Around The Web

-The Globe and Mail looks interviews researchers about the growing interest in inflammation as a source of serious psychological distress in some individuals.

From The Sydney Morning Herald: Health Minister Greg Hunt has asked his department to review a study linking the increase in youth suicide with a rise in antidepressants

From The Thoughtful Counselor: MIA Science Writer and Blogs Editor Peter Simons questions the scientific methods and clinical utility of biological explanations for mental distress in a podcast interview with The Thoughtful Counselor.

Medscape Psychiatry reports that the “man-made epidemic” of opioid abuse in the United States is the result of over-prescription and poor research.

From Did You Used to be RD Laing?: "The ‘treatment’ that we give someone, is the way we treat that person. It should not be a noun, but an active verb."

From Sacredphrenia: We have pathologized our original priests, the expert men and women who provided much of our “second sight,” and the result, ironically, is planetary psychopathology.

From The Atlantic: "I became an advocate not because I wanted to but because I had to, to survive," said Angel Love Miles. "I was not very outspoken at all. But if you’re trying to get home and the bus keeps passing you up because you’re in a wheelchair, you have to scream out."

From Dr. Suneel Dhand - MedStoic Lifestyle Medicine: The enormous toll on people's mental health over the last couple of years from our COVID-19 pandemic response hasn't been talked about nearly enough.

From Salon: Scholars have argued for decades that depression has a social and political cause. A new study reinforces that view.

From NSUN: We need to have a conversation about power, the systematic silencing of survivor testimony, and the weaponisation of mental ill-health, trauma, and distress to discredit and coerce people.

From Salon: The trouble with the 'selfish gene' story is not just that it is scientifically flawed; it's also that it presents such an impoverished view of life's dazzling magnificence.

“Researchers argue poor communities and communities of colour face an inordinate amount of suffering and trauma, by virtue of their positioning at the very...

From Rolling Stone: On Thursday morning, singer Chris Cornell died by suicide. His wife recently issued a statement speculating that his suicide may have been...

From Medium: The notion of "evidence-based medicine" is that a particular treatment is considered effective if research finds it safe and efficacious in the majority...

David Sell writes in the Philadelphia Inquirer about the travels and tribulations of Johnson & Johnson CEO Alex Gorsky, who will be too busy...

Jerome Kagan, professor of psychology emeritus from Harvard University, says that "scientists studying psychological phenomena should replace their habit of linking one cause to...

From The Atlantic: Unnecessarily prolonged hospital stays often have detrimental effects on children. Doctors in some of these cases said the delays caused the...

From Kaiser Health News: "Two torturous days later, Jeff Duncan came home. While he returned to rehab, the Duncans decided their approach wasn’t working....

-Satirist and scientist James McCormack and his band return with a parody of Simon & Garfunkel's Bridge Over Troubled Water.

From Psychology Today: Informed consent isn't possible if known harms are minimized or presented in ways that are faulty and misleading.

The BBC reports that the number of people in Scotland taking antidepressants has increased by 5% in the past year with most of the patients being women and those in the poorest parts of the country. “We are now looking at the flabbergasting statistic of more than one in seven people in Scotland being prescribed antidepressants this year,” Conservative health spokesman Jackson Carlaw said. “We urgently have to look at better alternatives than simply parking people on medication in the hope things don't get any worse, with no aspiration for complete recovery."

From The Onion: "Much of the time these researchers didn’t even bother to test a hypothesis or collect data, but instead just tortured student volunteers for amusement."

From Reuters: The Court rejected a bid to overturn a $70 million jury verdict against the company for its failure to warn of the risk of breast enlargement in children.

“A new study is giving insight into how long-term care patients in the province are progressing — or, in some cases, worsening — over time. It found those living in central Newfoundland are more likely to be given antipsychotic drugs they don't need.”

From BBC Sounds: For a limited time: Listen to a new sitcom pilot by George Mason about an optimistic but struggling single dad dealing with long-term mental health issues.