From Phrenology to Brain Scans: How Shaky Neuroscience has Influenced Courts
In âWhen Phrenology Was Used in Court,â Geoffrey S. Holtzman writes for Slate about the spurious use of brain science in legal cases. In the 1800âs the âscience of phrenologyâ promised to reveal criminal psychological traits by measuring the skull and today defense teams still employ neurogenetic explanations for their clientâs violent behavior.
âPharmaceutical Prosthesis and White Racial Rescue in the Prescription Opioid âEpidemicââ
Critical psychiatry researcher, anthropologist and NYU professor Helena Hansen writes: âOpioid maintenance acts as a kind of pharmaceutical prosthesis which promises to return white âaddictsâ to regaining their status as full human persons and middle-class consumers. Meanwhile, black and brown users are not deemed as persons to be rescued, but rather dangerous subjects to be pharmaceutically contained within the public discipline of the state.â
Bullying & its Long-Term Effects on Wellness
Psychologist William Copeland writes for Mental Health Recovery that âbullying can occur at any age and the effects of which remain harmful long after the behavior has been endured.â âWe, as a society, are just beginning to understand and come to terms with the havoc that bullying wreaks on the emotional lives of its victims.
Terrorism Science: 5 Insights into Jihad in Europe
"Terrorism researchers are trying to understand how young people in Europe become radicalized, by looking for clues in the life histories of those who have committed or planned terrorist acts in recent years, left the continent to join ISIS, or are suspected of wanting to become jihadists. A mixture of sociologists, political scientists, anthropologists and psychologists, such researchers are drawing on information generated by police, judicial inquiries and the media, and, in some cases, on interviews. They also study factors at play in prisons and socially-deprived areas. Some of their insights are summarized here.â
Depression Discrimination More Severe in High Income Countries
According to a study published in this monthâs British Journal of Psychiatry, people diagnosed with depression in high-income countries are more likely to limit...
âCuring Naughty Children With Drugsâ
Dr. Max Pemberton âThe Mind Doctorâ weighs in on the Cochrane review which questioned the evidence for Ritalin for ADHD. He writes: âHistory is...
Researchers Develop New Model for Understanding Depression
Acknowledging that current depression treatments are failing many people, researchers from Michigan State and MIT have developed a new model for understanding how multiple psychological, biological, social and environmental factors contribute to depression.
âLoneliness May Warp Our Genes, And Our Immune Systemsâ
NPR reports how loneliness can change our bodies and affect our physical and mental health. "There are things we can do to get out of a depressed or lonely state, but they're not easy," they report. "Part of the reason is because these negative psychological states develop some kind of molecular momentum."
âSuicide, Mental Illness Risks Increase During Recessionsâ
The latest economic recession led to a spike in diagnoses for mental illnesses, suicide attempts, and suicide, according to report out of the University...
âMaybe Companies Should Chill on Employee-Happiness Programsâ
Will Davies, author of The Happiness Industry, does a Q&A on the ways companies are misusing psychological research on happiness. âI think that one thing that often gets lost in lots of the discussions of happiness (especially in the business world) is the possibility that happy work may mean less work.â
âSilentâ Forms of Child Abuse Strongly Tied to Depression
Psychological abuse and childhood neglect are strongly associated with depression in adulthood, according to a meta-analysis of childhood trauma and depression published in this monthâs issue of the Journal of Affective Disorders. âThe findings clearly highlight the potential impact of the more âsilentâ types of childhood maltreatment (other than physical and sexual abuse) on the development of depression,â the researchers conclude.
âU.S. Doctors Advised to Screen Child Patients for Signs of Hungerâ
The American Academy of Pediatrics came out with new recommendations that suggest doctors screen all of their child patients for hunger. About 16 million children in the US live in food scarcity and poverty that can lead to physical health issues as well as behavioral issues, which can then be misdiagnosed.
“Emotional Child Abuse May be Just as Bad as Physical Harm”
Reuters covers a new study in JAMA Psychiatry that suggests that children exposed to physical abuse and emotional abuse suffer from similar psychological and behavioral problems. âEven though doctors and parents often believe physical or sexual abuse is more harmful than emotional mistreatment or neglect, the study found children suffered similar problems regardless of the type of maltreatment endured.â
âThe Life and Times of Strider Wolfâ
In the Boston Globe, Sarah Schweitzer tells the story of a young boy brutally abused by his parents then given to his grandparents who struggled with extreme poverty and homelessness. âResearchers now understood that trauma could alter the chemistry of developing brains and disrupt the systems that help a person handle stress, propelling a perpetual state of high alert. The consequences could be lifelong. As an adult, heâd be more likely to suffer anxiety and depression and heart disease and stroke. His ability to hold a job, manage money, and make good decisions could be compromised. And there was evidence, controversial but mounting, that he could pass on these traits to his children.â
Disease Theory of âMental Illnessâ Tied To Pessimism About Recovery
Researchers recently completed a first of its kind, large-scale international survey of attitudes about mental health and they were surprised by the results. According to their analysis published in this monthâs issue of the Journal of Affective Disorders, people in developed countries, like the United States, are more likely to assume that âmental illnessesâ are similar to physical illnesses and biological or genetic in origin, but they are also much less likely to think that individuals can overcome these challenges and recover
Relieving Poverty Significantly Improves Mental Health
Giving money to people diagnosed with severe mental health issues can significantly improve depression and anxiety. A new study, published in the October issue of the Journal of Community Mental Health, found that giving about $73 US dollars per month for recreational spending can also reduce social isolation and strengthen a sense of self.
Pleading Insanity By Genetics Can Backfire for Defendants
âGenetic explanations for violent crimes may encourage jurors to support an insanity defense, but jurors may also believe the defendant is a persistent threat who will commit more crimes in the future,â Science Daily reports. A study on over 600 participants found that when people read a genetic explanation for a violent murder they attributed less blame to the defendant but recommended a longer sentence.
Video: âHow Childhood Trauma Can Make You A Sick Adultâ
Dr. Vincent Felitti details the connection between childhood trauma and negative mental health outcomes in adulthood in a powerful video.
âMore Patients in Scotland Given Antidepressantsâ
The BBC reports that the number of people in Scotland taking antidepressants has increased by 5% in the past year with most of the patients being women and those in the poorest parts of the country. âWe are now looking at the flabbergasting statistic of more than one in seven people in Scotland being prescribed antidepressants this year,â Conservative health spokesman Jackson Carlaw said. âWe urgently have to look at better alternatives than simply parking people on medication in the hope things don't get any worse, with no aspiration for complete recovery."
Series on Anti-Psychiatry and Critical Theory for World Mental Health Day
To coincide with World Mental Health Day on October 10th, 2015, Verso Books, the largest independent and radical publishing house released a series of blogs on mental health and critical and antipsychiatry. The posts include pieces on R.D. Laing, colonialism, womenâs oppression, delusions and art, âThe Happiness Industry,â and social and institutional oppression.
âHow Poverty Affects Childrenâs Brainsâ
New research is investigating how âpoverty reduction promotes cognitive and brain development.â
Nunavut Declares Suicide Epidemic a State of Emergency
Nunavut, Canadaâs largest and northernmost territory, is suffering from a suicide rate that is 10 times the national average. âIn the case of Inuit boys 15 to 19,â CBC News reports, âthe suicide rate is 40 times higher than those of their peers in the rest of Canada.â
âA Bad Job is Harder on Your Mental Health Than Unemploymentâ
Writing for Mashable, Stephan Bevan- the director of the Centre for Workforce Effectiveness- explains how an increase in poor quality, precarious, and temporary jobs âthreatens our productivity and competitiveness, levels of social inclusion and, ultimately, the health of the workforce.â
Evidence for Chile’s School-Based Mental Health Program
Chileâs Skills for Life (SFL) program, the largest school-based psychosocial intervention program in the world, has demonstrated improved behavioral and academic outcomes for elementary students identified as âat risk.â A team of Chilean and U.S. researchers assessed the SFL program and will publish their results in the October issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (JAACAP).
Pennsylvania Foster Kids Prescribed Too Many Psychotropic Drugs
Amid growing criticism about the over-prescription of psychotropic medication in foster care, Pennsylvania commissioned PolicyLab to conduct an analysis of the use of psychiatric drugs among all of the stateâs Medicaid-enrolled children. The report, released in June, found that the rate of psychotropic prescriptions among youth in Medicaid and foster care was higher than previously reported.