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• Lack of computer access linked to poorer mental health in young people during pandemic

Lack of computer access linked to poorer mental health in young people during pandemic

14 November 2022

Lack of access to a computer was linked to poorer mental health among young people and adolescents during COVID-19 lockdowns, according to a study involving a UCL researcher.

The team, led by researchers at the University of Cambridge, report in the Scientific Reports paper that the end of 2020 was the time when young people faced the most difficulties and that the mental health of those young people without access to a computer tended to deteriorate to a greater extent than that of their peers who did have access.

The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant effect on young people’s mental health, with evidence of rising levels of anxiety, depression, and psychological distress. Adolescence is a period when people are particularly vulnerable to developing mental health disorders, which can have long-lasting consequences into adulthood. In the UK, the mental health of children and adolescents was already deteriorating before the pandemic, but the proportion of people in this age group likely to be experiencing a mental health disorder increased from 11% in 2017 to 16% in July 2020.

The pandemic led to the closure of schools and an increase in online schooling, the impacts of which were not felt equally. Those adolescents without access to a computer faced the greatest disruption: in one study 30% of school students from middle-class homes reported taking part in live or recorded school lessons daily, while only 16% of students from working-class homes reported doing so.

In addition to school closures, lockdown often meant that young people could not meet their friends in person. During these periods, online and digital forms of interaction with peers, such as through video games and social media, are likely to have helped reduce the impact of these social disruptions. 

First author Tom Metherell, a PhD candidate at the UCL Institute of Mental Health who at the time of the study was an undergraduate student at University of Cambridge, said: “Access to computers meant that many young people were still able to ‘attend’ school virtually, carry on with their education to an extent and keep up with friends. But anyone who didn’t have access to a computer would have been at a significant disadvantage, which would only risk increasing their sense of isolation.”

To examine in detail the impact of digital exclusion on the mental health of young people, Metherell and colleagues examined data from 1,387 10–15-year-olds collected as part of Understanding Society, a large UK-wide longitudinal survey. They focused on access to computers rather than smartphones, as schoolwork is largely possible only on a computer while at this age most social interactions occur in person at school.

Participants completed a questionnaire that assesses common childhood psychological difficulties, which allowed the Understanding Society team to score them on five areas: hyperactivity/inattention, prosocial behaviour, emotional, conduct and peer relationship problems. From this, they derived a ‘Total Difficulties’ score for each individual.

Over the course of the pandemic, the researchers noted small changes in overall mental health of the group, with average Total Difficulties scores increasing form pre-pandemic levels of 10.7 (out of a maximum 40), peaking at 11.4 at the end of 2020 before declining to 11.1 by March 2021.

Those young people who had no access to a computer saw the largest increase in their Total Difficulties scores. While both groups of young people had similar scores at the start of the pandemic, when modelled with adjustment for sociodemographic factors, those without computer access saw their average scores increase to 17.8, compared to their peers, whose scores increased to 11.2. Almost one in four (24%) young people in the group without computer access had Total Difficulties scores classed as ‘high’ or ‘very high’ compared to one in seven (14%) in the group with computer access.

Tom Metherell added: “Young people’s mental health tended to suffer most during the strictest periods of lockdown, when they were less likely to be able go to school or see friends. But those without access to a computer were the worst hit – their mental health suffered much more than their peers and the change was more dramatic.”

Senior author Dr Amy Orben (University of Cambridge) added: “Rather than always focusing on the downsides of digital technology on young people’s mental health, we need to recognise that it can have important benefits and may act as a buffer for their mental health during times of acute social isolation, such as the lockdown.

“We don’t know if and when a future lockdown will occur, but our research shows that we need to start thinking urgently how we can tackle digital inequalities and help protect the mental health of our young people in times when their regular in-person social networks are disrupted.”

The researchers argue that policymakers and public health officials need to recognise the risks of ‘digital exclusion’ to young people’s mental health and prioritise ensuring equitable digital access.

Tom Metherell was supported by the British Psychological Society Undergraduate Research Assistantship Scheme. The research was largely funded by the Medical Research Council.

Links

• Research paper in Scientific Reports
• Understanding Society
• UCL Wellcome 4-year PhD in Mental Health Science
• UCL Institute of Mental Health

Source

• University of Cambridge

Image

• Credit: Jovanmandic on iStock

Media contact

Chris Lane

Tel: +44 (0)20 7679 9222

Email: chris.lane [at] ucl.ac.uk

Erskine Childers

@erskinechilders

This Saturday at

@ExpGlasnevin

#the77executed #77executed #CumaanNaGaedheal

Quote Tweet

N.G.A.

@NationalGraves

Join with the National Graves Association as we remember the 77 brave men executed by the Freestate during the civil war. Main speaker: Tommy McKearney Republican plot, Glasnevin cemetery, Dublin Saturday 19th November, 12 noon. Further info: 087 2282033 Please share.

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Erskine Childers was executed on the 24th November 1922, 100 year anniversary.

My cousin, Sir James Comyn, and nephew of my grandfather, Michael Comyn KC, wrote a chapter in his book Their Friends at Court by James Comyn published 1973. So many times I recall being told how difficult it was for my grandfather to accept that Erskine Childers was executed while on appeal.

In tribute to the Childers family. I am on tweet with Erskine Childers great grandson.

XVIII: THE DEFENCE OF ERSKINE CHILDERS

ERSKINE CHILDERS had as much right to call himself Irish as English because his mother was Irish and he had been brought up in her family home in Co. Wicklow. Certainly he was Irish by choice and from an early age was an enthusiast for Home Rule. He had been prominent in the activities of 1914-21 and in 1914 had taken part in the gun-running at Howth which had so caught the public imagination.

He was a cultured man of literary bent (author of the well-known novel, the Riddle of the Sands) and had been of considerable service to the Republicans in propagandist and diplomatic affairs. When the Treaty was being negotiated in London he was one of the principal secretaries to the Irish mission. It was his misfortune to engender hostility both from some Englishmen and some Irishmen. Those who held that view regarded him as a renegade Englishman and they were unfair to him. He believed in what he fought for and fought for what he believed.

When the split came between the pro- and the anti- Treaty factions, with the former becoming the Government and the latter under “Dev” (de Valera) conducting hostilities, Erskine Childers sided with Dev. In the civil war in Cork in 1922 he operated a printing press to turn out anti-Treaty propaganda. Then in October, 1922, he was summoned to return to Dublin to be secretary of Dev’s shadow “Government”. Of necessity, his journey had to be gradual and furtive. He carried with him his inevitable typewriter and a small colt automatic revolver whihc had once been given to him by Michael Collins.

He reached County Wicklow and stayed at the house of his cousin, Robert Barton (one of the signatories of the Treaty) at Annamore. There he was captured by the forces of the Free State Government.

The news made headlines everywhere and Winston Churchill note with satisfaction, saying that he was mischief-making renegade. “Such as he is may all who hate us be”. The charge against him was illegal possession of arms – the Colt revolver.

Erskine Childers was to stand trial before a military court on November 17, 1922. From Portobello Barracks in Dublin he sent for Michael Comyn to defend him. They had long been friends and he had often hidden in Michael’s house in Leeson Park. A sister of my uncle, who lived there said, after meeting him for the first time,”It is a shame to have that delicate and cultured man mixed up in our Irish quarrels. He is no more fitted for it than a child in a blizzard”.

When sent for by Childers, Michael was in fact attending counsel in an inquest near Dublin (it was an inquest and Red Cow Quarry, where some young men who had been caught setting up an illegal printing press were taken out and shot) and a military car with escort cars came to collect him. He noted on the journey back to Dublin that the car he was in was so placed that it would come under fire in case there was an ambush. I continue the story in his own words:

Childers in his cell was perfectly calm, drinking tea from a mug. I knew how much he loved tea so I asked for a mug of tea for myself which I then gave to Childers. “You know, Comyn,” he said, “there is no defence in fact. I had the gun.” “That may be,” I replied, “but you are too famous a figure to be condemned without due form and solemnity.” It was my rule in those awful times and awful circumstances never to betray any softness or sympathy: it would have been unkind. He had some messages for Mrs. Childers, which I brought to her. She also was calm and told me that they had considered and discussed the probable course of events and they were prepared. At his trial, which was in camera, Childers was, as we all anticipated, convicted. Then with Paddy Lynch (later Attorney-General) we went to the High Court, presided over by Master of the Rolls, Sir Charles O’Connor, and we conducted a spirited fight based purely on technical grounds. It failed and we appealed. Before the appeal was heard the terrible news came – in an announcement from London – that Childers had been shot at dawn on November 24, at Beggar’s Bush Barracks. It appears that measures to rescue him wre known to the Free State authorities and thus forestalled. It was a complete negation of justice, the worst I have ever known, to execute a man whose case for life or death was actually under argument and awaiting judgment.

The view was echoed by the Judges of the Court of Appeal when the case was mentioned to them a few days later –but much good did it do.

Maybe you have SDAM?

Aphantasia and Severely Deficient Autobiographical Memory

Maarten Serneels

• September 19, 2022

Like many others, when discovering Aphantasia, I was shocked at first. This started a rollercoaster of emotions in the following days and weeks, as I began talking to my partner, family, and friends about this. It ended up being a relief, as certain things started to fall into place, and I learned to understand myself and others better.

But this didn’t explain my poor memory of my past self. This made me delve deeper, and then someone said, “Maybe you have SDAM?“

Discovering Aphantasia

A few months ago, I started to seek help for my poor memory and distant feeling from others. I came to realize that everyone ‘sees’ things differently in their mind after a conversation with my psychologist.

It was during one of our regular talks when the psychologist asked: “How do you experience this, did you count sheep to fall asleep as a kid?”

I always found this to be a weird concept, and can’t help but think “what sheep do I count, I can’t see any.”

It was then I discovered aphantasia, and finally started to have answers to things I have experienced my whole life.

When you think about the idea of counting sheep, it’s not just that some people see vividly, and others (like me) don’t. It’s quite a wide spectrum of experiences.

Some see life-like images, others less clear or more blurry, sketch-like or even cartoony. Some see color, others black and white. Some see still pictures, others see moving pictures or videos. Some can completely control the imagery experience, and others imagery can cause them to lose focus on reality.

When I first discovered that I most likely have aphantasia, I thought it only applied to the visual sense. Not long after, I found out that aphantasia can affect not only visual imagination but people’s auditory imagination, inner monologue and other senses of imagination.

“So wait, when people say they have a song stuck in their head, they are actually hearing the song?“

The discovery started to answer questions that I had pondered before when people said things like: “I can still hear my dad say it” or “I can already taste the food when I think about it“.

Much like counting sheep, I thought these sayings were metaphorical, because I can still think about the concept of them.

The discovery of my multisensory aphantasia hit me hard at first. On top of already being confronted with being different from most people because I lacked a visual imagination, I felt even more different that I couldn’t hear or taste things in my imagination.

But after some time and connecting with others with shared experiences, I overcame the feeling of missing out and started seeing the benefits of having aphantasia.

3 Benefits of Having Aphantasia

1. Not being able to see unwanted images.
2. Not having unwanted sounds or music in my head.
3. Not having to relive trauma or experience fear when not actually being confronted with it. 

I’ve come to see mental imagery more as a bonus rather than an essential part of being human, as some had described before. Not having imagery senses doesn’t limit me in life; I’m a homeowner with a successful job and an 8-year relationship. I process the same information as everyone else but in a different way. 

Much like anything in life, there are pros and cons. One downside to my inner experience is I struggle to motivate myself at times, as I’m not able to picture the outcome or simulate how I might feel after achieving something. Multisensory aphantasia makes my thought process different from others and creates strengths in certain fields, and weaknesses in others, as it does with other neurodiversities for others.

But perhaps one of the biggest benefits to discovering aphantasia is that I developed a new curiosity and desire to talk to other aphants and non-aphants about how they experience life and how diverse it can really be; How this could affect my life, and that of others, in more ways than we yet realize.

This led me to discover SDAM.

Maybe You Have SDAM?

SDAM stands for Severely Deficient Autobiographical Memory and is often characterized by a lifelong inability to vividly recollect or re-experience personal past events.

Similar to our experiences of mental imagery, some people remember events vividly while others have only a vague recollection of the same events.

Some people (like me), cannot re-experience any past experiences.

I first discovered I most likely have SDAM when I was chatting with other aphants in aphantasia specific communities. I had some serious conversations with someone that seemed to experience life very similar to myself. One day they said, “Maybe you have SDAM?“

So I went deeper down the rabbit hole and things started to make intuitive sense. SDAM seemed to help explain my poor memory and distant feeling from others, the cause of my initial complaint.

For as long as I know, I have struggled with recalling past events. I cannot remember moments I share with someone. I find it difficult to think back to how I got to where I am, what decisions I made and why, and how I felt at the time.

I know certain facts about these events.

For instance, I went fishing with my dad as a kid but often I cannot recall any specific details. Sometimes I even wonder if it’s a factual memory, or placed there by stories people told me or videos I watched, as I feel my past is purely constructed by someone else’s story.

Could my inability to picture or “hear” things in my mind, be the cause of my SDAM or vice versa? I wondered.

Mental imagery has been described as having a fundamental role in episodic memory, and some early research shows SDAM overlapping with visual aphantasia, but this overlap is still being investigated.

Challenges Living With SDAM

SDAM could help explain why I have a hard time making deep connections with other people, as well as maintaining relationships in general.

When a person hasn’t been in my life for any amount of time, I don’t seem to miss them or think about them at all (this creates feelings of guilt), but when I see them again, for me, it just picks up where we left off, as if time isn’t really a factor. But this also makes it easy to form new friendships as I don’t see the need for prior shared experiences, as long as there is a certain connection.

With aphantasia, I’ve had comments like: 

“How nice to have such peace and quiet in your head.”

With SDAM, I’ve had comments like:

“How cool that you are able to live purely in the present.” 

Forced, really. 

Connecting to people on a deeper level, when you forget what you did together, talked about, felt like when you experienced things together, or even the person completely, can be quite a struggle.

I grieve differently, if I even grieve at all. After some of my close ones passed away, I hardly ever think about them, unless they are mentioned, or I see a picture or video of them. Even then, I know certain facts of experiences we shared, but I cannot describe any memory in detail or remember how I felt at the time.

With SDAM it also seems that I’m prone to make the same mistakes more often, as I’m not able to think back to, or in any way re-experience the last time I was in the same or a similar situation. 

Coping Strategies with SDAM

To help manage my SDAM, I have tried writing down some of my experiences, but when I read them again afterwards, it kind of feels like someone else wrote it. I cannot confirm that I felt like that, other than simply storing it as a fact in my mind ‘ i went there and felt x ‘.

A video blog is even weirder because seeing myself always sparks a strange feeling, same with photos or when I look into the mirror even. I recognise it’s me, but I can’t remember looking like that or how I got to that point and it often makes me wonder ‘who am i?’

Keeping artifacts also does little to help with this for me, I’ll recognize the artifact and can link it to an event or place, but it won’t spark anything more than that.

The only thing that somewhat helps, is keeping photos of others around, simply to think about them more often, even if it doesn’t trigger a memory or emotion. It will remind me that this person is in my life and it does make me more likely to reach out to that person, which helps me maintain the current and future relationship.

Reconciling with SDAM and Aphantasia

Despite my unique challenges, I think that I have a good moral compass, and process everything with a more logical approach rather than emotional one. This lack of emotional response or the ability to emotionally put myself in someone else’s shoes makes me less empathetic, but not less sympathetic or understanding, even if I can’t conjure the feeling by reflecting it onto myself or thinking about it. 

I, of course, do experience emotions, but only in the moment when I myself experience something which causes these emotions to emerge.

Discovering aphantasia and SDAM, has come with a roller coaster of emotions. Yet it ended up being a relief, as certain things started to fall into place, and I learned to understand myself and others better. While there are likely many more challenges ahead, I finally have answers to explain my inner experience and can now seek the right help, coping strategies and support from a community of like minds.

Can you relate to my experience, maybe you have SDAM? What coping strategies work for you?

Share in the comments below.

Think you might have SDAM?

Check out these resources.

Original Scientific Paper by Dr. Brian Levine et al that coined the term “Severely Deficient Autobiographical Memory.”

Presentation on SDAM by Dr. Brian Levine at the 2021 Extreme Imagination Conference. 

What’s it like to remember nothing from your past? Susie McKinnon story by CBC Radio.

Maarten Serneels

I work as an assistant project coordinator in Belgium and am rather geeky with a great interest in (video) games, movies, and TV shows. I also like good beers, American Football, astronomy and Japanese culture & history! This is one of my first pieces of writing, but in my head, I’ve written countless books and articles, as this inner monologue is really the only thing that I can experience in my mind. I fantasize about many possibilities and, in my head, turn them into stories.

Michael Comyn

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Irish Civil War

Éamon de Valera

Michael Collins (Irish leader)

Michael Comyn (6 June 1871 – 6 October 1952) was an Irish barrister, Fianna Fáil Senator and later a judge on the Circuit Court. He was also a member of the British Civil Service, geologist, discoverer and operator of mines, and finally “litigant in one of the longest cases ever heard in the Irish courts”. As a lawyer-turned litigant, he recounted that “it was his last case, and he won it: a far cry from his first case as a young barrister…it was a bad case and I did it badly”.

Early life

Comyn was born at Clareville, Ballyvaughan, County Clare, in 1871, the eldest son and the second of seven children of James Comyn of Kilshanny, a tenant farmer and secretary of the local branch of the Land League. His mother was Ellenora, daughter of Thomas Quin, of Fanta Glebe, Kilfenora, County Clare. In 1879, the Comyn family were evicted from their home by Lord Clanricarde’s agent and the family moved to Gortnaboul in Kilshanny parish, County Clare. Comyn attended the local school and was taught by Vere Ryan, father of the republican Frank Ryan. Later he attended Hugh Brady’s school in Ruan, County Clare. This school had a reputation for tutoring its students successfully for civil service examinations. He boarded with his aunt (married to Casey) in Ruan during the week.

Legal career

At the age of 19, Comyn sat for an examination to be an excise officer; 2,500 people entered and 50 were selected. He was assigned to Powers’ Distillery, Dublin, for a six-week introduction course. He was later assigned to Lancaster, where he both worked in excise and attended Preston College. He returned to Dublin to study law at University College Dublin. He attended King’s Inns while continuing to work during the day. Despite being transferred to Burton Salmon, Yorkshire, in his last year at the King’s Inns, which meant he was not able attend the required lectures, he persisted. He was one lecture short at the time of the final examination. He put himself forward for the Victoria Prize, which he won and it enabled him to complete his studies. Comyn was called to the Irish bar in 1898 and joined the Munster Circuit in 1900. He built up a successful practice and he became a King’s Counsel in June 1914. “A barrister at last, but a civil servant still. With no legal back ground, no solicitor acquaintances and no influential friends, the bar looked a particularly hazardous profession”. He decided to join the Munster circuit and presented himself at quarter sessions in his home county Clare.

Comyn was active in nationalist politics. During the 1916 Easter Rising he was in Kansas City, USA, with Arthur Griffith, founder of Sinn Féin. When he returned from the US he became involved in the defense of republican prisoners and was introduced to the Military Courts regime. He would argue several cases before the House of Lords in his time.

Re. Clifford and O’Sullivan

In Re. Clifford and O’Sullivan’, 1921 Comyn represented two of the 42 men under sentence of death from a military tribunal for possession of arms. It was a solicitor named James G. Skinner from Mitchelstown, County Cork, who approached Comyn and his brother James with the words: “Do anything but do something”…”Invent something if necessary”. It was Michael Comyn who decided to apply for Prohibition (an old and seldom used remedy) which would be new to the authorities. The case proceeded forward to the House of Lords.

Initially, the application was made to the Chancery Division in Ireland. In 1920, two proclamations were announced, one by Viscount French, the Lord Lieutenant, putting certain areas including County Cork under martial law and the second by the British Commander-in-Chief in Ireland Sir Nevil Macready requiring all civilians who did not hold a permit to surrender all arms, ammunition and explosives by 27 December of that year. Failure to comply meant that any unauthorised person found in possession of arms, ammunition or explosives, would become liable to trial by Military Court and on conviction the sentence was death. General Sir E.P. Strickland was appointed by the Commander-in-Chief Macready to be military governor of the martial law area. It was his duty to establish and organise the Military Courts. In April 1921, 42 individuals, including Clifford and O’Sullivan, were arrested near Mitchelstown. On 3 May 1921, 42 civilians were tried by a military court on a charge of being in possession of arms and ammunition. They were sentenced to death “subject to confirmation”.

Ten days later, 10 May 1921, Mr. Justice Powell sought a Writ of Prohibition against Sir Nevil Macready and General Strickland to prohibit them; “(1) from further proceeding the trial of applicants, (2) from pronouncing or confirming any judgment upon them, (3) from carrying any judgment upon them into execution and (4) from otherwise interfering with them”. The Prohibition sought was that the Military Court was in fact illegal and therefore had no jurisdiction to try the applicants or to adjudicate in any matter related to them. Mr. Justice Powell listened to this unusual application in his division but “felt constrained to dismiss it”. In the appeal to the Court of Appeal – the Crown’s case was that the Preliminary objection that Mr. Justice Powell’s order was “made in a criminal cause or matter within s.50 of the Supreme Court of Judicature Act, 1877, therefore no appeal lay. “This contention succeeded with O’Connor, M.R., and Lord Justices Ronan and O’Connel, and the appeal was duly dismissed”. On 16 June 1921 (just six weeks after the verdict of the Military Court) the case appeared before the House of Lords in London for hearing on the Preliminary objection. Sir John Simon, KC, led Michael Comyn KC, James Comyn SC, their colleague, Joe McCarthy (later appointed a Judge) and Richard O’Sullivan of the English court appeared before the House.

The House of Lords heard the argument but then decided to adjourn the preliminary objection hearing until the hearing of the case on its merits. This hearing over five days took place in July. Delay and elaborate review of the law throughout history, taking account of other wars, civil wars and revolutions was a tactic specifically used. A most detailed review of the conditions in which prisoners were held in custody was cited. A red herring by Comyn drew mention to a link to Comyns’ Digest of the 18th century and where to place the apostrophe. On 28 July 1921 (only 10 weeks from the original trial by Military Court), Their Lordships, 4 from Scotland and Lord Atkinson from Ireland, gave judgment, which was most unsatisfactory. James Comyn, QC, (nephew of Michael Comyn KC) writes “On the strongly argued Preliminary objection that no appeal lay from Mr. Justice Powell or to them, they ruled against and against the unanimous judgment of the Court of Appeal…. They went on to hold that Prohibition was inappropriate because first, the Military Court was not a judicial tribunal and secondly, the officers constituting it were functi officio. They refrained from saying too much about the merits of the case because the use of habeas corpus ‘might be attempted'”.

James Comyn QC cites the Clifford and O’Sullivan case as a leading authority in the field of constitutional law. The lives of 42 men were at stake. Michael Comyn KC revealed later that King George V became aware of the details about the 42 men facing the death penalty. He was reported to be shocked and personally “interfered” to ensure that the sentences of death were not carried out. None of the 42 men were executed. Shortly after the Anglo-Irish Treaty, these men received their freedom.

“In Michael Comyn’s view the case had been brought to an end through the intervention of King George V, who, he said, secured a promise from the prime minister that no executions would take place and that Peace would be made”. It also notes that no republican prisoner whose case Comyn took up during the “troubles” suffered the death penalty. Other notable cases included his appeal to the House of Lords on behalf of the suffragette Georgina Frost.

After the truce in 1921 it is stated that Comyn met with Arthur Griffith and Austin Stack in London. He is said to have revealed “intelligence” from a highly placed British source that Lloyd George (Prime Minister) “would negotiate on lines that would satisfy Smuts and would go to the country rather than to war if those negotiations failed”.

Civil War

During the Irish War of Independence, Comyn was involved in the defense of Irish republican prisoners at the High Court and before the Military Courts. He also defended Republican prisoners during the Irish Civil War. He also took part in some significant inquests notably the two that arose with the deaths of Cathal Brugha and Harry Boland with the intention to disrupt them on behalf of the IRA. Erskine Childers was one of the principal secretaries to the Irish mission when the Treaty was being negotiated in London. The split between the pro- and the anti-treaty factions resulted in the former becoming the government and the latter under (de Valera) engaged in the hostilities.

In the Irish Civil War in Cork in 1922, Erskine Childers operated the printing press turning out anti-Treaty propaganda. In October 1922, Éamon de Valera made Childers secretary of his shadow “government” so he returned to Dublin. He returned with his typewriter and a small Colt automatic revolver (given to him by Michael Collins). While staying with his cousin Robert Barton (one of the signatories of the treaty) in Wicklow, he was captured by the forces of the Irish Free State Government. His capture made headlines and it is reported that it was noted with satisfaction by Winston Churchill who said he was a “mischief making renegade” and added “Such as he is may all who hate us be”. The charge against him was the “illegal possession of arms – the Colt revolver”. Erskine Childers was due to stand trial before a Military Court on 17 November 1922. He was imprisoned in Portobello Barracks and ask his long-time friend Michael Comyn to defend him. He had often hidden in Comyn’s home in Leeson Park.

At his trial, which was in camera, Childers was convicted. Then with Patrick Lynch, Comyn went to the High Court, presided over by Sir Charles O’Connor, and conducted a spirited fight based purely on technical grounds. It failed and they appealed. Before the appeal was heard, news came in an announcement from London, that Childers had been shot at dawn on 24 November at Beggar’s Bush Barracks. It appears that measures to rescue him were known to the Free State authorities and thus forestalled.

The Judges of the Court of Appeal echoed this when the case was held a few days later. It had a profound impact on Comyn when Childers was executed while the case was on appeal. He said “It was a complete negation of justice, the worst I have ever known, to execute a man whose case for life or death was actually under argument and awaiting judgment”.

Comyn knew Michael Collins but Comyn decided to take the anti-treaty side during the Civil War. After the Civil War, he became principal legal adviser to de Valera and Fianna Fáil, advising on the formation of the party and the founding of The Irish Press newspaper. It is said that on the advice of Gavan Duffy and Comyn to the Irish Free State that they could withhold payment of the land annuities to Britain.

In 1924, Comyn married Marcella Margaret, younger daughter of Blake-Forster, the O’Donnellan, of Ballykeal House, Kilfenora, County Clare. They had two daughters; Marcella and Eleanor Rose.

Political career

In 1926 he became a founder member of Fianna Fáil and in 1928 he was elected as one of six Fianna Fáil Senators to the Free State Seanad under the leadership of Joseph Connolly for three years. He served as senator between 1928 and 1936 and was vice-chairman of the house (1934–36). “He was a keen debater, he was a hard-working and able legislator, if unforgiving of political opponents. On de Valera’s accession to power, he expected to be made attorney general but was passed over in favour of Conor Maguire.”

In 1931 he was re-elected for nine years. After the 1934 Seanad election, there was a contest on 12 December 1934 to decide who would be elected Cathaoirleach. Senator MacKean was absent for the vote but all other members were present. General Sir William Hickie chaired the election. The two candidates were the outgoing Cathaoirleach, Thomas Westropp Bennett, and the Fianna Fáil candidate, Comyn. Neither of the two candidates voted and so fifty-six Senators voted in the election, which resulted in a tie of twenty-eight votes each. Westropp Bennett received the votes of all twenty-one members of Fine Gael and seven independents. Comyn received the votes of his eighteen Fianna Fáil colleagues, all the votes of the seven Labour Party Senators and the votes of three independents: Sir Edward Bellingham, 5th Baronet, Thomas Linehan and Laurence O’Neill. Hickie then gave his casting vote for Westropp Bennett saying he would have done so had he had the opportunity in the division. The following week, however, Comyn defeated the outgoing Leas-Chathaoirleach, Michael F. O’Hanlon of Fine Gael, by twenty-six votes to twenty-five.

In 1932 he took a successful action against de Valera’s government for the recovery of £20,000 of IRA fund.

On 24 February 1936, he resigned his seat in the Seanad as he had been appointed a judge on the Eastern Circuit Court. He died in 1952 aged 82 years.^{[citation needed]}

References

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Jail Break

ReinhardSchaler Nov 6

Hospi-Tales Jail Break ReinhardSchaler Nov 6 A man will be imprisoned in a room with a door that’s unlocked and opens inwards; as long as it does not occur to him to pull rather than push it.~ Ludwig Wittgenstein Last week, I met a mother in the car park of the airport filling station because that was the easiest place for her to find. She had driven 200km from the West of the country to visit her brain-injured adult son who had been placed in an institution for a six-month rehab stay – eight years ago. Since then, she has tried to get her son back closer to home. She has complained about the neglect and abuse her son experienced in his placement. She feels her complaints have not been followed up properly and she is being ignored. She is desperate. Earlier this year, when the private company running the placement threatened the HSE to discharge her son, they had problems dealing with his family’s complaints, he was made a Ward of Court under the 1861 Lunacy (!) Act, despite the fact that the 2015 Assisted Decision Making (Capacity) Act was about to be commenced. The Ward of Court proceedings were ‘ex parte‘ (referring to a court application brought by one person in the absence of and without representation by, or notification to, other parties – though the mother was later allowed to be represented as a ‘notice party’); ‘in camara‘ (only officers of the court, the parties to the case and their legal representatives, witnesses and such other people as the judge allows are in the courtroom while the case is being heard); and under a Section 27 ruling (meaning that any reporting of the case does not include details such as would permit the medical condition of the person being the subject of the proceedings to be identified – all in the ‘best interest’ of the person concerned, whether they agreed or not). The result of these Kafka-esque proceedings was, not surprisingly, that the Court agreed with the HSE. Her son was made a Ward – meaning he lost most, if not all, of his rights, including the right to complain. And it is now legally confirmed that his family has no say or rights whatsoever in relation to any aspects of their son’s life.The ‘best’ part: these proceedings will be paid for by her son’s estate.The mother feels utterly helpless. Her movements are not restricted but she has forcefully been stripped of her rights to companionship, her compassion, and her duty of care, for her son. She has developed serious mental and physical health problems because of the way “the system” is dealing with her, her family and her son.I don’t know anybody who wouldn’t agree that this is deeply upsetting and completely wrong. That it is cruel and should not be allowed to happen in one of the richtest and most developed nations of the world. This mother’s story is well known to the HSE, officials and politicians.Nobody has done anything to change this family’s situation.The mother says that she will not rest until her son gets out of his current placement and is allowed to move close to home.She is prepared to break out of her virtual jail imposed on her family by a well-oiled machine.She says that she will never abandon her son, as has been suggested to her by well-meaning healthcare professionals on numerous occasions.Even if breaking out of her virtual prison means going to the real jail should the ‘system’ retaliate, as she keeps telling her family’s story. Can we and will we help this mother to pull that door and get herself, her son, and her family out of that virtual prison? Pulling that door, rather than pushing it, as everybody expects her and us to do?Anybody?A job for a Jail Breaker. If you or someone you know is looking for a truly exceptional job opportunity, check out the job advert of the An Saol Foundation who are looking for a Programme Manager. Kalimba. Last week, Pádraig had another visit by a PhD student from UCD who is working hard to discover ways for Pádraig to play music and access different types of devices.This time, he had prepared a Kalimba and a haptic/touch-type ‘keyboard’ to access and discover different kinds of sounds.It was beautiful and truly amazing to see and feel the interest, energy and enthusiasm in the room. It was like a journey of sound discovery. Beautiful.Pádraig liked it 5/5 and can’t wait for the next session.Away from limitations and out into the wide open of sound discovery and the total enjoyment of new experiences. Here was someone pulling, instead of pushing the doors.A classic jail break. Comment Like You can also reply to this email to leave a comment. Unsubscribe to no longer receive posts from Hospi-Tales. Change your email settings at manage subscriptions. Trouble clicking? Copy and paste this URL into your browser: http://hospi-tales.com/2022/11/06/jail-break/ Powered by WordPress.com

“What is patriotism?

Let us begin with what patriotism is not.

It is not patriotic to dodge the draft and to mock war heroes and their families.

It is not patriotic to discriminate against active-duty members of the armed forces in one’s companies, or to campaign to keep disabled veterans away from one’s property.

It is not patriotic to compare one’s search for sexual partners in New York with the military service in Vietnam that one has dodged.

It is not patriotic to avoid paying taxes, especially when American working families do pay.

It is not patriotic to ask those working, taxpaying American families to finance one’s own presidential campaign, and then to spend their contributions in one’s own companies.

It is not patriotic to admire foreign dictators.

It is not patriotic to cultivate a relationship with Muammar Gaddafi; or to say that Bashar al-Assad and Vladimir Putin are superior leaders.

It is not patriotic to call upon Russia to intervene in an American presidential election.

It is not patriotic to cite Russian propaganda at rallies.

It is not patriotic to share an adviser with Russian oligarchs.

It is not patriotic to solicit foreign policy advice from someone who owns shares in a Russian energy company.

It is not patriotic to read a foreign policy speech written by someone on the payroll of a Russian energy company.

It is not patriotic to appoint a national security adviser who has taken money from a Russian propaganda organ.

It is not patriotic to appoint as secretary of state an oilman with Russian financial interests who is the director of a Russian-American energy company and has received the “Order of Friendship” from Putin.

The point is not that Russia and America must be enemies. The point is that patriotism involves serving your own country.

Source:

― Timothy Snyder, On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century

Some wisdom from an old dog…54,000 people have arrived in the small Island of Ireland, 26 counties. We need to distinguish the difference between Nationalism and Patriotism. 700 years of British Rule, being part of the British Empire, means we have too look at life with the Patriotic lens and welcome Ukrainians from their home a country, under invasion from the Russian Federation. Let us again look to a man who knows so much of the history of Ukraine, a man who knows President Zelenskyy in person.

“The president is a nationalist, which is not at all the same thing as a patriot.

A nationalist encourages us to be our worst, and then tells us that we are the best.

A nationalist, ‘although endlessly brooding on power, victory, defeat, revenge,’ wrote Orwell, tends to be ‘uninterested in what happens in the real world.’

Nationalism is relativist, since the only truth is the resentment we feel when we contemplate others.

As the novelist Danilo Kiš put it, nationalism ‘has no universal values, aesthetic or ethical.’

A patriot, by contrast, wants the nation to live up to its ideals, which means asking us to be our best selves.

A patriot must be concerned with the real world, which is the only place where his country can be loved and sustained.

A patriot has universal values, standards by which he judges his nation, always wishing it well—and wishing that it would do better.”

― Timothy Snyder, On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century

QUOTATION

“We allowed ourselves to accept the politics of inevitability, the sense that history could move in only one direction: toward liberal democracy… We imbibed the myth of an “end of history”. In doing so, we lowered our defences, constrained our imagination, and opened the way for precisely the kinds of regimes we told ourselves could never return.”

— Timothy Snyder

18:50 / BY NOOR AL-SIBAI. NEOSCOPE, FUTURISM

TAKING PSILOCYBIN JUST ONCE EASES TREATMENT-RESISTANT DEPRESSION IN STUDY

THIS IS SIGNIFICANT.

IMAGE BY GETTY IMAGES/FUTURISM

STUDIES

Building on the growing body of work surrounding “magic mushrooms” that produce the psychoactive compound psilocybin, a new study suggests that just one dose of a synthetically-made version can help ease the worst symptoms of depression.

Published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the findings from this randomized and double-blind clinical trial — which the study authors call “the largest of its kind” — are pretty, well, trippy.

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The synthetic psilocybin is called “COMP360” by its creator, Dr. Guy Goodwin, who serves as both as an Oxford University professor emeritus of psychiatry and as chief medical officer of COMPASS Pathways, which manufactures the compound, CNN notes in a writeup of the study.

“This drug can be extracted from magic mushrooms, but that is not the way our compound is generated,” Goodwin told CNN. “It’s synthesized in a purely chemical process to produce a crystalline form.”

While COMP360 is not the same thing as eating stems or crushed up mushrooms inside a large DIY pill capsule, its effects appear to be similar — including the post-trip afterglow, which the researchers described as being highest the day after taking the 25 milligram dosage.

Every participant in the 233-person study, which was conducted at 22 sites in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada, had treatment-resistant depression, a diagnosis given when an individual doesn’t respond to two or more types of antidepressant medication. All who were on antidepressants were advised to taper off of their medicine prior to the trial because these medications can counteract the benefits of psychedelics, though they were able to go back on them if necessary, CNN noted.

Depression levels in the participants were measured just before their “trips” and then at various points in the days and weeks after. The results were striking: the researchers found that overall, 37 percent of the trial patients experienced an improvement in symptoms and 29 percent were even “in remission” three weeks after the study.

“The maximum effect (was) seen the day after receiving the treatment,” Dr. Anthony Cleare, a psychopharmacology professor at King’s College London who was not involved in the study, told CNN. “This contrasts with standard antidepressants, which take several weeks to reach maximum effect.”

Something unfortunate seemed to happen around 12 weeks after the treatment, however: those who experienced an easing of their depression symptoms said it began to return.

“The effects did start to wear off by three months, and we need to know how best to prevent the depression returning,” Cleare said.

As Dr. Ravi Das, an associate professor of educational psychology at University College London who was also not involved in the study told CNN, “this is not a spectacular response rate for a psychiatric treatment… and we would only expect this to worsen over a longer follow-up period.”

There’s obviously much more research that needs to be done to determine the dosage and frequency of these sorts of treatments — which both boosters and detractors admitted in CNN‘s interviews — to figure out how to fine-tune it as an alternative form of depression treatment and mitigate the classic psilocybin side effects, which include nausea and dizziness.

Nevertheless, this large, first-of-its-kind study has huge implications for the power of psychedelic mental health treatment, and the backing of storied institutions like Oxford and the NEJM to boot.

More on psychedelics: Elon Musk Has Reportedly Been Telling Friends About Benefits of Shrooms and MDMA

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Not Putting a Ring on it, 1937

From the Irish Examiner, 26 November 1937:

“JUDGE AND A RING

AMUSING CASE AT WEXFORD CIRCUIT COURT

QUESTIONS TO WITNESS

At Wexford Circuit Court, before Judge Comyn KC, William McC, Wexford, appealed against the decision of the District Court Justice at Wexford, sentencing him to a month’s imprisonment on a charge of larceny by finding of a gold ring the property of Mrs K Delaney, Gardiner’s Row, Dublin.

Mrs Delaney swore that on August 22^nd, 1937, she was playing golf at the Rosslare Links and lost her ring.  Some time after she returned to Dublin a Civic Guard called with a ring which she understood was her ring.  It fitted her but she had no proof that the ring was hers.  She believed it was her ring.

When the witness gave this evidence late on Tuesday night the ring was not in court, and when the case was taken up in the morning she was not present.  Mr Kelly, State Solicitor, said that as Mrs Delaney had not gone so far as to identify the ring, the State could not prove ownership, and they could not go on with the case.

The Judge – Apparently she has been thinking about it and she thought perhaps she had sworn too much.  There was no blame to be attached to her.

Mr Kelly said nothing remained except for him to present the ring to Mr Esmonde, TD, who appeared for William McC.

Mr Esmonde said the State had adopted a wise and proper course in withdrawing the case.  The defendant had an absolute and perfect defence to the charge, and had brought from England a girl who had given him the ring.  She was not present in the District Court.

Mr Esmonde applied for the return of the ring to the defendant.  The State solicitor had no objection, he understood.

The Judge – I would like to see the lady that gave a wedding ring to a man (laughter).

GIRL’S EVIDENCE

Miss Bessie M was sworn and stated that she is employed in England and had been brought over for this case.  The ring belonged to her mother who is dead.  She was wearing the ring when home at her aunt’s last year, and she gave it to William McC, the defendant.  Rumours got about that she was married and she was showing him the ring and he took it from her finger and kept it.  She was 21 years of age.  She had been at service in Dublin and Waterford before she went to England.

William McC was sworn and said Bessie M gave him the ring at Lady’s Island.

The Judge – Was there any witness of the ceremony? (laughter)

Witness said he was 26 years of age.

The Judge – Have you any notion of getting married?

Witness – No, sir.

What do you mean by walking out with a girl of 21 if you don’t intend to marry her?

Witness – I don’t know.

Of course I don’t want you to commit yourself if you don’t know what you meant (laughter).  Did she ever ask you what were your intentions?

Witness – No.

JUDGE’S COMMENTS

Do you think she was moving towards that when the matter of the ring came up? (laughter).  You must have been slow about giving her a ring when she gave you one (laughter).  How did the Guards discover you had the ring?

Witness – I gave it to another girl in Rosslare.

You got it from Miss M and gave it to another girl.  Are you married yet?

Witness – No sir.

You had great adventures as a bachelor, getting a wedding ring from a fine little girl of 21 because you were too slow about a proposal, and you gave it to another girl you are not married to (laughter) What do you say to that?

Witness – I don’t know what to say?

Well, Mr Esmonde has conducted your case with great courage and success, and you have got free from going to jail, but don’t you think you have great courage to come here and claim the ring?

Witness – I don’t know.

I think I would stick to Miss Murphy if I were you and make a proposal.  I think I will give you back the ring; it just fits her finger (laughter).

Later in the evening the judge said he would not give defendant the ring because he did not seem to be able to make proper use of it (laughter).  He directed that it be sent to Mrs Delaney in Dublin.“

Technically speaking, Mr Esmonde was quite right – his client should have got the ring back! Did Judge Comyn decide not to give it back because of doubts about Bessie M’s story – or because he believed her story, felt sorry for her, and wasn’t going to give her mother’s ring back to Mr McC to be passed onto to another girl? Possibly the former – because otherwise why not just give it back to Bessie M herself?

As you can see from the above story, many judges enjoy putting their former cross-examination skills to use on witnesses! The advocacy skills of the Comyn family were unsurpassed – the legal careers of Judge Comyn and his nephew James, yet another Irishman who became an English High Court Judge, make fascinating reading!

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Stories of the Four Courts

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Our Conscious Experience of the World Is But a Memory, Says New Theory

By Shelly Fan

October 25, 2022

Sitting on the Marine Atlantic ferry, I’m watching the Newfoundland skyline disappear on the horizon as I type away. I see the rocking of the ocean waves, inhale its salty breeze, feel and hear the buzz of the ship’s rumbling engine. I try to focus on writing this sentence, but my eyes hopefully scan the ocean for a rogue, splashing whale.

According to a new paper in Cognitive and Behavioral Neurology, these sights, smells, and glances are mere memories, even as I feel that they’re happening in real time. A team from Boston laid out a new theory of consciousness that inextricably ties it to memory.

In a nutshell: at its core, consciousness evolved as a memory system. It helps us remember the events of our lives—the whens, wheres, whats, and whos—which in turn can help us creatively and flexibly recombine them to predict or imagine alternative possibilities.

It gets more mind-bending. Rather than perceiving the world in real time, we’re actually experiencing a memory of that perception. That is, our unconscious minds filter and process the world under the hood, and often make split-second decisions. When we become aware of those perceptions and decisions—that is, once they’ve risen to the level of consciousness—we’re actually experiencing “memories of those unconscious decisions and actions,” the authors explained.

In other words, it’s mainly the unconscious mind at the wheel.

Thanks to the massively parallel computing power in biological neural networks—or neural circuits—much of the brain’s processing of our surroundings and internal feelings happens without our awareness. Consciousness, in turn, acts as a part of our memory to help tie events together into a coherent, serial narrative that flows with time—rather than snippets from a disjointed dream.

“Our theory is that consciousness developed as a memory system that is used by our unconscious brain to help us flexibly and creatively imagine the future and plan accordingly,” said author Dr. Andrew Budson. “We don’t perceive the world, make decisions, or perform actions directly. Instead, we do all these things unconsciously and then—about half a second later—consciously remember doing them.”

For now, the theory is just that—a theory. But viewing consciousness through the lens of a memory system could provide new clues to brain disorders, such as stroke, epilepsy, dementia, and others that impair memory or consciousness. The theory also raises questions about animal, AI, and mini-brain consciousness, helping neuroscientists further probe how the conscious and unconscious brain work together every second of our lives.

How Am I Aware?

Consciousness has tickled the brains of our greatest thinkers for thousands of years. Why did it develop? What is it good for? How did it emerge? And why is dampening urges (like that second serving of incredibly crispy off-the-boat fish and chips) so hard to resist?

And what exactly is consciousness?

It’s a bit bewildering that we don’t yet have a settled definition. Broadly speaking, consciousness is a personal experience of the world, including our own existence. Mainly conceived of back in the 1890s, this broad sketch of the concept leaves plenty of room for multiple theories.

Two ideas rule in neuroscience, with global efforts to battle it out through carefully designed experiments. One is the global neuronal workspace theory (GNWT), which posits that the brain integrates information from multiple sources into a single data “sketch” on a “global workspace.” This workspace, having knowledge of only items in our attention, forms a conscious experience.

In contrast, the other mainstream theory, Integrated Information Theory (IIT), takes a more connective view. Here, consciousness arises from the neural architecture and interconnectedness of brain networks. The physical and data processing properties of neural networks—particularly, the rear regions of the brain—by themselves can generate consciousness.

Other theories dig deep into the complex web of neural connections, suggesting that information loops between brain regions, extended in time and space, generate consciousness. Some suggest that an awareness of “self” is critical to being conscious of the outside world.

Yup, it’s a zoo of theories out there.

A Dash of Memory

The new theory took inspiration from previous ideas and experimental data, coming to a surprising conclusion: that consciousness evolved as part of memory—in fact, it is the process of remembering.

Scientists have long linked consciousness to episodic memory, a “journal” of our lives encoded by the hippocampus. Intuitively it makes sense: what we consciously experience is essential for forming “life” memories, which associates different aspects of an event in time. But here, the authors argue that consciousness works hand in hand with the brain’s memory networks, together forming a “conscious memory system” that gives rise to consciousness.

The team began with a troubling thought: that conscious perception is incredibly slow, and often fools us. Take various auditory or visual illusions—the dress, anyone?—it’s clear that our conscious perception is influenced by far more than reality itself. So why do we value consciousness as a way to perceive, interpret, and interact with the world?

The answer, suggest the authors, is memory. Consciousness may have evolved together with memory so we can remember. Say you’re walking around a familiar neighborhood and hear a bark. In milliseconds, the bark zaps to our working memory—a mental “sketchpad” to process data. There, it acts as a cue to retrieve a previous memory of the same bark, and the face of an overzealous puppy eager to nip ankles. Upon remembering, you quickly cross the street.

Here, consciousness is absolutely integral for the entire sequence. Hearing the bark—that is, consciously perceiving it—draws memories to consciously remember. The brain then imagines what could happen (another nip?), causing you to dash away. Without the conscious perception of the bark, we wouldn’t link it to potential danger or make an effort to circumvent it.

Ok, so what?

The crux, the authors explain, is that consciousness, as a critical part of memory, can help to flexibly and creatively combine memory to plan future actions. Or in their words, “there is no reason that consciousness needs to operate in real time.”

This means that rather than experiencing the world in real time, we may be perceiving our surroundings and internal thoughts as “memories”—like seeing a night sky full of stars that may no longer, in reality, be there. It further allows us to project into the future or reach into the depths of creativity and imagination, sketching new worlds based on memory, but with new ways of combining those elements.

The brain is famous for its parallel processing capabilities, and much of that happens under the hood. A consciousness memory system makes sense of disjointed unconscious information, time-stamping each bit so that the recollections roll like a movie.

“Even our thoughts are not generally under our conscious control. This lack of control is why we may have difficulty stopping a stream of thoughts running through our head as we’re trying to go to sleep, and also why mindfulness is hard,” said Dr. Budson.

By reframing consciousness as part of memory, the team hopes the theory can help patients with neurological disorders. People with stroke that affects the cortex or surrounding neural highways often have an impaired ability to use memories to solve problems or plan for the future. Those with dementia, migraines, or epilepsy similarly have disturbances that cause disruptions in consciousness and memory, with the two often linked.

The authors are well aware that they’re stepping into controversial grounds. “Many—perhaps even most—of the hypotheses that we are proposing may turn out to be incorrect,” they wrote. Even so, testing the theory experimentally can “bring us closer to understanding the fundamental nature and anatomical basis of consciousness.”

Image Credit: Greyson Joralemon / Unsplash