āDrugs, Greed and a Dead Boyā
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 industryās greed in his memoir āOvermedicated and Undertreated.ā Now the industry is pushing for a first-amendment right to market its drugs for off-label uses.
Hearing Voices Researched at Edinburgh Book Festival
Researchers from Durham University's Hearing the Voice project are attending the Edinburgh International Book Festival through August as part of a study, asking both...
āThe Rise and Fall of the Blockbuster Antipsychotic Seroquelā
Martha Rosenberg highlights how the popular antipsychotic Seroquel is a perfect example of how direct-to-consumer advertising made billion dollar blockbuster drugs possible before side-effects...
“Auditory Hallucinations: Debunking the Myth of Language Supremacy”
In Schizophrenia Bulletin, an Australian and a French researcher argue that the Hearing Voices Movement and similar groups are often misleading the public and...
āToo Many PA Foster Children are on Psychiatric Medsā
For Philly.com, staff writer Stacey Burling reports on the PolicyLab analysis of psychiatric drug use among Pennsylvania children on Medicaid. Ā āMany children in foster...
RAISE Study Out Of Sync With Media Reports
Writing on his 1 Boring Old Man blog, Dr. Mickey Nardo reflects on the media frenzy around the RAISE study and asks why the prescription data has not been released. He adds skepticism about the political motives of the potentially overblown results, which he sees as a clear push for increased mental health funding.
A Review of Issues Surrounding Marijuana and Madness
-What does the balance of evidence say about the relationship between cannabis use and increased risk of psychotic reactions?
Could “Brain Training” Help with “Schizophrenia Storms”?
NPR Shots discusses a new study examining whether people struggling with schizophrenia sensory overloads can train their own brains to more effectively deal with...
Watch: āI Hear Voices in My Head, But Iām Fineā
"Eleanor Longden started hearing voices when she was 18. She was drugged and hospitalised, then told she was schizophrenic. A psychiatrist even told her...
āNew Plan to Treat Schizophrenia Is Worth Added Cost, Study Saysā
Benedict Carey of the New York Times reports on the success of new schizophrenia and psychosis programs that provide family counseling and job and...
We Need to Talk About Frankie
In this piece forĀ The Cut, Dyan Neary details the story of Frankie Perry, a man whose life was forever altered by being prescribed an...
How are Professional Artists Similar and Different from People Diagnosed with Schizophrenia?
People "who are prone to psychosis" in its most "extreme" forms, such as delusions, hallucinations, and disorganized thought, have been found to also show...
āWhat Are Delusions ā And How Best Can We Treat Them?ā
For The Conversation, psychologist John Done, from the University of Hertfordshire, explains his approach to discussing delusions with his patients. Done recommends more qualitative...
Thinking of Schizophrenia as Normal Can Be Helpful
Daniel Helman had a psychotic episode at age 20, but has been off all psychiatric medications since 2006 and is now 44. In Schizophrenia...
Letters to the Editor: āThe Treatment of Choiceā
Readers respond to the New York Times article, āThe Treatment of Choice,ā about innovative programs for psychosis and schizophrenia that involve patients and their families in treatment decisions. āNarratives of success counter a drumbeat of faulty links of mental illness and violence, inaccuracies which serve only to further stigmatize and isolate individuals with psychiatric illness.ā
Storytelling Therapy for Trauma and Bullying
A study out of the University of Buffalo explores the use of Narrative Exposure Therapy to treat youth PTSD and substance abuse. āTrauma is...
“More Evidence that Antipsychotics Shrink the Brainā
New research finds that brain matter loss in patients diagnosed with schizophrenia is correlated with antipsychotic use, according to Psych Central. The analysis suggests that the continued use of antipsychotics is linked with progressive cortical gray matter loss.
“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. āEven 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.ā
The Ethical Challenges of Early Intervention in Psychosis
-Columbia University psychiatrist Paul Applebaum reviews the challenges of intervening early in psychosis before symptoms emerge, and of doing so in an ethically responsible manner.
āPrograms Expand Schizophrenic Patientsā Role in Their Own Careā
Benedict Carey at the New York Times covers the push for new programs that emphasize supportive services, therapy, school and work assistance, and family education, rather than simply drug treatment.
āGeneration Meds: the US Children Who Grow Up on Prescription Drugsā
āIn America, medication is becoming almost as much a staple of childhood as Disney and McDonaldās,ā writes Sarah Boseley in the Guardian. In this piece photographer Baptiste Lignel follows six boys and girls to examine the long-term effects of these drugs.
“Preventing the Onset of Psychosis: Not Quite There Yet”
Robert Heinssen and Thomas Insel of the National Institute of Mental Health argue in Schizophrenia Bulletin that the balance of evidence does not support...
“Psychosis Risk Syndrome is Back to Haunt Us”
Allen Frances adds to his catalog of DSM-5 mistakes with the return of the controversial - and ultimately rejected - "Psychosis Risk Disorder", under...
“Recovery, Not Progressive Illness, Should Be the Expectation in Schizophrenia”
-Two Canadian psychiatrists argue that the body of scientific evidence about schizophrenia shows that it is not a progressive illness and therefore we should have much higher expectations of full recoveries than we do.
“How Much Do We Know About Schizophrenia and How Well Do We Know It?”
Research from Australia asks the question noted above, and answers "subtle, but diverse, structural brain alterations, altered electrophysiological functioning and sleep patterns, minor physical...
