Neighborhoods, Community, Health

"People who know and trust their neighbors are less likely to have heart attacks. New research builds on the understated health benefits of a sense of belonging and community."

Always Talk to Strangers - The Atlantic: "There's evidence suggesting that negative factors of the neighborhood, things like density of fast food outlets, violence, noise, and poor air quality impact health,” lead researcher Eric Kim, a psychologist in his final year of doctoral work at the University of Michigan, told me. I'd add broken windows. One 2003 study found that “boarded-up housing” predicts high rates of gonorrhea in a neighborhood, as well as premature death due to cancer or complications of diabetes. (And murder.) More recently, researchers from University of Pennsylvania looked at the health detriments associated with vacant land. By their understanding, abandoned buildings lead to isolation and erosion of social relationships, mutual trust, and collective efficacy, which leads to poor physical health."

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Tobacco Funded the Science Of Stress

The Secret History Behind The Science Of Stress : Shots - Health News : NPR: "... In the years since Selye's foundational work, research on stress has exploded. There's no question that stress, particularly chronic stress in childhood, has a very serious impact on long-term health. But some scientists now argue that our usual narrative of stress — that stress is universally bad for health — is too one-sided and doesn't reflect the reality that some degree of stress can actually benefit people. Stress isn't always a bad thing. Still, the narrative of stress promoted by the tobacco industry through research and marketing is alive and well. A ghost from a long time ago continues to shape how we see, and experience, stress." (read more at link above)

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An Act of Despair

.... Nor is suicide an ultimate manifestation of “selfishness” or “cowardice,” as the reason-mongers often argue. Suicide is not a casual behavior; for all that it may entail impulsivity, it is also a profound and momentous step for which many people don’t have the force of will. At one level, the suicide of young people is obviously more tragic than the suicide of older people; youths have more of life ahead of them, more of a chance to work things out. At another level, middle-aged suicide—the vanquishing of someone who has fought off the urge for decades—is especially catastrophic. It implies the defeated acknowledgment that if things aren’t better by now, they won’t be getting better. Robin Williams’s suicide was not the self-indulgent act of someone without enough fortitude to fight back against his own demons; it was, rather, an act of despair committed by someone who knew, rightly or wrongly, that such a fight could never be won.... read more at: The New Yorker


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How to rebuild the US mental health system

How to rebuild America's mental health system, in 5 big steps | Paul S Appelbaum | The Guardian: "....Today, paying for mental health care is nobody's responsibility. Insurers pay as little as possible, often denying claims on flimsy grounds. States have cut more than $4bn from their mental health budgets in the last six years. The federal government directly contributes only a tiny amount to supporting mental health treatment beyond the coverage it provides through Medicare and Medicaid. A joint federal-state commitment is needed to funding the infrastructure of a care system, while insurers' feet are held to fire to make certain they live up their obligations under the Mental Health Parity Act...." (read more at link above)

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Exactly How Much Omega-3?

Exactly How Much Omega-3 Is in There? | Venable LLP - JDSupra:


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