Yearly Archives: 2017
3 Whiting Workers Investigated Over Patient Abuse Allegations
From the Hartford Courant: Over this past spring and summer, 31 employees of the Whiting Forensic Division of Connecticut Valley Hospital were suspended, and nine...
Self-Compassion Course Supports College Students to Support Themselves
New research on a brief self-compassion focused course aimed at the college students.
Stimulants: The Long View
When the ADHD literature speaks of scattered attention, it uses terms with historical resonance. Ever since the Puritans, reformers have attached high importance to the regulation of attention. But the standard treatment of ADHD is designed for immediate, not eventual, benefits. It conflicts with its own rationale.
Dickinson’s Legacy is Incomplete Without Discussing Trauma
In this piece for The Establishment, physician Isabel C. Legarda explores the possibility that the poet Emily Dickinson may have been a survivor of sexual violence.
"Absent...
Sleep Deprivation is an Effective Anti-Depressant
From Science Blog: According to a new meta-analysis, sleep deprivation reduces symptoms in nearly half of depression patients. Partial sleep deprivation (sleep for three to...
Why We Need to Get Better at Critiquing Psychiatric Diagnosis
In this piece for Mind Hacks, Vaughan Bell, a long-term critic of psychiatric diagnosis, points out the major flaws and logical fallacies in some of...
Antidepressants Increase Risk of Death, Study Finds
Antidepressants are commonly considered safe and effective treatments. However, research has questioned their efficacy, and now, their safety.
PA State Representatives Introduce Bill to Ban ECT on Children
From Fox43: Last week, two Pennsylvania state representatives, Tom Murt and Stephen Kinsey, introduced a bill to prohibit the use of electroconvulsive therapy on children...
Alcohol Industry is Misleading Consumers About Cancer Risk
From MinnPost: According to an international team of researchers, the alcohol industry is misleading the public by misrepresenting and downplaying evidence linking alcohol consumption with cancer.
"For...
Meaningful Conversation is a Crucial Part of Medicine
From Scientific American: Doctor-patient communication is an incredibly important part of medical treatment. However, doctors often do not have the time or resources to be...
Electroconvulsive Therapy Class Action Filed
DK Law Group LLP has just filed a class action in federal court in the Central District of California against the manufacturers of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) devices on behalf of every person who has been injured by electroconvulsive therapy in California since May of 1982.
Researchers Identify 27 Categories of Emotion
A new study finds that emotions may be represented by 27 categories, with each category relating to others in a more complex and continuous fashion than previously understood.
How Should We Think About Mental States? The Contribution of Wittgenstein
The important point that Wittgenstein makes is that mental states, including mental disorders like depression or psychosis, are not just private events — we understand them through the public expressions by which they are manifested.
The Myth of the 30 IQ Point “Communication Range”
From Neuroskeptic: The idea that two people who have an IQ difference of more than 30 points cannot communicate with one another is not based...
Dr. Vinay Prasad Takes on Big Pharma and Big Medicine
In this piece for STAT, Meghana Keshavan profiles Dr. Vinay Prasad, a physician who has become an influential voice in the medical community through his...
Michael O’Loughlin: Exploring Narrative Approaches to Psychological Distress
Professor Michael O'Loughlin of Adelphi University talks about his childhood experiences and how they influenced his narrative and conversational approaches to supporting those suffering with psychological distress.
72 Hour Hold for Inalienable Personhood
Poof! Medical science and brain specialists have just alienated your rights. Far be it from me to question expert judgment, but have any of these people ever considered how dangerous it is to abrogate someone's personhood? It's time to recognize inalienable personhood. Social 'othering' is deadly.
The Side Effect of Meditation I Didn’t Expect
In this piece for The Elephant Journal, Flavia Simas shares how meditation not only helped reduce her depression and anxiety but also improved her self-esteem.
"It helps...
The Paranoid Fantasy at the Heart of “It”
From Pacific Standard: It, the first feature-film adaptation of a 1986 horror novel by Stephen King, has broken box office records for the horror genre, making...
Study Finds Increasing Minimum Wage can Decrease Child Maltreatment
Increasing the minimum wage - even modestly - can lead to less cases of child abuse in the home.
Rise of Involuntary Mental Health: What is Your Resistance Strategy?
Even after working for decades for human rights in mental health, I have been surprised about how involuntary outpatient ideology is taking over. SAMHSA plans to spend as much as $54 million of US taxpayer money for 17 programs across the country to spread this coercive approach.
Behaviour is Considered More Moral the More Common it is
From Medical Xpress: New research demonstrates that our view of selfish and altruistic behaviors is dependent upon how common they are; we are more likely to...
The Importance of Anger: How Anger Management Falls Short
From GoodTherapy.org: A large portion of anger management literature focuses on suggesting ways to tame, control, avoid, reduce, minimize, and even eliminate feelings of anger...
Challenges in Measuring Low-Value Healthcare
Differences in patient-centric versus service-centric measures make quantifying low-value care difficult.
Dear Mental Health Professionals: Please Stop Defending Yourselves and Listen
Most people who enter the mental health field do so with good intentions. But when it comes to opening up to ideas or information that challenge your worldview or how you conduct your business, on the whole, you’re doing a pretty poor job.
