Japan suicides decline as COVID-19 lockdown causes shift in stress factors
April’s 20% drop compared with a year earlier may be the result of delays to start of school year, less commuting and more time with family
Mental health & addiction
Progress on mental health and addiction is real — and often underreported. This archive covers treatment breakthroughs, policy shifts, community-led programs, and research advances that are improving lives. It’s evidence that change is possible.
Lebanon becomes first Arab country to legalize cannabis farming for medical use
Cannabis has long been illegally farmed in the fertile Bekaa Valley and government now hopes to turn it into a legal billion-dollar trade
Antibodies could offer gamechanging new treatment for OCD
Mental health conditions such as obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) could be treated in a new way using drugs that target the immune system instead of the central nervous system, suggests exciting new research.
New magnetic brain therapy relieved depression in 90% of the participants in small trial
“There’s never been a therapy for treatment-resistant depression that’s broken 55% remission rates in open-label testing,” the team says.
Reddit now lets you report users who might be at risk of self harm
The company teamed up with Crisis Text Line to offer support to users who might be suicidal or hurt themselves in some way.
British Columbia government to offer 24/7 mental health support to post-secondary students
The Province has selected Morneau Shepell to develop a free mental health counselling and referral service for post-secondary students throughout British Columbia.
Legalising gay marriage caused dramatic fall in suicides in Denmark and Sweden, study finds
A 46 per cent fall in suicides among people in same-sex marriages was recorded by comparing two time periods in Denmark and Sweden – from 1989 to 2002, and 2003 to 2016.
The state of New York sees first drop in opioid deaths since 2009
After years of rising opioid-related overdoses deaths among state residents, 2018 finally saw a drop, from 2,170 deaths in 2017, to 1,824 deaths – a 15.9 percent decrease.
Japan records lowest suicide rate since statistics were first kept in 1978
2018 marks the ninth consecutive with a year-on-year decrease in suicides in Japan and the first time in 37 years for the total to fall below 21,000.
Malaysia will decriminalize drug possession for personal use
A representative from the Malaysian government said that decriminalization is a step toward a rational drug policy that puts science and public health before punishment and incarceration.