The hottest Stigma Substack posts right now

Privacy is important, especially regarding sensitive topics like mental illness.
Mental illness should not always be a deciding factor in evaluating someone's actions or credibility.
People should focus on behavior rather than a diagnosis when making judgments about individuals.

Caplan argues that if something is responsive to incentives, it can't be a mental illness.
Preferences can be irrational and harmful, making them akin to mental illnesses.
Mental illness can be a complex judgment based on normative considerations and other factors.

Understanding biology through personal narrative medicine
Learning from experiences and stories to break stigma
Connection between personal experiences and broader concepts like employment law

The concept of being weird but loved and popular is explored, challenging the idea that weirdness and lonliness go hand in hand.
The text discusses the complexities of mental illness and the challenges of societal perceptions, especially focusing on the need for compassion and understanding.
There is a critique of the modern tendency to medicalize behavior, like with disorders such as ARFID, and the importance of not losing sight of genuine human struggles and complexities.

Many factors contribute to suicide risk, including social isolation, perceived burdensomeness, and acquired ability to enact self-harm.
There is a need for better theories of suicide that consider various risk factors like impulsivity, access to firearms, and chronic pain.
Policies and interventions targeting factors like social media use, substance abuse, and firearm access could help mitigate suicide risk.

Get a weekly roundup of the best Substack posts, by hacker news affinity:

Social approval is a powerful motivator for people's actions.
Abundance of food and wealth is not a direct cause of obesity.
Maintaining social status and peer pressure influence behavior more than immediate benefits or pleasures.