“How Big Pharma Brainwashes Americans Into Believing They’re Sick”
Alternet on the ways that "Big Pharma uses celebrities and other sneaky ways to sell diseases that may not exist."
Article →
“Oliver Sacks: I Want to De-Stigmatise Hallucinations”
Oliver Sacks opines in NewScientist that "there's a common view, often shared by doctors, that hallucinations denote madness - especially if there's any hearing...
“Prescription Drugs Lead to Growing Problem of Infant Addiction”
Ten years ago, infants born with drug addictions was associated with street drugs. But the rise of prescription drug addiction in the past ten...
“Diagnosing Mental Illness in Ancient Greece and Rome”
The Atlantic interviews William V. Harris, author of Mental Disorders in the Classical World, about "how the ancient Greeks and Romans approached mental illness and...
“Cannabis Has Been Studied More Than Many FDA Approved Pharmaceuticals”
High Times points out that, with over 20,000 published studies or reviews in the scientific literature that reference cannabis and its active components, science...
“For the Mentally Ill, It’s Worse”
The New York Times' Joe Nocera notes the republication of “Is There No Place on Earth for Me?”, Susan Sheehan's 1982 book about Maxine Mason's journey....
“Forget the Headlines – Schizophrenia is More Common Than You Might Think”
Despite the headline, this article in The Guardian reviews the notion that schizophrenia is "a wide range of often unrelated conditions, all of which...
“Are All Psychological Therapies Equally Effective? Don’t Ask the Dodo”
The Guardian reviews the hypothesis that all therapies are equal, in light of recent evidence, finding that ". . . we shouldn't assume that the...
“5 Shady Ways Big Pharma May Be Influencing Your Doctor”
Alternet reviews the ways that "Pharma can entice doctors to prescribe its expensive patent drugs, even when they are dangerous."
Article →
“Psychiatrists From Another Dimension”
Neuroskeptic reviews the implications of the new/old interest in "dimensional" diagnosis in DSM-5 (which involves acknowledgment of symptoms across categories of diagnosis, rather than...
“Benzodiazepine Withdrawal as Told by a Woman in the Midst of it…”
A stirringly told story of benzodiazepine withdrawal. Beyond Meds adds helpful information and links, as well.
Beyond Meds →
“A Toast Story”
Giulietta Carelli started the Trouble Coffee & Coconut Club and, inadvertently, San Francisco's craze for artisanal toast. "More than a café, the shop is a...
“A Solution That Now Looks Crazy”: Review of E. Fuller Torrey’s American Psychosis
The New York Times reviews E. Fuller Torrey's book, American Psychosis, concluding "Few will disagree with his advice that we should focus our resources...
“The Influence of the American Mental Health Paradigm Cross-Culturally”
DXSummit details the ways that the American approach to mental health care has spread around the world, concluding "Perhaps it is time to start...
“Misuse of ADHD Label as Symptom of a Broken Health Care System”
Pediatrician Claudia Gold writes "The economic reality of primary care practice, due in large part to the administrative costs of managing a huge array...
“Integrated Models in Psychiatry: the State of the Art”
An editorial in Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology explores status of the "tenuous" relationship position of social psychiatry, "given psychiatry's primary orientation to the...
“Statistical Terms Used in Research Studies; a Primer for Journalists”
Harvard University provides this primer on basic statistics; helpful for anyone trying to parse daunting research studies.
Article →
“Behaviour and Biology: The Accidental Epigeneticist”
Nature tells of Richard Tremblay, who explores the effects of trauma and aggression on the life course — and beyond, through the influence of epigenetics.
Article →
“The Geel Question”
Aeon Magazine asks, "For centuries, a little town in Belgium has been treating the mentally ill; Why are its medieval methods so successful?"
Article →
A History of Lobotomy
Beyond Meds provides a link to a valuable history of lobotomy, which asks the question of "how a damaging and useless treatment could be...
“What The Hell Is Actually Going On?”
A cogent, insightful blog by MentalHealthCop reviews the literature for and against psychiatric treatment, including Creating Mental Illness by Allan Horwitz, research by Richard Bentall,...
“Porous Diagnostic Boundaries: A New Emphasis for the Bulletin”
Schizophrenia Bulletin wrestles with its identity and mission in light of current challenges to the diagnostic categories.
Article →
“I Overmedicated my Kid: No, it Isn’t ADHD — Big Pharma’s Attention Obsession Puts...
Physician Daniela Drake writes on Salon that "When we rush to prescribe boatloads of Adderall, we miss lesser-known disorders holding kids back. I know...
PLoS Reviews Joanna Moncrieff’s “The Bitterest Pills”
Seena Fazel from the University of Oxford Department of Psychiatry reviews The Bitterest Pills: The Troubling Story of Antipsychotic Drugs by Joanna Moncrieff for...
“Improved Mental Health Treatment Won’t Impact Mass Shootings or School Killings”
John Grohol of PsychCentral explains why, while "some well-meaning folks believe that all we need is 'better mental health treatment,' and suddenly we will...
