Yearly Archives: 2017
Good News, Cats Don’t Cause Mental Health Problems
From USA Today: New research has disproved a previous study's suggestion that having cats in the home is linked to mental health problems. The new study...
When Evidence Says no, but Doctors say yes
From ProPublica: Many physicians continue to administer treatments that have long been proven ineffective and even harmful to patients.
"For all the truly wondrous developments of modern medicine...
Our Coming to Mad in Aotearoa
Madness cannot be separated from our cultural contexts. Our dream is that there are spaces for people of all cultures and countries who experience living with, through and beyond madness to tell their unique stories. We have created Mad in Aotearoa for all the people in our country.
Big Pharma Enlists Leading Professors to Justify Drug Prices
From ProPublica: The pharmaceutical company has deployed a potent new ally to justify skyrocketing drug prices. Precision Health Economics, a firm comprised of leading economists and...
How the Positive Only Movement has a Negative Impact
From Rooted in Rights: The Positive Only movement has a negative impact on the disability community by ignoring the realities of many disabled people, including...
Debunking Myths About Creativity and the Brain
From Pacific Standard: Recent studies have debunked two common myths about creativity and the brain: that the right hemisphere is solely responsible for creative thought,...
The Harm Reduction Guide to Coming Off Psychiatric Drugs
Based on more than 10 years work in the peer support movement,The Icarus Project and Freedom Centerâs 52-page guide is used internationally by individuals, families, professionals, and organizations to support reducing and coming off psychiatric drugs.
New Data Show Lack of Efficacy for Antidepressants
An article published this month in the journal BMC Psychiatry suggests that there is a lack of efficacy for SSRIs and that they significantly increase the risk of serious side effects.
Transformations to Liberation
My goal was to change my relationship with my voices from one that was adversarial to one in which I experienced them as allies. I was successful in that I now look at my voices, visions and other experiences as teachers, as gifts. It has not been an easy journey.
Smartphones are Really Stressing out Americans
From TIME: A recent report by the American Psychological Association found that people who constantly check their smartphones experience higher levels of stress compared to people...
The Desire to Fit In is the Root of Almost All Wrongdoing
From Aeon: Contrary to the beliefs of many great philosophers, wrongdoing is not primarily motivated by self-interest and greed, but by the desire to fit...
How Blackbirds Help us Beat the Blues
From Daily Mail: Researchers have found that living close to bird life can improve mental health. People who live in neighborhoods with more bird life have...
A New Paradigm for Psychiatry: Answering the Call from the UN
Once biochemical psychiatry is discarded, which will inevitably happen, what will replace it? The approach I will describe here is consistent with the nature of consciousness itself, with the neuroscience of the brain, with child development and attachment.
Psychosis for Mental Health?
What if we took individuals who are experiencing emotional crises called 'psychosis' and offered them safe spaces of respite? Similar to the psychedelic trip, environment, supportive relationships, and interpretation of experience appear key to whether the experience of psychosis is transformative or destructive.
An American Public Health Crisis – the ‘Pair of ACEs’
From The Huffington Post: Adverse Childhood Experiences such as physical and emotional abuse, domestic violence, and homelessness often occur in the context of Adverse Community...
Why Loneliness Affects so Many Young People
From Vice: The importance placed on self-sufficiency, extreme individualism, and competitive self-interest in our society has contributed to widespread loneliness among millennials.
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Benzodiazepines Continue to be Prescribed Without Psychotherapy to Older Adults
Researchers call for shift toward proven alternatives like psychotherapy in face of continued evidence of safety risks of benzodiazepines.
How Big Pharma and the Medical Doctors Killed my Father
When the nurses tried to give him other medications, my father refused. They accused him of being âcombativeâ and âuncooperative,â and they injected him with the highly toxic, incredibly dangerous, mind-bending antipsychotic HALDOL.
Mental Health Digest February 2017
A new issue of the Mental Health Digest newsletter is now available. This issue includes an overview of art therapy as well as information about the impact...
B Vitamins Reduce Schizophrenia Symptoms
From Hindustan Times: Treatments using high-dose B-vitamins, including B6, B8, and B12, can considerably reduce symptoms of schizophrenia.
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High University Debts Cause Students Mental Health Problems
From The Independent: Debts accumulated during university years are so high that students are suffering from mental health problems. A recent survey found that three-quarters...
The Sedated Society: the Real Story of our Prescribing Epidemic
BBC 5 live ran a recent piece that aimed to explore why antidepressant prescriptions have doubled in the last ten years. Unfortunately, it failed to address the drivers of this epidemic â industry-backed diagnostic inflation and the lax regulation of medicines.
Do Some Trauma Survivors Cope by Overworking?
From The Atlantic: Like other addictions, workaholism may be a response to trauma. Overworking is the way that some trauma survivors cope with hypervigilance, grief, and...
Same-sex Marriage Laws Linked to Drop in Teen Suicide Attempts
From MinnPost: Laws legalizing same-sex marriage are associated with a significant drop in teen suicide attempts. In states that legalized same-sex marriage before June 2015, when...
College Course Offered on Calling out Scientific Crap
From STAT: Two professors at the University of Washington will be offering a new course, "Calling Bullshit In the Age of Big Data." The class...
