The Untold Story of Purdue Pharma’s Cozy Relationship With the AMA
From Mother Jones: A look at the AMA’s track record shows that the opioid crisis is the latest development in a long history of dissonance between the organization’s mission and its actions.
“Case Studies in Activism #67: Battling Big Pharma and Rehumanizing Mental Health Treatment”
Bruce Levine tells Daily Kos about his original inspiration for doing mental health activism, what energizes him now,  and why people should care about these issues...
“BDSM: Psychotherapy’s Grey Area”
-Tania Glyde discusses the difficulties that people who participate in alternative sexual practices have being understood by mental health professionals.
“What the Quest to Map the Brain Tells Us About Government-Funded Science Revolutions”
In the Pacific Standard, Elena Goory asks: “What does it look like, right now, when the government tries to revolutionize an entire field of...
“Why We Shouldn’t Trade a Weakened FDA for More Medical Research Funds”
Ed Silverman at STAT reports that Congress has linked increased research funding to “fast-track” approval procedures. “By linking the extra funds to speedier approvals,...
“LA Hospital Pays $450,000 After ‘Dumping’ Homeless Patient”
The city of Los Angeles “sued the Gardens Regional Hospital and Medical Center in April 2015, stating that its employees had driven the 38-year-old...
The Social Life of Opioids
From Scientific American: Increasing prescription rates of opioid painkillers are often blamed for America's current opioid crisis. However, a growing body of research suggests that...
Benzo Withdrawal: Why I Ignored Medical Advice & Listened to the Internet
From Benzodiazepine Information Coalition: "This syndrome doesn’t have an alarming and well-known word attached to it, like 'cancer' or 'car accident,' that instructs people...
Critical Responses Mount As Influential Medical Journal Downplays Conflicts of Interest
-The New England Journal of Medicine generated controversy by suggesting that concerns about conflict of interest in medicine and psychiatry are overblown.
A New Paper Breaks Down the Effects of the Election
From Science of Us: A new research paper examines the mental and physical health effects of the 2016 presidential election, including the impact of toxic...
How to Reach Out to Someone who is Struggling
In this piece for On Being, Omid Safi shares how an old Middle Eastern story about a drowning man can teach us how to offer...
“The Myth of the Ever-More-Fragile College Student”
“The point, overall, is that given the dizzying array of possible factors at work here, it’s much too pat a story to say that kids are getting more 'fragile' as a result of some cultural bugaboo,” Jesse Singal writes in response to the flurry of recent think pieces decrying the weakened resolve of today's college students.
Britney Spears Was Forced Into Mental Health Treatment. It’s Surprisingly Common.
From Mashable: Research shows that being forced into mental health treatment can be painful, traumatic, humiliating, and may lead to worse outcomes.
Surgeon General Targets Rising Suicide Rate, But Not Drugs Linked to Suicide
An Op-Ed in Op-Ed News discusses the disconnect between concern about rising suicide rates in the general population (and the military) and awareness of...
“You Don’t Always Know What You’re Saying”
Among the reasons for listening carefully to others, this article in Nature adds, "People's conscious awareness of their speech often comes after they've spoken,...
Do Psychological Therapies for Schizophrenia and Psychosis Work? – A Debate
-A debate between one of the co-authors of the Understanding Psychosis and Schizophrenia report, and two authors whose meta-analysis of cognitive behavioral therapy was cited in that report.
Our Gut Feelings Are Not Luxuries | Gabor Maté, MD
From Sustainable Human: When we are alienated from our gut feelings, we no longer have a sense of reality, nor a sense of truth.
“Warrior Genes” More Fiction Than Science
Writing in the Genetic Literacy Project, David Warmflash discusses a recent study that identified two genes "associated with violent crime." Even though people with...
How Our Military Discards Its Wounded Troops
From The Daily Beast: A newly released Government Accountability Office report found that 62 percent of military servicemembers who were discharged for misconduct between 2011...
Big Pharma Puts the Squeeze on Cities Battling Opiate Crisis
From RevHub: The city of Baltimore is facing an unprecedented opioid overdose epidemic. Due to skyrocketing drug prices, the city is running out of funds...
3 Whiting Workers Investigated Over Patient Abuse Allegations
From the Hartford Courant: Over this past spring and summer, 31 employees of the Whiting Forensic Division of Connecticut Valley Hospital were suspended, and nine...
When Doctors Struggle With Suicide, Their Profession Often Fails Them
From NPR: "The medical profession relies on the premise that doctors and medical staff, like highly trained endurance athletes, are conditioned to clock long...
‘A General Theory of Love,’ Part 3: Mammals Require Attachment
From Don't Try This Alone: "In our culture we construe loneliness as weakness, as a character defect… But it’s based on brain evolution; there’s no choice about it." ~ Dr. Tom Lewis, co-author of A General Theory of Love
The Power Thinker
In this essay for Aeon, Kolin Coopman explores the impact and legacy of Michel Foucault.
"It was a bio-power wielded by psychiatrists and doctors that,...
Stand Firm: Resisting the Self-Improvement Craze
From ABC: The self-help and self-improvement industry are more popular and widely accepted than ever. However, the moral imperative to constantly think positive and always...
