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Happy Wednesday, readers!
We’re heading into the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. And I know, the focus this time of year is usually around how many calories you’re packing away during the holiday feasts, or how much money you’re spending to feed your extended family.
But what about the mental health paradox of the holidays? Thanksgiving anxiety is a pretty well-established phenomenon. After all, it can be stressful to prepare a large meal, congregate with people you haven’t seen for the rest of the year (or longer), and potentially have to field awkward debates about anything from politics to the arts to religion (especially if the wine is flowing).
And yet, social bonding has a pretty strong track record of being good for your mental health. That, in turn, can also be good for your physical health—even reducing stress and the risk of heart-related conditions, according to the NIH.
So what gives? The answer is a bit of a hodgepodge, much like a Thanksgiving potluck. For instance, the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) notes that 64% of people with a mental illness say that the holidays can actually exacerbate their conditions, a phenomenon known as the “Holiday Blues.” The pressure of putting on a happy face is a big part of the reason.
At the same time, basic human connections and feelings of gratitude to one another can prove a boon to emotional well-being, as suggested by Dr. Robert Emmons, a University of California, Davis researcher who has done extensive research on the science of gratitude.
It’s a give and take. Life can be rough. Family can be rough. Organizing big events are almost inevitably rough. And the holidays can blend all that roughness together.
What’s clear is that treating friends and family with kindness and empathy is a win-win for all involved.
Read on for the day’s news. And have a wonderful Thanksgiving.
Sy Mukherjee
sayak.mukherjee@fortune.com
@the_sy_guy
DIGITAL HEALTH
Amazon's Alexa wants to remind you to take your meds. Amazon is expanding Alexa's health care footprint into medication management, the company said in a blog post. The service will be available to supermarket chain Giant Eagle Pharmacy's customers in a collaboration with Omnicell. It's a pilot project, but users who sign up for it can say something like, "Alexa, manage my medication" and receive reminders on taking their pills.
INDICATIONS
Vertex plots major gene and cell therapy expansion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals is expanding (literally, physically) its already-formidable presence in Boston with new property meant to support its cell and gene therapy R&D ambitions, according to FiercePharma. Vertex recently crossed over from its bread-and-butter cystic fibrosis business into the gene therapy field for other rare disorders (and that's the kind of complicated drug development that requires a whole lot of space). (FiercePharma)
THE BIG PICTURE
The CBD rage could hit a public health wall. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has sent warning letters to 15 companies accused of illegally selling CBD products—and a broader warning to consumers that these largely unproven products could cause legitimate harm, including liver damage. "We remain concerned that some people wrongly think that the myriad of CBD products on the market, many of which are illegal, have been evaluated by the FDA and determined to be safe, or that trying CBD ‘can’t hurt,’" said FDA principal deputy commissioner Amy Abernethy in a statement. (MarketWatch)
REQUIRED READING
Turning Off the Autopilot: Fortune's 2020 Investor's Guide, by Matthew Heimer
How Fintech's Third Wave Will Change How You Bank, by Robert Hackett
Employers Have a New Idea for Inclusive Recruitment: Hiring for Diversity of Thought, by Anne Fisher
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