1100 Psych

Authors: Dr. Madeline Bruce
See Also: Meet Cecilia McGough; The voices in my head - Eleanor Longden; Little Insight - Young People who Hear Voices
Reading Time: 2 minute(s)
Word Count: 270 words

Primary vs. Secondary Sources

Goals: Be able to recognize and distinguish primary and secondary sources of information

Primary: Original data directly from sources through methods like surveys, interviews, or experiments
Secondary: Analyzes and synthesizes existing data that has already been published by others

Primary: In a journal or government report; Will name hypothesis/theory, participants, results, and discussion; Will be pretty focused; Will likely have a citation after nearly every sentence of the introduction
Secondary: Typically an educational website or in an academic book; Can include commentaries, summaries, or meta-analyses in journals; An easier read on a broad topic

Myth: Lithium is only used/important in the treatment of severe psychiatric illnesses.
References: Schrauzer G. N. (2002). Lithium: occurrence, dietary intakes, nutritional essentiality. Journal of the American College of Nutrition, 21(1), 14–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/07315724.2002.10719188; Jakobsson, E., Argüello-Miranda, O., Chiu, S. W., Fazal, Z., Kruczek, J., Nunez-Corrales, S., Pandit, S., & Pritchet, L. (2017). Towards a Unified Understanding of Lithium Action in Basic Biology and its Significance for Applied Biology. The Journal of membrane biology, 250(6), 587–604. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00232-017-9998-2; Trifu, S. C., Popescu, A., & Marian, M. A. (2020). Affective disorders: A question of continuing treatment during pregnancy (Review). Experimental and therapeutic medicine, 20(4), 3474–3482. https://doi.org/10.3892/etm.2020.8989
Author’s Notes: Reference touches on lithium’s role as a nutrient; Lithium’s neuroprotective effects (& neuroplasticity) – info; Lithium as an essential nutrient; Lithium is toxic to ingest – partial - info; Lithium in drinking water - info; Lithium consumption during pregnancy – partial, below