Totally agree with this assessment of mental health apps. Technology, after all, is not foolproof. An algorithm is no substitute for personal care. “We know that recovery can be a difficult, long-term process,” says Torous, who is also the director of the APA’s work group on the evaluation of smartphone apps. “People often want extra…
Any place where people communicate with others online can be a potentially dangerous place, but it can also provide a way for people to support each other. The communication tool is just that, a tool. Even Reddit, apparently: New research illuminates how some men and boys who are contemplating suicide are finding emotional support in…
This is a BBC article, so it’s clearly about folks in the UK. I’m wondering though if others outside the UK have seen this as well? Ben Rathe had a diagnosis of depression six years ago. He was given anti-depressants by his doctor and went on a course of therapy. The 30-year-old said that his…
This is really interesting. We should spend some time looking at the people who didn’t go through with it, and why. But some stories about suicide are hopeful: For every person who dies by suicide each year, another 280 people think seriously about suicide but do not kill themselves, according to data from the CDC…
This is something many of us in the child abuse survivor community have known about for awhile. Society as a whole seems to be having a similar problem. “Of course we are moving away from touch!” exclaims Francis McGlone, a professor in neuroscience at Liverpool John Moores university and a leader in the field of…
I only have an eye roll for this: When California voters passed a tax on high-income residents in 2004, backers said it would make good on the state’s “failed promise” to help counties pay for the treatment of the mentally ill. After nearly 15 years, Proposition 63 — the Mental Health Services Act — has…
