Study Finds Recalling Experiences of Violence Impairs Cognitive Functioning
Recalling past exposure to violence worsens short-term memory and cognitive control.
Emotional Abuse Is Far Worse Than You Think
Though attention tends to be drawn to physical forms of violence, it may actually be the more invisible forms of violence - abuse and...
Will Psychiatry’s Harmful Treatment of Our Children Bring About Its Eventual Demise?
The safety of our children is a sacred obligation we strive to preserve. Anything or anyone that harms them becomes the object of our...
“Sugar May be as Damaging to the Brain as Extreme Stress or Abuse”
“The fact that drinking sugar or exposure to early life stress reduced the expression of genes critical for brain development and growth is of...
Beyond the Hysteria, What “13 Reasons Why” Gets Right
From Medium: "13 Reasons Why," the most-watched series in Netflix history, raises many important real-life concerns that need to be addressed, such as the impact...
“Forensic Psychiatric Patients and Staff View the Effects of ‘Mental Illness’ Differently”
“Offenders sentenced to forensic psychiatric care do not consider their mental illness to be the main reason for their crime. Instead, they point to abuse, poverty or anger toward a particular person.”
How to Better Understand Your Child
From Greater Good: According to pediatrician Claudia Gould, parents and professionals can better understand children's behavior by paying attention to the meaning behind it.
"In a...
Psychotherapy is Less Effective and Less Accessible for Those in Poverty
A special issue explores the connection between poverty, mental health, and psychotherapy.
Mental Health Concerns Not “Brain Disorders,” Say Researchers
The latest issue of the journal Behavioral and Brain Sciences features several prominent researchers arguing that mental health concerns are not “brain disorders.”
“Cortisol Levels in Children’s Hair May Reveal Future Mental Health Risk”
The Guardian covers research out of Australia that found that levels of the “stress hormone” cortisol in the hair of 70 nine-year-old children corresponded to the number of traumatic events experienced by the child. “Childhood is an imperative and sensitive period of development, and when things go wrong it can have lifelong consequences, not just on mental health, but also on general health.”
“Is the Drive for Success Making Our Children Sick?”
In the SundayReview section of the New York Times Vicki Abeles discusses Stuat Slavin’s research on depression and anxiety in US schools. “Many of the health effects are apparent now, but many more will echo through the lives of our children,” says Richard Scheffler, a health economist at the University of California, Berkeley.
Researchers Challenge Popular Beliefs About Adolescent Risk Taking
Adolescent risk taking is explored contextually, beyond models of brain imbalances and adverse consequences.
Schizophrenia as Stress-Induced Dopamine Supersensitivity
Researchers from the University of Toronto departments of Psychiatry and Pharmacology, publishing in Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry, propose that various forms of stress,...
Child Abuse, Mental Health and Mental Illness
Psychiatrists and medical doctors don’t ask who was hitting who and how often in your family. These questions would largely put them out of business and invalidate their industries. These questions would make a mockery of their many years of schooling and many prescription pad options. But these questions would also heal.
Conversations About Death . . . in Pursuit of Life
For most parents, addressing the topic of death is an uncomfortable proposition. Yet, it may be one of the most important discussions we have with our children. Our lifelong response to death often affects our mental and physical health. We must teach our children practices from an early age that can buffer the unavoidable distress that would come if the worst occurs.
Review Finds Link Between Recession and Mental Health Issues
A literature review published in BMC Public Health by researchers from Portugal and the Czech Republic summarizes results from 101 studies investigating the effect...
Researchers Find that Textbooks Include Biased Information About ADHD
A review of academic textbooks finds that they often leave out effect sizes and molecular genetics findings, both of which suggest minimal impact of genetics on ADHD. Instead, textbooks focus on overblown conclusions from behavioral studies.
The Real Myth of the Schizophrenogenic Mother
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.
School Culture May Contribute to Overdiagnosis, Study Finds
Officials at a school that was more focused on ADHD diagnoses described children’s behavior in terms of individual illnesses, taking children out of the context of their social interactions, race, gender, and socioeconomic status.
Philosophers Challenge Psychiatry and its Search for Mechanisms of Disorder
Attempting to locate the mechanisms of psychiatric disorder is a step in the wrong direction and fails to challenge potentially unjust social practices.
“Generation Meds: the US Children Who Grow Up on Prescription Drugs”
“In America, medication is becoming almost as much a staple of childhood as Disney and McDonald’s,” writes Sarah Boseley in the Guardian. In this piece photographer Baptiste Lignel follows six boys and girls to examine the long-term effects of these drugs.
The Concept of Schizophrenia is Coming to an End – Here’s Why
From The Conversation: Many researchers are beginning to acknowledge that the concept of "schizophrenia" as a discrete, hopeless, and deteriorating brain disease does not exist. In...
How Social Dynamics at School Impact Teen Suicide
Teen suicide risk is influenced by relationships with adults and teachers, perceived popularity, close friendships, and school connectedness.
Minority and Immigration Status Associated with Psychosis Risk
Ethnic minorities and those who migrated during childhood have an elevated risk for psychosis, study finds.