GOOD NEWS: Precision depression treatment and co(s/z)y games are great!
GOOD NEWS: Precision depression treatment and co(s/z)y games are great!
Bad news: military mental health care is a giant mess
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If this enterprise can’t raise enough money from listeners/readers, I swear to God, I’ll turn this show around. Don’t think I won’t, mister. If you’ve already donated, thank you. If not, go here, pick a level that works for you, then select DEPRESH MODE from the list of shows. And thank you.
Dr. Leanne Williams and precision treatment for depression
My guest on the podcast this week is Dr. Leanne Williams from Stanford University. We talk about her incredibly cool and exciting work in precision treatment for depression, specifically mapping the brain activity of people with depression, identifying types of depression brains, and establishing clear links between those types and particular treatment methods.
One of the most frustrating parts - ah hell, let’s call it the MOST frustrating part - of treating depression is the seemingly infinite trial and error approach. You try Zoloft, it doesn’t work so you try Prozac, it doesn’t work so you try Venlefaxine, and then you try TMS treatment and then you try something else and on and on and freaking on. It can feel like so much pasta flung at a fridge door while you wait for something to stick. It’s maddening and really saps your ability to maintain hope that anything will work. Then sometimes something works! And then after a while it stops working! And you’re back to the trial and error.
Precision treatment, which is already widely used for things like cancer, hasn’t been applied to mental health care much in the past but Dr. Williams is doing something about that. It’s a really interesting and hopeful conversation and I hope you give a listen.
The good news: there are mental health benefits of “cosy games”
An article from the BBC, which explains the spelling of cozy, talks about the love that certain gentle games are getting in the mental health treatment community. Talking here about games like Animal Crossing and Pokemon Go, where it’s not so much about violence or crushing an opponent but about existing in a gentler world.
According to mental health charity Mind Cymru, cosy gaming can provide a coping mechanism for people dealing with mental health issues, and is also a good way of practising mindfulness.
Mum-of-five Danii Wills, 32, from Rhondda Cynon Taf, has anxiety and depression and has recently been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).
She started gaming when she was young, and later turned to role-playing games such as Pokémon Red and The Sims, both of which are seen by many as cosy games.
The bad news: military mental healthcare is a goddamn mess
Military.com did an extensive investigation into the mental healthcare system for veterans and found that it stinks real bad. Canceled appointments, no-show appointments, and just general mismanagement that really damages people in very vulnerable situations.
The Department of Veterans Affairs actively encourages veterans to enroll in VA health care, and officials, including VA Secretary Denis McDonough, voice pride in the department's expertise treating combat-related mental health conditions. In 2023 alone, nearly 11% of the nation's 18.1 million veterans sought mental health services at the VA, having 19.6 million behavioral health "encounters" with the VA, including appointments, walk-ins and emergency room visits.
But veterans say they often can't get individual therapy appointments to accompany psychiatric medical care, and when they do connect, the treatment often is derailed by appointment cancellations and scheduling problems, according to more than a dozen veterans and current and former VA employees interviewed by Military.com.
Now you’ll be able to quit your gym membership with one click
…instead of going through a whole mountain of goddamn rigamarole and having to call a special number and otherwise surmount a whole goddamn series of goddamn obstacles. The Federal Trade Commission is issuing a new ruling that lets you quit stuff with one click. Hooray.
Under the rule, businesses can’t force customers to cancel a subscription using a method different from how they signed up. For example, if you signed up for a subscription with an online form, companies can’t require you to call them or chat with a live agent to cancel. The FTC will also require businesses to clearly disclose the terms of their subscriptions and get customer consent before charging them.
Lennon Parham on Sleeping with Celebrities
The actress who you’ve seen in a billion things drags out her CD binders to put you to sleep.
If you are unfamiliar with the concept of CD binders, then you are either too young to have ever used them or, perhaps, far too old. If you are unfamiliar with the concept of Lennon Parham, then you are just not a person who enjoys television and entertainment. She has been featured in Veep, Arrested Development, Mad Men, and a variety of other shows you already enjoy, so quit acting like you don’t know who she is. Seriously, cut it out. Lennon lulls you to sleep by walking through her semi-carefully organized CD collection and tells stories about acquiring each one, something you can’t do with Spotify, you punk kids.
