Reappropriating Bipolar Beyond Pathology
Itâs still not easy for me to say, âIâm bipolar.â Know that Iâm bipolar for good reason, reappropriating a painful word, so those in pain can find meâso you can find me. This is how I reappropriate a term used to strip me of my humanity, a term used to sell me counterfeit versions of reality. I refuse to let go of a label that helps me find my people, no matter how painful it is to retain.
Still Seeking a Chemical Cure After All These Years: Lauren Slaterâs Blue Dreams
Blue Dreams offers a history of the development of psychiatric drugs, but is partly a memoir of the demise of the author's health during the decades she spent on psychiatric drugs. At the time of writing her memoir, Slater is not yet at the point of realizing that the mental health system is not a productive place to go for answers to depression.
Researcher Critiques Misleading Media Coverage of Lancet Antidepressant Meta-Analysis
The BMJâs clinical editor takes issue with uncritical media coverage of antidepressant network meta-analysis, outlining reporting missteps.
Despite the Evidence, Overprescription of Stimulants Continues
A new study finds that stimulant prescribing rates to children continue to rise despite the well-established evidence documenting overdiagnosis of ADHD and overprescription of stimulants.
Is Psychosis Natural?
Much of the wild world is now a garden: a rational, controlled space. Yet if we step out of the garden and back into the old growth, I believe the process of psychosis belongs as part of Earthâs âwill,â of her wild. The physiological process of psychosisâthat of amplified sensesâis ecologically purposeful. Not good nor bad, but part of what Nature does trying to grow. Here I share a talk I gave in Boulder, Colorado exploring these themes.
Learning to Speak Psychotic
One of the biggest barriers that people who are âpsychoticâ face is one of communication: other people often have trouble understanding what theyâre talking about. The way they describe their experience and their ideas are simply foreign to most people. This lack of clear communication is what gets them labelled as âpsychoticâ in the first place, and thus it leads to a breakdown between the âpsychoticâ and the rest of society. This is a loss to both groups.
Randomized Controlled Trials of Psychiatric Drugs Tell of Harm Done
The most important data in an RCT is not whether the drug provides a statistically significant benefit over placebo. The most important data is the ânumber needed to treatâ calculation (NNT). For the person considering taking an antidepressant or an antipsychotic, the NNT data provides the âmathâ needed to weigh the potential benefit of taking the drug against the potential harm of doing so.
Are Students Benefiting From the Growth Mindset Model?
Results from two meta-analyses reveal shortcomings with the growth mindset theory as applied in schools.
Antidepressants Are Not More Effective for Severe Depression, Study Finds
A new study, published in Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, found that antidepressant efficacy was not dependent on severity.
Researchers Explore Sexuality and Gender in the Context of Psychosis
Nev Jones and a team of researchers examine how sex, sexuality, and gender-related content are underexplored in contemporary research on psychosis.
Rising Rates of Suicide: When Do We Acknowledge That Something Isn’t Working?!
Scapegoating a purported unseen "illness" may provide temporary comfort from acknowledging the horrors and injustice of the world, but it is a delusion â and one with fatal consequences for many. When 45,000 people a year would rather die than live in this world any longer, it might behoove us all to consider what is happening in the world to cause this.
Study of Online Antidepressant Forums Reveals Long Lasting Withdrawal Effects
Effects of discontinuing SSRIs and SNRIs reported on an online forum indicate significant and long-lasting withdrawal symptoms.
The Forced Psychiatric Treatment of a Child
This is my story of forced psychiatric treatment as an eight-year-old girl, from my perspective as an adult mental health professional. Being held down kicking and screaming to be injected with a benzodiazepine is a human rights violation no child should endure for saying no to a pharmaceutical. In hindsight, when I reflect on that day, it feels like a form of child abuse.
Review of Pediatric Antidepressant Studies Finds Evidence of Benefit Lacking
Review of pediatric antidepressant studies finds the vast majority are negative on primary outcomes and an increased risk for suicidality.
Experts Question the Benefits of Brain Imaging Research for OCD
Two expertsâa leading neuroscientist studying OCD, and a psychiatrist specializing in OCD treatmentâquestion whether expensive brain imaging research has added anything to the treatment of OCD.
High Job Strain Increases Risk of Mental Health Challenges
High job demands, low job control, and high job strain are associated with the development of a mental health issue at age 50.
Protecting the LGBT Community is Good Health Policy
From The Hill: Research shows that LGBT individuals experience higher rates of physical and mental health problems than heterosexual people. Legislative policies that protect the rights of...
New Clinical Guidelines on Deprescribing Benzodiazepines
New guidelines recommend deprescribing benzodiazepine receptor agonists for adults.
Unnecessary and Accidental Use of ADHD Drugs Increases
From CNN: According to a new study, exposure to unprescribed ADHD drugs has increased by more than 60% among U.S. children since 2000.
"The study, published Monday...
Does My Algorithm Have a Mental Health Problem?
From Big Think: As our algorithms are increasingly being made in our own image, they are at heightened risk of experiencing "mental health problems."
"Take the...
Time for a Paradigm Shift in School Psychology Interventions
Why do ineffective classification and intervention processes linger in school psychology, and whatâs the alternative?
Review Finds Lack of Evidence for Antidepressants in Treatment of Insomnia
Results from a Cochrane meta-analysis find that the common practice of prescribing antidepressants to treat insomnia is not supported by current evidence.
How to Talk to Somebody Who is Hearing Voices
In this piece for MetroUK, Lucy Nichol explains how to best support people in "psychosis," emphasizing the need to believe individuals who hear voices and recognize...
More Evidence That Physical Activity Prevents Depression
Higher levels of physical activity serve as a protective factor for the future development of depression.
Neurofeedback is Not For Everyone: The Dangers of Neurology
One thing I noticed, from the moment that I stepped out of my psychiatristâs office, was how strangely blank and yet clear my mind was. I felt surprisingly calm and relaxed, and I decided to go back for another treatment the next week. What I couldnât have known then was that after that next âtreatment,â life would be completely destroyed for me.