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Physically Healthy Woman Decides to Be Euthanized Due to Crippling Depression

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A physically healthy 28-year-old Dutch woman has decided to legally end her life due to her struggles with crippling depression, autism and borderline personality disorder, according to a report.

Zoraya ter Beek, who lives in a small village in the Netherlands near the German border, is scheduled to be euthanized in May — despite being in love with her 40-year-old boyfriend and living with two cats.

Ter Beek, who once aspired to be a psychiatrist, has been dealing with mental health struggles throughout her life.

She said she decided to be euthanized after her doctors told her, “There’s nothing more we can do for you. It’s never gonna get any better,” according to The Free Press. . .

More people are deciding to end their lives while suffering from a slew of other mental health problems like depression or anxiety amplified by economic uncertainty, climate change, social media and other issues, The Free Press reported. (Read more from “Physically Healthy Woman Decides to Be Euthanized Due to Crippling Depression” HERE)

Depression Alters Visual Processing, Study Suggests

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Individuals battling major depressive episodes were found to have abnormal visual processing, according to a Finnish study suggesting the altered perception involves changes in the cerebral cortex.

Findings published in the Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience stemmed from data involving 111 patients and 29 healthy controls. The patients under study were battling unipolar disorder, bipolar disorder and borderline personality disorder who underwent major depressive episodes.

The team of researchers from the University of Helsinki conducted two visual tests, and participants reported back the brightness and contrast of simple visual patterns. The team followed up with 74 patients after seven months and ran repeat measurements.

“What came as a surprise was that depressed patients perceived the contrast of the images shown differently from non-depressed individuals,” said Viljami Salmela, Academy of Finland research fellow and corresponding study author, in a related release. (Read more from “Depression Alters Visual Processing, Study Suggests” HERE)

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Study: Toad Venom Relieves Depression, Anxiety

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Forget meditation or standard medicine. A new study finds that a psychedelic found in toad venom may help people struggling with depression or anxiety.

Research conducted Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine shows the fast-acting psychedelic, 5-MeO-DMT (it currently lacks a marketable household name), helped relieve symptoms in about 80 percent of the 362 study participants who tried it in a group setting. The authors believe the short duration of psychedelic effects make it a more favorable therapy for patients.

“Research has shown that psychedelics given alongside psychotherapy help people with depression and anxiety. However, psychedelic sessions usually require 7 – 8 hours per session because psychedelics typically have a long duration of action,” says co-author Alan K. Davis, a postdoctoral research fellow with the university’s Behavioral Research Unit, in a release. “Because 5-MeO-DMT is short-acting and lasts approximately 30-90 minutes, it could be much easier to use as an adjunct to therapy because current therapies usually involve a 60 – 90 minute session.” . . .

5-MeO-DMT is found in the venom of the Bufo Alvarius toad (also known as The Colorado River toad), as well as in some plants, but scientists have been able to produce it synthetically. Prior research by Davis has shown the substance has a low risk for health and legal consequences. (Read more from “Study: Toad Venom Relieves Depression, Anxiety” HERE)

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Woman Dealing With Depression, Anorexia Euthanized When Doctors Decide She Can’t Be Cured

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Holland allowed a 20-something sexual abuse victim to be euthanized last year after doctors convinced her that treatment for her mental disorders was hopeless, according to The Daily Mail.

Euthanasia is a rampant problem in the Netherlands where it has been legal since 1973. Numerous reports indicate on-going abuses, including the killing of infants, the disabled and elderly without their consent.

Mentally ill patients also have been targeted for euthanasia. In the most recent case, the young woman was a victim of sexual assault who struggled with severe mental disorders, including post-traumatic stress, anorexia, chronic depression and hallucinations, according to the report. Along with being suicidal, she also had physical difficulties that kept her bedridden most of the time, the report states.

One psychiatrist told the young woman that her case had “no prospect or hope… The patient experienced her suffering as unbearable.” Despite a second doctor’s more positive outlook on her condition and recommendations for intense therapy, the young woman apparently gave up hope and allowed doctors to euthanize her about a year ago in Holland.

The Dutch Euthanasia Commission only recently released documents about her death, the report states. (Read more from “Woman Dealing With Depression, Anorexia Euthanized When Doctors Decide She Can’t Be Cured” HERE)

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The Rotten Heart of Europe: Continent-Wide Collapse Imminent? (+video)

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Photo Credit: Irish Times

Europe’s failing currency union … has been in crisis for more than three years, and there is a frighteningly high probability that it will end in continent-wide financial collapse and depression.

Nobody was more against the creation of the euro than Bernard Connolly, a senior European Commission official when the single currency’s foundations were being laid. He saw such danger in abolishing national currencies that he wrote a book warning against doing so in 1995. He has now republished the book (which cost him his job) with a new introductory essay [watch his engaging interview with Rick Santelli here]:

It is a timely contribution from someone who can lay more claim than most to foreseeing the long-unfolding crisis. Back in 1995 he wrote: “Trying to lock countries like France and Germany together via their currencies turns domestic monetary questions into international political conflicts. It damages the economic and political well-being of every country involved.” This now appears remarkably prescient.

Connolly’s argument was based on two pillars. The first was that Europe’s elites had become so obsessed with integration that they ignored all the risks and dangers of currency union in order to further their project. To this political argument he added an economic one: that the euro would not work because any and all attempts by governments to interfere in how markets determine exchange rates are economically and politically damaging…

Connolly dismisses as a “propaganda slogan” the claim that the EU has prevented war in Europe and describes those who talk of “building Europe” as being akin to Bolsheviks in their ideological single-mindedness.

Read more from this story HERE.

Obama Leading Nation Into ‘Full-On Depression’

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Barack Obama has led the nation into a “full-on depression,” according to a new poll that indicates only one in three people believes America is going in the right direction.

The poll shows a whopping 38 percent of Democrats believe America in general is “on the wrong track” or they are not sure.

The results are from a telephone poll conducted for WND by the public-opinion research and media consulting company Wenzel Strategies. It was taken Jan. 9-12 and carries a margin of error of plus or minus 3.22 percentage points.

On the basic question, 34 percent said the nation is going the right direction, 60 percent said America is on the wrong track and 6 percent said they were unsure.

The 60 percent included an overwhelming 84 percent of Republicans, a strong 66 percent majority of independents and even 30 percent of the Democrats.

Read more from this story HERE.

Celebrating Labor Day: A ‘Jobless Recovery’ On Earth, And The Future Of Workers On Mars

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Photo credit: Robert Couse-Baker

Happy Labor Day! And what better time than this annual celebration of America’s working stiffs to draw attention to our national economic recovery?

As those attached to the Dow Jones Average can attest, the economy is now perking along quite nicely, with the Dow up 57 percent since the dark days of 2009, presently soaring above 13,000. Also, the nation’s pile of wealth has grown impressively, executive paychecks have zoomed back up to Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah levels, and sales at stores like Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue are absolutely crackerjack!

The only little cloud over this otherwise sunshiny recovery is … well, you. You people for whom Labor Day is named, that is.

Not only did Wall Street’s crash knock jobs, wages, benefits, homeownership and middle-class opportunities into the ditch, but they’re still stuck there — and even sinking lower. Yet the financial elites, political establishment and media powers remain rapturously focused on the Dow, uncaring about the precipitous decline in the Doug Jones Average.

If Doug and Donna aren’t prospering, neither is America, no matter how much wealth the privileged few are lavishing on luxury goods or socking away in offshore tax havens.

Read more from this story HERE.

Fed’s Driving Youth Unemployment to Record Levels while GDP Stagnates

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Photo credit: clementine gallot

Last week, the U.S. Department of Labor released its Employment and Unemployment Among Youth—Summer 2012 report. While many youths (ages 16-24) found a summer job this year, many did not even try. Fully 39.5 percent of the youth population neither worked nor looked for work this summer. This number has trended upward over time—it is almost double the rate (22.5 percent) from July 1989.

Of those who looked for work, many could not find it. The youth unemployment rate in July 2012 was 17.1 percent. By comparison, it was only 12.4 percent in July 2000 and 10.8 percent in July 2007. For men, blacks, and Hispanics, the youth unemployment rates in July 2012 were worse—at 17.9 percent, 28.6 percent, and 18.5 percent respectively.

Why are fewer youth participating in the labor force, and even fewer working? In part, because a bad economy always hits younger workers harder. The central problem with the labor market right now is a dramatic slowdown in job creation. While job losses rose at the start of the recession, they have since returned to pre-recession levels.

Hiring, meanwhile, has not recovered. Unemployment remains high because employers are creating fewer new jobs. This makes it much harder for those without jobs—like the youth—to find them. It also allows employers to become more selective in the people they do hire. That often means hiring older and more experienced workers.

Government policies have made this difficult labor market even worse for younger Americans. In 2007, Congress voted to raise the federal minimum wage to $7.25 an hour. Half of minimum wage earners are between the ages of 16 and 24. Raising the minimum wage, in addition to employer paid Social Security, workers compensation, and unemployment insurance prices many young workers out of the job market. An inexperienced high school student may not produce enough to be paid $7.25 per hour plus Social Security, workers comp, and unemployment insurance. As a result, since an employer is not allowed to pay her less by law, she is not hired and misses out on the job experience she needs to get a higher paying job: two-thirds of minimum wage workers earn a raise within a year.

Read more from this story HERE.

Click HERE for article regarding GDP’s 1.7% growth.

It’s Not Getting Better: GDP Slows to Sluggish 1.7 Percent Rate

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This morning’s update from the Department of Commerce on economic activity in the second quarter shows that the economy grew at an anemic 1.7 percent annual rate. This follows a nearly equally weak first quarter growth rate of 2.0 percent.

How weak is this? In terms of economic output, the current recovery is the weakest of any since 1945: Total output is only 6.8 percent higher than when the recession ended in 2009, which was about 12 quarters ago. Compare that to the other really big post-war recession: 1981. After 12 quarters, economic output stood 18.5 percent higher than the end of that recession. Even the really slow recovery from the 2001 recession outdoes the current one: By 12 quarters following the end of the 2001 recession, economic output was 8.9 percent higher.

The weak spots in the current recovery stand out in today’s economic growth report. The Bureau of Economic Analysis traces the sluggish growth rate to slowdowns in the spending of households and businesses and shrinking inventories.

While the media will highlight the weak household spending numbers, the real focus of concern should be on business investment. When businesses hold back on improving and growing their productive capacity, that inaction directly affects hiring decisions and, thus, household incomes. And that’s what businesses appear to be doing this year: They are sitting this economy out.

Very few economic actions testify more strongly to the failure of current economic policy—especially the threats of tax increases next year—than what businesses are doing. Well before voters head to the polling booth in November, American business has apparently voted against the near-term prospects of the economy. Imagine the economy today if better economic policy had been the norm over the past several years.

Read more from this story HERE.

US on the Brink of the Greatest Depression Ever via Fox News

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Photo credit: Mike Licht

Everywhere from FoxNews.com to CNBC.com, I suddenly see commentators warning of pending doom, economic collapse, and a new Great Depression. Welcome to my club. Perhaps America’s politicians and economists should have paid attention to an entrepreneur and small businessman that has been warning of economic collapse and a new Great Depression publicly for over two years.

More importantly, none of the current commentaries mention the “why’s” of this slow motion economic collapse…beyond the obvious — mountains of deficit and debt. None of them mention the dysfunctional structure of the current U.S. economy and the massive changes in the work ethic and mindset of the average American.

I am a successful small businessman and a patriot who loves America and always sees its greatness. I am also an optimistic, positive thinker who always sees the glass half full. But not this time.

This time we are in such deep trouble, the only solution is a radical restructuring of the politicians, the economy, and the way we view personal responsibility versus government handouts. If those changes don’t come then we are facing a long decline and the eventual end of America.

This time the results are going to be dramatically worse than 1929. This time we are facing The Greatest Depression ever.

Read more from this story HERE.