‘Politics’ at Psychology, Philosophy and Real Life, Page 10

As the British media frenzy continues about “dangerous foreign criminals” released from prison but not deported, I wonder what the furore says about us as a society. It seems to me to say something significant, because I haven’t heard a single news report about the “dangerous British criminals” who have also been released from prison after serving their time.

While unemployment rates are monitored regularly and play a crucial role in shaping government monetary policy, the hidden economic impact of depression and anxiety may be just as significant: it turns out that more people receive government benefits as a result of severe depression and anxiety than receive benefits for being unemployed. Experts are urging the government to fund 200 new treatment centres to offer psychological therapy to those affected.

The authors of a two-year inquiry, backed by the Mental Health Foundation and the Camelot Foundation, have called on the UK Government to launch a national initiative to develop better and more appropriate responses to young people who self-harm, starting with an awareness campaign targeted at professionals, parents and young people.

The Pentagon is encouraging troops returning home from Iraq to seek counselling, and more than a third of U.S. soldiers received psychological counselling soon after returning from Iraq, according to a Pentagon study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

A U.S. Senate Finance Committee report says a federal official approved a device to treat persistent depression against the advice of a scientific advisory committee. According to the Senate committee, the official overruled his scientific staff to approve the vagus nerve stimulator device, despite its not having been proved effective against depression in its only clinical trial.