“Only people who are capable of loving strongly can also suffer great sorrow, but this same necessity of loving serves to counteract their grief and heals them.”
― Leo Tolstoy
Grief
Author: chipikadzongwe
Psychiatrist
“Inside Facebook’s Suicide Algorithm” AND More on Best 5 Monday Reads
Hello everyone! I hope all of you had a wonderful weekend. Lets begin our week with Best 5 Reads!
1) Facebook’s AI Suicide Prevention Program: Likes and Dislikes
One year after the launch of an artificial intelligence (AI) program that scans accounts for signs of suicidal intent in its users, experts weigh in with their likes and dislikes of the initiative.
2) Inside Facebook’s Suicide Algorithm
Here’s how the company uses artificial intelligence to predict your mental state from your posts
3) First ever cross-government suicide prevention plan published
The plan for reducing deaths from suicide in England has a focus on how social media and the latest technology can identify those most at risk.
4) To Make Sense of the Present, Brains May Predict the Future
A controversial theory suggests that perception, motor control, memory and other brain functions all depend on comparisons between ongoing actual experiences and the…
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“How to Develop Better Habits in 2019” AND More on Best 5 Friday Reads
Hello everyone and welcome to another edition of Best 5 Reads. Lets begin!
1) How to Develop Better Habits in 2019
Just about everyone wants to cultivate better habits. The problem is, very few of us want to do the work to make those habits a reality. We hope they will magically develop, that one day we’ll just wake up (early, without even considering the snooze button) and head straight to the gym. Then we’ll have a healthy breakfast and sit right down with that creative project we’ve been putting off for months.
At some point our desire to smoke or lie or complain will mysteriously disappear too. The reality? This has never happened for anyone, and it’s never going to happen. This is what inspired Epictetus’ famous quote from 2,000 years ago: “How long are you going to wait before you demand the best for yourself?” He’s really asking…
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Information sheet on opioid overdose – WHO
Key facts
- Opioids are psychoactive substances derived from the opium poppy, or their synthetic analogues. Examples are morphine and heroin.
- About 275 million people worldwide (5.6 per cent of the global population aged 15–64 years) used drugs at least once during 2016. Among them, there were about 34 million people who used opioids and about 19 million who used opiates.
- There were an estimated 27 million people who suffered from opioid use disorders in 2016. The majority of people dependent on opioids used illicitly cultivated and manufactured heroin, but an increasing proportion used prescription opioids.
- Roughly 450,000 people died as a result of drug use in 2015. Of those deaths, about 160 thousands were directly associated with drug use disorders and about 118 thousands with opioid use disorders.
- Overdose deaths contribute to between roughly a third and a half of all drug-related deaths, which are attributable in most cases to opioids. Lifetime prevalence of witnessed overdose among drug users is about 70%.
- There are effective treatments for opioid dependence yet less than 10% of people who need such treatment are receiving it.
- Due to their pharmacological effects, opioids in high doses can cause respiratory depression and death.
- The inexpensive medication naloxone can completely reverse the effects of opioid overdose and prevent deaths due to opioid overdose.
Reference
Integrating mental and physical health care – WHO
People with severe mental disorders, such as severe depression, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, generally die 10-20 years earlier than the general population. Most of these premature deaths are due to physical health conditions that could be prevented with better access to quality health services.
WHO has released evidence-based guidelines to help manage physical conditions such as heart disease, diabetes or hepatitis in adults with severe mental disorders.
