Depression in Recession

The BBC has an  Interesting Article on how the economic crisis is leading to an emotional crisis in many men in the face of trouble providing for their families.  The report on a survey that found men are twice as likely currently to report having suicidal thoughts, half as likely to discuss their trouble with friends or family, and while experience mental health problems in roughly equal numbers with women, they go untreated far more often.

This is interesting to me for several reasons.  The suffering goes on largely in silence.  Men don’t use health care in general to the extent that women do and they absolutely don’t use mental health care to the same extent.

Carnivals are back in town

   The fourth ever edition of the Palliative Care Grand Rounds is up at the Medical Futility Blog, having grown by leaps and bounds since it started last January.    I am honored to have been included after a long carnival absence.

   Grand Rounds is up at first time host, Nursing Handover, where she does a bang up job with accompanying photos that almost steal the show from the wonderful posts. 

Surge X Periences has been posted at Other Things Amanzi with an equally impressive montage of African Wildlife to organize compelling tales of the OR.

   Also, check out the last editions of the Disability blog carnival and Change of Shift, while a bit older, are definitely worth the look if you missed them, and just think, more will be on the way shortly.

The Best Doctor Blogs

    I am continuing my review of the best blogs mind, body, and soul at least from my perspective.  Doctor blogs have been the subject of controversy with the AMA lately.  There are privacy concerns and concerns about the professionalism of ranting about colleagues or patients in such a public forum.  While these concerns may be valid, this isn’t what I generally see in the blogs, at least not the ones I end up following anyway.  Many, many blogs focus on healthcare and its shortcomings and problems with the system.  These have their place, but for me the very best blogs share the highs and the lows of medicine.  I think the blog format is ideal for sharing the unique experience and point of view that we physicians have.  I think the best blogs humanize the doctor, the patients and in so doing feed the soul.  Here are a few of my favorites-

Points of Interest #19

And now, I present, coming in the midst of actual downtime, rest, relaxation, the bountious fruit of my idle surfing, especially for you the reader– My special vacation edition of the best posts-

Points of Interest, #18

Happy Father’s day, its that time again for me to share of the abundance of enriching and interesting items I found in my cyberspace wanderings this past week. So. without further delay, I present especially for you, the reader, the best of the Internet I could find…

Encephalon, Grand Rounds time

The 46th edition of Encephalon is up at the Neurocritic, replete all the neuroscience news and brain buzz you can handle on a biweekly basis. 

Also, check out this weeks Grand Rounds at Parallel Universes, for the best of the medical blog world.  I am honored to be among five time host’s five favorites this week.

 

Fixing cracks in the system.

    America has a love affair with blame.  When tragedy hits, do we ask what we can do to help, what we may have done to add to the problem, or other such pedestrian nonsense.  Heavens no, we want to know who screwed up and we want them to pay.  Who let this happen, we ask.  Journalists make it their only question.  Headlines wring out for weeks.  Politicians will find someone to throw under the bus.  People will go into defensive mode.  If we run out of proper candidates, we then pile it on God.  Hand wringing is everywhere, but actually identifying and solving a problem, now that is rare.

Performance enhancing drugs-for doctors?

     Thanks to the Frontal Cortex, I recently stumbled across an article on the online journal n+1 that describes firsthand a new and disturbing trend in higher education, Adderall abuse.   Adderall is a mixture of long and short acting amphetamines that keep the mind revved up and the body energized for hours.  It appears overachievers at Ivy League Universities are sorely tempted by this as it improves test taking skills, focus, recall, enables all-nighters to work, etc.  The one group of students my mind immediately went to was the classic overachiever, the medical student.