Reminders of death tend to reduce meaning in life among atheists who are told that atheism is common but not among those who are told atheism is rare, according to new research published in Frontiers in Psychology. The findings suggest that normative support for atheism may play a counterintuitive role in managing mortality concerns. .
Advocates for mental health are applauding the passage of a new law which will expand mental health support for survivors of natural disasters and terrorist attacks, like the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing. The Post-Disaster Mental Health Response Act allows FEMA to provide mental health services for survivors of not just "major disaster declarations," like the COVID-19 pandemic, but events considered smaller "emergency declarations" which took place in Boston. Manya Chylinski, a survivor of the marathon bombing, said she felt invisible as she searched for help. .
The latest report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finds teen girls are experiencing record high levels of sadness and violence. The report said 57% of teen girls in the U.S. said they felt "sad or hopeless" in 2021. .
This week s mass shooting at Michigan State University is the latest in a long list of such tragedies to happen on a campus, and students in Wisconsin are being reminded to take advantage of resources if they feel overwhelmed by the violence. Monday night s shooting comes just a couple of weeks after a shooting near a university in Texas, and past high-profile shootings have happened from Virginia Tech to Northern Illinois University. Mary Kay Battaglia, executive director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness-Wisconsin, said seeing the headlines only added to the stress many college students already carry during the academic year. .
A new book by a University of Washington professor on the death penalty finds support for executions may be motivated by people s own fear of death. Philip Hansten, professor emeritus of pharmacology at the University of Washington and author of "Death Penalty Bulls -," argues against the practice. Hansten draws on work by Ernest Becker, an anthropologist who said reminding people of their own mortality made them cling tighter to their cultural views and even increases people s punitive urges in order to defend their culture. .