“The Search for Schizophrenia Genes”

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MIA contributor Jonathan Leo, writing for Slate, weighs in on the research that claims to have discovered a genetic basis for schizophrenia. “We now...

Happiness and First-Episode Schizophrenia

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Canadian researchers find that 31 people with first-episode schizophrenia diagnoses were as happy as 29 controls, according to a self-reported questionnaire measuring happiness, life...

Exploring Alternate Pathways to Voice-Hearing

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Authors propose various pathways to the phenomena of voice-hearing in clinical and nonclinical populations.

Is Addiction a Disease?

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From Scientific American: The current medical consensus is that addiction is a chronic and relapsing brain disease in which drug use becomes involuntary despite its...

Assessing Increased Mortality Risks of Antipsychotics and Mood Stabilizers in Dementia

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An article in January's American Journal of Psychiatry weighs the relative risk of mortality associated with various antipsychotics and mood stabilizers used in the treatment of...

Psychiatric Teams Have a Responsibility to Think About the Psychosis/Sexual Abuse Link

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In England, childhood sexual abuse (CSA) has become big news. The increasing understanding of the level of childhood sexual abuse and how this produces mental anguish has of course reached the psychosis arena, and encouraged academic study. Whilst the majority of psychiatrists continue to privilege a biological explanation of psychosis, more and more workers recognise abuse as at least a trigger if not a cause of psychosis. It's important to develop thinking points for teams struggling with, or more generally avoiding, the CSA/psychosis link.

The Drug Industry’s Triumph Over the DEA

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In this piece for The Washington Post, Scott Higham and Lenny Bernstein investigate how a handful of members of Congress, allied with some of the nation's...

11% of U.S. on Antidepressants: Less than 1/2 See a Mental Health Professional

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Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (2005-2008) show that 11% of Americans 12 and over take antidepressants. 60% of those have...

“Distrustful of Authority, a Holocaust Survivor Became a Fierce Critic of Medical Establishment”

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STAT’s Rob Waters profiles Vera Sharav, a holocaust survivor whose son was diagnosed with schizophrenia and died from a side effect of his antipsychotic...

Study Explores Connections Between Diet and ‘Serious Mental Illnesses’

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Study finds that individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and depression have diets that are more inflammatory and higher in calories.
off meds onto nutrients

What Happened When I Went Off Meds and Onto Nutrients

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I remember clearly thinking, “I’m done. I’m not putting myself through this again.” I wasn’t going to settle for the side effects of a marginally better than placebo treatment again. Here is a brief look into my rollercoaster journey of recovery, returning to work, having my trauma re-triggered, finding a way through, and finally living well.

Researchers Suggest Traumatic Experiences May Cause Psychotic Symptoms

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A new study in JAMA Psychiatry investigates the relationship between trauma and psychotic experiences.

Medical Interventions Are Overused Worldwide

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Lack of “right care” causes physical, psychological and financial harm to patients

Landmark Schizophrenia Study Recommends More Therapy

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Results of a large government-funded study call into question current drug heavy approaches to treating people diagnosed with schizophrenia. The study, which the New York Times called “by far the most rigorous trial to date conducted in the United States,” found that patients who received smaller doses of antipsychotic drugs with individual talk therapy, family training, and support for employment and education had a greater reduction in symptoms as well as increases in quality of life, and participation in work and school than those receiving the current standard of care.

Psychiatry’s Necessary Shadow: The Philosophy of Mental Illness

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In this piece for Medium, Andrés Ruiz explores the reasons that psychiatry is the only medical speciality with an anti-movement and a history of sustained criticism....

What Would Better Treatment for Those with Psychosis Look Like?

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In the post on the debate between Allen Frances and Bob Whitaker, Frances argues that we should all advocate better treatment for those with psychosis. I think that we all might embrace the goal of better, more empathic treatment. However, we will differ on what “better treatment” might entail. I would argue that a return to the state hospital systems of the 1960s would not constitute better treatment.

CDC Reports Increased Psychostimulant Prescriptions in Women of Reproductive Age

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Psychostimulant prescriptions have increased by 344% (from 2003 to 2015) for women of reproductive age (15-44 years old).

Psychotic Symptoms/Childhood Trauma Common in Primary as Well as Psychiatric Care

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Researchers in Finland reviewed questionnaires filled out by 911 primary and psychiatric care patients over 16 years of age. They found that more than...

Are Drug Side Effects Driving Depression Rates?

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A new study finds that more than a third of Americans are taking prescription drugs that can cause depressive symptoms as a side-effect.

Women on the Pill More Likely to be Treated for Depression

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From Daily Mail: A recent study shows that women taking hormonal contraceptive pills are more likely to be treated for depression. Article →­

“United States of Adderall (Part II)”

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Writing for Huffpost, medical doctor Lawrence Diller looks at the effects of the ever increasing diagnoses for ADHD and the addiction and abuse issues...

Deconstructing Psychiatric Diagnoses: An Attempt At Humor

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Based on my experience both as a therapist and client in the mental health field, I have learned that when therapists or psychiatrists give you the following diagnoses all too often here is what they really mean:

How ‘Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder’ was Created by Pharma

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For MinnPost, Susan Perry discusses that the pharmaceutical industry played in the creation of the ‘mental disorder’ known as premenstrual dysphoric disorder or PMDD....

Flexible Treatment Planning Improves Depression Outcomes in Youth

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Researchers explore the effects of augmented treatment at various points in interpersonal psychotherapy for adolescents diagnosed with depression, highlighting previously unidentified critical decision points (i.e., relatively early in the treatment sequence).

Exercise, Depression, and Bias

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Scientific American reviews the effect of exercise on depression, the effect of encouragement to exercise on exercising, the effect of bias on the consumption of...