ICYMI Health features what we’re reading this week.
This week, we examined pieces that explored unconventional ways of thinking. A new book by Brené Brown explores why dwelling on failure can actually yield positive results, and a father-daughter team makes a case for seeking solutions to problems rather than analyzing our feelings about them.
We also took note of a highly practical survey about bicycle signage that could hold a key to improving relationships between rides and drivers.
Read on and tell us in the comments: What did you read and love this week?
1. America’s Most Admired Lawbreaker — HuffPost Highline
Part one of a 58,000-word expose on Johnson & Johnson, a blockbuster drug and the people it harmed.
“All the big pharmas” have lawsuits, the analyst concluded, sipping an espresso. “It’s just not a big deal.”
2. Ignore Your Feelings — The Atlantic
Michael and Sarah Bennett’s new self-help book, F*ck Feelings, argues that that we should all stop dwelling on our emotions.
Put down the talking stick. Stop fruitlessly seeking “closure” with your peevish co-worker. And please, don’t bother telling your spouse how annoying you find their tongue-clicking habit—sometimes honesty is less like a breath of fresh air and more like a fart.
3. This Doctor Is Trying To Save Black Lives, One Haircut At A Time — The Huffington Post
Dr. Joseph Ravenell, who works at NYU School of Medicine, is leveraging the trust black men have in their local barber in an effort to improve public health.
“They would talk about everything under the sun,” Dr. Ravenell said. “Including health. The barbershop just seemed like a natural place to reach black men and to promote health.”
4. Your Opinion Of You — Pacific Standard
While the Myers-Briggs test flatters all 16 of its personality types, the controversial personality assessment that Scientologists use as a recruitment tool focuses on demoralizing the test-taker.
Even if you are relatively mentally stable, you may find it distressing to hear someone you’ve just met rattle off a list of your flaws—some of which, inevitably, you will be inclined to agree with. (For the record: I am nervous! I can be impulsive!) It doesn’t leave you feeling great about yourself; it’s not meant to.
5. Is Obamacare Punishing Hospitals The Wrong Way — The Huffington Post
Medicare’s effort to reduce hospital readmissions may be disproportionally punishing hospitals that serve at-risk patients.
Maybe the best-performing hospitals don’t look as good, because they’re taking care of patients that are much less likely to have been readmitted in the first place.
6. A Simple Change to Road Signs Could Help Cyclists and Drivers Finally Get Along — Science Of Us
Signs that say “Bicyclists May Use Full Lane” send a different message than ones that read “Share the Road.”
When the study volunteers saw this image with the “full lane” sign, they were more likely to answer that what the cyclist was doing was safe and legal.
7. Female Pain: Living with an Illness That No One Believes In — Broadly
For women who suffer from fibromyalgia, one of the most frustrating aspects of the disease is that doctors question its legitimacy.
If you feel awful and people react with disbelief, that’s infuriating.
8. A Field Guide to Dwelling on Your Failures — Science Of Us
A new book by social scientist Brené Brown posits that we can learn from taking time to think about our failures before we move on.
Without reckoning, you can’t chart a future course. In the rising strong process, we can’t chart a brave new course until we recognize exactly where we are, get curious about how we got there, and decide where we want to go.
Also on HuffPost:
