Bright Light Therapy More Effective Than Medication Alone for Bipolar Depression
A new randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial has found bright light therapy to be a powerful intervention that could provide an alternative to medication for people with “bipolar depression.”
Over 16,000 Australian Children Prescribed Antipsychotics
From The Sydney Morning Herald: New data from Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme shows that a total of 16,570 Australian toddlers, children, and teens under 17 were...
Michael Samuel Bloom
by Chaya Grossberg
July 25, 2012
He also told me the shrinks were changing around his drugs and adding more. They added an antidepressant or two to the Lithium and increased doses and eventually he seemed to have very little life left in him. Our phone calls became trying for he was so down, practically dead sounding a lot of the time, and I felt unable to do anything or say anything to make a difference. To even try felt futile and I wondered if talking to me at all was becoming the burden of yet another person he couldn't connect with.
In the early years, he liked to think of us as being in the same boat, both mentally ill, since I'd also had a meltdown and I also am extremely sensitive and go through extreme states. But as the years went by, especially towards the end, I seemed to be in the ever growing “other” camp in his eyes, which meant I was yet another person who didn't get what it was like to be him. And at that point I can confirm I did not, and perhaps did not want to.
Study Suggests Mania More Common in Psychosis When Antidepressants Used
A prospective cohort study of those labeled high risk for psychosis finds a higher prevalence of antidepressant use among those who develop manic symptoms.
Will Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD) Reduce False Diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder in Children?
Neuroskeptic takes on a new paper that proposes a new DSM-5's diagnosis will reduce the epidemic of bipolar diagnosis in children, comparing it to fighting...
The Mountain Man
Self-acceptance is a very human experience, and a necessary one in the pursuit of personal happiness. In my experience, the mental health field does an abysmal job of addressing this truth.
“How Poverty Affects Children’s Brains”
New research is investigating how “poverty reduction promotes cognitive and brain development.”
Different Forms of Childhood Adversity Related to Specific Psychosis Symptoms
In this month’s issue of Psychological Medicine, researchers from King’s College London found evidence for associations between different types of childhood adversity and specific symptoms associated with psychosis. As current categorical approaches to psychosis and schizophrenia diagnoses come under increasing scrutiny, this study adds support to sociological and psychological theories and treatments.
“Drugs, Greed and a Dead Boy”
New York Times columnist, Nicholas Kristof, relates the story of Andrew Francesco, a boy who began taking Ritalin at age five and died from complications with Seroquel when he was fifteen. His father, a former pharmaceutical industry executive, reveals the industry’s greed in his memoir “Overmedicated and Undertreated.” Now the industry is pushing for a first-amendment right to market its drugs for off-label uses.
Study Explores Meanings of Bipolar Disorder to Those Diagnosed
The narratives about Bipolar Disorder promoted by drug companies may influence how those diagnosed understand themselves.
Minimal Evidence for Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder in Childhood
Researchers offer a critical take on the inclusion of the Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder in the DSM-V.
Association Between ADHD and Bipolar Disorder
Researchers in London review the literature on attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and bipolar disorder (BD), finding that "comorbidity and family studies appear to...
Australia Plans To Screen 3 Year Olds For Mental Illness
A controversial move by the Australian Federal Government plans to screen 3 year olds for early signs of mental illness as part of routine...
“Too Many PA Foster Children are on Psychiatric Meds”
For Philly.com, staff writer Stacey Burling reports on the PolicyLab analysis of psychiatric drug use among Pennsylvania children on Medicaid. “Many children in foster...
Study Explores Sexual and Intimate Partner Violence in College Women with Disabilities
A new study explores sexual violence and intimate partner violence in college women with mental health related disabilities.
Update on the Association Between ADHD and Bipolar
Researchers from the MRC Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre of King's College's Institute of Psychiatry in London, publishing in the Journal of Affective...
Teen Brain Develops Differently in Bipolar Disorder, When Medicated
The brains of adolescents diagnosed with bipolar disorder develop differently than the brains of teens without the disorder, according to a study in Biological...
Many Foster Kids Are Still Being Prescribed Antipsychotic Drugs
Many experts expressed concern when the rate of antipsychotic prescriptions to children in foster care showed a rapid increase, peaking in 2008, and new recommendations and policies have tried to curb the use of these drugs. While the rate has plateaued, a new study points out that the “new normal” prescription levels are still dangerously high. The data reveals that almost one in ten children in foster care are currently being prescribed antipsychotic drugs with dangerous side-effects, many for diagnoses like ‘ADHD’ and disruptive behavior.
“Biologism in Psychiatry: A Young Man’s Experience of Being Diagnosed with ‘Pediatric Bipolar Disorder'”
The Journal of Clinical Medicine explores pediatric bipolar disorder through the eyes a young American, whose story "reveals several issues that afflict contemporary psychiatry, particularly in...
Off-Label Antipsychotic Use Among Children Soaring
Researchers from Philadelphia and Baltimore find, in a study of Medicaid records for 50 states and the District of Columbia, that antipsychotic prescribing to...
Pressuring Parents to Drug Children
Jim Gottstein on Pressuring Parents to Drug Children
One-third of Youth Treated for Bipolar Developed Schizophrenia Symptoms
Over one-third of young people who were treated for bipolar disorder developed schizophrenia within eight years, according to a study in Schizophrenia Research. In...
“Emotional Child Abuse May be Just as Bad as Physical Harm”
Reuters covers a new study in JAMA Psychiatry that suggests that children exposed to physical abuse and emotional abuse suffer from similar psychological and behavioral problems. “Even though doctors and parents often believe physical or sexual abuse is more harmful than emotional mistreatment or neglect, the study found children suffered similar problems regardless of the type of maltreatment endured.”
We Need to Talk About Frankie
In this piece for The Cut, Dyan Neary details the story of Frankie Perry, a man whose life was forever altered by being prescribed an...
Book Review: “Overmedicated and Undertreated”
A former pharma executive has broken ranks with the industry in a new book by reporting how multiple psychiatrists, schools, and his desperate hopes pressed him to allow higher and higher doses of antipsychotic medications. The result: his 15-year-old son's death from Seroquel.