MedWorm Tags: doom

Reading the Newspaper When You’re Depressed

World of Psychology — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 10:41:36 +0100

Learning to read the daily newspaper when you’re depressed is like learning to feed the ducks in Annapolis without getting crapped on by the seagulls: it demands good timing, a certain strategy, and an obnoxiously wide hat (to shield your head). I can’t check CNN.com every half hour for the most recent headlines like Eric, my husband, does. I’m way too anxious about the world’s doom and gloom. Like all the other important activities in my week, I wait for the right moment: when I have a full stomach of protein and fiber, when I’m semi-rested (very rare with two insomniacs as children), when I’m not too caffeinated (even rarer), and when I’m not ticked off at a family member (rarest). When all these circumstances align, which happens as often as a l...

The snow of doom

white pebble — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 15:52:45 +0100

It is snowing, and the current wisdom is, of course, that we’re all gonna die and freeze solid and we won’t be found until spring melts the last snow drifts. This only encourages me to go out. Send help if you don’t hear from me by March… Filed under: Ephemera Tagged: doom, postaday2011, snow (Source: white pebble)

Housebound: Paralyzed with Anxiety

World of Psychology — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 17:55:52 +0100

Within the last six months, I have treated two patients whose visits to my office were among the very few times they had left their homes — in years. They are just a few of the million or more Americans who suffer from anxiety conditions or weight problems or psychotic illnesses that lead them to dread leaving the house. Some are literally housebound and never venture outside, even confining themselves to a single room or barricading doors and windows. The housebound population is a kind of secret in America, because these folks are often embarrassed about their situation and don’t know how to get help for it. House calls, after all, went out of vogue decades ago. Conditions leading people to be housebound include agoraphobia (an intense fear of crowds and being publicly humiliated) an...

Panic Disorder

Inside Surgery — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 01:16:30 +0100

Pathophysiology 1) episodic, unpredictable attacks of intense fear, agitation, and discomfort (especially agoraphobic) 2) onset must occur over a 10 minute period 3) attacks generally occur for < 1 hour 4) exact cause is unknown, but genetic predisposition occurs Signs and Symptoms presence of at least four of the following during attack – 1) tachycardia/palpitations 2) trembling/shaking 3) sweating 4) shortness of breath 5) dizziness 6) chest pain 7) choking sensation chills or hot flushes 9) abdominal pain or diarrhea 10) sense of impending doom or death 11) feelings of anxiety Biochemistry 1) altered autonomic functioning 2) increased noradrenergic discharge from locus ceruleus Inheritance/Epidemiology onset is usually in late adolescence to early adulthood Treatment 1) SSRIs (se...

Waiting Doom - A Response to the Article in Slate

Emergiblog — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 02:41:17 +0100

Wow. I’m not even sure where to start. There is an article in Slate today regarding emergency room care. “Waiting Doom: How Hospitals are Killing E.R. Patients” was written by Dr. Zachary F. Meisel and Dr. Jesse M. Pines. They are emergency department physicians in Pennsylvania. (h/t to Robyn at An Interior Life) This post is a response to their article. Before you continue, please read their article in full, as I will be quoting from it and it is important that the quotes are taken in context. It is linked above. ******************* The article begins by summarizing the case of Esmin Green, the poor woman who collapsed in a psychiatric ER receiving no help for an hour. As we know, by then it was too late. The authors noted the autopsy showed she had suffered a pulmonary...

Mystery Illness From Outer Space

Scalpel or Sword? — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 13:13:00 +0100

September 17, 2007:Villagers in southern Peru were struck by a mysterious illness after a meteorite made a fiery crash to Earth in their area, regional authorities said Monday.Residents complained of headaches and vomiting brought on by a "strange odor," local health department official Jorge Lopez told Peruvian radio RPP.Seven policemen who went to check on the reports also became ill and had to be given oxygen before being hospitalized, Lopez said.Rescue teams and experts were dispatched to the scene, where the meteorite left a 100-foot-wide (30-meter-wide) and 20-foot-deep (six-meter-deep) crater, said local official Marco Limache."Boiling water started coming out of the crater and particles of rock and cinders were found nearby. Residents are very concerned," he said.__________________...

Doom, Manhunt 2, Duke Nukem and British Censorship

NHS Blog Doctor — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 21:14:00 +0100

Having admitted that I like motor racing, I might as well go on to make a full confession. I used to play video games. Not for a while now, but years ago I downloaded Doom from the internet (you could not buy it over the counter) and jolly good fun it was too. I do not think I was psychologically damaged by it, but who knows. I also had a copy of something called Duke Nukem but I never managed to get that running properly.The British Board of Film Classification has recently decided to ban a new game, Manhunt 2, because of its “unremitting bleakness and encouragement of casual sadism.”Rockstar Games trail the game in the following way:One chance. They took your life. Time to take it back. Manhunt 2. Coming Summer 2007.Today, The Times reports:David Cooke, the director of the BBFC, said...

Beware the Jelllyfish of Doom!

Graphictruth — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 04:00:00 +0100

Following up What if they grew teeth: I created this gallery at Zazzle so I could have an image to go with the post. I mean, face it, it needs illustration! You're in Today's Best! Hi rapexsa, view product promote online share by email Congratulations! Your product, Beware the Jellyfish of Doom!, has been selected as one of Today's Best on Zazzle! This means it will appear on the Zazzle homepage for the rest of today and it will also be added to the Todays Best Awards Showcase. Keep up the great work! Bask. Glow. The honor is yours to enjoy. -ZazzleWell, this morning I was inspired by the schaudenfreud of it all, thinking about the excuses men willl make to explain their new "track marks" to loved ones after returning from the ER...

Cancer cases predicted to double by 2030

The Cancer Blog — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 04:00:00 +0100

Filed under: All Cancers, Daily newsCancer cases are expected to more than double between the years 2000 and 2030, says the director of the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer.This upward climb will occur primarily in poor countries due to an increase in population growth, longer life expectancy, more smoking, and a lack of health care in low and medium-resource countries."What's going to happen between now and 2030 is that the population is going to increase from about 6.5 billion to 8 billion in 2030," Dr. Peter Boyle reports. "So even if the risks remain constant at each five-year age group, because we've got more people around, we're going to have more cases of cancer.It's the unfortunate successes for developed countries over the past 40 years, such...