Adverse Effects: The Perils of Deep Brain Stimulation for Depression
Hundreds of people have been given remote control deep brain stimulation implants for psychiatric disorders such as depression, OCD and Tourette’s. Yet DBS specialists still have no clue about its mechanisms of action and research suggests its hefty health and safety risks far outweigh benefits.
Antidepressants Do Not Prevent Suicides, May Increase Risk
When the CDC released data revealing an increasing suicide rate in the US, some experts, speaking to major media outlets, speculated that the increase...
Vitamin B6 Effective in Reducing Antipsychotic Induced Akathisia
A recent RCT showed that vitamin B6 is as effective as propranolol for the treatment of akathisia.
Researcher Acknowledges His Mistakes in Understanding Schizophrenia
Sir Robin Murray, a professor at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience in London, states that he ignored social factors that contribute to ‘schizophrenia’ for too long. He also reports that he neglected the negative effects antipsychotic medication has on the brain.
After the Black-Box: Majority of Children Starting SSRIs Still Receiving Too High of Dose
In 2004, the FDA added a black-box warning to SSRI antidepressants on the increased risk of suicide among children taking these drugs. A new study suggests that this warning has increased the proportion of children who begin an antidepressant on a low dose, but the majority are still receiving higher than recommended doses.
Rethinking Madness and Medication: Researcher Discusses Psychiatric Drug Withdrawal and Survivor Movements
New understandings of medication and withdrawal experiences warrant rethinking conceptualizations of health and “madness."
New Study Casts Doubt on Efficacy of Ketamine for Depression
A new study, published this month in the Journal of Affective Disorders, investigated the effectiveness of weekly intravenous ketamine injections as a treatment for...
Having Abortion Does Not Increase Risk of Developing Mental Disorder
A new study conducted in the Netherlands, published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research, investigates the effect of terminating an unwanted pregnancy on the...
Study Suggests Mania More Common in Psychosis When Antidepressants Used
A prospective cohort study of those labeled high risk for psychosis finds a higher prevalence of antidepressant use among those who develop manic symptoms.
ADHD Drugs Linked to Psychotic Symptoms in Children
Stimulant medications like Ritalin and Adderall, often prescribed to treat children diagnosed with ADHD, are known to cause hallucinations and psychotic symptoms. Until recently these adverse effects were considered to be rare. A new study to be published in the January issue of Pediatrics challenges this belief, however, and finds that many more children may be experiencing psychotic symptoms as a result of these drugs than previously acknowledged.
When Psychiatric Medications Cause Psychiatric Symptoms
Dr. Yolande Lucire, a psychiatrist from Australia, recently published a paper about the iatrogenic effects of psychiatric drugs.
Intensive Care Patients at High Risk for PTSD, Psychiatric Symptoms
People who survive life-threatening illnesses in the intensive care unit (ICU) of a hospital are at high risk for depression and anxiety and nearly...
How the News Frames the Opioid Epidemic
US news coverage has primarily framed the opioid drug abuse epidemic as a criminal justice issue rather than a public health problem, according to new research published ahead of print in the Journal of Psychiatric Services. The media’s framing of the epidemic may increase stigma against those who develop a dependency on prescription drugs and distract political attention from public-health oriented solutions, such as increased access to substance abuse recovery treatments.
New Medications Fail to Show Efficacy for Alzheimer’s Disease
Three phase III clinical trials assessing the efficacy of Lundbeck’s investigational drug idalopirdine for Alzheimer’s disease have failed
The Reckoning in Psychiatry Over Protracted Antidepressant Withdrawal
Medically-induced harm—affecting tens of millions of people worldwide—has taken the field decades to take seriously.
Epilepsy Drugs Can Induce Psychosis in Some Patients, Study Finds
In this month’s issue of the journal Brain a new study investigates whether the drugs prescribed to control seizures can increase the risk of...
Hallucinations Reported as Side Effect of ADHD Medication
Hallucinations and other psychotic symptoms have been reported after methylphenidate (Ritalin) treatment for ADHD.
Study Connects Environmental Risk Factors and Psychosis
A meta-analysis of known risk factors for psychosis finds elevated risk with the presence of childhood trauma, adverse life events, and affective dysfunction.
Pro-LGBT Policies Reduce Teen Suicide
A study demonstrates a 7% reduction in suicide attempts for teens in states that had legalized same-sex marriage.
Identifying Psychiatric Drugs Leading to Emergency Room Visits
More than ten-percent of adults in the United States are currently prescribed at least one psychiatric medication but there is currently a lack of research on the prevalence of adverse drug events (ADEs) associated with these prescriptions outside of clinical trials.
Benzodiazepines Linked to Treatment Resistant Depression
Prior use of benzodiazepines, such as Xanax, Librium, or Ativan, may increase the risk of treatment-resistant depression (TRD), according to a new study published in The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease.
FDA Warns About New Impulse-Control Problems Associated With Abilify
Yesterday, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released a warning that the antipsychotic drug aripiprazole or Abilify is associated with compulsive and uncontrollable...
Study Finds ADHD Drugs Alter Developing Brain
A new study, published in the JAMA Psychiatry, investigates the effect of stimulant ‘ADHD’ drugs on the brains of children and young adults. The...
The FDA Is Hiding Reports Linking Psych Drugs to Homicides
In my wildest dreams, I could never have imagined being drawn into a story of intrigue involving my own government’s efforts to hide, from the public, reports of psychiatric drugs associated with cases of murder, including homicides committed by youth on the drugs. But that is precisely the intrigue I now find myself enmeshed in.
Duty to Warn – 14 Lies That Our Psychiatry Professors in Medical School Taught...
Revealing the false information provided about psychiatry should cause any thinking person, patient, thought-leader or politician to wonder: “how many otherwise normal or potentially curable people over the last half century of psych drug propaganda have actually been mis-labeled as mentally ill (and then mis-treated) and sent down the convoluted path of therapeutic misadventures – heading toward oblivion?”
