Yearly Archives: 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 Kirsch and his colleagues used the Freedom of Information Act to gain access to the unpublished trials of antidepressants and then pooled the clinical trial data – both published and unpublished ─ and analyzed it as a single data set.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.

Everyone knows how muckraking is supposed to work.  An investigative reporter uncovers hidden wrongdoing; the public is outraged; and the authorities move quickly on...

While there was much to criticize in the final report of the President’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health, the basic observation that the...

The authors of a recent editorial in the British Journal of Psychiatry that urges a rethinking of the use of antipsychotics are asking that readers...

36,835 is a 9 hour and 41 minute performance exploring the overabundance of psychiatric medicine in the lives of Americans, particularly young women. Using...

When I first entered a state of altered reality (called psychosis) at the age of 25, I was exhilarated. Then, when I could not...

We spend a lot of time writing about knowledge dissemination in mental health, and over time, have increasingly recognized the important role of science...

Time magazine reviews the evidence on exercise for depression, finding that exercise alters brain chemistry such that the brain shows less stress in response...

Three former executives from Purdue Pharma have been barred by a federal appeals court from doing business with federal healthcare programs such as Medicare...

Xanax Withdrawal is a short 42-page book by Dr. Stuart Shipko, a clinician in Pasadena, California who has focused to some degree on tapering...

As the schizophrenia/psychosis recovery research continues to emerge, we discover increasing evidence that psychosis is not caused by a disease of the brain, but...

This morning Kayla Harrison won the first ever Olympic gold medal in the history of USA Judo. Kayla has overcome many, many obstacles on...

My work in peer service stems from the giving back to my community, yes, but it’s more than that. I do it because I can’t do anything else. I love this work. I love consumer 1:1 contact and prefer to be in the background otherwise because I don’t like attention.

The Collaborative Pathways project at Advocates, Inc. in Framingham, MA has received an FEMHC grant to develop and evaluate their highly innovative new program....

So who is James Holmes and why did he do what he did? Is he a lone wolf psycho or a lone psychopath who...

Attorney Jamie Sheller of Philadelphia firm Sheller, P.C. discusses a client whose child had birth defects caused by taking Paxil during her pregnancy. GlaxoSmithKline...

Almost 50 million prescriptions for antidepressants were issued in the U.K. in 2011, a rise of 9% over 2010. The increase is attributed, at...

Consumer Reports recommends against antipsychotic "augmentation therapy" for depression. The consumer watchdog magazine finds that the unproven efficacy, harmful side effects, availability of alternatives,...

The August issue of the British Journal of Psychiatry offers an editorial stating that, as "mental health services appear to have overestimated the strength...

Three weeks ago What would Batman do Now covered the issue of suicide in the military – an issue that had Batman missing in action, and...

It may sound a bit cliché, but one of the best definitions of forgiveness I’ve ever heard was actually stated by Oprah Winfrey. Oprah’s definition of forgiveness is, “to accept the fact that the past can’t change.”

David Weinberg writes in Science-Based Medicine that implausible theories must be held to a higher standard of proof in evidence-based research. In a review...

The Harm Reduction Guide to Coming Off Psychiatric Drugs, written by Will Hall and published by The Icarus Project and Freedom Center, is an...

TruthOut interviews a former drug reviewer for the Center For Drug Evaluation and Research at the FDA, who says the center "placed the nation...