Yearly Archives: 2019
Montana Had the Highest Suicide Rate in the Country. Then Budget Cuts Hit.
From NBC News: Some who have lost loved ones — frustrated by the budget cuts and driven by the state’s urgent needs — are mobilizing to do whatever they can to stop the deaths.
How Do Clients Solicit Medication Changes With Psychiatrists?
Researchers examine psychiatrist-client interactions and find that clients are often left with few opportunities to make explicit requests to change their medication regimen.
Turned Down for Federal Disability Payments, Thousands Die Waiting on Appeals
From USA TODAY: "It is totally unacceptable for 10,000 people to lose their lives waiting for insurance they paid into," said U.S. Rep. John Larson, D-Conn.
Very Slow Tapering Best For Antidepressant Withdrawal
A new article in Lancet Psychiatry finds that slower tapering of SSRIs is better for preventing antidepressant withdrawal effects.
Dangers of Antidepressants: My Personal Struggle with Conventional Medicine
I believed my doctor knew best about my health. I trusted that he knew it would be safe to switch me from an anti-anxiety drug that I had been taking for several years and put me on this new drug. It was only during the horror I went through afterward that I found out everything about this evil drug all on my own. To this day, I still get brain zaps in my sleep.
Student Counseling Services: Do They Really Help the ‘Mentally Ill’?
I used to think that the counseling center would help me to resolve my inner conflicts. That visiting the center would do some good for me. I have since realized that most mainstream “mental health” is more damaging than helpful. These days if student counselors see any problem with a student visiting the center, they send him or her to see a psychiatrist.
California Looks to Lead Nation in Unraveling Childhood Trauma
From California Healthline: CA is poised to become a vanguard for the nation in embracing the research that traces adverse childhood experiences to later onset of physical and mental illness.
Drug Commonly Prescribed to Veterans Could be Making Suicidal Thoughts Worse
From FOX News Nashville: Prazosin is a blood pressure medication commonly prescribed to treat PTSD nightmares, although it's not approved by the FDA for that purpose.
Stigmatizing Effects of the Psychosis-Risk Label
Study examines the effects on participants of being told they are at risk of developing psychosis.
Kick Big Pharma Out of the Classroom
School-based strategies such as the “talk to your doctor” campaign about any childhood problem have been extremely effective in helping the pharmaceutical industry to marginalize traditional child-rearing practices and replace them with advice from mental health “experts” and the use of dangerous drugs. These campaigns are reminiscent of now-illegal vintage tobacco ads in which doctors endorsed cigarette smoking.
Bait and Switch: the Great Ketamine ‘Breakthrough’
From RxISK: Spravato may do little for depressed people, but as a guarantor of future profits, it may be just the "game changer" drug companies have been yearning for.
Will the European Elections Be a Chance for Mental Health?
European citizens from 27 different countries will soon go to the polls to elect their representatives in the European Parliament for the next five years. As an advocacy organisation, we see those elections as an opportunity to call on current and future European leaders and policymakers to bring mental health to the heart of European policies.
Why ‘Happy’ Doctors Die by Suicide
From Pamela Wible MD: Physician suicide is a global public health crisis. In the U.S., more than one million Americans lose their doctors each year to suicide.
Freedom of Speech Award Given to Norwegian Psych Survivor Merete Nesset
From University of South-Eastern Norway: "This so-called treatment is so cruel and inhuman that I need[ed] to make use of it for something, someday... all this suffering must not be in vain."
Is Anxiety to Blame for Missed School?
A new systematic review illustrates features of the relationship between anxiety and school attendance patterns.
Psychology Needs New Concepts and Healing Models for Racial Trauma
Contemporary empirical research explores new ways to conceptualize and heal racial trauma through anticolonial and sociohistorical lenses.
As Students Struggle With Stress and Depression, Colleges Act as Counselors
From The New York Times: More than 60 percent of college students experienced "overwhelming anxiety" in the past year; over 40 percent felt so depressed they had difficulty functioning.
Psychedelics and Psychosis: The Limitations and Risks of Chaos Consciousness
From Psychedelic Support: When a person's brain is in the middle of a blizzard, they don’t need their metaphorical snow globe shaken.
“Let’s Not Go Overboard About ECT”
In an internet email discussion among a large group of supposedly enlightened mental health professionals, few came forward to outright condemn or ban ECT. One participant responded to my comments with, "It worries me how this debate gets so polarized." This refusal to say or to accept something polarizing is a hallmark of most so-called reformers in the field of mental health.
My Mental Health Awakening
Although it’s taken me a while to acknowledge my right to be in this world, I know that I am not “mentally ill,” but rather have a dynamic spiritual and emotional sensitivity to this world. I am here for a reason, and having to go into the depths of a very dark cave in order to see the light is how I was able to grow and discover that I don't have to take medications for the rest of my life.
How “Mental Health Awareness” Exploits Schoolchildren
Imagine being a parent at a meeting with educators to discuss Johnny's academics or behavior. Suddenly, your child’s teacher is telling you that he needs to see a doctor for an assessment of a suspected “mental disorder,” which usually leads to a prescription for medication. Warned of “the risks against failing to intervene,” you will likely acquiesce.
Researchers Make the Case to Rename Schizophrenia
The authors outline reasons for renaming schizophrenia and the way a change can reform practice.
Why Many Doctors Are Authoritarians – and Harmful
It is important to illuminate the authoritarian nature of mental health professionals—especially those who have not rebelled in any way against their professional socialization. Here I will summarize an analysis from the Journal of Medical Ethics on the variables in “contemporary medical culture” that produce doctors who are authoritarian and harmful.
The Lonely Hell of Quitting Antidepressants
From MEL: Many are pushed to internet forums and medical journals to figure out, for themselves, how a successful withdrawal from antidepressants is supposed to work.
Researchers Identify Demographic, Ideological Factors Associated With Refugee Prejudice
A new analysis finds multiple antecedents of refugee prejudice, including religiousness, conservatism, and education.
