Is love a marathon or a sprint? For your brain, it’s both. Most of us are familiar with the rush associated with ‘falling in love’. Sweaty palms, a racing heart, a little bit of a swoon every time your new love looks at you, and a tendency to overhaul the other things going on in […]
Yes. The answer is an unequivocal, irrefutable yes. We can see this in anecdotal personal experiences and in research. Let’s start with an anecdote and then we’ll explore some research and what it might mean for you on your own journey. In the past, I struggled with a bunch of different mental illness diagnoses. The […]
There’s this old Buddhist story about a king that proposes a game to a group of monks. They must compete to identify an animal in a dark room. Whichever monk identifies the animal first will become the head monk at a temple the king is building. Eager to demonstrate their wisdom to the king, to […]
The US Food and Drug Administration recently asked Endo Pharmaceuticals to take their “uncrushable” opioid painkiller, Opana ER, off the market because of public health concerns about the potential for abuse. “FDA requests removal of Opana ER for risks related to abuse” Not only is this the first time the FDA has recalled a drug […]
If you saw Matt’s post last week on that Icelandic model for reducing drug use amongst youth–if you didn’t, read it here–you might be wondering: Why can’t we do that in North America? Well, one of the reasons is because the healthcare systems in the US and Canada are heavily invested in what’s known as the “disease model” […]
As I’ve been seeing more of the world’s countries legalize drugs like cannabis, I can’t help but think about all the other addictive substances and behaviors people are already addicted to. I feel like legalizing less harmful drugs can be a good thing for other social reasons(especially harsh criminal sentencing), but substance abuse is still […]
It’s like any addiction–the more you try to get the feeling you want, the more withdrawal you’ll experience until you’re left with nothing but the withdrawal and you’ve destroyed your life and the lives of those around you chasing a feeling it’s impossible to grasp if you try to grasp it.
France instituted a new labour law this year which included a provision that asks companies with more than 50 employees to negotiate with their staff to establish times when the employees may digitally disconnect from the office. There are no penalties for companies that don’t establish a code of conduct around email use but the law is meant to, […]
For OCD Awareness Week, Mark did a Q&A with The Mighty all about recovery from OCD, an overview of some of the OCD symptoms he dealt with, the benefits of approaching comorbid mental illness labels as one big bucket rather than a million different problems, the problems with our mental healthcare system, the differences between how his […]
In this interview from the City of Brains Project, Mike shares the story of supporting his brother finding help for schizophrenia in Toronto’s mental healthcare system. The story spans several years, bouncing around multiple hospitals and mental health services, interactions with the justice system, and personal mental health challenges. It’s a detailed, all-too-common description of […]