“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.
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“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...
“United States of Adderall (Part II)”
Writing for Huffpost, medical doctor Lawrence Diller looks at the effects of the ever increasing diagnoses for ADHD and the addiction and abuse issues...
“Why Science Needs to Publish Negative Results”
Emma Granqvist is leading the push for open access journals, like New Negatives in Plant Science, which are platforms for negative, unexpected or controversial results in...
“Alkermes Depression Drug Fails in Studies, Shares Plunge”
Reuters reports that a new drug for major depression failed to improve symptoms in two late-stage clinical trials sending the manufacture’s stock into a...
Storytelling Therapy for Trauma and Bullying
A study out of the University of Buffalo explores the use of Narrative Exposure Therapy to treat youth PTSD and substance abuse. “Trauma is...
“Lawsuits Link Abilify with Compulsive Gambling”
Plaintiffs allege that Bristol-Myers Squibb and Otsuka Pharmaceutical failed to warn doctors and patients about the risk for compulsive behaviors when taking the atypical...
“Anti-Depressants for Teens: A Second Look”
Writing for the Harvard Health Blog, Dr. Nandinia Mani reconsiders the use of antidepressants in teens in light of the reanalysis of Study 329. ...
Watch: SNL Advertises “Abilify for Candidates”
Saturday Night Live presents and advertisement for a drug that can “destroy the damaged part of the brain that says, ‘I’m going to be...
“The Impact of Shift Work on Health”
Medical News Today provides an overview of the research on the effects of shift work on the physical and mental well-being of employees. "Although...
Latest Issue of “Human Givens” Released
Human Givens is a biannual journal that “explores the relevance of the very latest knowledge about human psychology and the way we live today.”...
“6 Prescription Drugs That Aren’t as Safe as the Government Claims”
“A quick look at drugs or drug uses that later turned out to be risky shows a disturbing trail of ‘bought’ science in major medical...
“The Outcome of My Clinical Trial Is a Mystery”
Writing for the Atlantic, Emma Yasinski confesses that she was enrolled in a clinical trial for an invasive experimental surgery at seven years old but, as the results were never published, she may never know how well it actually worked.
“What Barbara Ehrenreich Gets Wrong about Gratitude”
Barbara Ehrenreich has been a strident critic of positive psychology. Jason Marsh explores whether she might be missing something when it comes to the research on gratitude.
“More on the Clinical Trial Disaster in France”
Just last week one person was declared brain dead and five more were hospitalized after taking a psychiatric drug in a clinical trial. Writing for Science, Martin Enserink provides more information about the drug as new details emerge.
