There is an emerging narrative that America is facing a crisis of poorly-educated men. This is a problem we should focus on — so long as we recognize that there is also a crisis among poorly-educated women. There are many stories about men falling behind and women stepping up to take their places. A recent […]
Bill Gardner
Bill Gardner is a psychologist who studies the mental health service system for children. He is a professor of pediatrics at Dalhousie University (Nova Scotia) and the Ohio State University. Bill blogs at Inequalities. Follow him on Twitter at @Bill_Gardner.
Posted inPolitics
The Physical Reality of Mental Illness
One of the persistent misunderstandings of mental illness was — unfortunately — perfectly expressed in a recent Slate Magazine article. Discussing the Oregon Medicaid Experiment, the headline writer stated that A new study suggests universal health care makes people happier but not healthier. Apparently the writer believes that ‘Health’ = ‘Physical Health,’ whereas ‘Mental Health’ […]
Posted inPolitics
Should Very Young Children Be Taking Stimulants?
The use of psychiatric medications with young children has increased greatly in the US over the last 25 years, including 0.3% of US children under 6 (perhaps 100,000 kids) who take stimulants such as Ritalin. These children are given these drugs because they have or are thought to be at risk for attention/deficit hyperactivity disorder […]
Posted inPolitics
Keep Scientific Peer Review Free of Political Intervention
The US House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology is getting involved in the selection of what specific research proposals are funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). The chair of the House Committee, Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Tx) wrote a letter to the director of the NSF that identified five current NSF grants that in […]
Posted inPolitics
Childhood Bullying: Not a Big Deal?
Children have been bullied since — well, since we’ve had childhood. There are now widespread movements to prevent school bullying. It’s clear that bullying was tragic for girls like Rehtaeh Parsons, who committed suicide after first being raped and then cyberbullied by the perpetrators, who sent pictures of the assault to her classmates. But this […]
Posted inPolitics
42.8% of US Counties Show an Increase in Female Mortality
There is a frightening graph in a recent article in Health Affairs by David Kindig and Erika Cheng. Kindig and Cheng looked at trends in male and female mortality rates from 1992-96 to 2002-06 in 3,140 US counties. What they found was that female mortality rates increased in 42.8% of counties (male mortality rates increased […]
