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A Brief Word About Why Researchers Need To Go That Extra Mile After Reporting Favorable Conclusions

Scientific inquiries may result in promising conclusions for medical procedures, particular therapy treatments, potential new drugs on the market, whathaveyou. Researchers need to engage in a similar objective and thoughtful approach (Hopefully, as was the case in their studies!) by talking about the inconsistencies which may occur outside of their conclusions. It will bring awareness before these medical procedures, therapy treatments, new drugs are made available for the general public.

Widening the discussion allows members of society a greater understanding for any potential decision making for their health requirements.

When there is a not-talking-about-the-potential-risks (i.e., silence in the research narrative), that is analogous to somone receiving their filled prescription with the pharmacy neglecting to include the instruction form which details any possible negative reactions from said prescription.

Scientific inquiries are supposed to benefit society. When researchers fail to disclose any potential adverse reactions, it begs the question why the study was conducted in the first place.

Vikki

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Mental Health Services Can Only Do So Much

It’s necessary that people become aware earlier rather than later that they have a family member with a potential mental health disability and get them into treatment as soon as possible. This precautionary measure can avoid harm coming to members of society, and that family member having disputes with law enforcement authorities.

Members of the criminal justice system need to determine if they’re protecting law-abiding members of society, or criminals who actually belong in prison receiving psychiatric treatment.

Vikki

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Identifying The Correct Entity To Blame For A Societal Problem: The Epidemic Of Violence In America

The Individual Is The Weapon, And Their Instrument Of Choice To Harm Is The Method

We have to place things in their proper order in solving this disturbing issue. That begins by recognizing some members of society:

– Came from home environments which lacked guidance, supervision, and love;

– Lack strong emotional regulation, for whatever reason (i.e., learned behavior, genetic, congenital impairment, abuse);

– Are conformists to earlier deadly instances that have occurred;

– Have learned from home environment, or peers, that conflict (real, or imagined) involves picking up a tool (whatever that may be) with the intent to harm someone in resolving conflict;

– Embrace negativity and sounds that enter their minds on a daily basis (media influences);

– Lack healthy coping mechanisms;

– Are selfish (dangerously!), with a sense of entitlement;

– Already have a need to let their personal difficulties spill out into the public arena, and care less who gets physically damaged as a result;

– Possess out-of-control anger and hostility, and

– Lacked positive role models in their developmental years.

Are these all of the variables? No, but they’re a good start.

If America wants to find solutions in combatting violence in society, it begins with identifying the actual source of the problem, instead of working backwards.

Vikki

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There Can Be No Politics When Educating Public School Students

Students within the American public school system have to be taught the following basic disciplines:

Spelling

Writing

Reading

Arithmetic

Geography

Science

History

The curricula are the most important aspects in developing well-educated students. Along with the disciplines, students need intellectual curiosity about the society in which they currently live, and the eras which came before they were even born.

When there is a concerted effort to toss out publications considered offensive, sanitize history to make it less disturbing, that is the wrong approach in educating students within the public school system.

The approach can be looked upon as narrow-minded, selfish, and an instrument in promoting disharmony.

American history is imperfect! It always has been and always will be. Be that as it may, hiding said history from students does nothing but make them intellectually weak, contrary to the premise of public schools as an educational body.

As an aside, the constant listening to music with disgusting lyrics is one of the most crucial aspects in society guaranteed to destroy a young person’s psyche.

Where’s the noise on that subject?!

To the educators:

Teach students to read extremely well (which is actually the most important skill a person can have!), and then let them read:

Twain

Baldwin

Frost

Shakespeare

Ishiguro

Dostoevsky

That famous yin and yang: Washington & DuBois

Steinbeck

Lorraine Hansberry

Thoreau

The Diary of Anne Frank

Hemingway

Langston Hughes

Richard Wright

…which is a mere sampling of excellent reads!

Removing certain publications from the educational discourse take away important conversations between the young and their parents, opportunities to learn about the sufferings other racial and ethnic communities experienced, and closes the mind entirely. Removing certain publications from the educational discourse is analogous to believing that members of society always had cell phones and computers in their households, which is totally inaccurate.

Intellectual curiosity fosters healthy, smart dialogues, with the possessor having a skill to use in many areas of life. A life being unafraid, and least offended because they understand that imperfection.

Vikki

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Good News About Depression! People Are Taking Ownership Of Their Mental Health Conditions

There’s been a disconnect for the longest time regarding when people had their initial symptoms for depression, and when they made a concerted effort to receive professional diagnosis and treatment (Dattani, 2022).

Members of the public may have feared being ostracized if others found out they suffered from a mental health condition (Community Reach Center, 2019). They may have thought their symptoms would miraculously disappear. To expand further, they may have been unaware of the procedures in obtaining mental health services, while others may not have had mental health services readily available in their locale (Community Reach Center, 2019).

Regardless of the explanations for not getting mental health services, a mental health condition is probably the most intrusive ailment a person could ever encounter because the brain controls the entire body. As a result, the longer depression goes untreated the greater the chances for a brain chemical imbalance.

The Mayo Foundation For Medical Education And Research (2022) provides images [Positron Emission Tomography (PET) Scans] of a brain under the influence of depression, and what a healthy brain looks like.

Consequently, the person who could have obtained early diagnosis and been placed on a psychotherapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) treatment program (World Health Organization, 2021, and National Alliance On Mental Health, 2017), now has to be placed on psychotropics because they waited too long to seek help.

Depression can shrink the brain (i.e., the brain is under assault from depression), which can interfere with the natural flow of neurotransmitters (Amiel, 2022) and (Davey, 2015).

As the years progress, more people are getting early diagnosis for symptoms associated with depression, and doing so in earlier periods of their lives (Dattani, 2022). This acceptance can be considered a brand of preventative treatment by health consumers: People who take an active role in maintaining good health, and taking steps in avoiding a current condition from becoming worse (Health Consumers NSW, 2019).

Vikki

References

Amiel, M., M. D. (2022). What Happens To The Brain During Depression? Retrieved From https://www.transformationstreatment.center/treatment/what-happens-to-the-brain-during-depression/#:~:text=Depression%20causes%20the%20hippocampus%20to,of%20cortisol%2C%20the%20amygdala%20enlarges.

Community Rearch Center. (2019). Why People Don’t Seek Treatment For Depression. Retrieved From https://www.communityreachcenter.org/news/why-people-dont-seek-treatment-for-depression/

Dattani, S. (2022). At What Age Do People Experience Depression For the First Time? Retrieved From https://ourworldindata.org/depression-age-of-onset#:~:text=As%20the%20data%20shows%2C%20on,later%2C%20at%2031%20years%20old.

Davey, M. L. (2015). Mental Health. Chronic Depression Shrinks Brain’s Memories And Emotions. Retrieved From https://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/jun/30/chronic-depression-shrinks-brains-memories-and-emotions

Health Consumers NSW. (2019). Who Is A Health Consumer? and other definitions. Retrieved From https://www.hcnsw.org.au/consumers-toolkit/who-is-a-health-consumer-and-other-definitions/#:~:text=Health%20Consumers%20are%20people%20who,the%20service%20in%20the%20future.

Mayo Foundation For Medical Education And Research. (2022). PET Scan Of The Brain For Depression. Retrieved From https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/pet-scan/multimedia/-pet-scan-of-the-brain-for-depression/img-20007400#:~:text=A%20PET%20scan%20can%20compare,brain%20activity%20due%20to%20depression.

National Alliance On Mental Health. (2017). Depression. About Mental Health. Retrieved From https://www.nami.org/About-Mental-Illness/Mental-Health-Conditions/Depression

World Health Organization. (2021). Depression. Key Facts. Retrieved From https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/depression

Endnotes

  1. Solmi, M., Radua, J., Olivola, M., Croce, E., Soardo, L., Salazar de Pablo, G., Il Shin, J., Kirkbride, J. B., Jones, P., Kim, J. H., Kim, J. Y., Carvalho, A. F., Seeman, M. V., Correll, C. U., & Fusar-Poli, P. (2021). Age at onset of mental disorders worldwide: Large-scale meta-analysis of 192 epidemiological studies. Molecular Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-021-01161-7
    The studies included in this meta-analysis measured this age in different ways. Some studies looked at the age when symptoms of the disorder began, some looked at when they were first diagnosed, and others looked at when they first received treatment for the disorder or were first hospitalized for it. The median age of onset for some disorders, such as substance use disorders, mood disorders and anxiety disorders was earlier when it was measured by first symptoms than when it was measured by first diagnosis or first hospitalization.
  2. Medici, C. R., Videbech, P., Gustafsson, L. N., & Munk-Jørgensen, P. (2015). Mortality and secular trend in the incidence of bipolar disorder. Journal of Affective Disorders, 183, 39–44. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2015.04.032
    Mauz, E., & Jacobi, F. (2008). Psychische Störungen und soziale Ungleichheit im Geburtskohortenvergleich. Psychiatrische Praxis, 35(07), 343-352. https://www.thieme-connect.com/products/ejournals/abstract/10.1055/s-2008-1067557
    Scott, J., Etain, B., Azorin, J. M., & Bellivier, F. (2018). Secular trends in the age at onset of bipolar I disorder – Support for birth cohort effects from international, multi-centre clinical observational studies. European Psychiatry, 52, 61–67. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eurpsy.2018.04.002
    Plana‐Ripoll, O., Momen, N. C., McGrath, J. J., Wimberley, T., Brikell, I., Schendel, D., Thygesen, M., Weye, N., Pedersen, C. B., Mors, O., Mortensen, P. B., & Dalsgaard, S. (2022). Temporal changes in sex‐ and age‐specific incidence profiles of mental disorders—A nationwide study from 1970 to 2016. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, acps.13410. https://doi.org/10.1111/acps.13410
  3. Plana‐Ripoll, O., Momen, N. C., McGrath, J. J., Wimberley, T., Brikell, I., Schendel, D., Thygesen, M., Weye, N., Pedersen, C. B., Mors, O., Mortensen, P. B., & Dalsgaard, S. (2022). Temporal changes in sex‐ and age‐specific incidence profiles of mental disorders—A nationwide study from 1970 to 2016. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, acps.13410. https://doi.org/10.1111/acps.13410
  4. Schomerus, G., Schwahn, C., Holzinger, A., Corrigan, P. W., Grabe, H. J., Carta, M. G., & Angermeyer, M. C. (2012). Evolution of public attitudes about mental illness: A systematic review and meta-analysis: Evolution of public attitudes. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 125(6), 440–452. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0447.2012.01826.x
    Angermeyer, M. C., Matschinger, H., & Schomerus, G. (2013). Attitudes towards psychiatric treatment and people with mental illness: changes over two decades. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 203(2), 146-151.
  5. While 0.4% of children and adolescents were in contact with a psychiatric department in 2001, that figure was 3.3% in 2018. The Danish Health Data Authority. (2019) Key numbers about health care in Denmark (in Danish). https://sundhedsdatastyrelsen.dk/da/tal-og-analyser/analyser-og-rapporter/sundhedsvaesenet/noegletal-om-sundhedsvaesenet
    ​​Schmidt, M., Schmidt, S. A. J., Adelborg, K., Sundbøll, J., Laugesen, K., Ehrenstein, V., & Sørensen, H. T. (2019). The Danish health care system and epidemiological research: From health care contacts to database records. Clinical Epidemiology, Volume 11, 563–591. https://doi.org/10.2147/CLEP.S179083
  6. Babatunde, G. B., van Rensburg, A. J., Bhana, A., & Petersen, I. (2021). Barriers and Facilitators to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services in Low-and-Middle-Income Countries: A Scoping Review. Global Social Welfare, 8(1), 29–46. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40609-019-00158-z
    Kieling, C., Baker-Henningham, H., Belfer, M., Conti, G., Ertem, I., Omigbodun, O., Rohde, L. A., Srinath, S., Ulkuer, N., & Rahman, A. (2011). Child and adolescent mental health worldwide: Evidence for action. The Lancet, 378(9801), 1515–1525. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(11)60827-1