Does Alcoholics Anonymous Work?
-The Atlantic investigates the scientific evidence -- and lack thereof -- for Alcoholics Anonymous and other types of addiction treatment.
Campaign Against Drugging of Foster Children
-The US National Center for Youth Law has launched an "action campaign" to persuade government officials to reduce the psychiatric drugging of children in foster care.
Creatively Managing Voice-Hearing Through Spiritual Writing
I am a psychiatric survivor of over thirty-six years. Since my nervous breakdown in 1978, I have undergone multitudinous experiences ranging from the subtly humiliating to the horrifically debilitating at the hands of incompetent psychiatrists and psychopharmacologists who, in the name of medicine, did more harm than good.
One-sixth of College Students Misuse ADHD Stimulants
About 17% of college students take stimulants such as Ritalin and Adderall, primarily because they believe the drugs will help them improve their academic performance.
Have We Found The “Overhype Gene”?
-John Horgan criticizes psychiatrist Richard Friedman's effusive portrayal of a study that allegedly identified the "feel-good" gene in humans.
Highly Praised Anti-Addiction Program For Prisoners Was “Fraud”
-A psychiatric study widely hailed in Swedish media which led to new treatment guidelines was a "fraud," states health reporter and researcher Janne Larsson.
“New Mental Disorder Aimed At People Who Insist On Eating A Clean Diet”
Natural News takes issue with the new, increasingly promoted "disorder" of "overly" desiring to eat healthy foods.
No, There is no Such Thing as ADHD
Somewhere along the line we have lost the understanding that kids come in all shapes and sizes. Some kids are active, some are quiet; some kids are dreamers, others are daring; some kids are dramatic, others are observers; some impulsive, others reserved; some leaders, others followers; some athletic, others thinkers. Where did we ever get the notion that kids should all be one way?
Antipsychotic Use in Nursing Homes Causing Many Adverse Effects in Elderly
A literature review found that the extensive off-label use of antipsychotic medications in nursing homes is causing many adverse effects and providing limited benefits.
“The Strange World of Felt Presences”
-"What links polar explorer Ernest Shackleton, sleep paralysis, and hearing voices?" asks The Guardian.
Many States Trying to Slow Antipsychotic Prescribing to Children
Thirty-one US states have implemented some kind of "prior authorization" policies to try to rein in the unnecessary prescribing of antipsychotic medications to children.
Inappropriate Antipsychotic Prescriptions to Children Keep Increasing
Clinicians are following best practice guidelines only half of the time when giving antipsychotic medications to children, and following FDA-approved indications only one-fourth of the time.
FDA Approves Another Antipsychotic for Children
The FDA has approved the atypical antipsychotic Saphris (asenapine) for use in children on the basis of one trial.
Causing a Stir: Launching “Understanding Psychosis and Schizophrenia” in New York City
Those of you who read the New York Times may have seen its coverage of the British Psychological Societyās recent report, āUnderstanding Psychosis and Schizophrenia: Why people sometimes hear voices, believe things that others find strange, or appear out of touch with reality, and what can help.ā The report has been widely welcomed and many have seen it as a marker of how our understanding of these experiences is changing. The report has not been without its critics. We (Editor Anne Cooke and co-author Peter Kinderman) are coming to New York this month to launch the report in America.
Sleep Aid Melatonin May Not Be Safe for Children
Increasing numbers of children with sleep disorders are being treated with the hormone melatonin, but the medication has not been approved for such use.
“Hearing Voices: tracing the borders of normality”
-Rhianna Goozee discusses the development of the Hearing Voices Movement and how research has blurred the lines between "healthy" and "normal" minds.
Towards a Ban on Psychiatrically Diagnosing and Drugging Children
Instead of hope and enthusiasm for their futures, too many children now grow up believing they are inherently defective, and controlled by bad genes and biochemical imbalances. They are shackled by the idea that they have ADHD and then subdued by the drugs that inevitably go along with the diagnosis. Unless something intervenes, many of them will go on to pass their days on Earth in a drug-impaired, demoralized state.
“Dr. H. Otto Kaak: How Did Child Psychiatrists Become Mere Prescribers of Pills?”
-A psychiatrist discusses working with juvenile delinquents and his shock at discovering how most of the boys "were receiving four, five or even six psychiatric medications."
“Sales of ADHD Meds Are Skyrocketing. Here’s Why.”
-Mother Jones looks at drug company promotional efforts, expanded diagnostic criteria, and the appeal of amphetamines to high-performance cultures globally.
California Senate Panel Investigates Drugging of Foster Kids
The chair of a state Senate committee told a public hearing that Californiaās foster care system āhas grown more addicted to mind-altering medication."
“Why Are So Many Toddlers Taking Psychiatric Drugs?”
-The Wall Street Journal asks why some 274,000 infants and 370,000 toddlers in the US are taking antianxiety sedatives and antidepressant drugs.
Strep Infection and Neurological and Psychiatric Disorders
-CTV's W5 news program investigates the possible links some researchers are drawing between relatively common strep throat infections and the causing of neurological or psychiatric problems in children.
I Would Have ADHD, If It Existed
-Matt Walsh insists that he's got ADHD as much as anyone has ADHD, and then makes the argument that ADHD doesn't exist.
Antidepressants Actually Reduce Serotonin Levels
Common scientific beliefs about serotonin levels in depression and how antidepressants act on the brain appear to be completely backwards.
“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.
