Environmental

Fifteen years ago this month we were sitting together in the basement of Peter’s house. We had felt a sense of despair at the widespread misinformation and atrocious stereotypes that were dominating media coverage of mental health at the time. We felt that our profession had a responsibility to challenge these stereotypes, and that as psychologists we had something unique to contribute. That was the time when research into the psychology of psychosis was beginning to burgeon, and many of our findings challenged not only the stereotypes but – perhaps more significantly - much ‘accepted wisdom’ within mental health services as well.

Contemporary empirical research explores new ways to conceptualize and heal racial trauma through anticolonial and sociohistorical lenses.

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

Nunavut, Canada’s largest and northernmost territory, is suffering from a suicide rate that is 10 times the national average. “In the case of Inuit boys 15 to 19,” CBC News reports, “the suicide rate is 40 times higher than those of their peers in the rest of Canada.”

In this piece for The Guardian, Alex Beard compares robot learning to language acquisition and development in children. While robot learning is abstract and formulaic, learning...

From openDemocracy: Despite our cultural obsession with happiness and the widespread growth of the happiness industry, few of us are actually more satisfied with our lives....

From The Conversation: New studies suggest that Western cultural values - specifically the high value we place on happiness - may be the reason that...

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. “We are now looking at the flabbergasting statistic of more than one in seven people in Scotland being prescribed antidepressants this year,” Conservative health spokesman Jackson Carlaw said. “We 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."

Researchers explore pathways of healing racial trauma in Latinx immigrant communities.

From Yale News: A new study shows that veterans who receive legal help with housing, benefits, and consumer or personal matters have increased income, fewer...

A case analysis of an American Indian woman illustrates how the DSM diagnostic criteria misrepresent the lives of indigenous people.

According to a study published in this month’s British Journal of Psychiatry, people diagnosed with depression in high-income countries are more likely to limit...

From Undark Magazine: In late 1970, a pharmacologist discovered that an antibiotic drug designed to cure a disease called SMON (subacute myelo-optic neuropathy) was actually causing...

Compared with standard care, results of a lay health worker intervention in Zimbabwe suggest that this is effective for reduction of common mental health symptoms

In this piece for Aeon, Serife Tekin argues that contrary to antirealist perspectives emphasizing the illusion of selfhood, there is such a thing as the...

Researchers find few existing "psychopathology scales" are appropriate for global utilization.

In this piece for The New York Times, Benoit Denizet-Lewis explores the social, cultural, and economic factors that have contributed to the significant rise in...

In this piece for Science of Us, Lee Daniel Kravetz discusses the impact of media exposure on the rise of bulimia and explores the social...

In a major study, published yesterday in JAMA Pediatrics, the use of SSRI antidepressants during pregnancy was found to increase the risk of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) by 87-percent. Previous studies reveal that more than 13-percent of women currently use SSRI antidepressants during pregnancy.

From Harper's Magazine: People who hear positive, encouraging voices often seen as spiritual guides or messages and people diagnosed with schizophrenia are usually thought of as...

From PinkNews: A new bill has been introduced in California would would see practitioners of gay conversion therapy prosecuted for fraud. "The bill would build on the...

Scholars contend that stigma functions as a mechanism of power in analysis of UK Heads Together mental health campaign.

From The Guardian: A new UK study shows that people from ethnic minorities have up to a five times greater risk of psychotic disorders than...

From Neo.life: The emerging discipline of computational psychiatry, which aims to use machine-learning algorithms to recognize patterns of mental distress and identify treatments that may be...

From Aeon: The finding that only one in five people avoid any kind of mental health problems or psychiatric diagnoses through their lives has prompted...