“The Great DNA Data Deficit: Are Genes for Disease a Mirage?”
In an article that contains implications for mental illness, GreenMedInfo reflects on the progress of identifying the genetic basis of medical illness. "What has...
“When Philosophy Meets Psychiatry”
The New York Times highlights the Maudsley Philosophy Group, a London seminar that includes psychiatrists, psychologists, philosophers and others interested in "looking at various...
“Bursting the Neuro-Utopian Bubble”
The New York Times' Opinionator page includes a meditation on the limits of brain research, with the reflection that "The real trouble with the...
“When Doctors Discriminate”
Sunday's New York Times' Opinion page includes this opine: "If you met me, you’d never know I was mentally ill. In fact, I’ve gone...
“Lost in the Forest”: A Review of DSM-5
A review in The London Review of Books of the DSM-5 concludes "The DSM is not a representation of the nature or reality of the...
“America’s Foster Care System: Test Lab For Big Pharma, Cash Cow For Caretakers?”
MintPress reports that over half of America's foster children are on some form of psychiatric medication, and tells the story of some for whom...
“Lawyers of Sound Mind”
A New York Times editorial traces the route from diagnosis to a potential denial of admission to the bar.
Article →
“The Nudge Debate”; “Science is not Your Enemy”
Two public thinkers contribute food for thought that fits, if obliquely, into the conversational pot-luck on MIA. The New York Times' David Brooks writes in...
“Crazy Pills”
The New York TImes presents an Op-Ed about Lariam - a malaria drug that causes amnesia, hallucinations, aggression, paranoia, and neurological problems - with...
“Science as Social Control: Political Paralysis and the Genetics Agenda”
A marvelous article on Truthout shows how a paper on the genetics of academic achievement - which found that only 2% of academic achievement...
“Neuroscientists and the Dalai Lama Swap Insights on Meditation”
A writer for Scientific American reflects, of the Dalai Lama's invitation to western scientists to introduce topics such as quantum mechanics and neuroscience to...
“The Anosognosic’s Dilemma: Something’s Wrong but You’ll Never Know What It Is”
Errol Morris writes a five-part series on anosognosia, beginning with the strange case of a bank robber who was unaware of being stupid and...
Robert Whitaker Speaks at NAMI National Convention
Opening his presentation, "The Case for Selected Use of Anti-Psychotics", at the national convention of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill in San Antonio,...
The Diagnostic Manual of Mishegas
Written by a committee including Jay Neugeboren, Michael B. Friedman, and an actual doctor, the D-MOM parodies the "Bible of Psychiatry" promises to "enable...
“Breaking the Seal on Drug Research”
The New York Times offers the story of Dr. Peter Doshi, whose efforts to force pharmaceutical companies to open the records of their drug...
“The Anger and Rage Collection: What we Don’t Engage we Cannot Transform”
Another from the indefatigable Monica Cassani, on a theme close to the heart of this website: working with and through anger.
Thank you, Monica.
Beyond Meds →
“The Suicide Detective”
The New York Times tells the story of Matthew Knock, director of Harvard University's Laboratory for Clinical and Developmental Research, who recently received a...
“Pop Neuroscience is Bunk!”
Sally Satel and Scott Lilienfeld write in Salon on the promises and follies of neuroscience research.
Article →
Review of Allen Frances’ Memoir and Critique of the DSM
Christian Perring of the invaluable Metapsychology Online reviews "Saving Normal: An Insider's Revolt Against Out-of-Control Psychiatric Diagnosis, DSM-5, Big Pharma, and the Medicalization of...
“Science Doesn’t Know Everything”
Jerome Kagan, professor of psychology emeritus from Harvard University, says that "scientists studying psychological phenomena should replace their habit of linking one cause to...
Rats Choose Social Life over Drugs
A classic experiment demonstrated that rats who had access to a full social life clearly chose not to ingest opiates, if given the choice,...
“Bad Diagnosis for New Psychiatry ‘Bible'”
Gary Greenberg gets a chance to engage with Thomas Insel and Jeffrey Lieberman on the risks and benefits associated with psychiatric diagnosis and the...
“Being the Empowered Patient”
Monica Cassani writes about what, and how much, it takes to be an empowered patient: "I was a mental health professional for so many...
“Is Criticism of DSM-5 ‘Anti-psychiatry’?”
Allen Frances responds to critics of the DSM-5 protesters, saying "The American Psychiatric Association has never once addressed the substantive questions raised about DSM-5....
“Anti-Psychiatry Prejudice? A response to Dr. Lieberman”
A doctor (an infectious disease specialist) responds to Jeffrey Lieberman's defense of the DSM, saying "Rather than respond to critics of the APA’s new...
