November 8, 2020

Mental & Emotional Health

A few things worth sharing: 11-08-2020

Mental health; Minty-fresh toothpaste

Read Time 3 minutes

Here are a few things I think are worth sharing:

 

Mental illness is on the rise due to COVID-19. Could psychedelic drugs be the ‘game changer’? (The Star, October 25, 2020)

This article caught my attention as a great update on the developing landscape (in Canada) of psychedelics for psychotherapy and other therapies like ketamine, LSD, and MDMA. The conversation about where things stand (and where they are going) goes far beyond psilocybin use, for example, for palliative-care patients and therapists to treat end-of-life anxieties. I discussed the importance and the possibilities of this treatment intervention in my recent interview with BJ Miller. The use applications of these treatments are explored in this article, but there is an additional component that the article takes into consideration: the pertinent contextualization of treatment potentials for broader mental health challenges due to the Covid-19 pandemic. I also discussed the use of therapeutics, MDMA in particular, in a previous interview with Rick Doblin. The challenges and ramifications of our current climate are ones that will be for the long-haul and the potential of psychedelics and other modalities could be effective in ways that other medications and interventions for challenges like depression, anxiety, PTSD fall short. What can be said with certainty is that alternatives will continue to be needed—perhaps now more than ever before.   
 

§


Oregon Votes to Decriminalize All Drugs, Allow Psilocybin for Mental-Health Treatment (WSJ, November 4, 2020)

It goes without saying that this has been a week filled with a lot of news. Given the discussion above on the use of alternative drug therapies, especially in the context of Covid-19, I thought it would be remiss if I didn’t include the news of Oregon’s legalization of psilocybin. If you missed it, it got passed after votes were counted on the state-specific measure (109) earlier this week. You can read more about Measure 109—giving the state health department two years to develop a plan to manufacture and dispense the substance. But the passing is not without pushback (from the Oregon Psychiatric Physicians Association and the American Psychiatric Association). This is a step forward, but there is a long road ahead in the way of implementation and protocol for use. These things take time.

§


The History of Toothpaste (Charles Duhigg’s Blog, 2012)

You may remember a video I posted some months back about the debilitating aphthous (mouth) ulcers I sometimes get, and explained what I use to mediate my discomfort while they heal. Except, one time the pain was so bad that my wife went to look for alternative options. What I normally used wasn’t cutting it. We found that an ingredient in the toothpaste I was using at the time was a contributing factor to my more-than-uncomfortable experience: sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS), which is used as a surfactant, or foaming agent. It can also be a mouth and gum irritant. It turns out there are a lot of added ingredients in toothpaste that may not actually clean our teeth and gums, but do provide experiential aspects we are habituated to have—things that we equate to feeling clean. This realization led me to question why toothpaste is often mint-flavored (or flavored at all). Just like the foaming, is the mintiness merely experience-driven, but otherwise pointless from an oral health perspective? I found my answer in an excerpt from Charles Duhigg’s book The Power of Habit. He writes about the ingenious Pepsodent mint-flavored toothpaste recipe. Indeed, the sensation provides no cleaning benefit, but that minty fresh feeling makes us feel clean. Reminds me of the old—we’re talking the 80s and 90s—Denorex commercials (here’s one with NFL TV analyst and former Dallas Cowboys head coach Jimmy Johnson): “All these [other anti-dandruff shampoos] have effective dandruff medicine, but Denorex has something extra that tingles. Feels fresh.” I am going to have someone on the podcast to get into the ins and outs of periodontology. I want to know the practical recommendations for optimal dental hygiene all the way to understanding the relationship between periodontal disease, systemic inflammation, and neurological health.

 

– Peter

Disclaimer: This blog is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute the practice of medicine, nursing or other professional health care services, including the giving of medical advice, and no doctor/patient relationship is formed. The use of information on this blog or materials linked from this blog is at the user's own risk. The content of this blog is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Users should not disregard, or delay in obtaining, medical advice for any medical condition they may have, and should seek the assistance of their health care professionals for any such conditions.
  1. Interesting topic. We changed our toothbrushing habit quite a few years ago when we discovered that most toothpastes have glycerine in it which forms a protective layer on your teeth. However it also prevents re-mineralisation of your teeth which means for older people getting more and more fragile teeth. In the end we switched to a mix of coconut oil and baking soda. For taste I put a spot of toothpaste (yes minty) but no more that a couple of mm.
    Haven’t seen a dentist ever since and neither experienced tooth aches.
    I think both coconut and baking soda have the same anti bacterial effect.

  2. Really agree with your sentiments about toothpaste and think the same criticisms can be extended to shampoos and soaps. The chemistry seems really stone-age compared to where it ought to be. I don’t want a toothpaste that leaves a sticky, gluey, glop in my mouth and on my face that takes 15 minutes to rinse away. Nor a shampoo that takes 1/2 hour to rinse off completely. What I want is a solvent, like alcohol, which not toxic like alcohol, but takes care of de-greasing and dissolving un-wanted residues, and rinses out quick and gets out of your way…and doesn’t leave a 1/8″ layer of soap scum all over your feet when you step out of the shower. With all the PhD’s in Chemistry and Biochemistry I would think that a non-toxic, quick-rinsing solvent that dissolves and neutralizes oils, fats, bacteria, and plaque in the mouth would be possible to replace the Sodium Lauryl Sulfate and Sodium Laureth Sulfate we’ve been seeing on our shampoos, body washes, and toothpaste for years now

  3. Try Durham’s canker-rid for the mouth ulcers. Instead of having sores for a week or more they go away in a few days and they don’t get as big so they are much less painful. A bottle lasts me a year.

  4. Chewed xylitol gum for the past four days and just realized today that my mouth ulcer is completely gone!

Facebook icon Twitter icon Instagram icon Pinterest icon Google+ icon YouTube icon LinkedIn icon Contact icon