“Biomarker Porn” and the “Hotness” of Telomeres
-James Coyne argues that many of the studies finding associations between trauma and telomere lengths are misleading.
Creating False Memories Even Easier than Previously Thought
-It took researchers only three hours to get ordinary students convinced that they'd had traumatic experiences or committed crimes in their childhood which had never actually occurred.
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.
Sunday Morning Channel: “Has Psychiatry Silenced God?”
-The Edinburgh International Book Festival hosted a discussion exploring religious beliefs, creative inspiration, and whether hearing "the voice of God" should be regarded as a symptom of mental illness.
“Treating the Brain and the Immune System in Tandem”
-The Globe and Mail looks interviews researchers about the growing interest in inflammation as a source of serious psychological distress in some individuals.
“This Is What Happens When We Lock Children in Solitary Confinement”
-Mother Jones discusses evidence that solitary confinement may actually damage the brain.
Is Multi-tasking Bad for Your Brain?
-The Guardian Observer looks at high-tech, high-speed multi-tasking and suggests it may be having negative impacts on our psyches.
“Making A Brain Map That We Can Use”
-Does it make any more sense to try to describe what a brain does based on its physical components than it does to describe what a computer does based on the plastics and metals that make it up?
Old Dogs Do Have Trouble Learning New Tricks — Can They Teach Us About...
-University of Kentucky's Elizabeth Head discusses her research into learning in elderly beagles who, unlike mice and rats, can seemingly develop dementia like humans.
“Tot Therapy: Psychiatrists Join Up With Pediatricians”
-The Wall Street Journal visits the growing practice of stationing mental health professionals in the offices of pediatric physicians.
American Psychological Association Engaged in “Well-orchestrated Misdirection”
-A Forbes article argues that the American Psychological Association's public response to the report on the CIA torture program "has been a well-orchestrated misdirection."
The Scientific Studies Underlying the CIA’s Torture Methods
-The New Yorker reports that Martin Seligman isn't pleased with how his research got applied.
“Modern Day Mengeles”
-Is it reasonable to compare the roles American psychologists played in the CIA torture program to the roles that psychiatists played in Nazi Germany?
“When the mental health system failed me, online communities became my coping mechanisms”
-Hannah Giorgis describes how she felt even more "crazy" when her mental health professionals denied the existence of racism against black people in Britain.
How It Came to Be that Sadomasochists Are No Longer “Mentally Ill”
-The Atlantic reports on the history of pathologizing and de-pathologizing different sexual practices.
Neuroscientists Too Often Exceed Chance Levels Only By Chance
-The findings of many neuroscientific studies are really just random background noise.
“How a Patient Suicide Affects Psychiatrists”
-"It’s hard to listen to a psychiatrist who sounds so broken," writes Sulome Anderson in The Atlantic.
“Cop Stalks Woman, Has Her Committed When She Rejects Him”
-AlterNet reports on a lawsuit that accuses a police officer of abusing his mental health law powers.
“Potential biomarker that could predict”? – caveats about psychiatric brain imaging
-HealthNewsReview.org takes on Dr. Richard Friedman's description of a “potential biomarker in the brain that would help psychiatrists direct depressed patients towards treatment to which they would more likely respond.”
“The Post-Irene Mental Health System of Care”
-Hurricane Irene seems to have left some community-based approaches to psychiatric care in its wake.
Prominent Psychiatrists Discuss “the Crisis of Confidence in Medical Research”
-A large excerpt from a post by David Healy is sandwiched between commentary by psychiatrist Allen Frances.
NPR’s “Invisibilia” to Explore Intangible Forces Behind Human Behavior
-A new regular radio program from NPR "explores the intangible forces that shape human behavior."
Sunday History Channel: When Psychiatrists Removed Intestine Parts to Cure Schizophrenia
-Neuroskeptic discusses two 20th century American surgeon-psychiatrists who believed that they could cure schizophrenia by removing parts of their patients’ intestines.
Is Everyone Too Afraid to Conduct Real Research into the Causes of Gun Violence?
-A Washington Post story suggests that Centers for Disease Control researchers are worried about what they'll find if they investigate the causes of gun violence.
“We Are All Hoarders, But…”
-How much is hoarding rooted in consumerism?
