Reimagining Healthcare

23
The conventional Western classification systems of health conditions are based on flawed science shaped by reductionist, hierarchical, and profit-driven ideologies. THEN wants to create a new paradigm built upon principles drawn from systems science, the life course perspective, developmental neurobiology, and other evidence-informed studies.

Victim Blaming: Childhood Trauma, Mental Illness & Diagnostic Distractions?

92
Why, despite the fact that the vast majority of people diagnosed with a mental illness have suffered from some form of childhood trauma, is it still so difficult to talk about? Why, despite the enormous amount of research about the impact of trauma on the brain and subsequent effect on behaviour, does there seem to be such an extraordinary refusal for the implication of this research to change attitudes towards those who are mentally ill? Why, when our program and others like it have shown people can heal from the effects of trauma, are so many people left with the self-blame and the feeling they will never get better that my colleague writes about below?

The Conflicts That Result From Globalizing Euro-American Psychology in India

3
Researchers examine the transformation of work, life, and identity in India as a result of Western corporate and psychological culture.

Traditional South African Healers Use Connection in Suicide Prevention

3
Study finds that traditional healers in South Africa, whose services are widely used by the country’s population, perform important suicide prevention work.

Psychotherapy is Less Effective and Less Accessible for Those in Poverty

13
A special issue explores the connection between poverty, mental health, and psychotherapy.

Study Confirms Higher Suicide Risk for Sexual Minority Adolescents

0
Researchers report that sexual minority adolescents have considered, planned, and attempted suicide substantially more than their heterosexual peers.
babydoll quadruplets

Hereditary Madness? The Genain Sisters’ Tragic Story

14
The story of the Genain quadruplets has long been cited as evidence proving something about the supposed hereditary nature of schizophrenia. But who wouldn’t fall apart after surviving a childhood like theirs? The doctors attributed their problems to menstrual difficulties or excessive masturbation — anything except abuse.

The Real Myth of the Schizophrenogenic Mother

53
Acknowledging the role of trauma inflicted by a given individual’s mother is not the same as laying all blame for “mental illness” at the feet of motherhood. Meanwhile, a mountain of evidence has accumulated linking schizophrenia to sexual, physical, and emotional abuse and many other categories of adverse childhood experiences.

Is an Ominous New Era of Diagnosing Psychosis by Biotype on the Horizon?

62
When former NIMH chief Dr. Thomas Insel speaks, people listen. Dr. Insel famously criticized the DSM a couple of years ago for its lack of reliability. He notably broke ranks with the APA by saying there were no bio-markers, blood tests, genetic tests or imaging tests that could verify or establish a DSM diagnosis of schizophrenia, bipolar or schizoaffective disorder. However in a new article he announces research that claims to have found bona-fide physiological markers that identify specific "biotypes" of psychosis. This system could, purportedly, identify a person as possessing a specific biotype of psychosis, instead of a DSM-category diagnosis.

Mental Health Professionals Critique the Biomedical Model of Psychological Problems

8
While a great deal of the excitement about advances in psychological treatments comes from the potential for research in neuroscience to unlock the secrets of the brain, many mental health experts would like to temper this enthusiasm. A special issue of the Behavior Therapist released this month calls into question the predominant conception of mental illnesses as brain disorders.

A Biopsychosocial Model Beyond the Mind-Body Split

7
Can a renewed biopsychosocial approach, grounded in an updated philosophy, foster person-centered medicine, and psychiatry?

Trauma, Psychosis, and Dissociation

57
Recent years have seen an influx of numerous studies providing an undeniable link between childhood/ chronic trauma and psychotic states. Although many researchers (i.e., Richard Bentall, Anthony Morrison, John Read) have been publishing and speaking at events around the world discussing the implications of this link, they are still largely ignored by mainstream practitioners, researchers, and even those with lived experience. While this may be partially due to an understandable (but not necessarily defensible) tendency to deny the existence of trauma, in general, there are also certainly many political, ideological, and financial reasons for this as well.

Study Investigates Long-Term Effects of Social and Emotional Learning Programs

0
Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) programs have gained popularity in U.S. schools in recent years. A new study examines the nature and longevity of their impact on students.
light

When Minds Crack, The Light Might Get In: A Spiritual Perspective on Madness

55
You can’t go back to mundane ways of seeing the world after very dark things happen. Trauma cracks open a hole in our lives and in our minds, throwing us into the zone where we face the big spiritual questions. Bad ideas can get in when things open up like that. But it’s also possible that something new and positive can get in.

Fighting for the Meaning of Madness: An Interview with Dr. John Read

17
Akansha Vaswani interviews Dr. John Read about the influences on his work and his research on madness, psychosis, and the mental health industry.

Schizophrenia Deconstructed

141
After a few weeks it became clear to me the complete lack of comprehension that I faced as a person claiming to have been cured of psychosis. Being a schizophrenic claiming to no longer suffer from schizophrenia only made me seem more schizophrenic due to the current culture of psychiatry.

Violence Caused by Antidepressants: An Update after Munich  

25
The media is now reporting details about the 18-year-old who shot and killed nine and wounded many others before killing himself on July 22 in Munich. My clinical and forensic experience leads to a distinction among people who murder under the influence of psychiatric drugs. Those who kill only one or two people, or close family members, often have little or no history of mental disturbance and violent tendencies. The drug itself seems like the sole cause of the violent outburst. On the other hand, most of those who commit mass violence while taking psychiatric drugs often have a long history of mental disturbance and sometimes violence. For these people, the mental health system seems to have provoked increasing violence without recognizing the danger.

Study Finds Heavy Metal Music Beneficial to Mental Health

10
A new study highlights the role heavy metal music plays in the mental health of adolescents facing adversity.
scrooge christmas carol

Dickens’ Christmas Carol: A Psychiatric Primer of Character and Redemption

26
Scrooge’s character was forged from his own emotional pain. Indeed, we can change the course of our lives through facing and mourning that pain. Want, deprivation and cruelty create the evils of the world. Mourning and trust, in the context of love, are its antidotes. 

Mental Health Concerns Not “Brain Disorders,” Say Researchers

55
The latest issue of the journal Behavioral and Brain Sciences features several prominent researchers arguing that mental health concerns are not “brain disorders.”

Individuals with Psychosis Symptoms More Likely to be Victimized

9
Individuals diagnosed with a psychotic disorder are 4-6 times more likely than the general population to experience victimization.

It is Time for Global Mental Health to Acknowledge Sociostructural Determinants of Distress

2
Researchers call for action to address social challenges and inequalities that obstruct mental health and well-being globally.

Study Highlights Mental Health Consequences of Parent Emotion Suppression

4
New research suggests that when parents model emotion suppression strategies in social interactions, their children’s approaches to social engagement may suffer.

Trauma Resiliency Model: A New Somatic Therapy for Treating Trauma

16
Report presents new body-based therapeutic approach for shock and complex developmental trauma.

Relieving Poverty Significantly Improves Mental Health

16
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.