“Watching Too Much TV in Your 20s May Impact How Your Brain Works in...
The Washington Post reports on a new study in JAMA Psychiatry that shows that watching more than 3 hours of television a day in...
Tenacity Pays Off For a Swedish Journalist
Bob Fiddaman writes about Janne Larsson, whose dogged journalism brought to light closely-guarded information that revealed the true extent of antidepressant-related suicides associated with...
“Folk Healing”
-Therapist and herbalist Jon Keyes discusses approaches to helping people in psychological distress that have been practiced in other cultures.
Sunday History Channel: 1,000 Case Records from Victorian Asylum Released
The Wellcome Library has digitized and publicly released for free viewing the complete records of over 1,000 people who were incarcerated at the Ticehurst...
Advocate for Outpatient Committal Recants
In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Tom Burns recants. Burns is described as a psychiatrist who was long one of the strongest...
But How Much Better Are The Expensive Placebos?
-The Washington Post reports on a study that found that "expensive" placebos were more effective than cheap placebos.
“Can Psychiatric Drugs Cause Long-Lasting Negative Effects?”
The Council for Evidence Based Psychiatry presents this interview with Dr Joanna Moncrieff, a psychiatrist and senior lecturer at University College, London.
“Why Does Psychiatry So Often Get a Free Pass on Standards of Evidence?”
Rob Wipond takes HealthNewsReview.org to task for its coverage of a Philadelphia Inquirer article about a medical device designed for people experiencing panic. He writes that “hyperbolic psychiatric and psychological claims frequently get free passes from otherwise thoughtful medical critics.”
“Makers of OxyContin Bankroll Efforts to Undermine Prescription Painkiller Reform”
The Intercept reports that the pharmaceutical companies that manufacture and market opioid painkillers have funded a number of groups designed to fight prescription drug reform.
“Is Britain Hooked on Happy Pills?”
The Telegraph provides a forum for Joanna Moncrieff: "The use of antidepressants continues its inexorable rise. Since the early 1990s the number of prescriptions...
“Is Everything You Know about Happiness Wrong?”
Sonja Lyubomirsky's book examines the false assumptions we all have about what makes us happy, and points in the direction of how to actually...
Sunday History Channel: When Diagnosing Celebrities in the Media Was Unethical
Mind Hacks discusses the first historical case of a celebrity (presidential candidate Barry Goldwater in 1964) being "diagnosed" in the media by psychiatrists and...
Ireland to Decriminalise Heroin, Cocaine and Cannabis
The UK Independent reports that Ireland is moving toward a policy of decriminalizing small amount of drugs like heroin, cocaine, and cannabis in what amounts to a “radical cultural shift.” While it would remain a crime to profit from the sale of these substances, users will have specially designated areas for safe use. The chief of Ireland’s National Drugs Strategy told the paper: “I am firmly of the view that there needs to be a cultural shift in how we regard substance misuse if we are to break this cycle and make a serious attempt to tackle drug and alcohol addiction.”
“NYS Moves to Parity in Mental Health Treatment”
New York State has investigated five large insurance companies for violating state and federal mental health parity laws by illegally denying to cover claims for behavioral health conditions and drug abuse treatment, according to a report by North County Public Radio (ncpr).
“Erasing History”: 1BoringOldMan on Psychiatry’s Scramble to Re-Brand Itself
1BoringOld Man says "Right now, psychiatry seems to be attempting to erase a piece of its own history – a recent piece at that....
Scottish Report: Poverty and Mental Health Strongly Linked
-People from Scotland's most deprived areas are more than three times as likely to be treated for mental illness than those in more affluent communities.
Sunday Humor: Arguments for “Chemical Imbalance Not Otherwise Specified”
Dr. Methodius Isaac Bonkers of the Bonkers Institute for Nearly Genuine Research puts forth a series of partially incomplete and generally imprecise arguments in...
“Most Who OD on Opioids are Able to Get New Prescriptions”
Felice J. Freyer for the Boston Globe reports on a new study of chronic pain treatment. “More than 90 percent of people who survived...
“How We Learned to Stop Worrying About People and Love the Bombing”
For Tom Dispatch, historian Rick Shenkman “explores the biological phenomena that may well underpin our appalling lack of empathy, the animal instincts that allow so many of us to stand by in the face of unspeakable acts,” and “how the stories we tell ourselves and others might offer us a path to overcome our utterly human inhumanity.”
Senators: Focusing on Mental Health Laws Easier than Dealing with Gun Control
-National Journal reports that some Republican and Conservative senators alike recognize a need for gun control legislation, but say it's easier to focus on restrictive mental health regulations instead.
“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."
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“How to Take Kids Off Medication: Tips for Making Sure Your Child Makes a...
The Child Mind Institute advises that "When you're considering medication for a child with emotional or behavioral problems, how you start is very important....
“Operate on This Mother so That we can Take her Baby”
The Telegraph reports on a pregnant Italian mother who, having flown to England for a two-week training had a panic attack which lead to...
“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...
1 Boring Old Man Roundup
1 Boring Old Man has been a very busy (old) man, with more background on the Philadelphia gynecomastia trial, notice of unrepresentative sampling for clinical...