Peer-Support Groups Were Right, Guidelines Were Wrong: Dr. Mark Horowitz on Tapering Off Antidepressants
In an interview with MIA, Dr. Horowitz discusses his recent article on why tapering off antidepressants can take months or even years.
Suicide in the Age of Prozac
During the past twenty years, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and American psychiatry have adopted a "medicalized" approach to preventing suicide, claiming that antidepressants are protective against suicide. Yet, the suicide rate in the United States has increased 30% since 2000, a time of rising usage of antidepressants. A review of studies of the effects of mental health treatment and antidepressants on suicide reveals why this medicalized approach has not only failed, but pushed suicide rates higher.
No, There is no Such Thing as ADHD
Somewhere along the line we have lost the understanding that kids come in all shapes and sizes. Some kids are active, some are quiet; some kids are dreamers, others are daring; some kids are dramatic, others are observers; some impulsive, others reserved; some leaders, others followers; some athletic, others thinkers. Where did we ever get the notion that kids should all be one way?
Hereditary Madness? The Genain Sisters’ Tragic Story
The story of the Genain quadruplets has long been cited as evidence proving something about the supposed hereditary nature of schizophrenia. But who wouldnāt fall apart after surviving a childhood like theirs? The doctors attributed their problems to menstrual difficulties or excessive masturbation ā anything except abuse.
Victim Blaming: Childhood Trauma, Mental Illness & Diagnostic Distractions?
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?
Starvation: What Does it Do to the Brain?
The Minnesota Starvation Experiment was conducted at the University of Minnesota during the Second World War. Prolonged semi-starvation produced significant increases in depression, hysteria and hypochondriasis, and most participants experienced periods of severe emotional distress and depression and grew increasingly irritable. It really should not be a surprise to this audience that the brainās functioning is highly compromised when the body is being starved of food (and nutrients). What we wonder is whether eating a diet of primarily highly processed foods low in nutrients has similar effects.
Suicide Rates Rise While Antidepressant Use Climbs
Multiple media sources are reporting on new dataĀ from the CDC revealing a substantial increase in the suicide rate in the United States between 1999...
Neurofeedback is Not For Everyone: The Dangers of Neurology
One thing I noticed, from the moment that I stepped out of my psychiatristās office, was how strangely blank and yet clear my mind was. I felt surprisingly calm and relaxed, and I decided to go back for another treatment the next week. What I couldnāt have known then was that after that next ātreatment,ā life would be completely destroyed for me.
Risk of Suicide After Hospitalization Even Higher Than Previously Estimated
New analysis of post-discharge suicide rates finds estimates 6 times higher than recent studies.
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation No Better Than Placebo for Treatment-Resistant Depression
A new study in JAMA Psychiatry found that transcranial magnetic stimulation was no better than placebo for treatment-resistant depression.
Traditional South African Healers Use Connection in Suicide Prevention
Study finds that traditional healers in South Africa, whose services are widely used by the countryās population, perform important suicide prevention work.
Study Finds Hearing Voices Groups Improve Social and Emotional Wellbeing
Hearing Voices Network self-help groups are an important resource for coping with voice hearing, study finds.
Waiting for Gravity
Of course one wishes for an easy answer, but the things that conspire to drive a person over the edge are too numerous and varied ever to point and say,Ā it was this one; one can never really be so certain. No one can say it wasnātĀ that one, or that it wasnāt really all of thoseĀ together, or that, when it came my own turn for āinsanity,ā I wasnāt standing halfway over the edge already, waiting for gravity to kick in and for me to fall.
Contribution of Antipsychotics to Suicidality and Depression
Peter Lehmann reviewsĀ the contribution of antipsychotics to suicide and depression in schizophrenia in the currentĀ International Journal of Psychotherapy.Ā Publications about the intrinsic effects of...
Study Confirms Higher Suicide Risk for Sexual Minority Adolescents
Researchers report that sexual minority adolescents have considered, planned, and attempted suicide substantially more than their heterosexual peers.
Antidepressants Do Not Prevent Suicides, May Increase Risk
When the CDC released data revealing an increasing suicide rate in the US, some experts, speaking to major media outlets, speculated that the increase...
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Halves the Risk of Repeated Suicide Attempts
A new study suggests that cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) may halve the likelihood of re-attempting suicide, for those who have attempted in the past.
Do Antidepressants Work? A People’s Review of the Evidence
After a meta-analysis of RCTs of antidepressants was published in Lancet, psychiatry stated that it proved that "antidepressants" work. However, effectiveness studies of real-world patients reveal the opposite: the medications increase the likelihood that patients will become chronically depressed, and disabled by the disorder.
Adverse Effects: The Perils of Deep Brain Stimulation for Depression
Hundreds of people have been given remote control deep brain stimulation implants for psychiatric disorders such as depression, OCD and Touretteās. Yet DBS specialists still have no clue about its mechanisms of action and research suggests its hefty health and safety risks far outweigh benefits.
New Data Supports Acupuncture as a Treatment for Depression
Researchers found acupuncture effective in the treatment of chronic pain and depression
New Study Concludes that Antidepressants are “Largely Ineffective and Potentially Harmfulā
A new study published in Frontiers in Psychiatry concludes that āantidepressants are largely ineffective and potentially harmful.ā
The Scientism of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
Calling ADHD a diagnosis, i.e., something with the capacity to explain the behaviours that it describes, is like saying the headache isĀ causingĀ the pain in my head or the inattention isĀ causedĀ by inattention. Scientism has turned ADHD from a vague, difficult to pin down concept into a fact of culture masquerading as a fact of nature.
Schizophrenia Deconstructed
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.
Very Slow Tapering Best For Antidepressant Withdrawal
A new article in Lancet Psychiatry finds that slower tapering of SSRIs is better for preventing antidepressant withdrawal effects.
Is Long-term Use of Benzodiazepines a Risk for Cancer?
A large study of the population in Taiwan reveals that long-term use of benzodiazepine drugs, commonly prescribed for anxiety, significantly increases the risk for brain, colorectal, and lung cancers. The research, published open-access in the journal Medicine, also identifies the types of benzodiazepines that carry the greatest cancer risk.