By Aly Kamadia, Editor-In-Chief, iDose

The FBI slapped former President Donald Trump in the face this week by raiding his precious Mar-a-lago. Given that I, in addition to all of your favorite gossipers on broadcast media, have yet to evaluate the evidence presented to justify the raid, it’s impossible to render an informed opinion on whether a judge should have signed off on it. Of course, this hasn’t stopped the Republican Party and some of Trump’s supporters from publicly crying in defense of their god.  

Personally, I lack any sympathy for Trump for at least two overlapping reasons.

First, this is a man who literally ordered a devout mob of his supporters to conduct a coup and overthrow American democracy so that he could be installed as the King of the United States (US).

Walking existential threats to US democracy don’t elicit any sympathy from yours truly.  

Second, the nature of Trump’s utter disregard for the rule of law is such that he would readily commit any crime against humanity to become a dictator. Why should any reasonable person have sympathy for a character as ugly as his? (Not to mention, the impressive and indescribable depth of Trump’s stupidity make it likely that the FBI’s raid will uncover yet another series of his crimes.)

But “mainstream” broadcast media networks should exercise caution rather than laughing out loud as these events unfold. MSNBC, as an example, enjoys broadcasting the propaganda (often implicitly) that Trump is going to be charged and thrown in jail. As I’ve noted before, only those who are detached from reality can believe that Trump will be physically handcuffed and put in jail.

Moreover, while it may be natural for many of Trump’s critics to enjoy that his dear Mar-a-lago was assaulted, Republicans are already fashioning the incident to fit neatly with their usual propaganda, which may help them in November’s mid-term elections (for now, all signs point to inflation being the number one issue). Keeping this in mind, iDose Magazine features a brief interview with Professor Thomas Gift in which he provides constructive analysis, some of which is admittedly depressing.

Speaking of depressing, as we turn the page to another topic, a fairly recent scientific publication on the subject of depression and serotonin has been receiving loads of attention.

iDose Magazine hasn’t posted the actual study by the authors (it was published in Nature Magazine), but we do feature an article that the lead author of the study, Joanna Moncrieff, and one of her co-authors has written for general public consumption. Their piece argues that after going through numerous scientific studies (i.e., systematic review), there is no convincing evidence to support the idea that low levels of serotonin contribute to depression. The authors go on to question the very use of conventional antidepressants.

But does that lack of evidence supporting the causal link between serotonin and depression allow us to conclude that the use of antidepressants should be dismissed altogether?  

Psychiatrist and the head of the department of Psychiatry at the University of Melbourne, Chris Davey, artfully pokes holes in the narrative that antidepressants don’t work.

For those interested in the topic, which article do you side with?

Stay safe,