Around The Web

Updates on critical psychiatry postings across the Internet.

“Treating Parkinson’s Psychosis With Antipsychotics May Boost Death Risk”

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The Psychiatric Advisor reports on new research from King’s College London that suggests that antipsychotics can cause serious harm to people with Parkinson’s.

“We Are All Hoarders, But…”

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-How much is hoarding rooted in consumerism?

“Seattle Salmon Contaminated with Drugs Including Antidepressants”

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Researchers in Seattle found the worrying cocktail of over 81 drugs when testing water quality in nearby Puget Sound. They even found drugs in...

Review of “All We Have to Fear: Psychiatry’s Transformation of Natural Anxieties Into Mental...

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The American Journal of Psychiatry's Kenneth Kendler calls All We Have to Fear: Psychiatry’s Transformation of Natural Anxieties Into Mental Disorders "a coherent, well-argued and...

“A More Comprehensive Approach to Ethical & Effective Prescribing”

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Psychiatrist Mark Ragins writes in Community Psychiatrist about a new approach to his practice, "Prodded by Robert Whitaker’s books, I feel the need to...

“Questions Over Safety of Whole Body Electrical Stimulation”

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"It's time to regulate the use of whole body electrical stimulation, argue doctors in The BMJ today, after treating several people for muscle damage at their...

Sunday Oddity: Psychotropic Drug Ads from the Past

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Misbehaving children, anxious housewives, and a man's happy Quaalude-created morning with his family highlight a random collection of psychotropic drug advertisements from the past...

One in Five Australian Families Tranquilize their Kids for Long Journeys

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-Nearly one in five families in New South Wales, Australia admitted that they give tranquilizing drugs to their children during long road trips.

“French Drug Trial had Three Major Failings”

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The drug trial that led to the death of one participant and brain damage to several others last month had three major shortcomings, according...

“Psychiatric Drug—Not Antibiotic—Messes with Gut Microbes, Spurs Obesity”

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In a series of experiments in mice, researchers found that the drug risperidone alters gut microbes, which in turn profoundly influence metabolism, weight, and overall health.

Campaign Against Drugging of Foster Children

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-The US National Center for Youth Law has launched an "action campaign" to persuade government officials to reduce the psychiatric drugging of children in foster care.

What Are the Mental Health Effects of Climate Change?

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This MedScape Psychiatry Minute video reviews new research concluding that climate change increases the prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, and substance use disorders....

Unregulated Troubled Teen Industry Still Profiting

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The Fix reviews the past and present of the estimated $2 billion/year industry of trying to "improve" the behaviors and attitudes of "troubled teens." Adolescence...

“Psychologists Throw Open The ‘File Drawer’”

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“The ‘file drawer problem’ refers to the fact that in science, many results remain unpublished – especially negative ones,” Neuroskeptic reports. A new paper...

Tectonic Shift Towards “Precision” Psychiatry or Away from Scientific Credibility?

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-Duncan Double critically evaluates a recent article by National Institute of Mental Health Director Thomas Insel about a "tectonic shift" towards "precision" psychiatry.

How Biofeedback Works

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-Counselor Tori Rodriguez discusses how biofeedback works, and what the research has shown about its efficacy.

“Failed Replications: A Reality Check for Neuroscience?”

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In Discover, Neuroskeptic discusses a new study that "attempted to replicate five different papers which, together, reported 17 distinct positive results in the form...

Continued Reflection On Labels And Defining One’s Identity: The DSM Should Not Be One’s...

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Kim Wombles continues to reflect, in Science 2.0, on the significant harm caused by those in control of psychiatric labeling. Article →

“ADHD Drugs Could Harm Kids’ Sleep”

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Children diagnosed with ADHD who are prescribed stimulant drugs have more sleep problems than those with ADHD that do not take these drugs.

“Mental Health Bill Caters to Big Pharma and Would Expand Coercive Treatments”

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Oryx Cohen at TruthOut explains why the "Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act (HR 2646) - commonly known as the 'Murphy Bill' - appears to cater more closely to the desires of pharmaceutical companies than to the actual needs of people in psychological distress, perhaps because of Murphy's connections to key lobbyists." "If the Murphy Bill is passed, psychiatric hospitals and pharmaceutical companies will reap huge financial benefits as a result of increased hospitalization and forced treatment."

“How Meditation, Placebos And Virtual Reality Help Power ‘Mind Over Body’”

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NPR’s Fresh Air interview science writer Jo Marchant about her new book “Cure: A Journey into the Science of Mind over Body.” Marchant explores...

“Do the Lives of the Mentally Ill Matter to the Supreme Court?”

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-Slate reports on proceedings as the US Supreme Court considers whether police should have to "accommodate" people who seem to have a mental disability.

The Tobacco Industry’s Links to Studies on Stress

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In NPR’s health news Shots, Alix Spiegel discusses the secret funding funnelled by the tobacco industry into the earliest studies of the impacts of...

Are We Entering a New Era for Treatment Choice for Schizophrenia?

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Domain-B, noting that "There is now incontrovertible evidence that has established that far from psychosis being incomprehensible, there is a clear link between schizophrenia...

Beyond Meds: “Healer Heal Thyself”

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Monica Cassani writes in "Beyond Meds" about the general lack of self-awareness among mental health treaters and the consequent lack of a recovery orientation...