âThe Rise and Fall of the Blockbuster Antipsychotic Seroquelâ
Martha Rosenberg highlights how the popular antipsychotic Seroquel is a perfect example of how direct-to-consumer advertising made billion dollar blockbuster drugs possible before side-effects...
âResearch Shows Sexual Abuse May Cause Schizophreniaâ
âGroundbreaking research in New Zealand shows sexual abuse may cause schizophrenia.â "The biggest myth about schizophrenia is that it's a solely biological disorder," co-author...
âCuring Naughty Children With Drugsâ
Dr. Max Pemberton âThe Mind Doctorâ weighs in on the Cochrane review which questioned the evidence for Ritalin for ADHD. He writes: âHistory is...
Is The Microbiome our Puppeteer?
âMy message today is that your state of gut will affect your state of mind. To have a healthy brain, we may need a...
âPeople with Psychiatric Disabilities: Our Modern-Day Scapegoatsâ
For the North Carolina Law Review, Katie Rose Guest Pryal writes, that â a psychiatric diagnosis, or involuntary civil commitment to a psychiatric wardâwhich is...
âMany in US Congress Hold Health Industry Investmentsâ
âAbout 30 percent of senators and 20 percent of representatives held assets in biomedical and health-care companies, or in specialty funds set up to invest...
âHealing Voicesâ Documentary Announces Grass Roots Non-Theatrical Release
The producers of âHealing Voicesâ â a new social action documentary about mental health â have announced an innovative plan to release the film via community screening partners in a coordinated one-night global event. Written and Directed by PJ Moynihan of Digital Eyes Film, âHealing Voicesâ explores the experience commonly labeled as âpsychosisâ through the stories of real-life individuals, and asks the question: What are we talking about when we talk about âmental illnessâ? The film follows three subjects â Oryx, Jen, Dan â over nearly five years, and features interviews with notable international experts including: Robert Whitaker, Dr. Bruce Levine, Celia Brown, Will Hall, Dr. Marius Romme, and others, on the history of psychiatry and the rise of the âmedical modelâ of mental illness.
âLoneliness May Warp Our Genes, And Our Immune Systemsâ
NPR reports how loneliness can change our bodies and affect our physical and mental health. "There are things we can do to get out of a depressed or lonely state, but they're not easy," they report. "Part of the reason is because these negative psychological states develop some kind of molecular momentum."
When Psychologists Deny Guantanamo Torture
Psychologist Roy Eidelson comments on the Society for Military Psychologyâs criticism of the Hoffman report, which exposed the collusion between the APA and the CIAâs torture program. He writes, âthe leaders of APAâs military psychology division have offered a very dark vision for the profession of psychology â a vision that we must reject, both individually and institutionally.â
âBrains Arenât Actually âMaleâ or âFemale,â New Study Suggestsâ
New research on gender and the brain found that only a very small number of people have brains that are âentirely male, female, or intermediate between the two.â âThe vast majority,â they write, have âa mosaic.â
Leah Harris and Tim Murphy Talk “Mental Illness and the Law”
Today on Radio Times, U.S. Representative Tim Murphy (R-PA), Mark Salzer, professor and chair of the Department of Rehabilitation Sciences at Temple University, and Leah...
Video: Bruce Levine on “The Anti-Authoritarian Movement to Rehumanize Mental Health”
Films for Action is now hosting a video by MIA contributor Bruce Levine. In his presentation, taped at his Oct 9, 2015 National Empowerment Center talk,...
âFDA Nominee Robert Califf Must Prove Independence from Industryâ
For STAT, Ed Silverman reports on growing concerns about the industry ties of the new nominee for FDA commissioner. Â âThe nomination comes at a...
âSuicide, Mental Illness Risks Increase During Recessionsâ
The latest economic recession led to a spike in diagnoses for mental illnesses, suicide attempts, and suicide, according to report out of the University...
The Psychology of Torture
âAn ordinary person becomes a torturer with surprising ease. The hard part comes when itâs time to be human again,â neuroscientist Shane OâMara writes...
Tailoring Teaching for Temperament Improves Engagement
"A classroom program that helps teachers adapt their interactions with students based on individuals' temperaments may lead to more student engagement in kindergarten, more...
âPunish People, Not Just Corporationsâ
Drug makers have faced large fines for unethical and harmful practices but have simply treated these as a cost of doing business. Ed Silverman reports...
âNew Pill for Boosting Female Libidos Off to a Slow Startâ
Ed Silverman reports that only 80 prescriptions for Addyi, or Flibanserin, were filled in the drugsâ first two weeks on the market.
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Getting Better at Recognizing Your Emotions
In The Atlantic, Julie Beck interviews emotional intelligence expert David Caruso about the importance of accurately recognizing and communicating your emotions. âAmerican culture demands that the answer to the question âHow are you?â is not just âGood,â but sometimes âGreat.â Orâthis drives folks around the world crazy, who might be based in another country but they work for an American companyâwe need to be âAwesome.â There's this relentless drive to mask the expression of our true underlying feelings. It's almost inappropriate.â
Lansley Joins Roche in Latest Example of âRevolving Doorâ
The BMJ reports that renewed concerns about the ârevolving doorâ between government and industry have been sparked by the health minister of Englandâs decision to join to drug company Roche.
âThe Myth of the Ever-More-Fragile College Studentâ
âThe point, overall, is that given the dizzying array of possible factors at work here, itâs much too pat a story to say that kids are getting more 'fragile' as a result of some cultural bugaboo,â Jesse Singal writes in response to the flurry of recent think pieces decrying the weakened resolve of today's college students.
âMaybe Companies Should Chill on Employee-Happiness Programsâ
Will Davies, author of The Happiness Industry, does a Q&A on the ways companies are misusing psychological research on happiness. âI think that one thing that often gets lost in lots of the discussions of happiness (especially in the business world) is the possibility that happy work may mean less work.â
Treatment Guidelines Downplay Antidepressant Dependence
A review of treatment guidelines published in Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics found that guidelines âshy away from stating clearly that SSRIs/SNRIs, like BDZs, are often (though...
âThe Weak Science Behind the Wrongly Named Moral Moleculeâ
The latest research shows that the effect of the âmoral moleculeâ oxytocin has a much more complicated effect on human behavior than we think, according to Ed Yong in a recent article for The Atlantic. âSeveral scientists have shown that this tower of evidence for oxytocinâs positive influence is built on weak foundations,â he writes.
âGeneration Meds: the US Children Who Grow Up on Prescription Drugsâ
âIn America, medication is becoming almost as much a staple of childhood as Disney and McDonaldâs,â writes Sarah Boseley in the Guardian. In this piece photographer Baptiste Lignel follows six boys and girls to examine the long-term effects of these drugs.








