Dr. Nikki's Weekly Wrap-up

Over-the-counter depression meds, The APA has a new textbook, Happiness is no longer a U, A computer game may treat near-sightedness in children, FDA rule affects informed consent

Apr 19, 2024

TGIF, welcome to Dr. Nikki’s Weekly Wrap-Up, where I highlight stories related to parenting and protecting childhood.

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STAT News argues for over-the-counter antidepressants

These drugs have complex mechanisms of action, but STAT wants to put them in the hands of adults and adolescents with mental illness. Seems dangerous.

The APA still won’t follow the science

The American Psychiatric Association made it clear that it won’t be following European countries in using an evidence-based approach for gender services when it published its new textbook, Gender-Affirming Psychiatric Care. Gerald Posner calls them out in his latest New York Post op-ed.

Professor shares depressing news, literally

In 2008, Professor Blanchfower, an economist at Dartmouth, showed that rates of happiness form a U-shaped curve as we age. The professor posted his recent Canadian study on X, showing the curve is no longer a U. It now slopes downward dramatically because more people are depressed, especially young women ages 15-30.

Vision training may treat near-sightedness

Near-sightedness, or myopia, worsens after onset. JAMA Pediatrics published a study of children aged 6-18 found a reduction in the rate that their myopia worsened after playing a computer game that uses naked-eye 3-dimensional training (NVT) for just 20 minutes a day. The study can be read by going to: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2817301.

The FDA made it legal to conduct research without informed consent

Most Institutional Review Boards restrict research on children if it involves more than “minimal risk.” The U.S. Food and Drug Administration finalized a new rule in December 2023 that made it legal for clinical researchers to conduct research without obtaining informed consent when the research poses “no more than minimal risk.”