Around The Web

Updates on critical psychiatry postings across the Internet.

Insel’s Best of 2014

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National Institute of Mental Health Director Thomas Insel reviews his list of the best discoveries and developments in mental health in 2014. Director’s Blog: Best...

“Will following positive psychology advice make you happier and healthier?”

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In Mind the Brain on PLOS Blogs, James Coyne reviews some high-profile speakers' claims about the science of positive psychology, and examines more closely whether simply thinking positive thoughts or doing small, good things for yourself can significantly improve overall health, well-being and happiness.

Ketamine: Promising Path, False Prophecy, or Producer of Psychosis?

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In the journal Neuropsychopharmacology, Yale University School of Medicine's Gerard Sanacora and Stanford University School of Medicine's Alan Schatzberg examine the scientific literature on ketamine, and discuss some of the promises and dangers surrounding the recent resurgence of interest in the drug as a potential treatment for depression.

“The Big Business of Selling Prescription-Drug Records”

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Bloomberg Businessweek investigates the companies involved in buying and selling mass databases of people's prescription-drug histories, and the new ways in which that information is being used by skirting privacy protections.

Head Movements Have Been Producing Consistent Bias in Brain Scans

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A new study has shown that brain scans have an inherent bias towards making people with movement disorders seem to have less grey matter, writes Neuroskeptic in Discover. The findings, he writes, may be significant with respect to studies involving brain scans of people taking psychiatric drugs that either induce or reduce movement.

New Resource Guide on Health and Mental Health Threats from Endocrine Disruptor Pollutants

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The Endocrine Society and the global organization of non-profits IPEN have jointly released a new guide documenting the threats that endocrine-disrupting chemicals pose to...

“Can Psychiatrists Stop Gun Violence?”

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In the New York Times' Op-Talk, Anna North interviews Jonathan Metzl about his recent study showing how little gun violence and mental illness are...

“Pro and Con: The British Psychological Society Report on Psychosis”

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In The Huffington Post, former DSM-IV task force chair, psychiatrist, and MIA Blogger Allen Frances offers his analysis of the recently published report from...

Depression: “Can Mood Science Save Us?”

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The November/December issue of the Psychotherapy Networker is called "Depression Unmasked: Exposing a Hidden Epidemic." It includes articles such as, "Can Mood Science Save...

Paying Doctors to Diagnose More Depression is Unethical

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It is "unethical" for the British government to establish expected rates of depression and to pay doctors per diagnosis to increase the diagnosing of...

“Changing Our DNA through Mind Control?”

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Scientific American reports on a Canadian study that found people with breast cancer who practiced yoga and mindfulness meditation maintained the length of their...

Why are Kentucky Kids Medicated at Twice the National Rate?

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Researchers with the Child and Adolescent Health Research Design and Support Unit at the University of Louisville have announced the launch of a three-year...

How Many of the Mentally Ill are Really in Prisons, Exactly?

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1 Boring Old Man has written a series of posts examining some of the older and newer scientific literature about the number of people...

“Are Understandings of Mental Illness Mired in the Past?”

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In The Psychologist, Vaughan Bell of Mind Hacks and John Cromby debate how we ascribe meanings and values to the biological elements of psychological...

“Healing with MDMA-assisted Psychotherapy” and Other Psychedelic Stories

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The Multi-Disciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies' Winter 2014 Bulletin is freely available. Among other articles, the issue includes a personal story of a patient,...

“Unexpected Advantages of Anxiety”

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PsyBlog discusses various studies that show "unexpected advantages" to having somewhat higher levels of anxiety. Many people feel that those who are more easily...

“Warrior Genes” More Fiction Than Science

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Writing in the Genetic Literacy Project, David Warmflash discusses a recent study that identified two genes "associated with violent crime." Even though people with...

“This Nursing Home Calms Troubling Behavior Without Risky Drugs”

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NPR Shots explores a nursing home where "residents can always find something to do," and where use of antipsychotic drugs has dropped dramatically. This Nursing...

Sunday History Channel: Mindcraft Journeys into Hypnotism

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The Wellcome Collection has produced a six-part digital story about the rise to popularity of mesmerism and hypnotism in the 1800s, and their fall...

Connecting Police Violence Against People of Color and People With “Mental Illness”

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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...

Abstracts and Academic Press Releases Mislead Journalists and Public

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In Bad Science and in the British Medical Journal, Ben Goldacre discusses a recent BMJ study that found a strong tendency for abstracts and...

A Lifetime of Personal Lessons from Raising an Autistic Child

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The Lancet Psychiatry has a book review of Ron Suskind's memoir of raising his autistic son, Life, Animated: A Story of Sidekicks, Heroes, and...

“Auditory Hallucinations: Debunking the Myth of Language Supremacy”

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In Schizophrenia Bulletin, an Australian and a French researcher argue that the Hearing Voices Movement and similar groups are often misleading the public and...

Interview with Gary Greenberg: The DSM is the Key to the Health Care Treasury

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BrainBlogger has an interview with Gary Greenberg, psychotherapist and author of The Book of Woe: The DSM and the Unmaking of Psychiatry. "The (Diagnostic...

It Remains Unclear How Head Blows Affect Behavior Over the Long Term

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It's not clear how repeated injuries to the head that lead to neurodegeneration actually affect people's behaviors, argue University of Buffalo researchers in The...