GOOD: Bipartisanship, Psychedelics BAD: Romance, Mental Health TikToks
Also, the actor Patrick Stewart exists as a separate character from Picard in Star Trek
Can Congress get along well enough to get something done on mental health?
We’re joined this week by a real live congressperson, Rep. Andrea Salinas, Democrat, of Oregon’s 6th district. She is one of four chairs of the bipartisan Mental Health Caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives. When we heard about this caucus being formed (or re-formed, used to exist, hasn’t in a while), we were hopeful about maybe the political parties being able to work together on something meaningful having to do with mental health. We were also a little dubious because it’s one thing to claim you work in a bipartisan way but it’s another to, you know, get shit done.
The caucus is new and I talk to Rep. Salinas about how they intend to make meaningful legislation and action really happen in a time of not only partisan rancor but an administration that is slashing or threatening to slash the kinds of social service programs that people count on for mental health support.
So really it’s a story of hope. We hope it will work. And we gotta have hope.
Speaking of hope…
A meaningful conversation with a listener
Also on the show this week, after the second break, is a conversation I had with a listener of the show named Joslynn in Dayton, Ohio. She had made a comment in our Preshies group on Facebook that she enjoys the podcast but when an episode is over, she goes right back to her feelings of depression and isolation.
I like to think that the podcast makes a difference in people’s lives but I also think, after making hundreds of episodes, that I am guilty of bringing forward stories of people who suffered and then got better. Often that’s because those are the people willing to talk. But if I focus too much on the people who have gotten better, it comes at the risk of leaving out people, like Joslynn, who haven’t gotten better.
So we called her up and talked about what life is like when you’re not getting better and have accepted that you probably won’t. Joslynn, as she explains in our talk, is not going to hurt herself. She plans to live to a ripe old age, depressed and anxious the whole time, although she does think it sounds nice to die in a house fire or be hit by a truck, both - importantly - through no action of her own.
It was a hard thing to hear from a fellow human being and I’m glad she said it and I’m glad we recorded it. Because it’s part of the reality of mental health.
At the same time, Joslynn acknowledges that despite her lack of hope, she goes to therapy, she listens to the show, and she gets intrigued by things like the vagus nerve stimulation therapy we mentioned on the show.
My talk with Joslynn is one of the more moving and intriguing conversations I’ve had on the show in some time. I hope you’ll listen. Starts around the 32:55 mark here.
More than half of mental health TikToks contain misinformation
Yeah, that’s the thing about a platform where anyone can participate and dispense advice, it’s that the advice can be terrible. And the people giving it out can sometimes not know what the hell they’re talking about. Really often, in fact. Over hald the time.
Anyway, a new study conducted by the Guardian finds that indeed there’s a whole lot of garbage out there on TikTok.
Those seeking help are confronted with dubious advice, such as eating an orange in the shower to reduce anxiety; the promotion of supplements with a limited evidence base for alleviating anxiety, such as saffron, magnesium glycinate and holy basil; methods to heal trauma within an hour; and guidance presenting normal emotional experiences as a sign of borderline personality disorder or abuse.
…
The experts established that 52 out of 100 videos offering advice on dealing with trauma, neurodivergence, anxiety, depression and severe mental illness contained some misinformation, and that many others were vague or unhelpful.
The Guardian basically took the top 100 videos listed under #mentalhealthtips and investigated what they were saying. And most of it was hogwash. Turns out the ability to make a catchy viral video and the ability to deliver honest, informed, intelligent advice are TWO DIFFERENT ABILITIES.
Here’s some bullshit now:
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Romance is worse for your mental health than friendship is
Yeah, that’s what they’re saying. This from Psychology Today:
In research just published in the June 2025 issue of the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, Junwen M Hu of Michigan State University found out. He analyzed data from nearly 3,000 people who were contacted when they were 15, 16, 28, and 38 years old. Each time, they were asked whether they were in a romantic relationship, whether they had at least one close friend, and how depressed they felt.
The clearest and most consistent findings were what happened when single people became romantically involved: They became more depressed. That was true for single people at every age examined in the study—15, 16, 28, and 38.
Friendship, in contrast, was more likely to shield people from depression. When the participants were adults (28 and 38 years old), those who went from having no close friends to having at least one close friend became less depressed. (There was no clear connection when they were 15 or 16.)
So I think the message is clear: break up. Never kiss or sleep with someone. Don’t hold hands. Don’t get attracted to people. Only misery awaits. Or something.
New psychedelic depression treatment delivers stunning results
I won’t spend a lot of time on this one because it’s oh so scientifically dense but a new treatment has achieved a 94% remission rate in testing. Which, damn.
According to the Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) at day 14 after a single dose, patients benefited from a 21.6-point MADRS score reduction compared to a 12.1-point drop in the low-dose cohort. At the same timestamp, 70% of patients receiving 10mg achieved MADRS remission.
At the second time stamp, at 29 days, following a 15mg dose, the high-dose group (10mg + 15mg) reported a 28.0-point drop from baseline, with 94% of patients achieving remission.
The treatment effect was also seen quickly, with an 18.5 MADRS point drop measured within 24 hours. The therapy also proved durability, with improvement observed out to day 74 without any additional treatment.
94 dang percent!
Patrick Stewart exists in the Star Trek universe
And not just as the actor playing Picard. The actual guy. And Jean-Luc Picard is aware of Patrick Stewart.
David Friedman goes delightfully down a rabbit hole, having spotted an illustrated Shakespeare in Picard’s quarters.
That’s Stewart as Touchstone in As You Like It. Meaning Picard, played by Stewart, looked at Stewart, playing Touchstone, and regarded him as someone other than himself.
Tamara Yajia and, indirectly, Brad Pitt on Sleeping with Celebrities
Comedian, actor, and author Tamara Yajia has a new book Cry for Me, Argentina: My Life as a Child Star that doesn’t spend all that much time on the subject of charcuterie boards. But that’s what our discussion is for. Learn about Tamara’s grandfather’s extensive and somewhat emotionally charged boards and how they inspired her to make vast boards of her own, first in England and then in America. Learn also about how Brad Pitt became such a fan of Tamara’s charcuterie-informed podcast that he invited her over to his place for… charcuterie. Truth be told, he probably had someone else put it together but it was a nice gesture nonetheless. Tamara lays out a spread of conversation about salami, cheese, but never candy or fish, as you drift off to a delicious sleep.
