RETHINKING BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY

Jonathan Leo, Ph.D. is a Professor of Neuroanatomy at Lincoln Memorial University-DeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine.   His research examines the biological basis of mental disorders such as ADHD, schizophrenia, and clinical depression. His articles have appeared in The Journal of Mind and Behavior, Society, Psychiatric Times, and PLOS Medicine. He is the past editor-in-chief of Ethical Human  Psychology and Psychiatry.  He is also the Co-Editor, along with Sami Timimi, of the recently released book Rethinking ADHD published by Palgrave.  In 2009, his short letter to the BMJ earned him the title Dr. Nobody from the editors of JAMA.

Jonathan Leo, Ph.D. Dr. Friedman Criticizes the Overuse of the Atypical Antipsychotics

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October 4, 2012

Just being “safe and effective” is not a strong endorsement, and it lacks any justification for the exorbitant amounts of money that have been paid for these medications. Their commercial success was due to the fact that they were advertised as “better” not just safe. Texas and 36 other states have now realize that they were misled about second-generation antipsychotics being better, and they are recouping their money.
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Categorized in: Adult, Blogs, Disorders, Featured Blogs

Jonathan Leo, Ph.D. Study 329′s Authors: Should Those Who Live in Glass Houses Throw Stones?

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August 6, 2012

For the past several years whenever a critical essay has come along examining the work of Irving Kirsch and his colleagues I have made an effort to examine the validity of the proposed arguments. Kirsch and his colleagues used the Freedom of Information Act to gain access to the unpublished trials of antidepressants and then pooled the clinical trial data – both published and unpublished ─ and analyzed it as a single data set. It is common for pharmaceutical companies to only publish those studies that find their products effective, and to withhold the negative studies, making it difficult to reach accurate conclusions by examining only the published data. Kirsch and his colleagues have reported that in the company sponsored clinical trials, the SSRIs only marginally outperform placebo, with the difference being statistically different but not clinically significant.
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Categorized in: Antidepressants, Blogs, Featured Blogs, Psychiatric Drugs | Tagged as: , , , ,

Jonathan Leo, Ph.D. Teenagers on SSRIs

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July 7, 2012

Last week, the Wall Street Journal has an article titled The Medication Generation by Katherine Sharpe which questioned the fact that a large number of teenagers are currently taking antidepressants. In several respects the article was a bit of a refreshing change from …
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Jonathan Leo, Ph.D. Stimulants for Good Grades: A Legitimate Use or an Abuse?

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June 12, 2012

When you apply the Daytrana patch, you can help your child get ready for school, homework, and his entire day. – An advertisement for Daytrana, an ADHD medication, manufactured by Shire Pharmaceuticals, in Redbook, January 2007. The recent article on …
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Jonathan Leo, Ph.D. SSRIs in The Atlantic: Forget the Science Bring on the Anecdotes

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June 6, 2012

The Atlantic web site has just published a strange piece on the efficacy of the antidepressants. When getting into a discussion with about antidepressants with a supporter of the drugs the first thing to figure out is: Are they going to talk …
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