Archive for October 2025

People experiencing their first psychotic episode who also have skin conditions such as rashes or itching are at greater risk of depression and suicidal thoughts, according to new research presented at the ECNP meeting. Scientists found that 25% of these patients experienced suicidal ideation, compared with only 7% of those without skin issues. The study suggests that dermatological symptoms could serve as early warning markers for worse psychiatric outcomes.

Look Up Hong Kong released the survey findings on Sunday in support of its push for parents to wait until their children turn 14 before getting them a smartphone and until 16 for granting them access to social media.

In New Mexico, the Regional Farm to Food Bank program (RF2FB), created under the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act, provided contracts to over 200 farmers, ranchers, and other food producers to support locally sourced food. The 900,000 pounds of food they sold helped provide 749,502 healthy meals for the most vulnerable people in New Mexico. These sustainable contracts also helped small and midsize producers grow and scale up for the upcoming growing seasons. The US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) termination of the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program (LFPA) will not only impact New Mexico’s RF2FB program but all similar programs across the nation, which will be imperiled—or altogether abandoned—because of these funding cuts.

Neoliberalism has decimated our collective understanding of what it means for a government to serve all people, and to build mutual aid and community. It has led to the aggressive decline in social welfare services, and to the false narrative that our economic stability can only be built upon the intentional neglect of those who are most vulnerable…. Canadians must remember that a different approach is possible: we do not need to settle for the tired and ineffective status quo that has been our reality until now…. It is imperative for us to accurately identify poverty as an unnecessary societal anomaly and recognize that under neoliberalism, poverty is simply the result of a system functioning as intended.

Tens of thousands of disabled people are being excluded from working due to welfare cuts. And until recently Labour and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) covered up that it had made cuts.

The evolution has become increasingly clear: surveillance systems that once merely gathered personal data are now weaponising that information to trap users in carefully constructed fantasy worlds, force-feeding them algorithmic content designed to maximise engagement at any cost. This represents not just an intensification of existing practices but a qualitative shift in how digital capitalism operates.