Polish photographer Arkadiusz Podniesinski recently travelled to the site of the Fukushima nuclear disaster. When he obtained permits to enter the 20km (12.5 mile) Exclusion Zone he found what looked like a post-apocalyptic film. Podniesinski is known for previously photographing the area around the
This weekend was an exciting one globally: hundreds of thousands of people took the streets to protest and stand in solidarity. Despite the large turnout, relatively few cameras were covering either the anti-TTIP protest in Berlin (around 150,000 people) or the million man march
The Indian government has announced that it is suing mega corporation Nestle over claims it deceptively allowed unsafe and illegal levels of lead in packages of Maggi instant noodles, which is one of the company’s most popular products. The lawsuit, which seeks nearly $100 million
Jon Oliver covers mental health in his newest episode of Last Week Tonight and touches on many topics that we have written about on this site. Jon Oliver is correct to mention that our treatment of the mentally ill, now and historically, has been
Depression is probably the most common psychiatric problem, impacting easily 20% of the population at some point in their life (16.9% officially in the United States). Depression has a role in normal human development, especially as a reaction to events that require cognitive restructuring.
From an “imbalance of the humors” requiring leeches to a “possession by the devil” requiring whipping or an exorcism onwards to dysfunction to be cured essentially via torture, society’s perspective of mental health and treatment has come a long way to get where it
People with psychiatric problems were not always considered fully human: even within the last 100 years problems ranging from epilepsy and schizophrenia to things like dementia, post-traumatic stress, and even childhood misbehavior were treated with shocking cruelty. Humans were chained, heated, cooled, irradiated, shocked,
If you visit the Loess Plateau right now you will find a suitably luscious landscape in the province thought to be the cradle of Chinese civilisation. Agricultural land is rich in produce and animals, tourism levels have significantly increased, and farmers are reaping the rewards of
In yet another strange case where a person has died of “natural causes” (or suicide) while in police custody, Jamycheal Mitchell was found dead in his cell in Portsmouth, Virginia. Initially jailed for stealing a snickers, mountain dew, and a Zebra cake totalling $5,
There is a degree of embedded sexism in the expectations we have, and stories we tell, within our culture. I am not talking about words like “humanity” having man in it, but instead about the idea that a stoic woman would be anything but
