Asylum Magazine Seeks Submissions on Comics & Mental Health
Asylum, the "international magazine for democratic psychiatry," is inviting 500-1000 word submissions for a special themed issue exploring "the intersections between mental health and...
“Does Animal-Assisted Therapy Help Adolescents With Psychiatric Problems?”
The Pacific Standard covers a study out of Florence, finding that adolescents in mental health crisis who received animal-assisted therapy had better school attendance, higher global functioning, and spent less time in the hospital.
“Does Psychiatry Need Science?”
Gary Greenberg writes in the New Yorker about psychiatry's longstanding quest for scientific validity.
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Sunday Exhibit: Photos of Abandoned Asylums
UK photographer Mark Davis spent six years traveling to abandoned former Victorian-era mental institutions and researching their histories and photographing them for his new...
“Corbyn Creates New Dedicated ‘Minister for Mental Health’”
Newly elected UK Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, has appointed Luciana Berger to his shadow cabinet as the “Minister for Mental Health,” a new position that has no counterpart in the Conservative government. The Independent reports that Corbyn has devoted considerable attention to mental health issues.
“Are Anxiety Drugs Making Us Less Eager To Lend A Helping Hand?”
For the Huffington Post, David Freeman asks “By tamping down anxious feelings, could it be that these so-called “anxiolytic” drugs are blunting our empathy and...
“We Need to Better Detect Depression but that Shouldn’t mean more Medication”
The Conversation explores the proposition that "while it is important that the detection of depression is improved and that suffering is alleviated, simply writing...
Pleading Insanity By Genetics Can Backfire for Defendants
“Genetic explanations for violent crimes may encourage jurors to support an insanity defense, but jurors may also believe the defendant is a persistent threat who will commit more crimes in the future,” Science Daily reports. A study on over 600 participants found that when people read a genetic explanation for a violent murder they attributed less blame to the defendant but recommended a longer sentence.
“Drama Helps Kids with Autism Communicate Better”
Results from a pilot study called Imagining Autism suggests that drama workshops help children with autism-spectrum disorders.
Drama Helps Kids with Autism Communicate Better (New Scientist)
“Pfizer Abandons $160bn Allergan Deal”
After the US announced plans to crack down on “inversion deals,” where a US company merges with a foreign company to escape taxes, Pfizer...
“How Colleges Stop Depressed Students From Returning To Campus”
-Two different articles examine cases of US colleges and universities forcing students with depression to go on leave, and never come back.
Why There’s Growing Interest in Art By People Diagnosed with Mental Illnesses
-Artists who have "outsider" ways of thinking and expressing are reportedly becoming more popular with some galleries and collectors.
“Power failure: Why Small Sample Size Undermines the Reliability of Neuroscience”
An article in Nature Reviews Neuroscience about low sample sizes suggests, according to The Guardian, that "the likelihood that any claimed effect (based on...
“FDA Nominee Robert Califf Must Prove Independence from Industry”
For STAT, Ed Silverman reports on growing concerns about the industry ties of the new nominee for FDA commissioner. “The nomination comes at a...
“Antipsychotic Drugs May not be Effective Against Delirium”
According to a recent meta-analysis, antipsychotic medications are not useful for preventing or treating delirium in hospitalized patients, despite their regular use for these...
“Dancing Out of Depression With 5 Rhythm Classes”
The Daily Echo features "5 Rhythms" dance classes as an alternative treatment for depression. "Based on methods developed by Gabrielle Roth in the 1970s, the...
Neuroscientists Too Often Exceed Chance Levels Only By Chance
-The findings of many neuroscientific studies are really just random background noise.
“Transgender Veterans Have High Rates of Mental Health Problems”
A new study finds that ninety percent of military veterans who identify as transgender have at least one mental health diagnosis. “Traumatic brain injuries...
NIH Hospital Made Patient Safety ‘Subservient to Research’
A Washington-Post exclusive reveals that that the leadership of the flagship hospital of the National Institute of Health (NIH) is being restructured after a...
“Half of US Preschoolers Diagnosed with ADHD Get Drugs, Is that Necessary?”
Laura McClure for Ted.com explains why giving amphetamines to children for behaviors deemed abnormal is a societal and public policy issue. “It’s a little...
Connecting Police Violence Against People of Color and People With “Mental Illness”
Pointing to recent high-profile incidents of police violence, MIA Blogger Leah Harris discusses in Truthout the intersections and parallels between police or public discrimination...
“The Search for Schizophrenia Genes”
MIA contributor Jonathan Leo, writing for Slate, weighs in on the research that claims to have discovered a genetic basis for schizophrenia. “We now...
“What Stress Does to Your Brain”
“Stress damages the integrity of the hippocampus, which is the part of the brain that deals with memory and emotions,” Thor Benson writes for Salon. “Hormones like Cortisol and other biological reactions created by stress essentially disrupt the balance of how much white and grey matter the brain is creating, which affects how the brain operates.”
“Powerful Pill is Called Toxic Fuel for Fighters in Syrian War”
Peter Holley reports for the Washington Post that a powerfuland highly addictive amphetamine drug known as fenethylline or Captagon is being used to fuel ISIS fighters in Syria and Iraq. “Captagon has been around in the West since the 1960s, when it was given to people suffering from hyperactivity, narcolepsy, and depression.”
