Can a Conceptual Competence Curriculum Bring Humility to Psychiatry?

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Training for conceptual competence in psychiatry provides a new way forward to address theoretical and philosophical issues in mental health research and practice.

How Western Psychiatry Harms Alternative Understandings of Mental Health

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An anthropological look at the Global Mental Health (GMH) movement suggests several ethical problems and contradictions in its mission.

How Pain is Treated Depends on Socioeconomic Status

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A new international study reveals how healthcare providers treat patient’s pain may depend on that patient’s socioeconomic status.

Pervasive Industry Influence in Healthcare Sector Harms Patients

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Experts across the globe point to the harms of drug companies’ influence on research, practice, and education in healthcare noting that it compromises patient care.

Researchers Critique WHO Mental Health Technology

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Researchers critically examine the underlying assumptions and implications of a new WHO mental health technology designed to streamline psychiatric assessment internationally.

Experts Raise Ethical Concerns About Machine Learning in Medicine

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The use of machine learning algorithms (known as artificial intelligence) in the medical field raises a slew of ethical concerns.
stoned or schizophrenia

From Stoned to “Schizophrenic”: My Mental Healthcare Journey

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During a period of self-doubt, I chose to see a psychiatrist because I was engulfed in negative thoughts and couldn't find a direction in life. The slightest joys came only when I was high. Though my weed addiction was likely causing all of my symptoms, my psychiatrist’s response was to prescribe antipsychotics.

How Race and Class Impact Schizophrenia and Substance-Use Diagnoses

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A new article explores how psychiatric diagnoses are differentially applied to people of different racial and class backgrounds.

Dissecting the DSM Debate: Researchers Analyze Critiques Across Audiences

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A new study systematically explores critical reactions to the DSM-5 and identifies unifying themes.
surveillance psychiatry

Brave New Apps: The Arrival of Surveillance Psychiatry

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Large, centralized, digital social networks and data-gathering platforms have come to dominate our economy and our culture. In the domain of mental health, huge pools of data are being used to train algorithms to identify signs of mental illness. I call this practice surveillance psychiatry.

Children Taking ADHD Drugs More Likely to Take Antidepressants as Teens

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Adhering to a commonly prescribed medication for ADHD in children is associated with higher chances of being prescribed antidepressants in adolescence.

Study Reveals Inconsistency in ADHD Diagnostic Determinations

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Researchers compare differences between research and clinical diagnoses of ADHD and explore the consistency of clinical determinations over time

The Power Threat Meaning Framework One Year On

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The team that developed the Power Threat Meaning framework as a diagnostic alternative reflects on the response to the framework after one year.

The Role of Racial Bias in the Overdiagnosis of Schizophrenia

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Researchers detect disparity between white and African American patients diagnosed with schizophrenia when symptoms of a mood disorder are present.

Withdrawal Symptoms Routinely Confound Findings of Psychiatric Drug Studies

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Researchers examine how rapid discontinuation can mimic the relapse of mental health symptoms and confound psychiatric drug studies.

International Research Team Proposes a New Taxonomy of Mental Disorders

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New data interpreted to suggest a hierarchical, dimensional system of mental disorders will aid future research efforts and improve mental health care.

Adderall Use Associated with Increased Risk of Psychosis

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Twice as many teenagers with ADHD experienced severe psychosis when taking Adderall, as compared to Ritalin, according to a new study.

First-Person Accounts of Madness and Global Mental Health: An Interview with Dr. Gail Hornstein

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Dr. Gail Hornstein, author of Agnes’s Jacket: A Psychologist’s Search for the Meanings of Madness, discusses the importance of personal narratives and service-user activism in the context of the global mental health movement.

Mental Health Concerns Not “Brain Disorders,” Say Researchers

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The latest issue of the journal Behavioral and Brain Sciences features several prominent researchers arguing that mental health concerns are not “brain disorders.”
student counseling

Student Counseling Services: Do They Really Help the ‘Mentally Ill’?

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I used to think that the counseling center would help me to resolve my inner conflicts. That visiting the center would do some good for me. I have since realized that most mainstream “mental health” is more damaging than helpful. These days if student counselors see any problem with a student visiting the center, they send him or her to see a psychiatrist.
sales rep bribes doctor

Kick Big Pharma Out of the Classroom

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School-based strategies such as the “talk to your doctor” campaign about any childhood problem have been extremely effective in helping the pharmaceutical industry to marginalize traditional child-rearing practices and replace them with advice from mental health “experts” and the use of dangerous drugs. These campaigns are reminiscent of now-illegal vintage tobacco ads in which doctors endorsed cigarette smoking.

Is Anxiety to Blame for Missed School?

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A new systematic review illustrates features of the relationship between anxiety and school attendance patterns.

Psychology Must Become a Sanctuary Discipline to Heal Racial Trauma

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Researchers explore pathways of healing racial trauma in Latinx immigrant communities.

Meta-Analysis Finds Asking About Suicidal Thoughts Does Not Predict Suicide

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A recent meta-analysis finds that the association between reported suicidal ideation and later suicide is low.

Developing Alternatives to the DSM for Psychotherapists

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A new article suggests counselors and psychotherapists are dissatisfied with current diagnostic systems and outlines some potential alternatives.