Lancet Study Questions Safety of Locked Psychiatric Wards
A new study published in Lancet Psychiatry challenges the common practice of locking psychiatric wards to prevent patients from attempting suicide or leaving against...
“Study Finds Mental Health Patients No Better Off Behind Locked Doors”
The Lancet Psychiatry published a study last week finding no benefit to locking up patients in mental health hospitals. Data on 145,000 patients found...
Researchers Investigate Antidepressant-Induced Suicidal Ideation
An increase in suicidal thoughts is a known and serious side-effect for various types of antidepressants. Recent studies suggest that there may be some...
Violence Caused by Antidepressants: An Update after Munich
The media is now reporting details about the 18-year-old who shot and killed nine and wounded many others before killing himself on July 22 in Munich. My clinical and forensic experience leads to a distinction among people who murder under the influence of psychiatric drugs. Those who kill only one or two people, or close family members, often have little or no history of mental disturbance and violent tendencies. The drug itself seems like the sole cause of the violent outburst. On the other hand, most of those who commit mass violence while taking psychiatric drugs often have a long history of mental disturbance and sometimes violence. For these people, the mental health system seems to have provoked increasing violence without recognizing the danger.
“War, on Drugs”
Historian Peter Frankopan delves into the use of drugs to fuel combat “from berserkers to jihadis.” “Of the US pilots who took part in...
Major Review Finds Antidepressants Ineffective, Potentially Harmful for Children and Teens
In a large review study published this week in The Lancet, researchers assessed the effectiveness and potential harms of fourteen different antidepressants for their use in children and adolescents. The negative results, familiar to MIA readers, are now making major headlines.
Dateline NBC to Cover Child Psychiatric Overmedication Epidemic This Sunday
This Sunday, June 12 at 7pm (EDT) on NBCs Dateline will cover MIA author Steve Francesco's book, Overmedicated and Undertreated: How I Lost My...
“The Hefty Price of ‘Study Drugs’ Misuse on College Campuses”
For the Conversation, Binghamton University researcher Lina Begdache tackles the issue of the growing use of 'Study Drugs' in the student population. “Animal studies show...
“The Hidden Harms of Antidepressants”
In a new article for Scientific American, Diana Kwon reports on how the true risks for suicide and aggression in children and teens taking...
“Psych Drug Link to Violent Episodes Analysed”
The Irish Examiner reports on research by Yolande Lucire connecting antidepressant-induced akathisia to violent episodes. The research concludes that the “medicalisation of common human...
“Psychiatric Drugs Killing More Users than Heroin, Cocaine, Say Health Experts”
A groundbreaking article for The Province is “sounding the alarm over the heightened risk of death linked to the use of psychiatric drugs.” They report on...
Interview: Researchers Deconstruct Ghostwritten Industry Trial for Antidepressant
Researchers, Jon Jureidini, Jay Amsterdam and Leemon McHenry, have taken a closer look at the data from a randomized control trial of citalopram (Celexa) that was ghostwritten and then used by the manufacturers to support claims of the drug’s efficacy and safety in the treatment of child and adolescent depression. To get the background on this story, we connected with Dr. Leemon McHenry, an investigator in this study and a lecturer in philosophy at California State University, Northridge.
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...
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.
“Medical Error—The Third Leading Cause of Death in the US”
In this podcast from the BMJ talk medicine series, researchers discuss their finding that medical error is the third leading cause of death in...
Suicide Rates Rise While Antidepressant Use Climbs
Multiple media sources are reporting on new data from the CDC revealing a substantial increase in the suicide rate in the United States between 1999...
My Response to the FDA’s ECT Rule Change
I lived through forced ECT from 2005-2006 at the Institute of Living in Hartford, Connecticut. My experience with ECT was the impetus for me to become involved in the antipsychiatry and Mad Pride movements, although I am not entirely opposed to voluntary mental health treatment. The following is the comment I submitted to the FDA on its proposal to down-classify the ECT shock device.
“The Long, Sad Story of Antidepressants and Suicide”
The Roanoke Times medical column takes on the question, “Can antidepressants lead to suicidal thoughts and actions?” concluding that “it is crucial for patients...
“The Drugs That Built a Super Soldier”
"During the Vietnam War, the U.S. military plied its servicemen with speed, steroids, and painkillers to help them handle extended combat,” Lukasz Kamienski writes...
“Anti-Smoking Drug Chantix Linked to Over 500 Suicides: Should It Retain Its FDA Approval?”
The FDA has received reports of over 544 suicides and 1,869 attempted suicides connected to the smoking cessation drug Chantix, according to a new...
“Personal Pain led Widow to Prescription Drug Safety Advocacy”
“In 2003, Kim’s husband, Tim ("Woody") Witczak, sought help for insomnia. His doctor prescribed the antidepressant Zoloft. Five weeks later, Witczak's father found Woody...
“Antipsychotics May Boost Early Death Risk in Parkinson’s”
As we have reported at MIA, new research indicates that Parkinson's disease patients who are given antipsychotics to treat dementia and psychosis may be...
“Psychiatric Drugs and Veteran Suicides”
US Congressman David Jolly has introduced a bill calling for studies on the link between veteran suicides and psychiatric drugs. The International Society for...
“Doctors Tell Sinead O’Connor: ‘You’re Not Bipolar’”
Sinead says she was misdiagnosed after giving birth eight years ago and has suffered greatly from the psychiatric drugs she was prescribed. “They are...
“Psychiatric Drugs a Proven Menace”
Brian Daniels writes in the Belfast Telegraph that the role of antidepressants in the Germanwings Flight 9525 crash needs to be investigated. “The safety...
