“Compulsory Well-being”
-Mind Hacks has an interview with Will Davies, author of The Happiness Industry, that "looks at the history and practice of positive psychology as government, and ‘well-being’ as a way of managing people."
“The Isolating Effects of Anxiety”
-Daniel Yudkin discusses studies examining some of the ways in which anxiety can change how people think, and inhibit social connections and understanding.
Will Cognitive Enhancers Soon Become Necessary Work Steroids?
-What repercussions will there be for our competitive society if we develop a cognitive-enhancer drug that actually works over the long term?
Would Finding A Biomarker For ADHD Actually Help Anyone?
-Psychiatrists Ilina Singh and Simon Wessely ask if it would be ethically right to treat a child for ADHD, even if it were possible to definitively identify a biomarker for ADHD.
“How the US Mental Health System Makes Natives Sick and Suicidal”
-For indigenous peoples, the modern mental health system in North America often represents little more than a new form of colonialism and domination, writes David Walker.
University of Minnesota Trying To Improve Human Research Protections
-MIA Blogger Carl Elliott discusses and links to a series of stories covering the latest developments in the wake of the University of Minnesota psychiatric research scandals.
“Scientists Discover A New Link Between The Brain And The Immune System”
-io9 discusses the recent discovery of a new link connecting brain function to the gut microbiome and immune system in humans.
“The Death Treatment”
-Rachel Aviv writes about the physician-assisted euthanizing of a Belgian woman who decided to kill herself because she had long suffered in depression.
More Harm Than Good: Confronting the Psychiatric Medication Epidemic Conference
-The Council for Evidence-based Psychiatry is hosting a one-day conference in London, England on September 18th, entitled More Harm Than Good: Confronting the Psychiatric Medication Epidemic.
“The Club Drug Emerging As A Popular Antidepressant”
-AlterNet looks at some of the science, politics and money associated with emerging interest in ketamine for treating depression.
We’re All Less Biased Than Most People
-Only one person out of 661 in a psychological study said that he/she is more biased than the average person.
“Shooters Of Color Are Called ‘Terrorists’ And ‘Thugs.’ Why Are White Shooters Called ‘Mentally...
-Anthea Butler hopes that the common media narrative portraying mass shooters as "lone, disturbed or mentally ill young men failed by society" does not supplant discussions of the deep racism that still exists in America.
“Detention Gag Orders Make It Impossible For Doctors To Do Their Job”
-People could be sentenced to two years in jail for publicly disclosing information about health and mental health conditions in Australian immigration detention centers.
Major Canadian Professional Psychiatric Groups Speak Out Against Overusing of Psychotropics
-A joint working group of the Canadian Psychiatric Association, the Canadian Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and the Canadian Academy of Geriatric Psychiatry has issued a 13-point list of recommendations to physicians for reducing the inappropriate use of psychotropic medications.
“It’s Not About Mental Illness: The Big Lie That Always Follows Mass Shootings By...
-Discussion of the Charleston massacre was very different in Salon, Fox, and Newsweek.
Crowd-sourced Clinical Trials on the Horizon?
-NIMH's Thomas Insel asks how internet-driven and crowd-sourced approaches could be applied to medical and psychiatric research.
“Electronic Health Data for Postmarket Surveillance: A Vision Not Realized”
-Thomas Moore of the Institute for Safe Medication Practices asks, "What has been learned about electronic health data as a primary data source for regulatory decisions regarding the harms of drugs?"
House of Lords Speaker Addresses Harms From Psychiatric Drugs and Prescription Addictions
-The Earl of Sandwich criticizes physicians and the government for not helping people who are suffering long-term harms from psychiatric medications or unwitting addictions to prescription medicines.
“You Calling Me Crazy? The Perils of Misdiagnosis”
-Lisa Di Venuta recounts how a visit to a university counselor about her mild depression quickly got her onto a downward spiral with multiple psychiatric medications and increasing disability.
“One Nation, Under Sedation”
-In 2013 when Medicare officially started paying for anti-anxiety drugs, more than 40 million prescriptions worth more than $377 million were doled out.
“On Human Experiments”
-The Conversation has run a seven-article series discussing the history, politics and philosophical underpinnings of ethically questionable medical research.
“Toward a New Definition of Mental Health”
-A team of psychiatrists argues that the World Health Organization's definition of "mental health" is too closely identified with having only "positive" feelings and having "mastery" over one's environment.
“Scientists Push to Renew Psychedelic Drug Research for Psychiatry”
-CBC Radio interviews UK neuropsychopharmacologist David Nutt, Mark Haden of MAPS, and historian Erika Dyck about the past and present politics and science of psychedelic research.
Psychologists Criticized For Roles In Forcing “Psycho-interventions” On The Unemployed
-"Curing unemployment is a growth market for psychologists. Job Centres are becoming medical centres, claimants are becoming patients, and unemployment is being redefined as a psychological disorder."
“Zap Mama: My Long, Slow, Dizzy Breakup With My Antidepressant”
-Salon assistant editor Joanna Rothkopf describes her year of failed efforts to get off the antidepressant Zoloft.
