Yearly Archives: 2023
Epilepsy Drugs as ‘Chemical Restraint’ on Rise in Nursing Homes
From The Washington Post: An inspector general report indicates nursing home physicians have traded one controversial practice for another: sedating dementia patients with anticonvulsant drugs rather than antipsychotics.
The Faulty Reasoning That Turned ADHD Into a Disease
Leading ADHD researchers outline four mistakes that turned ADHD from a description of behavior into a medical disease.
The Biases of Western Medicine | Gabor Maté, MD
From Sustainable Human: Western medicine has a number of hidden ideological beliefs that hinder our understanding and resolution of illnesses, whether physical or mental.
Do We Live in a Brave New World? Aldous Huxley’s Warning to the World
From Academy of Ideas: "In 1931, when Brave New World was being written, I was convinced that there was still plenty of time," wrote Huxley. "Twenty-seven years later…I feel a good deal less optimistic…The nightmare of total organization…is now awaiting us, just around the next corner."
Why Isn’t There a Popular Hashtag for Involuntary Commitment?
As uses of psychiatric force expand, can social media be better used to focus critical attention?
The Power of Light and Dark
It is possible to prevent and alleviate both depression and mania by managing the timing and intensity of exposure to light (and dark). I wasn’t sure these measures would work for me, but they did.
Misleading Ads Fueled Rapid Growth of Online Mental Health Companies
From The Wall Street Journal: In the two years since the government expanded the scope of allowable telehealth services, companies have been operating largely outside of the advertising rules that govern drugmakers.
Seriously Misleading Network Meta-analysis in Lancet of Acceptability of Depression Pills
It is a futile exercise to rank depression pills based on flawed trial reports and—most importantly—when the patients prefer to be treated with a placebo.
Congressional Inquiry into Alzheimer’s Drug Faults Its Maker and FDA
From The New York Times: The agency’s actions "raise serious concerns about FDA’s lapses in protocol," the report concluded. Nevertheless, the FDA is now evaluating two other Alzheimer’s drugs for approval early next year.
The New York Times Uncritically Repeats Discredited Antidepressant Claims
From CounterPunch/Bruce Levine, PhD: Once again, as with their reporting on WMDs in Iraq, the paper showed no skepticism about declarations from sources with powerful motives to sell a self-serving narrative that conflicts with the evidence.
Poetry by Kris
All is the self
The world where it is felt
What’s around what’s within
Simple the mind of which integrates
let be without
To listen when it is loud
Less...
So Who’s Mad, Then? by Richard Plowden
Mad Maddy,
I greet you again and say hello
On yet another fine day
In England in mid-December!
May our darling Greta
Be spared such summery sun
Up north in...
Problem-Solving Through Skills-Building: Motivating Kids to Change
Children can overcome all sorts of difficulties by learning specific behavioural or emotional skills with the help and support of their social network.
A House on Shaky Ground: Eight Structural Flaws of the Western Worldview
From Tikkun/Jeremy Lent: Many of the ideas we hold sacrosanct in modern society are actually myths that emerged from erroneous assumptions made at different times and places in history.
