Patient Resistance to Psychiatric Discourse and Power

Drawing on 5090 English reviews of 486 psychiatrists working in Canada posted on ratemds.com, this study explores how mental health service users refuse to become subjectivized by psychiatric discourse and power. We interrogate how digital mediums provide mental health service users with a community of critique to regain control over settings where there are many power imbalances. We argue that websites like ratemds.com act as a digital agora in which people are afforded the ability to make the personal political. Through critiquing their own doctors, mental health service users invert the question of what is “wrong” with them to what is “wrong” with agents of the psychiatric apparatus. By regaining a say over their treatment/conditions and insisting doctors are asking the wrong questions to better control their identities, service users refuse to accept the diagnoses, pathologies, and practices imposed on them. We discuss how their transgression in this forum provides new insights into psychiatric resistance that is of special interest to scholars and service users positioned in the Mad Studies movement

Climate change considerations for metals sequestration in mine-impacted wetlands in northern Saskatchewan

Natural wetlands have demonstrated abilities for sequestering metals and, along with constructed wetlands, are becoming popular as a sustainable and passive form of water treatment at abandoned mine sites. The sequestration of metals, such as aluminum, iron, uranium, and radium-226 within natural wetlands has been observed at a series of abandoned uranium mines in northern Saskatchewan. These sites are being managed by the Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC) through risk assessment in support of permanent closure, however, during the risk assessment process, the longevity and sustainability of metals treatment within these wetlands under a changing climate is being considered. This paper will outline the sequestration pathways within a wetland which receives mine drainage water and discuss potential for the anticipated changes under future climate conditions. Field-based studies were conducted by Ensero Solutions Inc. (Ensero) to assess the mechanisms, stability, and longevity of metals attenuation within and along water features in the wetland. Using the results from these studies, this paper will discuss the observed metals sequestration extent within the wetland, along with the various removal mechanisms that were identified. It was observed that continued sequestration of these metals, particularly uranium and radium-226, is contingent on the continued availability of organic matter within the wetland for uranium uptake, however, it is expected that the production of organic matter is susceptible to decline in water levels within the wetland under anticipated climate change conditions. Options for maintaining the water supply to the wetlands are thereby being considered as an aspect of the closure approach.Non UBCUnreviewedOthe

Meta-analytic evidence that attachment insecurity is associated with less frequent experiences of discrete positive emotions

Objective: Individual differences in attachment insecurity can have important implications for experiences of positive emotions. However, existing research on the link between attachment insecurity and positive emotional experiences has typically used a composite measure of positive emotions, overlooking the potential importance of differentiating discrete emotions. Method: We conducted a meta-analysis of 10 cross-sectional samples (N = 3215), examining how attachment insecurity is associated with self-reported frequency of experiencing positive emotions, with a distinction made between more social (i.e., love and gratitude) and less social (i.e., peace and awe or curiosity) positive emotions. Results: High (vs. low) levels of both attachment anxiety and avoidance were associated with less frequent experience of positive emotions regardless of their social relevance. When analyzing each emotion separately, we found that attachment anxiety showed negative relations to all emotions except gratitude. Attachment avoidance was negatively associated with all emotions, and the link was even stronger with love (vs. peace, awe, or curiosity). Additional analyses of daily diary data revealed that attachment anxiety and avoidance were also negatively associated with daily experiences of positive emotions, regardless of social relevance. Conclusion: Our results underscore the need to further investigate the mechanisms underlying insecure individuals' blunted positive emotional experiences