it – clearing out the … [Read more...] about Efficiency is not the Supreme Virtue
TAIL Wags God – Technology and Morality
AiDA - Assistance in Dying Altruistically - featured in Liberty Equality and Fertility. Here's AIDA's picture. It likely depends on your mood as you look at the picture. She might make an AiDA option look attractive or add to its horror. Some people, particularly mothers, can be extraordinarily altruistic, and might think they could sacrifice themselves for the good of their … [Read more...] about TAIL Wags God – Technology and Morality
Liberty, Equality and Fertility
This post is partnered with a Timeline on Sex, Fertility, France and Serotonin on RxISK MAiD I am on a listserve that includes Trudo Lemmens a vocal opponent of Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) in Canada. Canada seems to be going about MAiD particularly enthusiastically. Quite apart from Trudo being a long standing friend, I am impressed with the coherence, morality and … [Read more...] about Liberty, Equality and Fertility
Pharmageddon and Our HealthCare Climate
This post centers on one member of our twin greatest problems - the changing climate of healthcare - as do HealthCare Gone Mad and Pharmageddon and Fertility., and older posts - Healthcare and the Global Climate and all posts in the Politics of Care Forum. There are linked posts on RxISK.org, starting with The Cradle of Civilization and forthcoming posts on A Sex and … [Read more...] about Pharmageddon and Our HealthCare Climate