Judi Chamberlin and the Fight Against Institutionalizing Women
In this piece for Rooted in Rights, s.e. smith chronicles the life of Judi Chamberlin and discusses the important role she played at the intersection of...
“I Was Afraid to Dismantle the Story About Depression”
In this interview for The Guardian, Johann Hari discusses his latest book, Lost Connections, which critiques bioreductionist models of depression and anxiety and emphasizes environmental influences...
The Demoralized Mind
From openDemocracy: The distress, boredom, and disillusionment so commonly diagnosed as depression may actually result from the demoralization people experience in consumerist cultures. Large-scale cultural change,...
Mindfulness and Self-Compassion Interventions Target Depressive Symptoms
A new study finds self-coldness predicts depressive symptoms and supports self-compassion as a buffer.
Lack of Face-to-Face Contact Doubles Depression Risk for Older Adults
New research suggests that more frequent in-person contact lessens the risk of depression in older adults. The study, published in this monthâs issue of the Journal of the American Geriatric Society, found that in Americans over fifty the more face-to-face contact they had with children, family and friends, the less likely they were to develop depressive symptoms.
4 Reasons Gratitude is Good for You
From USA Today: Gratitude has been shown to have both physical and mental health benefits. Here are a few ways to cultivate our feelings of gratitude...
The Functional Neurology of Guilt in Depression
The University of Manchester in England, along with the D'Or Insitute in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, have found that differences in activity in the...
Could ‘Treatment Resistance’ be an Effect of Antidepressants?
Previously taking antidepressants could make individuals less likely to respond to treatment for bipolar II depression.
Adverse Childhood Events Contribute Significantly to Most Mental Health Problems
John Read and Richard Bentall write in the British Journal of Psychiatry about the growing understanding and acceptance of the significant role adverse childhood...
Individualism a Risk Factor for Depression
Findings from a survey of 6,082 individuals, designed to explore racial and ethnic differences in mental disorders, reinforce the relationship between social support and...
“Dancing Out of Depression With 5 Rhythm Classes”
The Daily Echo features "5 Rhythms" dance classes as an alternative treatment for depression.  "Based on methods developed by Gabrielle Roth in the 1970s, the...
Collaborative Care Effective for Older Adults with Depressive Symptoms
A new study suggests that depressive symptoms in older adults can be improved with non-invasive behavioral activation techniques. These approaches appear to have a preventative effect, serving to prevent further depressive symptoms from developing.
Benzodiazepines Linked to Treatment Resistant Depression
Prior use of benzodiazepines, such as Xanax, Librium, or Ativan, may increase the risk of treatment-resistant depression (TRD), according to a new study published in The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease.
Helpful and Harmful Therapist Behaviors, According to Clients
From The British Psychological Society: A recent study has broken new ground by asking clients to provide detailed feedback on a second-by-second basis of their experience of...
Six Ways You Can Really Help Prevent Suicide
The first time I tried to kill myself, I was 14. I wonât go into the indignity of being involuntarily locked up, time after time, until I satisfactorily convinced the staff that I wouldnât harm myself or attempt suicide again. (I was lying.) The system taught me to lie, to hide my suicidal feelings in order to escape yet another round of dehumanizing lock-ups and âtreatments.â
Antidepressants/Depression
A. The Natural Course of Depression
Prior to the widespread use of antidepressants, the National Institute of Mental Health told the public that people regularly...
Over 1,000 Antidepressant Users Describe how Their Personal Life has Been Affected
Survey examines adverse personal and interpersonal effects of antidepressants and the impact of polypharmacy
âForgiving Others Can Protect You From Depressionâ
A new study out of the University of Missouri examines the relationship between forgiveness and depression. Medical Daily reports, âwhile your therapist might tell you to forgive yourself when times get tough, itâs not always just self-forgiveness that decreases depression. Rather, forgiving others seems to have the most positive impact.â
Sleep Deprivation is an Effective Anti-Depressant
From Science Blog: According to a new meta-analysis, sleep deprivation reduces symptoms in nearly half of depression patients. Partial sleep deprivation (sleep for three to...
In Defense of Healthy Depression
With the increasing medicalization of depression, and as more and more physicians see the treatment of depression as falling under their purview, it is imperative to distinguish between actual clinical depression and "healthy depression" â the adaptive and expectable responses to distressing life events that signal a need for rethinking one's life and recalibrating one's self-perceptions and emotions.
Is a Little Stigma Better Than None?
An anti-anti-stigma campaign
The whole anti-stigma campaign is something of a joke. Google the word âstigma,â see for yourself. Mental health labels are inherently stigmatizing,...
Why Would Depression Be Linked to a Doubling of Risk of Stroke?
"Depression can double risk of stroke," reported many news outlets, covering a study by Harvard School of Public Health researchers in the Journal of the American Heart Association
A Traumatic Experience Can Reshape Your Microbiome
From Science of Us: A recent study suggests that our guts may harbor evidence of traumatic life experiences many years after the fact, impacting our...
Depression: Itâs Not Your Serotonin
What if I told you that, in 6 decades of research, the serotonin (or norepinephrine, or dopamine) theory of depression and anxiety - the claim that âDepression is a serious medical condition that may be due to a chemical imbalance, and Zoloft works to correct this imbalanceâ - has not achieved scientific credibility? Youâd want some supporting arguments for this shocking claim. So, here you go:
“Financial Health” is Good Medicine in Mental Health Care
In this piece for the Yale School of Medicine's Department of Psychiatry blog, Lucile Bruce highlights the work of Associate Research Scientist Dr. Annie...
