eHealth interventions for psychiatry in Switzerland and Russia: a comparative study

IntroductionDuring the past decade, the use of digital technology to promote mental health has increased dramatically. Additionally, the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, such as travel restrictions and the disruption of face-to-face interactions, have led to an increase in the use of digital technologies. A wide variety of technologies have been developed, including messaging chatbots, virtual reality technologies, direct-to-consumer apps, and even technologies that are fully integrated into clinical care tools.MethodsThe following qualitative study is based on the opinions of mental health specialists in both countries regarding the use of digital health technologies in psychiatry in Switzerland and Russia in 2019–2020. We investigate the state of adoption of digital technologies in the field of mental health, the meaning of such technologies, and the crucial factors in the use of such technologies in psychiatry.ResultsHealth care professionals in both Russia and Switzerland are well aware of these technologies. However, the use of digital technology to promote mental health has taken different paths in these two health care settings

Childhood Brain Development, the Educational Achievement Gap, and Cognitive Enhancement

Research on the effects of adversity on the brain of children initially encountered strong skepticism mainly due to the fear of stigmatization and the potential pathologizing of poverty as a disease. Despite initial resistance, an increasing body of work demonstrates a correlation between low socioeconomic status and brain development. This article will focus specifically on the impact of poverty (material, economic, and social) on childhood brain development and educational achievement. Some suggest that the use of cognitive enhancers in healthy students is perfectly acceptable and should be promoted to counterbalance the failure of traditional means to improve educational achievements. In this article, I critically assess the claim that a broad use of cognitive enhancers should be promoted and offer an alternative approach. The first section evaluates the neuroscientific facts and evidence of the impact of poverty on brain development and outlines some of the criticisms raised against the “neuroscience of poverty.” The second section focuses on the proposal made by Ray (2016) that promotes the use of cognitive enhancers as a means to address poor educational attainment. I criticize the basis of her argument and propose a different approach I call the clinical ideal. Subsequently, I provide some ethical pointers to allow an ethical and prudent use of cognitive enhancers in the educational setting. The main point of the article is not to reject prima facie the use of cognitive enhancers in socially disadvantaged students but rather provide a more nuanced approach

H. Tristram Engelhardt, Jr.: The Man Behind the Scholar

Throughout the years I had the privilege to work for Tris as his assistant, I had the opportunity to learn about Tris the man as opposed to Tris the scholar and educator. One thing that I always wanted to know is the reason he kept his old blue Volvo, which in many ways was falling apart, but like an old friend he could not let it go. I don’t very often mention it but I am a car enthusiast, so when I see people who have a special relationship with their car it always intrigues me. Tris and his blue Volvo, a model of the late 1960s or early 1970s if I am not mistaken, was always a subject of conversation and laughs – the smell and interior of the car had their own characteristics

Moral Strangers, Proceduralism, and Moral Consensus

This essay is meant to honor H. Tristram Engelhardt, Jr. and acknowledge the influence of his work in my wrestling with the philosophical, moral, and political predicament of Western culture. I recognize my debt to Tris in my intellectual development and in my scholarship, particularly in framing a proceduralist approach to ethics. That said, I also outline some points of divergence. While I am sympathetic with his diagnosis of the predicament of Western culture and its implications for bioethics, I raise some critical points concerning the notion of moral strangers and his approach to procedural ethics. First, I outline Tris’ diagnosis of the nature of secular morality in Western culture, which by default is procedural, and examine the concept of moral strangers. Second, I critically assess Tris’ proceduralism and argue that his framework does not take into account the possibility of overlapping frameworks between various moral communities. Hence, third, I argue for a weak form of proceduralism, which allows the establishment of moral discourse through a web of partial understandings of moral issues, in spite of moral disagreements. I conclude my essay by recognizing the significance of Tris’ criticism of mainstream bioethics and underscore the importance of his legacy for the future of the field

Moral Enhancement, Neuroessentialism, and Moral Content

The conceptualization of morality by some proponents of moral bioenhancement requires particular epistemological commitments and neuroessentialist assumptions. This chapter examines these assumptions and shows why such premises are problematic for the development of a sophisticated framework of morality at the intersection of neuroscience and moral philosophy and why these premises cannot support the possibility of moral enhancement. The author provides conceptual clarity on key concepts in the moral enhancement debate, including the distinction between psychopharmacology and neurotechnologies as means to cognitive enhancement, the meaning of moral enhancement, and the crucial distinction between moral capacity and moral content. Second, he critiques neuroessentialism, pointing to a danger to reduce human behavior to neurobiology and the potential to misconceptualize human moral psychology. Third, he expands his critique of neuroessentialism, particularly with regard to the concept of moral agency and offers a viable alternative based on social practices