Mill P Writes

  A new study out of Finland, as reported on May 14, 2025, reveals that children diagnosed with ADHD are staying on medication far longer than we’ve ever had reliable data for—and yet the safety net of clinical evidence hasn’t kept pace. On average, kids in the Finnish cohort remain medicated for more than three years, and those in the top decile endure treatment for over seven years. Imagine handing someone a pair of wings without teaching them to fly—and now envision those wings strapped on for years without knowing how they affect the body. The study lead, Päivi Ruokoniemi, says, “a significant proportion of young children, especially boys, are on ADHD medication for years, throughout their comprehensive school years.” That’s not just care—that’s a long flight into the unknown. Yet, the regulatory safety net only extends to a one‑year randomized study window. After that, we’re essentially gliding blind. Boys start younger and stick around longer. The largest group—boys diagno...

Imagine therapy exposing your psyche like a Sinatra tune—smooth, emotive, and occasionally accompanied by the unspeakable trumpet of a whoopee cushion. That's the vibe Sarah Jones strikes in her unexpectedly uproarious article “Why You Should Talk About Poop in Therapy.” At first glance, it’s the bathroom small talk nobody asked for, but stick around—this conversation is more enlightening than it smells. Jones recounts the universal cringe: “Many of my clients laugh uncomfortably when I ask them about their ‘poop routine’… ‘What does poop have to do with my emotions or with therapy?’” Picture someone discovering their therapist as a digestive detective—it’s like Indiana Jones with a plunger. But sink or flush, Jones dives into science over snicker: the gut-brain axis, starring the Enteric Nervous System—a neural brunch of over “100 million nerve cells” lining the intestines, chatting nonstop with your brain. Johns Hopkins even flips the script, suggesting GI irritation might actu...

I’ve always believed our brains are more like temperamental Swiss watches than blank slates—each gear and spring primed for mischief or genius depending on how it’s built. But as of July 7, 2025, Scientific American served me a fresh cup of neurological espresso: kids who flirt with cannabis, alcohol, or nicotine before they even hit fifteen often sport brain differences before they puff, sip, or spark anything. I picture it like this: while most of us wander through early adolescence thinking our brains are as blank as that fresh Word document at 2 am, these kids are walking around with mental landscapes already carved with deep folds, bulging regions—like geometric origami with more creases than a jiu-jitsu master’s gi. The study observed “preexisting enlargements in many brain regions and … larger brains overall” in kids who go on to experiment. It’s as if nature handed them a VIP pass to the addiction club—and the monkey is just waiting for its invitation. Researchers from the c...

I stumbled upon an NPR gem titled “When kindness becomes a habit, it improves our health” by Maria Godoy, which argues that simple acts—like tutoring kids or bringing soup to a neighbor—can boost both mental and physical well-being . It even references the Baltimore Experience Corps trial: older volunteers “didn’t experience declines in memory and executive function” and showed measurable increases in brain volume.   The article quotes Tara Gruenewald: “Volunteering or doing an act of kindness can distract you from some of the problems that you might be having... it may help to give you more perspective." Picture a neural TikTok: every “thank you” you receive floods your head with dopamine, oxytocin, and the smug satisfaction of knowing you’re basically evolving. Harvard’s Laura Kubzansky chimes in, noting that lowering stress from kindness may help protect your heart and brain I. n short, the brain literally gets buff from being nice. Now, let’s get personal: I’ve skewed too g...

  I’ll start with what Dr. Bhosale defines as cardiophobia: “an intense fear of heart diseases… patients often experience chest pain, palpitations, or breathlessness and immediately think it’s a sign of a serious heart problem.” His words land like a punch to the diaphragm—because who among us hasn’t felt our chest tighten in panic and thought, This is it. The end . Spoiler: More often than not, it’s hot air, not myocardial infarction. He lays out a smart prescription: “Consult a Cardiologist… Educate yourself… Practice relaxation techniques… Limit health‑related searches… Seek mental health support… Stay physically active." That checklist reads like common sense with the weight of a cardiologist’s pedigree. But commending knowledge and actually absorbing it are two different beasts. Which brings me back to my former weekends—days blurred by late‑night mirrors and lines, chasing illusions of invincibility. Each powder line whispered, “You’re special, untouchable”—until Mond...

Buy The Memory Broker Some stories simmer. Others scream. The Memory Broker did both. This one didn’t knock politely at the door of my imagination. It kicked it clean off the hinges and dragged me into the neon-soaked underworld of a future I didn’t even know I had in me. I was in the middle of writing Wishes of a Mortal Man —a quieter, more grounded project—when the idea for The Memory Broker hit like a jolt from a cracked-out data node. I tried to ignore it. I really did. But some stories don’t wait their turn. This one came armed with chrome teeth and a bad attitude, whispering things like: “What if memory could be bought and sold? What if someone stole the wrong one?” So I listened. I shelved Wishes (temporarily, I promise), picked up a pen—yes, a real one, because this all started while I was in rehab, where laptops and phones are locked away like weapons—and started writing. By hand. On paper. With caffeine, insomnia, and raw nerve fueling every scribbled line. Eventually I f...

  A Round of Applause for Politicians? Stop the Presses. It’s not every day that I find myself tipping my hat—or, more accurately, my metaphorical pen—to politicians. But hey, when the unlikely happens, you’ve got to call it out. Enter the National Council for Mental Wellbeing’s report on bipartisan support for mental health training programs. Yes, you read that correctly— bipartisan . For those unfamiliar, that’s political speak for, “We actually managed to agree on something without breaking into a food fight.” Color me shocked and mildly optimistic. According to the article, this rare act of political unity revolves around Mental Health First Aid (MHFA), a program designed to equip everyday people with the tools to recognize and respond to mental health crises. It’s basically CPR for the mind, and it’s the kind of thing we need a lot more of. “The program trains individuals to identify, understand, and respond to signs of mental illness and substance use disorders,” the articl...