In this 30-minute podcast, Peter Simons reports on the latest scientific articles in psychiatry. The goal is to provide more detail than is usually found in conventional research news and to help listeners understand how to interpret the findings.
Articles covered in this podcast include:
- A clinical trial in JAMA Psychiatry that found that lithium was no better than placebo at preventing suicide-related events;
- A review article that questions the use of antidepressants due to their harmful effects, withdrawal problems, and “the lack of a clinically significant difference between antidepressant and placebo treatment”;
- An essay by prominent psychiatrist (and chair of the DSM-IV task force) Allen Frances, which lambasts the overdiagnosis of depression and the overprescription of antidepressant drugs, especially in youth;
- An analysis of the six clinical trials for esketamine—five of which failed outright to show any benefit over placebo, and one that was statistically—but not clinically—significant;
- A case study of acute ketamine withdrawal, presented in the American Journal of Psychiatry, which resulted in increased suicidality and aggression and lead to involuntary hospitalization;
- And a study of ayahuasca which found that it was no better than placebo at improving mental health outcomes, and highlights the co-opting of indigenous traditions by psychiatry.
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