Mental Health
Too Old To Grow Up
Anorexia
Anorexia has one of the highest mortality rates of any psychiatric illness. People with anorexia are 18 times as likely to die from suicide as their peers. Fewer than half of those with anorexia make a full recovery.
Opinion: Anorexia Should Never Be Considered a Terminal Illness — https://undark.org/2024/02/08/opinion-anorexia-terminal-illness/
Take a Break – 12.12.23
John Mayer fan? Great. Not a fan? Skip this vid.
But Both Are Legal…right? – Updated
“We found that alcohol and THC together significantly reduced, and in some cases prevented, the ability of the prefrontal cortex in drug-exposed rats to undergo plasticity in the same way that the brains from control animals can,” said Linyuan Shi, a graduate student in the Gulley lab. “The effects were apparent in rats exposed to either drug alone, and they were most pronounced with co-exposure to both drugs. We also found the impaired plasticity was likely due to changes in signaling caused by gamma-aminobutyric acid, a chemical messenger in the brain. When we used a chemical that enhances GABA, it could rescue the deficits we saw in the animals that had been exposed to the drugs.”
Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. “Combined use of alcohol and THC can affect rat brains, study finds.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 30 November 2023 — https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/11/231130121946.htm
I’m glad I am not a rat.
Young adults who simultaneously use alcohol and marijuana (SAM) consume more drinks, are high for more hours in the day, and report more negative alcohol-related consequences.
On SAM use days, participants consumed an average of 37% more drinks, with 43% more negative alcohol consequences, were high for 10% more hours, and were more likely to feel clumsy or dizzy, compared with non-SAM use days.
Simultaneous Marijuana, Alcohol Use Linked to Worse Outcomes — https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/996595?icd=login_success_gg_match_norm&isSocial
Hmmm…
But Both Are Legal…right?
“We found that alcohol and THC together significantly reduced, and in some cases prevented, the ability of the prefrontal cortex in drug-exposed rats to undergo plasticity in the same way that the brains from control animals can,” said Linyuan Shi, a graduate student in the Gulley lab. “The effects were apparent in rats exposed to either drug alone, and they were most pronounced with co-exposure to both drugs. We also found the impaired plasticity was likely due to changes in signaling caused by gamma-aminobutyric acid, a chemical messenger in the brain. When we used a chemical that enhances GABA, it could rescue the deficits we saw in the animals that had been exposed to the drugs.”
Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. “Combined use of alcohol and THC can affect rat brains, study finds.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 30 November 2023 — https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/11/231130121946.htm
I’m glad I am not a rat.
The Best Retirement Letter Ever
My favorite excerpt from the letter:
Let’s be honest, some people in academia are horrible, arrogant, selfish and narcissistic. And no matter how much the people at the top say they deal with bad behaviour, the nasty folk do have an annoying habit of getting promoted. The way in which academia selects and rewards particular skill sets produces an over-concentration of people who are low on empathy. I’ve met a lot of those ‘special’ colleagues over the years (no names mentioned obviously). I will not miss them one jot. They create a toxic working environment , dominate the discourse, ride roughshod over the rules, and cause a great deal of harm to others and get away scot-free. They’ve done me significant mental damage, but I can now happily forget them and move on with life.
My recommendation to anyone starting out in academia is stand your ground, challenge these energy vampires and politely make it clear that you don’t want to play their stupid toxic games. They really don’t have the power that they want you to believe they have, even though the system tends to promote them to roles that are beyond their emotional competence to fulfill. Pity them for the lack of other things to do with their lives. And, remember that 98% of what we do as academics is of no importance at all out there in the real world, so when a self-entitled colleague insists that their work on their favourite gene is earth-shattering; more important than anything you could ever do; and a good reason for their career to be advanced faster than yours; just smile and ignore them. Do your own thing, at your own pace. Have a life outside the university and remember that it’s just a job.
https://journalofhumannutritionanddieteticseditor.wordpress.com/2023/11/27/thats-it/
Substance-Induced Psychosis Tied to Schizophrenia Risk
Individuals who visited the ER for substance-induced psychosis had a 160% greater risk of developing a schizophrenia spectrum disorder (SSD) compared with the general population, new research shows. Three years after an initial ER visit, 18.5% of those with substance-induced psychosis were diagnosed with an SSD. Cannabis-induced psychosis was associated with the greatest risk.
Eve Bender. Substance-Induced Psychosis Tied to Schizophrenia Risk – Medscape – Oct 04, 2023 – https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/997093
A Perspective on Mental Health Issues
Here’s the full post so you don’t have to go to X.
I am profoundly, profoundly concerned about the psychological health of both children and adults in this country. A culture overemphasizing emotional safety has robbed people of their opportunities for growth. Many people experience these opportunities as a threat, remaining permanently infantile, afraid, and unable and unwilling to cope with adversity as a result. Indeed the culture itself rather than encouraging resilience, persuades people that even minor inconveniences are personal affronts and even signs of systemic injustice visited upon them. As people begin experiencing everything that falls outside of their narrow box of predictable experience as a form of threat to be neutralized, not only are they personally deprived of growth opportunities, but they create a culture of mistrust, rigidity, and sterility, which in turn reduces in society as a whole availability of the kinds of messy experiences that are critically important for self-discovery, personal growth, and psychological resilience. The outcome is a society of the over-socialized, of the outraged, of the rule-abiding, of the sterile, and ultimately of the psychologically unwell, of the poorly adapted with scant psychological reserve for problems, crises, or even just interesting experiences that fall outside the norm but which in just days or weeks can provide the equivalent of years of life experience. By protecting everyone, we have destroyed the normal maturation process that is a central to creating psychologically well-functioning adults. The fruits of this are, well, that many young adults are now thoroughly psycho-pathological and unable to deal healthily with the normal stresses of life. I cannot be the only one to observe this and it disturbs me beyond words.
Kevin Bass PhD MS – posted on X 10.15.23
lifeunderwriter.net 
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