What does it mean to do chores mindfully?  Feeling the warmth of the water on your hands while washing the dishes, the weight of them. Not rushing through to something better. More like a bird building their nest. Part of the art. Part of the song. 

‘Calm with Kyle’ shares an interesting technique to practice turning down anxiety.

From the paper: The processing of positive memories technique (PPMT) is a promising new adjunctive treatment approach for PTSD that involves the detailed narration and processing of specific positive memories (Contractor et al., 2021). PPMT is based on the positive memory PTSD model, which integrates findings from experimental research, memory-based interventions, and positive psychology intervention research. This model outlines…

From the WSJ: The fundamental problem is that federal law created an incentive structure that makes psychiatric medication the default for tens of millions of Americans who might be better served by therapy, lifestyle intervention or no clinical intervention at all. The rise in diagnoses and the “prescription cascade” used to treat symptoms resultant from…

From the NYTimes: Under one classification widely used among the scientific community, essentially any foods or drinks made with ingredients you wouldn’t find in a home kitchen are defined as ultraprocessed. If regulators adopt that sort of definition, nearly three-quarters of foods sold in the United States could be deemed ultraprocessed. […] Many scientists support…

From the WSJ: Scientists don’t yet understand who will benefit from a particular antidepressant, or any antidepressant at all, beyond a placebo effect of taking a pill. Only 15% of people with major depression experienced a substantial benefit from taking antidepressants beyond the placebo effect, according to a 2022 study.  HHS will encourage doctors to consider…

An interesting paper: Abstract Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition with widespread effects on mental and physical health and mortality. In this paper, we present the current state of research on the epidemiology of PTSD, including its prevalence, risk factors, and impact. The U.S. lifetime prevalence of PTSD is estimated to be…

An excellent award-winning documentary examining the harms of over- and mis-prescribing psychiatric medications for ‘normal’ human suffering.