| | | | | | | Presented By NYSE | | | | Axios What's Next | | By Jennifer A. Kingson, Joann Muller and Alex Fitzpatrick · Jun 14, 2022 | | Alex here. Jennifer's story today is what a former boss of mine would call a "scoop of concept" — she was the first to spot an interesting data point, and the result is a fascinating look into our evolving psychology around mental health. Today's Smart Brevity count: 1,184 words ... 4½ minutes. | | | | | | 1 big thing: "Psychiatrist's bible" sales skyrocket |  | | | Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios | | | | The bible of the psychiatry world — the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or DSM — has become a surprise bestseller amid surging popular interest in mental health, Jennifer A. Kingson reports. Why it matters: A record shortage of mental health providers, combined with unprecedented demand for psychological support, has led to a surge in self-diagnosis, doctors say. - With so many sources of emotional stress — the pandemic, gun violence, urban crime, the war in Ukraine — everyone wants to know if their own difficult feelings could be signs of something bigger.
- The number of people showing symptoms of anxiety and depression has tripled during the COVID-19 pandemic, per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Driving the news: The American Psychiatric Association (APA) released a newly revised edition of its standard-setting manual, known as the DSM-5-TR, in March — the first update in nearly a decade. "The public has been dying to know more about mental illness, and this book just happened to come out," Saul Levin, APA CEO and medical director, tells Axios. - "I think what really caught the imagination was that we're sitting at home now and looking to say, 'Boy, I'm feeling depressed — let me now go and find out more about it,'" Levin adds.
Yes, but: Doctors warn that laypeople shouldn't use the book to diagnose themselves. - The book's brisk sales may reflect "a frantic attempt to get some help somewhere, but it's not going to help people," says Robert Smith, an internist and professor of psychiatry at Michigan State University.
- "The criteria in DSM, they are not easy to understand," Smith says. "In fact, primary care docs don't use them because they're difficult to understand."
The big picture: Mental health therapy has gone mainstream. Younger workers are demanding it as an employee benefit, and athletes like Simone Biles, Naomi Osaka and Michael Phelps have openly described their struggles, prompting others to seek help. Yes, but: Among younger millennials and Gen Z, "there does seem to be this almost clamoring, seeking out of psychiatric diagnosis and self-diagnosis — and a little bit of competition among their peers to acquire these diagnoses," Lewis said. Between the lines: Medical professionals from all fields are taking a fresh interest in psychiatry and the DSM as more patients show signs of mental disturbance, psychiatrists say. - "I'm hoping it's an inflection point, that the country has now realized that we have to do things differently" and make mental health a priority, Levin says.
Share this story. |     | | | | | | 2. Amazon's drones are finally taking flight |  | | | Amazon Prime Air's hexagonal delivery drone. Photo courtesy Amazon | | | | Nearly a decade after Amazon began working on drone delivery, customers in one small California community will soon be able to take advantage of the 30-minute air delivery service, Joann Muller writes. Why it matters: Drones bearing packages could soon be as ubiquitous as the Amazon van or the UPS truck rumbling through your neighborhood, helping to reduce roadway congestion and lessen tailpipe emissions. Driving the news: Amazon said Monday it will launch its Prime Air drone delivery service later this year for about 3,000 customers in rural Lockeford, California, near Sacramento. How it works: Amazon will notify Lockeford customers that they can receive free drone delivery on thousands of everyday items. - If they're interested, an Amazon representative will visit their home to scope out a mutually agreed-upon delivery location, and provide them with a delivery marker that will give the drone a target.
- Customers can then place orders for Prime Air-eligible items as they normally would and track their orders in real time.
- The drone will fly to the designated delivery location, descend toward the customer's yard, and hover safely about 6 feet off the ground. It will then release the package, rise back up and return to base.
- Camera sensors will ensure that there are no pets, people or objects that would interfere with the delivery. If the drone senses an obstacle, Amazon will try to reschedule the delivery.
Yes, but: Widespread deployment won't happen until the Federal Aviation Administration finalizes delivery drone rules — a process that could take another year or two. Read the rest. | | | | | | | | 3. A surprising new tech powerhouse |  | | | Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios | | | | Idaho is quickly becoming a hotbed of tech talent, per new research from online training platform Coursera, Alex Fitzpatrick reports. - Workers there have "the highest level of technology skills in the country," the company found in its new Global Skills Report.
- Idaho's overall job market has been hot, hot, hot.
Why it matters: As some companies — especially those in the tech sector — become increasingly remote-friendly, it's creating new opportunities for skilled U.S. workers in places that aren't traditional tech hubs. By the numbers: These are the top five U.S. states for tech talent, per Coursera — with plenty of surprises among them: - Idaho
- California
- Minnesota
- Washington
- New Jersey
The details: Coursera's Global Skills Report is based on data collected from "100 million learners in more than 100 countries who have used Coursera to develop a new skill during the past year," the company says. | | | | | | | | A message from NYSE | | No shortage of critical issues at Davos | | |  | | | | The combination of financial markets selling off, spiking inflation, potential food scarcity and a war to the east in Ukraine made for a somewhat somber mood inside the Congress Center and the gathering's other venues. NYSE Group President Lynn Martin opines. Read the full article. | | | | | | 4. Sun's out, car's out |  | | | The Lightyear 0 partially solar-powered car. Photo courtesy Lightyear | | | | The world's first production-ready partially solar-powered car is set to show up in buyers' driveways later this year, Alex Fitzpatrick reports. - The roughly $263,000 Dutch-designed electric Lightyear 0 gets up to 43 miles of range from solar panels on its hood and roof, the company says.
- The EV, which can also be charged via plug, can do up to nearly 350 miles of total highway driving on a full battery.
Why it matters: Solar is one of the few truly clean alternative energy sources. Even electric vehicles are sometimes dirtier than they seem, depending on how the power used to charge them is generated. Yes, but: The solar-powered car dream has long been deferred by efficiency and design challenges. - The sun doesn't always shine — especially during European winters. (Still, Lightyear says that depending on conditions, "the car can drive for weeks, even months, without charging.")
What's next: Lightyear hopes to introduce a more affordable, truly mass-produced version in 2024 or 2025. | | | | | | | | 5. ICYMI: Sentient AI ... or not |  | | | Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios | | | | If you missed the Washington Post's incredible story on the Google engineer who's convinced the company's AI chatbot system has gained sentience, be sure to make some time for it. For the quick version, here's Axios' Scott Rosenberg: Blake Lemoine, who works for Google's Responsible AI group, says that chats he has conducted with Google's Language Model for Dialogue Applications, or LaMDA, have persuaded him that the program deserves to be treated as a sentient being. Yes, but: Google argues that Lemoine is simply projecting. - "Hundreds of researchers and engineers have conversed with LaMDA, and we are not aware of anyone else making the wide-ranging assertions, or anthropomorphizing LaMDA, the way Blake has," Google spokesperson Brian Gabriel said in a statement.
Scott's thought bubble: Artful and astonishing as LaMDA's conversation skills are, everything the program says could credibly have been assembled by an algorithmic pastiche-maker that, like Google's, has studied up on the entire 25-year corpus of humanity's online expression. | | | | | | | | A message from NYSE | | The growth of sustainable finance | | |  | | | | The impact of climate change is felt every day, with sustainable finance a growing countervailing force. Gordon Bennett, managing director of ICE's Utility Markets and Brian Matt, head of ESG Advisory at the NYSE unpack what it means to place a value on carbon and how this can help mitigate climate risk. | | | | Was this email forwarded to you? Get your daily dose of What's Next magic by signing up for our free newsletter here. |  | It's called Smart Brevity®. Over 200 orgs use it — in a tool called Axios HQ — to drive productivity with clearer workplace communications. | | | | | | Axios thanks our partners for supporting our newsletters. If you're interested in advertising, learn more here.
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