Monthly Archives: December 2017
NSUN is Advocating for a Rights-Based Mental Health Act
The National Survivor User Network (NSUN) has expressed concerns about the UK government's plans to reform the Mental Health Act, as the government's current approach...
Intergenerational Impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences
The daughters of children evacuated from Finland during World War II show an increased number of psychiatric hospitalizations.
How Would We Know If We Really Reformed the Mental Health System?
It is true that there are many great programs and initiatives out there, but when a system leaves so many without recovery-oriented supports it's like swimming upstream. Here are 20 indicators that if fully implemented would represent a complete system reform.
Kids Perform Better When Dressed as Batman
From World Economic Forum: A recent study found that children aged 4-6 maintained better focus and were less easily distracted while performing boring tasks when dressed...
Facebook’s AI Suicide Prevention Tool Raises Concerns
From The Daily Dot: Last week, Facebook announced a global rollout of their new suicide prevention algorithm, which aims to identify users deemed at risk...
Freud in the Scanner: A Revival of Interest in Introspection
From Aeon: For the past several decades, mainstream mental health professionals as well as the general public have dismissed Freud's ideas, turning instead to neuroscience...
New Research on Prenatal SSRI Exposure and Autism
Does maternal SSRI exposure increase the chances that a child will develop characteristics associated with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)?
Childhood Maltreatment Drives Self-Injury
From Medscape: New research shows that individuals who were physically, sexually, or emotionally abused as children are more likely to engage in non-suicidal self-injury.
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A Veteran Wonders: How Will My PTSD Affect My Kids?
In this piece for The Atlantic, Brooke King reflects on how her trauma currently affects and may continue to affect her children, as well as...
The Empire Dreamt Back: Britain’s Use of Psychoanalysis
From Aeon: In the early 20th-century Age of Empire, officials in the British Empire sought to better understand their colonial subjects through the use of...
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Halves the Risk of Repeated Suicide Attempts
A new study suggests that cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) may halve the likelihood of re-attempting suicide, for those who have attempted in the past.
My Daughter’s Story
I am now haunted by guilt that my daughter never really had a chance for anything like a normal life, because of the choices that were made for her. Choices made with the 'best' medical advice of the day, which I had never quite accepted as correct, but in the end largely complied with for lack of any clear alternative.
“Let the Soul Dangle”: How Mind-Wandering Spurs Creativity
From Aeon: An emerging field of neuroscience has begun to reveal how contemplating art can lead to positive mind-wandering, psycho-biological self-regulation, and creativity.
"Can art itself...
Hospitals Need to Earn Their Tax-Exempt Status
From STAT: Many of the country's most profitable and prominent hospitals enjoy tax-exempt status even though they often fail to meet the health needs of...
53% of Docs Still Not Transitioning to Value-Based Care
From Modern Healthcare: There has been a recent uptick in the number of doctors transitioning to value-based care, but 53 percent of physicians still have not...
Study Examines the Difficulty of Withdrawing from Antidepressant Drugs
Correcting unnecessary long-term antidepressant use is difficult and met with apprehension by providers and service-users.
APA: Drop the Stigmatizing Term “Schizophrenia”
I believe that the American Psychiatric Association and the World Health Organization should follow the lead of several countries that have already retired the term "schizophrenia" from their vocabularies. The time is now to drop this stigmatizing, hope-disabling, scientifically controversial term.
Ten Simple Things We Can Do Immediately to Reduce Suicide
In this piece for Unthinkable, Dr. Jacob Z. Hess describes ten ways we can all help to reduce suicide, including promoting self-determination and choice in...
Chris Hansen: Making Connections Through Intentional Peer Support
This week on MIA Radio, we interview Chris Hansen. Chris works as Director for Intentional Peer Support and in this interview, we talk about Chris’s personal experiences of the mental health system and how Intentional Peer Support approaches contrast with mainstream psychiatry.
There’s No Such Thing As “Sound Science”
In this piece for FiveThirtyEight, Christie Aschwanden explains how various industries have used the language of the "open science" reform movement, which advocates for more transparency in scientific...
Black Truth: Medicated in America
Follow the explosive page-turning story of Mark Black and his family from Oklahoma who in the 1970s, were thrust into a harsh world of...
Reexamining Schizophrenia as a Brain Disease
Schizophrenia has occupied, and continues to occupy, a position of great import in psychiatry, and it is frequently used to assert the supposed biological nature of the field. What evidence is there to suggest that what we call schizophrenia is a disease of the brain? Surprisingly, very little.
Vets Who Receive Legal Aid Show Improved Mental Health
From Yale News: A new study shows that veterans who receive legal help with housing, benefits, and consumer or personal matters have increased income, fewer...
Psychological Misconceptions in Movies and TV Shows
This piece for The Learning Scientists lists five misconceptions about psychology and the mind that are commonly portrayed in television and film.
Mad Pride: Making a Truce With the Voices in Your Head
In this piece for Vice, Tess McClure describes New Zealand's Mad Pride movement, a movement that seeks to destigmatize, normalize, and celebrate experiences of voice-hearing...
