Showing posts with label antidepressants. Show all posts
Showing posts with label antidepressants. Show all posts

Thursday, June 16, 2022

Every damn time: Man armed with "A Glock 17 pistol, two magazines, pepper spray, zip ties, a hammer, screwdriver, nail punch, crowbar, pistol light and duct tape" indicted for attempted murder of Kavanaugh "was on doctor-prescribed medication"

 

He was arrested "without incident" after allegedly calling authorities to tell them he was suicidal and wanted to kill Kavanaugh, police have said. ... During an appearance in U.S. District Court later on June 8, Roske told Judge Timothy Sullivan that he thought he had a "reasonable understanding" of the attempted murder charge, though he told the court he wasn't thinking clearly and was on doctor-prescribed medication.

More.

Seems like he was thinking pretty clearly based on what he decided to bring to the show.

No word in the story if he brought extra socks and a change of underwear.

Monday, October 19, 2015

Paul Krugman, comedian: The Danes aren't melancholy


'Nor are the Danes melancholy: Denmark ranks at or near the top on international comparisons of “life satisfaction.”'

Denmark also ranks at or near the top for antidepressant use. 

(chart source)

Saturday, October 17, 2015

Surprise, The New York Times thinks Denmark, the land of the drunk, mean and discriminatory, is just wonderful!

Here, lying through its teeth, as usual:

'[Hillary] also said, “We are not Denmark.” Nope. Not by any stretch. Denmark has a slightly higher tax load on its citizens than the United States. But it also has budget surpluses, universal health care, shorter working hours, and was recently rated by Forbes magazine as the best country in the world for business.'

Hm, the same place as this:

"Yeah yeah, I’m being too harsh. Every country has problems, Denmark’s are just different from the ones I grew up used to. Overall, Denmark is quiet, introverted and socialist, my three favorite things. Also, if I ever want to spend a weekend being drunk, mean and discriminatory, at least now I know where to go."

The Danes lately excel at being in hock, in addition to being drunk, mean and discriminatory:

"Danish households owe their creditors 321 percent of disposable incomes, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. That’s the highest ratio in the world and a level that’s prompted warnings from both the OECD and the International Monetary Fund to rein in borrowing. Danish authorities have argued that households aren’t at risk thanks to high pension and household equity levels."

Denmark has the top tax rate in the OECD in 2014, 60.4%, ahead of Sweden (56.9%), Portugal (56.5%), and France (54.5%). The rate for the US is listed at 46.3%.

Denmark's top tax rate is 30% higher than in the US. That's what The New York Times means by "slightly higher".

Denmark not coincidentally is a global frontrunner in depression and mental illness. It consumes 84 antidepressant doses per day per 1000 of population, second only to Iceland (101 doses).





Monday, September 6, 2010

One Bourbon, One Cymbalta, and One Beer

Bloomberg.com reports disturbing news about our disturbed population, which shelled out $234 billion in 2008 for prescription drugs, saying nearly half the population is on something or other. And then there's this little tidbit at the end:


For adults ages 20 to 59, antidepressants, including Eli Lilly and Co.’s Cymbalta and Pfizer Inc.’s Zoloft, were the most-used drugs.


I note from this source that in 2007 the top five antidepressants were prescribed at a rate in excess of 100 million times. The thirteen antidepressants listed were prescribed an astounding 201.9 million times. That's a lot of Americans walking around emotionally medicated, perhaps between 16 million and 50 million people. How does that compare with the depressants we consume?


Despite this headline back in March, "Alcohol Sales Sober in 2009," the economic downturn did not result in an overall decline in alcohol consumption in 2009:


Distilled spirits and wine experienced positive results, albeit at a much slower rate than in the past, while beer saw unprecedented declines. ...


Distilled spirits grew 1.7 percent in 2009 to 188.7 million cases, marking the 12th consecutive year of positive results for the category. However, the spirits market's expansion slowed from the 3.2 percent gain posted in 2007 and 2.1 percent in 2008. ...


Wine experienced a slight slowdown in its 2009 growth rate. Wine consumption increased 0.8 percent, only 0.1 percent less than its 2008 gain, and finished the year at 297.1 million 9-liter cases. ...


Total beer consumption declined 1.4 percent in 2009 to 2.9 billion cases.


I put that at about .8 cases of booze for every adult per year, 1.3 cases of wine, and 12.7 cases of beer, assuming an adult population of 228 million in 2008. That comes to about .78 ounces of booze per day, and 10 ounces of beer. In other words, a shot and a beer. And less than a glass of wine a week.


And maybe a Zoloft.