The Critical Commentator

 More and more members of Generation Z, who make up the bulk of TikTok users, are into astrology. The horoscope app Co-Star, which uses AI  to combine Nasa data and content from astrologers, rose from 7.5 million global users in 2020 to 30 million in 2023. With apps offering paid extras such as romantic compatibility reports, spending on astrology-related products is projected to hit $ 22.8 billion by 2031, says Allied Market Research. One London based TikTok creator - Bella, who has 1.2 million followers suggested her Gen Z fans had turned to astrology for a "sense of agency" when life felt chaotic. She said her motivational videos appealed to young people looking for "self-development" and "self-empowerment". Feast of Fools Frans Floris the Elder (c. 1517-1570) Photo Credit: Shakespeare Birthplace Trust [CC BY-NC-ND] "Bitesized, visually engaging content like memes and zodiac-based trends resonate deeply with Gen Z. These platforms allow astrology t...

  The results are in: Gen Z can't change a lightbulb. Nor can we tell the difference between a  spanner and a wrench. In fact, if you give us a screwdriver we'll hand it to the police for fear of being caught with a weapon. Show us an image of a car's engine bay and we'll fall into a dribbling catatonic state; we'll spontaneously combust if you ask us to point out the battery. A new survey, which found that my generation are the most likely to pay a professional to perform basic tasks around the home instead of attempting them, has proven that we are terrible when it comes to DIY, [Do It Yourself] but just how bad? Awful. At least in my experience. Aged 25 I'm about as good with a chisel as a chef is at controlling their anger. Two Pairs of Stonemasons Working with Chisels and Hammers unknown artist  Photo Credit: Wellcome Collection [Public Domain] I remember one particularly embarrassing situation at university. My friends and I had just moved into a new house...

  Patients Waiting to See the Doctor, with Figures representing Their Fears Rosemary Carson (b. 1962) Photo Credit: Wellcome Collection  [CC BY] Why does everyone suddenly seem to have ADHD? It's a question that many of us working in mental health have been asking each other recently. Just a decade or so ago I rarely saw anyone in clinic with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder; now I see at least one case a day. It's bewildering. Have all these people simply been undiagnosed for years? Is it a medical fad? No one knows. ADHD used to be mainly diagnosed in children, but more and more people are now getting a diagnosis in adulthood. These adult patients tend to assume that they have had the disorder since childhood but what they don't grasp, is that even the existence of childhood ADHD as a condition is up for debate. Research suggests that far from being under-diagnosed in children, ADHD is wildly over-diagnosed. - and this is dangerous... It's easier to whack a la...