YouTube Nerd Essays and Mental Health: A Paean
If you have been engulfed by the all-consuming black hole that is depression or anxiety, or have found yourself peering over its event horizon, then you may be fortunate enough…
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Mental Health
13 posts
Culture-Bound Syndromes: Satanic Panics, Multiple Personality Disorder & ROGD
On 6 September, at the District Court in Sydney, Australia, Richard Haynes was sentenced to forty-five years in prison for sexually abusing and torturing his daughter, Jeni. The case made…
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Minds Without Bodies: Transgenderism and the Authentic Self
Jazz Jennings, teenage transgender superstar, turns to the camera: “To all of the kids out there who are hearing this book for the first time, I just want to say…
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The Codification of Sex and the Problem with Sex Addiction
There is an old joke in psychological circles that a sex addict is someone who is having more sex than his therapist. If we accept that—as psychoanalysis claims—every joke contains…
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Gaming Disorder: The World Health Organisation Jumps the Shark
Earlier this year, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced plans to include gaming disorder—video gaming that interferes with other life responsibilities—in their International Classification of Diseases (ICD)—despite considerable controversy, including…
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Die Loser: Why We Are Killing Ourselves More, and What’s the Cure?
We are killing ourselves more than we used to. According to both the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the UK Department of Health, suicides rates have doubled…
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Impeachment: Can We Trust Mental Health Experts Who Claim that Trump is Mentally Ill?
The words used to describe Donald Trump include businessman, narcissist, liar, racist, sexist, reality TV star and president of the United States. Trump has stirred up a lot of controversy…
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Triggered: A Defeatist Metaphor
In recent years, the word trigger has become freighted with significance, evoking a high-stakes emotional activation. The term is difficult to avoid in everyday conversation and on social media, and…
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In Praise of Stoicism: Derren Brown’s Happy. Book Review.
Stoicism has got a bad rap lately. In the popular imagination, it is associated with reluctance—particularly male reluctance—to show vulnerability or talk frankly about emotions. The new APA guidelines on…
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The Case Against Mental Health Awareness Raising
In the wake of World Mental Health Day and Theresa May’s appointment of a suicide prevention minister, this might seem like the least propitious time to make a case against…
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Depression is Horrific but Suicide is not the Answer
This is not an essay I wanted to write, but, after the recent tragic loss of the author and celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain to suicide, I now feel compelled to…
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Profiling a Mass Shooter: Why Is It So Complicated?
The recent massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida has brought up the expected responses of both anguish and fear we have sadly grown accustomed to over…
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Suicide in the Time of Technology
Achilles’ death left a vacancy in the Greek ranks. Two contenders vied not only for the title of the greatest warrior but also to be the rightful heir to his…
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