“Financial Conflicts of Interest in Medicine”
Citing the work of Lisa Cosgrove and Robert Whitaker in Psychiatry Under the Influence, Giovanni A. Fava, MD, provides an analysis of some subtle...
“FDA Forced to Release Adverse Event Reports on Psychiatric Drugs”
Following a lawsuit brought by Andrew Thibault of Parents Against Pharmaceutical Abuse (PAPA), the FDA has produced adverse event and severe adverse event reports...
“Forced Psychiatry in Ohio – Instrument of Political Oppression?”
Government whistleblower and journalist Linda Leisure was diagnosed with a mood disorder and forcibly treated after an altercation with local police, according to Katherine...
“Georgia Psychiatrist Linked to 36 Deaths, Arrested After DEA Raid”
“A Georgia psychiatrist was arrested during a DEA raid after he was accused of running a pill mill resulting in the deaths of more...
“Expert Reaction to Antidepressant Use and Suicidality”
Last week a study in BMJ linked antidepressants to the risk of suicide and aggressive behaviors. The Science Media Centre has compiled responses to...
“Steps to Reduce Pharma Influence over Canadian Docs Criticized”
The College of Family Physicians of Canada has now come under fire after releasing a report last month addressing conflicts of interests between pharma...
“How We Label People with ‘Mental Illness’ Influences Tolerance”
Honor Whiteman reports on a study in The Journal of Counseling & Development, which found that people may be less tolerant of an individual...
Psych Rights Wins Legal Battle in Alaska
On Friday, Psych Rights won a legal fight in Alaska Supreme Court reversing an order for an involuntary psychiatric evaluation.
Opinion →
“Depression Experts Question Effectiveness of Stress Hormone Drug”
Pioneering research by mood disorder experts at Newcastle University has questioned the effectiveness of metyrapone, a drug suggested to treat depression. "Our research has...
Garth Daniels Sues Psychiatric Hospital Over Forced ECT
In Melbourne, Australia, Garth Daniels is suing a hospital and two doctors after he claims they administered electroconvulsive therapy, or ‘shock therapy', treatments against his will. "Daniels has been shocked 31 times in the last four months and he's also been tied to his bed with velcro straps for much of the year."
“The United States of Adderall (Part III)”
Lawrence Diller continues his series on the uses and abuses of Adderall. "You take some Adderall, go through withdrawal, build up tolerance, take some...
“Neuroleptics Inappropriately Continued Upon ICU Discharge”
This study brings awareness to inappropriate continuation of neuroleptic medications beginning in the ICU, or other specialized hospital units that typically downgrade patients and...
“I am 16 and the Education System is Destroying my Health”
“This is an article about how our education system is ruining young people’s lives. Nobody is listening to the teachers who say it, so perhaps someone will listen to me,” sixteen-year-old Orli writes in the Guardian. “Nothing is so important that it’s worth risking your health over, not even the piece of paper you get, age 16, to tell you whether or not you’re good enough.”
“Psychiatry Against Itself: A Philosophical Archaeology”
Psychiatrist, psychologist and philosopher Vincenzo Di Nicola examines the history and logic of anti-psychiatry movements. “What is intriguing about these figures is how they proceed by negation," Di Nicola writes in The Journal of the International Association of Transdisciplinary Psychology. “Each figure has a key critical negation that marks their resistance.”
“The Philosophy of Psychiatry and Diagnosis”
This week’s Philosophy Bites podcast with David Edmonds discusses the philosophical problems inherent in psychiatry and our mental disorder diagnostic symptoms. “Are mental disorders like other illnesses? Can they be adequately categorised in relation to a set of symptoms? Steven E. Hyman discusses some philosophical questions that arise from the widely-used DSM-5.”
“A Skeptical Take on Quit-Smoking Drug Chantix”
Philadelphia Inquirer health writer Marie McCullough reports on severe psychiatric disturbances in people taking Pfizer’s smoking-cessation drug Chantix.
Article →
“How Meditation, Placebos And Virtual Reality Help Power ‘Mind Over Body’”
NPR’s Fresh Air interview science writer Jo Marchant about her new book “Cure: A Journey into the Science of Mind over Body.” Marchant explores...
“Woman Can Sue Study Sponsor for Suicide Try”
A woman in Texas attempted suicide while in the active group of a clinical trial for smoking-cassation drugs Chantix and Zyban, both known to...
Large RCT for Humanistic Psychotherapy Receives Funding
Professor Mick Cooper from the University of Roehampton in London has been majority-funded by the Economic and Social Research Council to conduct and extensive...
“Barry Takes Center Stage for World Benzo Day Launch”
Mad In America contributor and prescription drug addiction reformer Barry Haslam has “taken his fight to the world stage by helping create an international...
“Bernie Sanders Blocks Obama’s FDA Nominee for Big Pharma Ties”
Yesterday, senator and presidential candidate Bernie Sanders announced that he will formally oppose Robert Califf’s nomination as FDA commissioner. “Dr. Califf’s extensive ties to...
“Pfizer’s Quiet Recall of Lyrica Capsules”
“Pfizer has quietly recalled three lots of its blockbuster drug Lyrica because of a manufacturing problem that could have left some capsules deformed or...
Remembering Marvin Minsky and Artificial Intelligence
Radio Boston remembers Marvin Minsky, MIT professor and founder of the artificial intelligence field. “Most importantly, Marvin Minsky changed the way think about the...
“Pentagon Wants Psychologists to End Ban on Interrogation Role”
Only months after the American Psychological Association voted to ban psychologists from “advanced interrogation” facilities like Guantánamo Bay prison the Pentagon is asking them to...
“What Journalists Get Wrong about Social Science”
Vox interviews twenty scientists about their biggest gripes with the journalists who report on their studies. For example, “journalists often want clear answers to...
