Wednesday, April 26, 2017

Special K For Breakfast

Ever notice they are pill-shaped?

"The 34-year-old neuroscientist developing a drug to prevent depression and PTSD" by Colby Itkowitz Washington Post  April 26, 2017

VANCOUVER —  At the TED2017 conference, Rebecca Brachman, the 34-year-old neuroscientist at Columbia University, adopted mini-celebrity status and given that the World Health Organization recently named depression the leading cause of disability globally, a scientist advancing preventive medicine should be treated with rock star status.

I'm so sick of ma$$ media celebrity and the illusion and imagery that comes with it. 

In 2014, Brachman was studying emotional behaviors in mice when she accidentally stumbled upon what could be one of the biggest breakthroughs in mental health pharmacology.

It's the drug ketamine, named “special K,” and if it works in humans, she envisions the drug she’s developing could be used to give to soldiers in war or aid workers in disaster zones to manage their emotions in the aftermath. She’s not trying to ‘‘to make super soldiers without empathy,’’ she said in an interview after her talk, but instead prevent the onset of future depression or anxiety all too common among those who experience and witness trauma.

It truly is going to be a Brave New World!

Brachman, at the precipice of what could be one of the biggest discoveries in mental health since antidepressants were developed in the 1950s, was among two dozen TED Fellows chosen to present at the annual conference. She said she hopes sharing her research not only drives interest, but also adds to the growing conversation around destigmatizing mental health. It’s only when society takes it as seriously as physical health that real progress will be made, she said.

Soon we will all have to report to the state psychiatrist for "evaluation." 

Can you hear me running?

With diagnoses of cancer and most other physical diseases, there is hope because of the medical treatments available. But in mental health, current treatments mostly just suppress the symptoms and the how and why they work are still being studied. Brachman said she’s seen firsthand the suffering of people in her life dealing with chronic depression or bipolar disorder and the hopelessness those illnesses can induce. 

It's the $elf-$erving cranks of psychology that are crazy, and can they do anything for this guy?

Brachman plans to begin testing the drug on humans next year....

They want you to take it if you are stressed at your job (so you will be a dutiful little zombie?).

--more--"

What's next, an artificial womb?