Today, I found this, which cheers me up a bit. I thank the Lord.
— Albert Gedraitis
Academia.edu blog (Feb15,2k13)
A dissenting view on depression
Sparking Discourse, Hooking Funding
SPOTLIGHT ON COLIN HENDRIE, UNIVERSITY OF LEEDS
53,192 document views and counting, Academia.edu may just help Colin Hendrie of the University of Leeds rekindle a public health concern in dire need of discussion: depression.
Long gone are the days when pharmaceutical companies and governments pour resources into helping the world’s 350 million people suffering from depression, but Hendrie has hope that his paper on female copulatory vocalizations, which was the most read paper on Academia.edu in 2012, could be the spark to reignite public discourse and hook the funding for depression research he’s been fishing for.
On this day one year ago, Hendrie looked at his Academia.edu analytics with shock. In a two-day span his document views soared from 304 to 12,220. “I thought that the analytics graph had broken because it suddenly shot off the scale,” laughed Hendrie.
Responsible for this sudden surge was the Cracked.com article, “Five Reasons Why Science Says We Have Sex,” which in 2 days attracted 11,510 interested parties to Hendrie’s infamous paper on female copulatory vocalizations and an additional 418 viewers to his paper on the evolution of kissing.
Unbeknownst to Hendrie, Cracked.com had referenced his two papers in their article, which subsequently went viral. Mesmerized readers wanting to learn more, clicked on the article’s citation links, which sent them straight to the source: Hendrie’s papers on Academia.edu.
Though Hendrie is still confronted by the long-standing mindset that research only really counts when other academics read it—“Is it going to lead to a citation?” is the common response—Hendrie can’t help but see the opportunities that so many document views could bring.
“I’m in the UK and a lot of our academic work is really only picked up by the UK. Obviously the internet helps, but typically our work stays fairly local. However, a lot of the hits I’m getting on Academia.edu are coming from America, from different parts of the globe. “
As a psychologist who examines human behavior through a zoological lens, Hendrie loves that his research has attracted youth and the everyday person to science. Two or three times a week Hendrie is contacted by people fascinated by his work and wanting to discuss various parts of his research.
“I get a lot of people contacting me out of the blue to say, ‘I’ve read your paper!’ Considering the paper is rather academic, these are people who wouldn’t have come into contact with it any other way,” says Hendrie.
As thousands of people peruse his Academia.edu profile, Hendrie hopes that this increased traffic will take a detour through other areas of his research, namely his peer-reviewed work on depression.
“I’m hoping to get some publicity for work that I’m passionate about. I have a particular theory of depression which I’m having serious problems getting funding for.”
To Hendrie, the topic of depression is a pressing issue in desperate need of attention. For over 60 years the pharmaceutical industry has been developing drugs for depression but has had little success— of the drugs that actually work, according to Hendrie, maybe only 40-50% of patients actually respond to them. Hendrie believes this low success rate is due to drug companies using incorrect theories on depression, something he hopes to remedy with his impending research.
“I’ve come up with a new theory, which leads directly to new predictions. Basically, my theory can be used to do more experiments, but I can’t get funding for it because nobody is interested in the area anymore. It’s a shame because it’s a real big problem,” says Hendrie.
Poor responses to depression drugs have caused large pharmaceutical companies worldwide to pull out of research, and, unfortunately, government funding has followed suit.
“This means that we’ve got drugs that don’t work very well and nobody is really doing any research into making new ones,” says Hendrie with deep concern.
“My hope is that somehow this paper will catch in the wind and someone with the appropriate authority will see it and think it’s a good idea and maybe think about contacting me.”
Though Hendrie also uses other forums to publicize his depression and human copulatory work, he’s investing most of his energy into his Academia.edu profile.
“A lot of these sites are popping up because people are realizing their worth. Obviously there is only one winner, and I would say Academia.edu will be it. What that will do is create some momentum for my research.”
Backed by high document traffic, Hendrie has high hopes. “I want to show people that my work is having an impact, that these are the hits I’ve been having. I suppose in the end I’m trying to show people who don’t know me that I have credibility.” As his credibility and visibility grow, Hendrie is hopeful that opportunities to help those suffering from depression will follow.
“If people start talking about depression, it will become part of the agenda, part of their focus. That is my hope with Academia.edu.”
Academic Bio:
Colin Hendrie is a Senior Lecturer at the Institute of Psychological Sciences, University of Leeds, England, where he examines human behavior using ethological methods, techniques commonly employed in the field of animal behavior. His latest work, which is also closest to his heart, uses an ethological approach to show that depression is a cluster of defensive behaviors. In 2012, the Institute of Psychological Sciences at Leeds University awarded Hendrie Lecturer of the Year.
Hendrie’s work can be viewed here.http://blog.academia.edu/post/43084407006/sparking-discourse-hooking-funding
Long gone are the days when pharmaceutical companies and governments pour resources into helping the world’s 350 million people suffering from depression, but Hendrie has hope that his paper on female copulatory vocalizations, which was the most read paper on Academia.edu in 2012, could be the spark to reignite public discourse and hook the funding for depression research he’s been fishing for.
On this day one year ago, Hendrie looked at his Academia.edu analytics with shock. In a two-day span his document views soared from 304 to 12,220. “I thought that the analytics graph had broken because it suddenly shot off the scale,” laughed Hendrie.
Responsible for this sudden surge was the Cracked.com article, “Five Reasons Why Science Says We Have Sex,” which in 2 days attracted 11,510 interested parties to Hendrie’s infamous paper on female copulatory vocalizations and an additional 418 viewers to his paper on the evolution of kissing.
Unbeknownst to Hendrie, Cracked.com had referenced his two papers in their article, which subsequently went viral. Mesmerized readers wanting to learn more, clicked on the article’s citation links, which sent them straight to the source: Hendrie’s papers on Academia.edu.
Though Hendrie is still confronted by the long-standing mindset that research only really counts when other academics read it—“Is it going to lead to a citation?” is the common response—Hendrie can’t help but see the opportunities that so many document views could bring.
“I’m in the UK and a lot of our academic work is really only picked up by the UK. Obviously the internet helps, but typically our work stays fairly local. However, a lot of the hits I’m getting on Academia.edu are coming from America, from different parts of the globe. “
As a psychologist who examines human behavior through a zoological lens, Hendrie loves that his research has attracted youth and the everyday person to science. Two or three times a week Hendrie is contacted by people fascinated by his work and wanting to discuss various parts of his research.
“I get a lot of people contacting me out of the blue to say, ‘I’ve read your paper!’ Considering the paper is rather academic, these are people who wouldn’t have come into contact with it any other way,” says Hendrie.
As thousands of people peruse his Academia.edu profile, Hendrie hopes that this increased traffic will take a detour through other areas of his research, namely his peer-reviewed work on depression.
“I’m hoping to get some publicity for work that I’m passionate about. I have a particular theory of depression which I’m having serious problems getting funding for.”
To Hendrie, the topic of depression is a pressing issue in desperate need of attention. For over 60 years the pharmaceutical industry has been developing drugs for depression but has had little success— of the drugs that actually work, according to Hendrie, maybe only 40-50% of patients actually respond to them. Hendrie believes this low success rate is due to drug companies using incorrect theories on depression, something he hopes to remedy with his impending research.
“I’ve come up with a new theory, which leads directly to new predictions. Basically, my theory can be used to do more experiments, but I can’t get funding for it because nobody is interested in the area anymore. It’s a shame because it’s a real big problem,” says Hendrie.
Poor responses to depression drugs have caused large pharmaceutical companies worldwide to pull out of research, and, unfortunately, government funding has followed suit.
“This means that we’ve got drugs that don’t work very well and nobody is really doing any research into making new ones,” says Hendrie with deep concern.
“My hope is that somehow this paper will catch in the wind and someone with the appropriate authority will see it and think it’s a good idea and maybe think about contacting me.”
Though Hendrie also uses other forums to publicize his depression and human copulatory work, he’s investing most of his energy into his Academia.edu profile.
“A lot of these sites are popping up because people are realizing their worth. Obviously there is only one winner, and I would say Academia.edu will be it. What that will do is create some momentum for my research.”
Backed by high document traffic, Hendrie has high hopes. “I want to show people that my work is having an impact, that these are the hits I’ve been having. I suppose in the end I’m trying to show people who don’t know me that I have credibility.” As his credibility and visibility grow, Hendrie is hopeful that opportunities to help those suffering from depression will follow.
“If people start talking about depression, it will become part of the agenda, part of their focus. That is my hope with Academia.edu.”
Academic Bio:
Colin Hendrie is a Senior Lecturer at the Institute of Psychological Sciences, University of Leeds, England, where he examines human behavior using ethological methods, techniques commonly employed in the field of animal behavior. His latest work, which is also closest to his heart, uses an ethological approach to show that depression is a cluster of defensive behaviors. In 2012, the Institute of Psychological Sciences at Leeds University awarded Hendrie Lecturer of the Year.
Hendrie’s work can be viewed here.http://blog.academia.edu/post/43084407006/sparking-discourse-hooking-funding
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