Hacker News with Generative AI: Mental Health

UnitedHealth's Playbook for Limiting Mental Health Coverage (propublica.org)
For years, it was a mystery: Seemingly out of the blue, therapists would feel like they’d tripped some invisible wire and become a target of UnitedHealth Group.
Health Insurance, Mental Health, UnitedHealth Group
13 points by hn_acker 2 days ago | 1 comments
Vegetarianism is causally correlated with negative mental well-being (frontiersin.org)
This study is the first to employ bidirectional two-sample MR analyses to investigate the causal relationships between genetically predicted vegetarianism and depressive symptoms, neuroticism, and SWB.
Vegetarianism, Mental Health, Science, Psychology, Genetics
7 points by noch 2 days ago | 4 comments
Farmers' Suicide in the United States (wikipedia.org)
Farmers are among the most likely to die by suicide, in comparison to other occupations, according to a study published in January 2020 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Agriculture, Mental Health, Suicide, United States
75 points by nativeit 3 days ago | 34 comments
Ask HN: How to deal with a serious mental health breakdown? (ycombinator.com)
I am dealing with a delicate problem concerning my housemate who has recently had a very serious mental health breakdown.
Mental Health, Advice, Relationships, Personal Experience
162 points by _qjno 8 days ago | 98 comments
My Social Anxiety Cheatsheet for Mingling (adamgrant.info)
Social Anxiety, Mental Health, Personal Development, Life Hacks
130 points by hidelooktropic 9 days ago | 56 comments
The False Promise of Device-Based Education (afterbabel.com)
In The Anxious Generation, we argued that smartphones and social media are significant contributors to the multi-national youth mental health crisis that began in the early 2010s.
Education, Technology, Mental Health
18 points by htunnicliff 9 days ago | 1 comments
Ask HN: Is it burnout or something else, and how can I recover? (ycombinator.com)
Lately, I've been struggling with work, enough that it's caused relatively minor medical issues, and I can't figure out if it's a burnout spiral or eroded trust in the company after a few rounds of layoffs and stress from poor execution an AI marathon.
Burnout, Work, Mental Health, Trust, Company Culture
18 points by modestcaptain64 11 days ago | 9 comments
After You Vote, Unplug (calnewport.com)
I’m writing this post about eighteen hours before the first polls open on Election Day, and it feels tense out there. The New York Times, for example, just posted an article headlined: “How Americans Feel About the Election: Anxious and Scared.”
Politics, Election Day, Social Media, Mental Health
5 points by billwear 16 days ago | 3 comments
The Roots of Fear: Understanding the Amygdala (ucdavis.edu)
Treating anxiety, depression and other disorders may depend on the amygdala, a part of the brain that controls strong emotional reactions, especially fear. But a deep understanding of this structure has been lacking. Now scientists at the University of California, Davis have identified new clusters of cells with differing patterns of gene expression in the amygdala of humans and non-human primates. The work could lead to more targeted treatments for disorders such as anxiety that affect tens of millions of people.
Neuroscience, Mental Health, Anxiety, Research, Human Brain
146 points by birriel 17 days ago | 54 comments
Brain stimulation at home helps to treat depression (nature.com)
A device that delivers a small electrical current to the brain has beneficial effects in cases of depression that doesn't respond to drugs or therapy.
Depression, Neuroscience, Medical Technology, Mental Health
3 points by Phreaker00 17 days ago | 1 comments
The Therapist in the Machine (thebaffler.com)
Broken Bear has purple and tan fur, a placid smile, and patched up circles on his belly: one, he tells me, covers a scar from a broken heart. The avatar of an AI chatbot designed to “love your broken self,” Broken Bear stands slightly slumped, with his paws by his sides. Even though he looks lonely, he’s not the only AI therapist currently on offer.
Artificial Intelligence, Mental Health, Technology, Chatbots
4 points by bookofjoe 18 days ago | 0 comments
The Prozac Era. What Next? (davidhealy.org)
In 1963, Hoffman la Roche launched Valium, the brand name for diazepam, a benzodiazepine.  It followed hot on the heels of Librium – chlordiazepoxide – another benzodiazepine. This was like one company producing 2 SSRIs and able to get them to numbers 1 and 2 in the charts.
Mental Health, Pharmaceuticals, History
12 points by cen4 18 days ago | 4 comments
Understanding pain, mental illness, and grief (dhruvmethi.substack.com)
I’ll start by briefly sharing my model of how our mind works. Then I’ll explain how this can augment our understanding of and response to pain, mental illness, and grief.
Psychology, Mental Health, Grief, Pain
17 points by paulpauper 18 days ago | 1 comments
Depressive Realism (wikipedia.org)
Depressive realism is the hypothesis developed by Lauren Alloy and Lyn Yvonne Abramson[1] that depressed individuals make more realistic inferences than non-depressed individuals.
Psychology, Mental Health, Research, Cognition
6 points by yamrzou 19 days ago | 0 comments
ADHD should not be treated as a disorder (economist.com)
NOT LONG ago, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) was thought to affect only school-aged boys—the naughty ones who could not sit still in class and were always getting into trouble. Today the number of ADHD diagnoses is rising fast in all age groups, with some of the biggest increases in young and middle-aged women.
ADHD, Mental Health, Diagnosis
23 points by bookofjoe 20 days ago | 8 comments
Elite School Will Offer a Day Off for Students Distressed by Election (nytimes.com)
One of New York City’s elite private schools told families on Thursday that “students who feel too emotionally distressed” the day after Election Day will be excused from classes, and that psychologists will be available during the week to provide counseling.
Education, Politics, Mental Health
22 points by SanjayMehta 20 days ago | 16 comments
The Therapist in the Machine (thebaffler.com)
Broken Bear has purple and tan fur, a placid smile, and patched up circles on his belly: one, he tells me, covers a scar from a broken heart.
Artificial Intelligence, Mental Health, Storytelling
26 points by Caiero 21 days ago | 38 comments
Is Depression Contagious? (smithsonianmag.com)
A new study suggests that among adolescents mental health disorders could be “socially transmitted,” though its researchers could not establish any direct cause.
Mental Health, Adolescents, Science, Social Transmission
6 points by orcul 23 days ago | 0 comments
More evidence that limiting social media won't boost your well-being (newscientist.com)
Cutting back on social media doesn’t seem to improve our self-esteem, emotional well-being or sleep.
Social Media, Well-being, Mental Health, Research
6 points by janandonly 23 days ago | 0 comments
What happens when people with acute psychosis meet the voices in their heads? (theguardian.com)
Using avatars in psychosis therapy can help those who hear voices, study finds
Mental Health, Psychosis, Therapy, Artificial Intelligence, Avatars
158 points by sandebert 23 days ago | 150 comments
Access to video game consoles improved mental well-being during Covid – study (psypost.org)
A natural experiment born out of the COVID-19 pandemic’s supply chain disruptions has allowed scientists in Japan to uncover the causal effects of video gaming on mental health. The findings upend common perceptions of gaming as a threat to mental well-being.
Video Games, Mental Health, COVID-19, Science, Japan
12 points by sundarurfriend 24 days ago | 2 comments
Association of holidays and the day of the week with multicounty suicide risk (bmj.com)
Suicide is an important global public health concern. According to the World Health Organization, more than 700 000 people died due to suicide in 2019, accounting for approximately 1.3% of deaths, which was higher than the number of deaths by malaria, HIV/AIDS, and breast cancer.
Public Health, Suicide, Epidemiology, Seasonal Patterns, Mental Health
7 points by rntn 25 days ago | 1 comments
Ask HN: How can tech help with mental health? (ycombinator.com)
I ask this because I'm very skeptical of mental health apps and most of the mental health startups around the scene. Feels like technology is not specially useful to tackle this, more human-centric, issue.
Mental Health, Technology, Startups, Software
10 points by Gooblebrai 25 days ago | 22 comments
Tim Burton: The internet makes me quite depressed (bbc.com)
Director Tim Burton has revealed that being on the internet makes him feel "quite depressed".
Internet Culture, Celebrities, Mental Health
28 points by tartoran 28 days ago | 53 comments
Ask HN: Hacking your brain after trauma and mental health crisis? (ycombinator.com)
This is very personal, and something I'm trying to figure out. I'm finding executive function hard to come by these days.
Mental Health, Personal Development, Trauma, Brain Science
22 points by gremlinsinc 28 days ago | 37 comments
Show HN: Karl – A virtual friend you can text (ycombinator.com)
Hi HN! We're excited to introduce "Karl" – a virtual friend you can text to share what's on your mind.
Chatbots, AI, Personal Assistants, Mental Health, Social Interaction
10 points by cheeseblubber 28 days ago | 0 comments
Apeirophobia – The Phobia of Infinity or Eternity (wikipedia.org)
Apeirophobia (from Ancient Greek: ᾰ̓́πειρος, romanized: ápeiros, lit. 'infinite, boundless') is the phobia of infinity or eternity, causing discomfort and sometimes panic attacks.
Phobias, Psychology, Mental Health
4 points by poszlem 29 days ago | 0 comments
Can A.I. be blamed for a teen's suicide? (nytimes.com)
The mother of a 14-year-old Florida boy says he became obsessed with a chatbot on Character.AI before his death.
Artificial Intelligence, Suicide, Teenagers, Mental Health
52 points by uxhacker 29 days ago | 132 comments
Adverse childhood experiences and hippocampal volumetric reductions: MRI study (sciencedirect.com)
Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have been associated with volume alterations of stress-related brain structures among aging and clinical populations, however, existing studies have predominantly assessed only one type of ACE, with small sample sizes, and it is less clear if these associations exist among a general population of young adults.
Psychology, Neuroscience, Brain Development, Mental Health, Research
8 points by rendx 30 days ago | 5 comments
Ask HN: How to Learn 'To Think'? (ycombinator.com)
I am writing this desperate to find out what to do. Most of my life, I have been 'listening' passively, without thinking. I don't have an internal monologue. I had a neuropsych evaluation which commented on my poor memory and inability to think.
Cognitive Science, Learning, Self Improvement, Mental Health
61 points by cannnot_think 30 days ago | 53 comments