Dylan Matthews and Byrd Pinkerton at Vox write about a study wondering if cities should add small amounts of lithium to their water in order to help reduce suicide rates. Although lithium is sometimes prescribed for and effective in persons dealing with depression and thoughts of suicide, it has a number of side effects.
Matthews and Pinkerton point to a review of several studies, conducted by a psychiatry professor at Tufts University, that shows cities and areas with higher amounts of trace lithium in their environments have lower suicide rates. No long-term experiments have ever been conducted to see if lithium-enhanced water would make a difference, nor is there solid evidence showing the elevated lithium levels caused the drop in suicide rates. Correlation is not causation, after all.
Attempts to put fluoride in the water in the mid-20th century to help improve dental health drew significant political opposition from certain groups, which Matthews and Pinkerton say makes the idea of lithium enhancement iffy even if rock-solid evidence exists. Even so, "it’s such a cheap intervention, and the odds of serious side effects sound low enough, that it seems worth a try."
Appearing for the opposition, one Malcolm Reynolds:
More seriously, Wesley Smith at National Review's "The Corner" blog suggests a more effective and less Huxleyan method might be to "increase our focus on mental health and restore suicide-prevention programs as a top-tier societal priority."
2 comments:
I remember about 12 years ago when they were saying "Hey, let's put statins in the water, that would be great" until it became clear how bad some of the bad side effects would be.
I dunno; as someone with weak teeth (Thanks British heritage for those genes!), I appreciate the fluoride, but I'm not sure I'd go for lithium. As you said: why not make the world a friendlier place than just medicate everyone in the hopes of them minding an unfriendly world less?
Fluoride seems harmless to me because it doesn't have any impact on behavior, thinking or emotions.
But the idea of deliberate placement of mood-altering substances in the water by any government ought to make us cringe. That it didn't for the two Vox meat-heads is a reason to hereafter take them with a medically unsafe dose of salt.
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