Culture Watch

The authors stress that rising temperature and climate change should not be viewed as direct motivations for suicide. Instead, they point out that temperature and climate may increase the risk of suicide by affecting the likelihood that an individual situation leads to an attempt at self-harm. “Hotter temperatures are clearly not the only, nor the most important, risk factor for suicide,” Burke emphasized. “But our findings suggest that warming can have a surprisingly large impact on suicide risk, and this matters for both our understanding of mental health as well as for what we should expect as temperatures continue to warm.” more »

When wives earn more than their husbands do, a puzzling thing can happen: Husbands say they earn more than they are and wives underreport their income. New Census Bureau research shows that the incomes couples report on Census Bureau surveys do not always match their IRS filings. The Census Bureau is working to improve the quality of reported earnings by comparing an individual’s survey response with their reported response from another source.     more »

“What we’re seeing is just like what happened with opioids in the 1990s. It really does begin with overprescribing. Liberal therapeutic use of drugs in a medical setting tends to normalize their use. People start to think they’re safe and, because they make them feel good, it doesn’t matter where they get them or how many they use ... We have this whole infrastructure set up now to prevent overprescribing of opioids and address the need for addiction treatment, said Dr. Anna Lembke, a researcher and addiction specialist at Stanford University. “We need to start making benzos part of that.” more »

Rose Madeline Mula writes: Within an hour, a slate of ten contestants on The Proposal is quickly winnowed down to one, who then becomes engaged to a mystery man or woman, who has been hidden behind a pod until the end. Before the climactic engagement, the couple has spent a total of less than five minutes or so talking to each other. What’s next? A program where a marriage of strangers will be consummated, on camera, before the first commercial break?And I really don’t understand apps like Tinder that enable guys and gals to dial up an immediate “hook-up” with an unknown partner as easily as ordering delivery of a pizza. more »