The Netflix series ’13 Reasons Why’ has caused a lot of controversy for including a particularly graphic suicide scene in one of its episodes. But new research reveals that the show’s depiction of suicide is disturbing not just in and of itself. It may actually result in a suicide spike. As researchers have found, Google…
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The spiritual teacher Ram Dass often confronts the topic of suffering in his talks and in his writings. In this BBC interview from 1981, he addresses anyone who might be suffering from depression and offers a different way of approaching the condition. The default or commonly adopted response to depression – and towards mental states in…
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There are two kinds of stigma when it comes to mental illness. There is the public stigma, which is the negative reaction of the general public to people with mental health issues, and there is self-stigma: the shame, disapproval, and disgrace that people with a condition feel towards themselves for having that condition. A great…
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There’s a reason why winters in the UK are so miserable, beyond the fact that there is more rain, more biting coldness, shorter days and greyer skies. One factor contributing to miserable winters is a vitamin D deficiency. This isn’t some ploy to boost sales in vitamin D supplements – it has been suggested in…
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You wouldn’t think that an antidepressant, a medication which is supposed to alleviate depression, would cause someone to want to end their life. However, since antidepressants have been on the market, we have seen a marked increase in self-harm, suicidal thoughts, suicide attempts and completed suicides associated with their use. This mostly applies to SSRIs…
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