Mental Health Concerns Not “Brain Disorders,” Say Researchers

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

Have We Found The “Overhype Gene”?

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-John Horgan criticizes psychiatrist Richard Friedman's effusive portrayal of a study that allegedly identified the "feel-good" gene in humans.

The Deeper Genome: New Research Findings in Genomics and Epigenomics

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In our field, there is a significant “missing heritability” between rates of “schizophrenia” in monozygotic twins and the combined reduced influence of genetic variants identified in genome-wide association studies (GWAS). The 80% figure often given as a heritability factor is somewhat misleading for students in our field who do not know how the H2 statistic is derived and various ways of deriving it. Through extensive molecular biological research of the most recent studies on monozygotic twins I have derived a theory which will make a much stronger case for socioenvironmental influences on what was previously though of in classically genetic terms.

“The New Eugenics: Why Genetic Theories of Mental Illness and Addiction Are a Damaging...

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For The Influence, addiction expert Stanton Peele criticizes our current genetic and biological “brain disease” approaches to addiction and mental health. Article →

“Misinformation About the Findings of “Paternal Age at Childbearing and Offspring Psychiatric and Academic...

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Stanford-trained psychologist corrects the public record on recent research linking paternal age with increased risk of psychiatric disorders. Misinformation about the findings of “Paternal Age...

Genetics of Bipolar Disorder

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Research from the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at USC finds that "The standard concept of genetic testing includes at least three...

High Rates of Questionable Research Practices Found in Ecology and Evolution

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A new study, published online by the Open Science Foundation, suggests that questionable research practices (QRPs) are prevalent in the fields of ecology and evolution.

Researchers Fail to Replicate Evidence for “Biotypes” of Depression

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A new study casts doubt on whether such biotypes for depression exist.
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Bad-Science Warning: The “Minnesota Study of Twins Reared Apart” (MISTRA)

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The huge impact of the MISTRA, in addition to the harmful and regressive social and political policy implications that flow from it, necessitates a detailed analysis of the “science” behind the study’s major claims and conclusions. Here I offer a new critique of this famous and influential “separated twin study.”

Introduction: The Gene Illusion Continues

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I am pleased to have the opportunity to be part of the Mad In America website. I plan to provide a critical perspective on genetic theories and research in psychiatry and psychology. I will highlight the numerous problems with widespread claims that studies of families, twins, and adoptees have provided indisputable evidence that psychiatric disorders and psychological traits have an important underlying genetic basis.

Infant Rats Adopt Their Mothers’ Fears

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Newborn rats can "learn" the fears their mothers have, and then will carry those same fears for the rest of their lives, according to...

Large German Anti-Stigma Campaign Shows Little Effect on Attitudes

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“Overall, this study showed that the information and awareness campaign had almost no significant effects on the general public's attitudes toward people affected by either schizophrenia or depression,” the researchers, led by German medical sociologist Anna Makowski, wrote. “One could assume that deeply rooted convictions cannot be modified by rather time-limited and general activities targeted at the public.”

“What Stress Does to Your Brain”

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“Stress damages the integrity of the hippocampus, which is the part of the brain that deals with memory and emotions,” Thor Benson writes for Salon. “Hormones like Cortisol and other biological reactions created by stress essentially disrupt the balance of how much white and grey matter the brain is creating, which affects how the brain operates.”

Search for Schizophrenia Gene Marches On

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In a study released June 6, 2012 through the online journal Behavioral and Brain Functions, researchers from Japan acknowledge that "the results of association...

A Blood Test for Schizophrenia with 83% Accuracy?

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An NBC online News article dated October 15, 2010, carried the noteworthy title New blood test may help detect schizophrenia. The article was written by Natasha Allen, a freelance medical journalist. The gist of the article is that there is a new blood test called VeriPsych which "researchers say" is 83% accurate in discriminating people who are "schizophrenic" from people who are not.

Brain Disease or Existential Crisis?

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As the schizophrenia/psychosis recovery research continues to emerge, we discover increasing evidence that psychosis is not caused by a disease of the brain, but...

Large Rigorous Study Debunks Popular Gene-Environment Theory of Depression

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A large and rigorous meta-analysis fails to find support for the gene-environment interaction theory of depression.

When is Stress Good for You?

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In this piece for Aeon, Bruce McEwen discusses how "good stress," "tolerable stress," and "toxic stress" act epigenetically on our brain structure, and how we can...

Dr. Nardo on the Curse of Insel’s Legacy

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In his reaction to Dr. Makari’s Opinion piece in the ‘Times, entitled Psychiatry’s Mind-Brain Problem, Dr. Nardo articulates why the legacy of NIMH director Thomas Insel is so dangerous. “He may have kept the researchers from spinning off and following some idiosyncratic path, but he did it by forcing them to follow his own idiosyncratic path.”

Why We Need to Get Better at Critiquing Psychiatric Diagnosis

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In this piece for Mind Hacks, Vaughan Bell, a long-term critic of psychiatric diagnosis, points out the major flaws and logical fallacies in some of...

Quotations From the Genetics “Graveyard”: Nearly Half a Century of False Positive Gene Discovery...

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In a 1992 essay, British psychiatric genetic researcher Michael Owen wondered whether schizophrenia molecular genetic research would become the “graveyard of molecular geneticists.”1 Owen predicted that if major schizophrenia genes existed, they would be found within five years of that date. He was optimistic, believing that “talk of graveyards is premature.”2 Owen now believes that genes for schizophrenia and other disorders have been found, and was subsequently knighted for his work. Despite massively improved technology, however, decades of molecular genetic gene finding attempts have failed to provide consistently replicated evidence of specific genes that play a role in causing the major psychiatric disorders.

Direct-to-Consumer Genetic Testing is Often Wrong

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Direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic testing has an “alarmingly high” 40% false-positive rate.

Lancet Psychiatry’s Controversial ADHD Study: Errors, Criticism, and Responses

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Amid calls for a retraction, Lancet Psychiatry publishes articles criticizing the original finding and a response from the authors.

“The entire field of behavioral genetics has a horrendous track record”

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"For more than 20 years, I’ve hammered behavioral genetics, and especially research linking genes to intelligence," writes John Horgan in his Scientific American blog...

What If We Are All Wrong About Mental Illness?

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From Thoughtful Living: The biomedical model of psychiatry, along with the DSM, is deeply flawed and can often be misleading. To improve, mental health services...