
Brighton academics find ghosting and gaslighting cause depression
Prof Jaspal added: "The digital age has provided enormous opportunity for social connections but also comes with some risks. "Ghosting, in particular, is almost exclusively enacted in online settings."Younger adults, in particular, appear to be at greater risk and must be supported."The study attempted to explain why some people might behave in this way, concluding it could be to avoid conflict.It suggested therapies such as cognitive behavioural therapy could help those who have been affected.
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The Guardian
31 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Eli Lilly ramps up UK price of weight loss jab Mounjaro after Trump demands
The price of the weight loss jab Mounjaro will rise by up to 170% in the UK, its US manufacturer has said, as Donald Trump ramps up pressure on drugmakers to increase their prices for Europeans so that they can make them more affordable for Americans. Eli Lilly has said it will increase the price of the drug from September, with a month's supply of the highest dose rising from £122 to £330. Mounjaro contains tirzepatide and is self-administered in once-a-week injections. When it launched in Britain in February 2024, Eli Lilly agreed to a list price 'significantly below' its other European markets to stop delays in availability of the medicine through the NHS. The increase in the list price will align it 'more consistently', the company said, although it added the NHS would not pay the new higher price to ensure continued access for the people with obesity and type 2 diabetes receiving it through the health service. Eli Lilly said it was working with private healthcare providers, which could negotiate their own confidential discounts with the company. Trump has threatened to use 'every tool in our arsenal' to crack down on pharmaceutical companies charging higher prices in the US compared with other nations. The US pays about three times more for drugs compared with other developed countries, according to the Rand Corporation thinktank. On 31 July, Trump sent letters to 17 of the world's biggest drugmakers, including Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk, demanding cuts to drug prices for Americans within 60 days. 'Make no mistake: a collaborative effort towards achieving global pricing parity would be the most effective path for companies, the government and American patients,' Trump wrote. 'But if you refuse to step up we will deploy every tool in our arsenal to protect American families from continued abusive drug pricing practices. 'Americans are demanding lower drug prices, and they need them today.' In May, Trump told reporters that a friend in London had told him he had bought the 'fat shot drug' for $88, compared with $1,300 in New York. Pharmaceutical companies have cashed in on huge demand for weight loss treatments. Denmark's Novo Nordisk has become one of the most prominent names in the field, launching Wegovy in the UK in September 2023, turning it into one of the most valuable companies in Europe. While the jabs have increased profits at big pharmaceutical companies, they are racing to develop an equivalent pill, which would be a more convenient and cheaper alternative for patients and healthcare authorities. Eli Lilly said this month that a pill in early trial stages showed that participants on their highest dose lost an average of 12.4% of their body weight, compared with 0.9% of the control group. Novo Nordisk has submitted its oral weight loss drug for approval in the US. Its trial results showed that participants could lose about 15% of their body weight.


BBC News
31 minutes ago
- BBC News
A-level results: Why did boys outperform girls for top grades?
For the past seven years, girls have outperformed boys in securing the highest A-level grades. But this year it's the boys who have taken the lead in getting the top marks. The percentage of boys' grades that were A* or A was 28.4%, narrowly beating the 28.2% achieved by girls. It marks a reversal of last year's 0.4% lead for female students. Boys also strengthened their advantage at the very top of the scale - 9.9% of their entries were awarded an A*, compared with 9.1% for are slim margins, but not insignificant ones. Factors including a surge in the popularity of STEM subjects - science, technology, engineering, and maths - are likely to have contributed to this swing. These subjects have been on the rise for a number of years and are significantly more popular with boys than girls. For the 12th year in a row, maths is the most popular A-level - and the number of entries is up more than a fifth since 2016 and has increased from last year. There's also a clear gender divide in who studies it - boys account for nearly two-thirds (63%) of entries and the divide is only getting bigger. Jill Duffy, chairwoman of the JCQ board of directors and chief executive of the OCR exam board, explains that "proportionally there are fewer girls taking the subject than in 2019". Boys' performance in maths improved very slightly this year from 42.5% of entries marked A* or A last year to 42.6% this year. In comparison, girls' results dipped from 41.2% last year to 40.2% this Harry, executive director of qualifications and assessment at WJEC exam board, says maths is a "significant contributor" to high A-level grades 16.7% of all maths entries scored an A* this year, compared to 9.4% of entries for all A-levels. 'Don't speculate too much' Executive director of regulation and compliance at the AQA exam board, Claire Thomson, says that while the percentage of girls achieving A* and A grades is lower this year than their male counterparts, nearly 19,000 more females achieved at least an A due to more girls entering for A-levels in general. Girls made up 54% of all entries. "It is important not to speculate too much about what has led to any differences between males and females as the figures are small, they do bounce around a bit over time and the causes will be multi-faceted and complex," she says. Zoe Lewis, Principal and Chief Executive of the Middlesbrough College Group, agrees and says it's still too early to tell if this is significant but "is something to keep an eye on in the coming years". She adds that the swing is likely due to the "continued growth in STEM subjects and bias towards studying maths". "There's a lot more information about subject choices and that's perhaps attracting more boys to it." Business rises, humanities fall Maths isn't the only subject that continues to rise in popularity. Business studies and economics entries have also increased and Thompson suggests that social media influencers may be fuelling the interest in those explains that both subjects have "a real world relevance" and that students are following influencers in "gaining some entrepreneurial skills so that they can go out and emulate the people that they see all the time on social media".Figures published by the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) for England, Wales and Northern Ireland show a 5.5% increase in entries for A-level economics compared to 2024, while business studies entries are up 0.6%. Ola, a recent engineering graduate, shared a video on social media about why she chose to study A-level business and how it helped her in her degree. She says that things she studied during A-level business, like accounting, were in her university degree, which made that module "a breeze". One student at Oaklands College in Hertfordshire shared her business grade on social media, explaining that she chose the subject as it would open up opportunities in the future. However, humanities like English, history and some modern languages have seen a drop in popularity. It is the first time since at least 2000 - the earliest available archive data - that no arts or humanities subjects have appeared in the top five most popular the proportion of entries in arts subjects such as drama and music has fallen by 31% since 2010 and is "approaching a one-third collapse", according to an analysis by the charity Campaign for the charity says the arts have been "systematically underfunded and undervalued" in recent years, particularly in English state secondary schools. The conversation around boys' academic struggles and fears they are "being left behind" in education has been around for many years, but there was a renewed interest this year with the release of hit Netflix series Adolescence which tells the story of a 13-year-old boy arrested for the murder of a classmate. Exploring themes of toxic masculinity and the psychological pressures faced by teenage boys, there's been a greater discussion around how boys are supported emotionally and about whether this renewed focus on helping boys achieve, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson acknowledged the pressures boys and young men face. "They face challenges in their lives and external pressures can give rise to some challenges," she said. "I want to celebrate the success of many young men who have gotten the grades they needed." However, she added that there are fluctuations every year "so there isn't anything to take away at this point".


Times
an hour ago
- Times
Teenage girl left alone on mental health ward was killed unlawfully
A coroner and jurors had tears in their eyes as they ruled that a teenage girl was killed unlawfully after she was left alone on a mental health ward by an agency worker using a fake name on his first shift. Ruth Szymankiewicz, 14, was meant to be under strict observation at the psychiatric intensive care unit of Huntercombe Hospital in Berkshire while being treated for a severe eating disorder when she was left on her own by the worker on February 12, 2022. The inquest had heard that the agency worker, who went by the name of Ebo Acheampong, had applied for the role under a false name and had never worked in a psychiatric hospital, the police later discovered. He never returned to work after the teenager's death and fled the UK for Ghana. Ian Wade KC, the coroner, and the jurors were clearly upset when they delivered the conclusion of unlawful killing at the inquest at Buckinghamshire coroner's court in Beaconsfield. Addressing Ruth's parents, Mark and Kate Szymankiewicz, Wade said with tears in his eyes: 'I hope you will treasure all the good memories of your lovely daughter.' The inquest had been told that she shut herself in her bedroom, where she self-harmed. She died two days later at John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford. Jurors were told that the ward was missing at least half of its staff on the day Ruth was left unsupervised. Acheampong was asked to join the intensive care psychiatrist team because they were so short-staffed that nurses could not go on breaks. Michelle Hancey, a support worker with 18 years' experience at Huntercombe, raised concerns that day that the team would 'fail to monitor patients on prescribed special observation because of staff shortage'. Acheampong was assigned to watch over Ruth on his first shift at the hospital. He repeatedly left the girl alone while she was watching TV, one time for a couple of minutes, which prompted her to walk alone to her bedroom. She had been on an observation plan which meant that she had to be kept within eyesight at all times after earlier incidents of self-harm. About 15 minutes passed before a nurse discovered the teenage girl and raised the alarm. 'Ruth was not prevented from accessing the restricted material which could be used to self-harm,' the jury foreman told the hearing. 'Ruth was not prevented from accessing harmful material on the internet. Ruth's care pathway … was insufficient to allow improvement for discharge. 'From Ruth's admission to Thames ward, her responsible clinician deemed the ward to be neither suitable nor conducive to her recovery. Ruth's parents were not given adequate information about the appeal process, and refusal rights.' Ruth's parents, who are both doctors, read an emotional statement outside the court after the verdict. They said: 'There is an empty space at our table, a silent bedroom in our home, a gaping hole in our family that will never be filled … Ruth was an incredible, bright, friendly, loving and adventurous girl with a whole life of joy ahead of her. 'When, at our most vulnerable as a family, we reached out for help, we ultimately found ourselves trapped in a system that was meant to care for her, to help her, to keep her safe, but instead locked her away and harmed her.' Huntercombe Hospital was rated 'overall inadequate' by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in February 2021, and has since been closed.