Researchers Address Dangers of Polypharmacy and Inappropriate Medication Use

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A new special issue brings together articles exploring the harmful effects of simultaneous multiple medication use.

People Diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder at Increased Risk for Parkinson’s

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Increased Parkinson's risk could be related to lithium, antipsychotic, and antiepileptic drug use.

Antipsychotics Associated with High Risk of Death in Children

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A new study has found that children and adolescents taking a high dose of antipsychotics are almost twice as likely to die of any cause than children on other types of medications.

Claims That Long-term Antipsychotic Use Leads to Better Outcomes are Misleading, Researchers Argue

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Researchers reveal the limitations and misleading interpretations of two recent studies that claim to demonstrate that long-term antipsychotic use leads to better outcomes.

Call to Monitor Adverse Effects of Antipsychotics in Youth

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Researchers point to the risks of using antipsychotics with youth and caution against the practice.

Study Shows Success With Reduced Antipsychotic Use

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People who reduced antipsychotic use by tapering were doing just as well after five years as those who continued using the drugs.

Vitamin B6 Effective in Reducing Antipsychotic Induced Akathisia

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A recent RCT showed that vitamin B6 is as effective as propranolol for the treatment of akathisia.

Reducing Antipsychotic Use May Improve Health for People with Mental Health Diagnoses

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A new study offers radical solutions for improving the cardiovascular health of people with mental health diagnoses: reducing antipsychotic prescriptions..

Patients on Antipsychotics at High Risk for Cardiovascular Issues, Study Finds

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Antipsychotics present a known risk for major side effects. A new study suggests that certain antipsychotics may present a greater risk for cardiovascular disease than others.

Researchers Probe Connections Between Physical Activity and ‘Severe Mental Illness’

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How does physical activity affect people diagnosed with bipolar, schizophrenia and major depressive disorders?

Antidepressant Use May Increase Risk of Diabetes

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New study confirms previous evidence that antidepressant use is linked to developing type 2 diabetes.

New Research Documents Widening Mortality Gap for Bipolar and Schizophrenia

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Analysis of longitudinal data from 2000-2014 demonstrate mortality gap is widening between persons with a diagnosis of bipolar or schizophrenia compared to the general population

In Chronic Patients, Antipsychotics Have Limited Efficacy in Reducing Symptoms

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A large review and meta-analysis of 167 studies across 60 years dissects placebo-controlled randomized controlled trials of antipsychotic drugs.

When Switching Antipsychotics, No Difference Between Immediate and Gradual Discontinuation

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Review study compares outcomes of gradual vs. immediate antipsychotic discontinuation when switching from one drug to another.

Expert Urges Doctors to Stop Prescribing Seroquel for Insomnia

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FromĀ National Post: Many physicians are prescribing a low dose of Seroquel, an atypical antipsychotic, to patients with insomnia. Experts warn that even a low...

Researchers Search for Subgroups Where Antidepressants Are More Effective

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The researchers theorized that this increased effectiveness was due not to ā€œantidepressantā€ properties, but rather to the drugā€™s side effects, which include insomnia, drowsiness, and nausea.

Children with ‘ADHD’ Commonly Prescribed Antipsychotics

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Despite little evidence for benefit, and substantial risk of harm, antipsychotics are commonly prescribed to children diagnosed with ADHD

Researcher Acknowledges His Mistakes in Understanding Schizophrenia

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Sir Robin Murray, a professor at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience in London, states that he ignored social factors that contribute to ā€˜schizophreniaā€™ for too long. He also reports that he neglected the negative effects antipsychotic medication has on the brain.

Mental Health Nurses Do Not Routinely Assess for Effects of Antipsychotic Medications

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Researchers believe that side-effect monitoring is critical because of the increase in the use of antipsychotics

Review Questions Long Term Use of Antipsychotics

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Patients who recover from a single episode of psychosis are often prescribed antipsychotics long-term, despite a lack of evidence for this practice

Many Psychiatric Patients Sent Home With Multiple Antipsychotics Against Guidelines

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Despite the fact that clinical practice guidelines specifically recommend against the use of more than one antipsychotic at once, new research reveals that as...

Researchers Discover How Antipsychotics Lead To Parkinsonism

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A new study published this month in the journal Neuron identifies the mechanism by which antipsychotic drugs can induce parkinsonism, a condition involving movement...
life unarmed

Life, Unarmed

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When I was born, everyone was expecting me to have arms. The doctor's mind raced; how am I going to tell this mother and the father that their son has hands but not arms? If he's missing so much in his extremities, mustnā€™t he also be missing a mind? My mom looked into my eyes and knew - in a way that only mothers know - that I had a mind, and spirit.

In Case You Missed This

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On November 12th, 2015, the third anniversary of the day that I abruptly stopped taking benzodiazepines, my dear friend, J. Doe, published a two-part article here on Mad in America examining the language that is commonly used to describe benzodiazepine (benzo) iatrogenesis. I wanted a summary of these articles captured in a Youtube video so that those in the thick of benzo neurotoxicity could tune into these ideas in a way that might be more easily digestible. I hoped more benzo sufferers would begin to question how they describe (and allow others to describe) an illness that remains decades behind in understanding and recognition. I also wanted to draw attention to the content again in hopes that more medical professionals would read and understand the crucial distinctions in language surrounding this problem.

ā€œProtect California Foster Youth from Dangerous Psychiatric Drugsā€

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The Santa Cruz Sentinel reports on legislation being passed in California to go after physicians who overprescribe psychiatric drugs to foster youth. The proposed legislation also targets government agencies that fail to offer nondrug alternative therapies to help foster youth recover from traumatic childhoods.