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China to US: Your iPad Is Killing Me

Douglas Faneuil — Wed, 26 May 2010 21:25:43 +0000

After a string of self-inflicted deaths at iPhone- and iPad-manufacturing Foxconn factories in China, employees are being asked to sign no-suicide pledges, according to a Taiwanese cable news report passed on by Australia’s Sydney Morning Herald. The company is also surrounding its buildings with nets to catch jumpers.”

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[I don't want to suggest that buying an iPad is an act of murder, but in our ever-demanding quest for cheaper products, we're the ones forcing big business to "externalize costs." (Watch The Story of Stuff for an excellent illustration of this phenomenon.) If an iPad seems miraculously cheap, it isn't – someone, or something (the planet, say), is paying the price for your savings. The notion that everyone should be able to afford an iPad is delightfully democratic. Unfortunately, citizens in any fairly representative government wouldn't stand for conditions like Foxconn's. Democratizing technology seems at odds with democratizing the world. -Ed.]

Nebraska to Require Mental Health Screening for Abortions

Douglas Faneuil — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 17:34:56 +0000

Whatever you think about a woman’s right to choose, this should concern you. The hypocrisy is staggering: anti-abortion activists take pride in pressuring young women out of abortions, then require doctors “to screen women to determine whether they were pressured into having abortions.” Young women’s lives should not be a battleground (a point made marvelously here). It is one thing to make abortion illegal; it’s quite another to make it shrouded, shameful and maddening. Even if you think abortion is immoral, women who have them – legally or otherwise – should not be denied our compassion and care.

This pending law in Nebraska correlates abortion with mental weakness; it suggests that women who are pressured to have an abortion should be handled with kid gloves. First of all, women face all kinds of pressure from all sides at this juncture: lovers, friends, family, and even circumstances themselves. Making a choice under pressure doesn’t mean that it’s a bad choice. Most important choices in life are made this way. Second of all, if we’re honest about these pressures, then we can see this law for what it is: an attempt to use the stigma of mental illness against women considering abortion.

As you probably know from reading this blog, I’m all about de-stigmatizing mental illness. This stigma leads to suicide all the time – every day. It killed my sister, who took her own life before she was willing to take an anti-depressant (even after she filled a prescription). So the thought of using this stigma, reinforcing it, for political victory makes my blood boil. Whatever your position on abortion, we must do better than this law.

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The Quickest Way to Alleviate Depression?

Douglas Faneuil — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 03:12:22 +0000

Sleep deprivation used as a treatment for depression is efficacious and robust: it works quickly, is relatively easy to administer, inexpensive, relatively safe and it also alleviates other types of clinical depression. Sleep deprivation can elevate your mood even if you are not depressed, and can induce euphoria. This throws a new light on insomnia.

This remarkable result is not well known outside a small circle of sleep researchers for three good reasons. First, sleep deprivation is not as convenient as taking a pill. Second, prolonged sleep deprivation is not exactly a desirable state; it leads to cognitive defects, such as reduced working memory and impaired decision making. Finally, depression recurs after the mother, inevitably, succumbs to sleep, even for a short nap. Nonetheless this is an incredibly important observation; it shows that depression can be rapidly reversed and suggests that something is happening in the sleeping brain to bring on episodes of depression.”

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[Fascinating as a short-term means to dampening pain – but one still has to wait till nighttime to lose any sleep. -Ed.]

Gwyneth Paltrow Comes Out

Douglas Faneuil — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 13:53:29 +0000

I think I’m scared of something, like there’s something I need to figure out.”

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‘You Have to Remember… Lee Was Really Happy’

Douglas Faneuil — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 15:46:20 +0000

I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so much with a human being.”

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[A wonderful follow-up to this post. Props to Cathy Horyn, who really hits all the bases in writing responsibly about a suicide.]

Sometimes Words Fail

Douglas Faneuil — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 15:52:11 +0000

There’ve been lots of suicides in the news lately. I’ve been sitting on my own comments. Sometimes words fail me. Sometimes I’d rather not speak, or develop an opinion. This isn’t a great documentary, but very well worth watching in the wake of recent events.

Watch ‘Masters of Style: Alexander McQueen’

Mind Hacks: Injecting Heroin With Doctor

Douglas Faneuil — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 15:43:37 +0000

Mind Hacks has a nice roundup of cutting edge treatment strategies for heroin addiction…

Several countries have trialled the prescription of heroin itself, with, it turns out, a great deal of success – including better health, a reduction in criminal activity and a higher chance of actually kicking the habit. This may seem counter-intuitive, but one of the advantages of these projects is that the user is constantly in contact with health professionals who can provide addiction treatment.

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Early Rights Advocate Judi Chamberlin Dies

Douglas Faneuil — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 14:16:27 +0000

Not surprisingly, Ms. Chamberlin was a critic of the old system, of large institutions in which people were given little hope of recovery and essentially told to accept that they would always lead a limited life.”

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Read Judi’s Blog, Life As A Hospice Patient

Govt: Suicides Don’t Deserve Condolence Letter

Douglas Faneuil — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 15:43:53 +0000

If an American soldier is wounded and then dies or is killed immediately in Iraq or Afghanistan, the President of the United States and The Secretary of Defense write a condolence letter to the family. However, if an American soldier is wounded physically and /or psychologically during his action in Iraq or Afghanistan and then commits suicide there is no letter of condolence written to his or her family by the President and the Secretary of Defense. There are now more suicides among our combat troops than all those killed by enemy fire in Iraq and Afghanistan.”

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More On Free Choice and Well-being

Douglas Faneuil — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 16:00:08 +0000

An interesting addendum to last Friday’s post:

Americans live in a political, social, and historical context that advances personal freedom, choice, and self-determination above all else,” write authors Hazel Rose Markus (Stanford University) and Barry Schwartz (Swarthmore College). “Contemporary psychology has proliferated this emphasis on choice and self-determination as the key to healthy psychological functioning…”

“Moreover, the enormous opportunity for growth and self-advancement that flows from unlimited freedom of choice may diminish rather than enhance subjective well-being… Even in contexts where choice can foster freedom, empowerment, and independence, it is not an unalloyed good. Choice can also produce a numbing uncertainty, depression, and selfishness.”

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[Ironically, we solve this dilemma by choosing to limit our choices. Shopping for clothes used to be a nightmare for me, because I didn't know where to begin – until I learned to take my whims more seriously. Once I started dismissing most things out of hand (often with no good reason), I could get choosing underway. -Ed.]