Antipsychotic Dose Reduction Linked To Long-term Improvements In First-Episode Schizophrenia Patients

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Careful reductions in dosage levels of antipsychotic medications over time improved long-term rates of recovery and functional remission in patients diagnosed with a first-episode psychosis.

Therapy Beats Drugs for Depression for Long-Term Outcomes

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Combining drugs and therapy also did not lead to better depression outcomes than therapy alone.

Psychiatrists Argue For More Attention to Iatrogenic Harms

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Psychiatrists argue that current practice fails to account for the interaction of biological, psychosocial and iatrogenic factors.

ADHD Diagnosis Leads to Worse Quality of Life, Increased Self-Harm in Kids

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When comparing kids with the same symptoms who were either diagnosed with ADHD or not, those who received the diagnosis had worse outcomes.

Toward a Critical Self-Reflective Psychiatry: An Interview with Pat Bracken

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MIA’s Justin Karter interviews critical psychiatrist and philosopher Pat Bracken about the necessity of challenging received wisdom.

Study Finds ADHD Drugs Alter Developing Brain

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A new study, published in the JAMA Psychiatry, investigates the effect of stimulant ‘ADHD’ drugs on the brains of children and young adults. The...

Pets More Effective for Grief Support than Humans, Study Finds

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A new study explores effective forms of grief support, finding that animals are more effective than humans in providing support.

Fighting for the Meaning of Madness: An Interview with Dr. John Read

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Akansha Vaswani interviews Dr. John Read about the influences on his work and his research on madness, psychosis, and the mental health industry.

Addressing the Roots of Racial Trauma: An Interview with Psychologist Lillian Comas-Díaz

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MIA’s Hannah Emerson interviews Comas-Díaz on the need for culturally competent care in a medicalized and individualistic society.

New Research Questions Safety of Esketamine for Depression

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An analysis of FDA adverse event reports related to esketamine shows the potential for negative effects such as suicidal and self-injurious ideation.

Jock McLaren – The Biopsychosocial Model is a Mirage, Time for a Biocognitive Model?

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Dr. Niall McLaren joins us to talk of his experiences working in Australian psychiatry and explains why the models that purport to guide psychiatric diagnosis and treatment are not what they seem.

Celia Brown, R.I.P.: Psychiatric Survivor, Pioneer, and Global Activist for Change

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Celia Brown, a psychiatric survivor and activist who was revered — even beloved — for her foundational and ongoing efforts in mental health advocacy and the peer movement, has died after a battle with cancer.
Bruce Cohen

The Failings of “Mental Health”: How a Seemingly Benign Concept Might be Dangerous

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MIA’s Ayurdhi Dhar interviews Bruce Cohen about dismissive psychiatrists, pervasive psychiatry, and the field's ties to neoliberal capitalism.

Understanding the Neurobiology of Post-SSRI Sexual Dysfunction

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Post-SSRI sexual dysfunction (PSSD) may be a common adverse effect of antidepressants. Researchers are now attempting to understand the neurobiology behind it.

Stimulants Don’t Improve Academic Performance in Kids with ADHD

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“Efforts to improve learning in children with ADHD should focus on obtaining effective academic instruction rather than stimulant medication.”

Growing Research Connects Nutrition and Mental Health

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A new article reviews studies in the field of nutritional psychiatry and how nutrition can prevent and treat mental health issues.

Mental Health Professionals Critique the Biomedical Model of Psychological Problems

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While a great deal of the excitement about advances in psychological treatments comes from the potential for research in neuroscience to unlock the secrets of the brain, many mental health experts would like to temper this enthusiasm. A special issue of the Behavior Therapist released this month calls into question the predominant conception of mental illnesses as brain disorders.

Stigma and Discrimination Linked to the Biomedical Model of Mental Health

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Study traces the history of biomedical explanations of psychopathology to show how stigma and discrimination are reinforced when other possible explanations are ignored.

Researchers Address Dangers of Polypharmacy and Inappropriate Medication Use

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A new special issue brings together articles exploring the harmful effects of simultaneous multiple medication use.

Disability and Decolonial Studies Disrupt the Medical Model

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Critical disability studies and decolonial analyses take on structural oppression and challenge concepts of normality, mental health, and ability.

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.

Antidepressants, Antipsychotics, and Benzos All Increase Suicide Attempts in New Study

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In a study of people with borderline personality disorder, only ADHD stimulants were associated with a decrease in suicide.

Researchers: It’s Time to Stop Recommending Antidepressants for Depression

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Researchers review a new synthesis of the existing evidence and conclude that the harms of antidepressants outweigh any benefits.

Very Slow Taper Best for Antipsychotic Discontinuation

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An article in JAMA Psychiatry advises very slow tapering for best results when discontinuing antipsychotic drugs.

Māori Approach to Mental Health Offers Empowering Alternative to Western Psychiatry

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A new article explores Mahi a Atua, an affirming indigenous Māori healing practice which stands in contrast to the Western psychiatric methods typically promoted by the Movement for Global Mental Health.