Large Study Confirms Elevated Risk of Diabetes When Prescribed Antipsychotics

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A large longitudinal study finds once more that being prescribed antipsychotics significantly increases the risk of diabetes.

The AI Who Helped Me Leave

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In quiet desperation, I opened ChatGPT. I didn’t know then that I was about to build the most consistent, emotionally attuned dialogue I’d ever had.

Health Disparity Project Cuts Out the Recovery Movement

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Lots of funders are now doing initiatives to address health disparities. But once again we have found that a project designated to help our community has gone astray without even bothering to ask our community what we need. Here's why that matters and what grassroots advocates can do about it.

Teralyn Sell and Jenn Schmitz: Breaking Out of the Prison of Prescribing and Finding...

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On the Mad in America podcast, Brooke Siem talks with Teralyn Sell and Jenn Schmitz about their journey from working in the prison system to challenging conventional psychiatric narratives in their therapy practice and podcast, The Gaslit Truth.

What Can We Learn About Antidepressants from Alcohol?

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Particularly since ketamine has been referred to as the “miracle cure” for depression, and as researchers continue to search for the next biochemical panacea, it is important to remember that even if a substance has antidepressant effects, it still may not be an appropriate treatment for depression.

How Do We Prevent Loneliness?

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Loneliness has been linked to negative health outcomes, but there are no interventions clearly proven to ‘fix’ the problem.

Chosen Name Use in Transgender Youth Linked to Reduced Depression and Suicide

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The ability of transgender youth to use their chosen name is connected to reduced depressive symptoms and suicidal thoughts/behaviors.

Preventing Suicide in the UK – a Policy and Practice Divide

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The Place of Calm’s innovative Peer Support Approach means suicidal people can stay up to 24 hours in a safe place in the community and receive practical and emotional support from trained professionals who have their own lived experience of mental health challenges. Evidence suggests that it saves lives and is cost effective. Yet its funding is now due to be cut.

New Medications Fail to Show Efficacy for Alzheimer’s Disease

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Three phase III clinical trials assessing the efficacy of Lundbeck’s investigational drug idalopirdine for Alzheimer’s disease have failed

Multisystemic Therapy No More Effective than Standard Care for Antisocial Behavior

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Study counters previous evidence supporting multisystemic therapy, finding adolescents are just as likely to have out-of-home placements when receiving multisystemic therapy versus management as usual.

Report Addresses Barriers to Voting for Those Diagnosed with Mental Disorders

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People diagnosed with mental disorders face systemic barriers to exercising their right to vote.
A cutout of a head as if made of blue paper. The head is full of pills.

Researchers: “We Do Not Suggest” Antipsychotics for Depression

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Augmenting with antipsychotics was no better at reducing suicide than adding antidepressants, but led to increased risk of death from other causes.
An abstract illustration in purple and other colors

Fifty-Eight Years Beyond the Community Mental Health Act, 1963

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Do not focus on "getting more beds" or "providing better treatment." Focus on homes with windows and giant gardens where survivors can be coached to rebel and dance with wild abandon.

Philosophers Question the Separation of Medicine and Culture

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Radically questioning the distinction between the objectivity of science and the subjectivity of culture can give way to powerful biocultural methods of healing.

Study Finds Sexist Attitudes Linked to Poor Mental Health in Men

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Adherence to stereotypically sexist masculine beliefs such as self-reliance, power over women, and playboy behavior were linked to poor mental health outcomes

Engaging Voices, Part 2: Working Our Way Toward Connection

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Sam Ruck shares his fourth excerpt from his book Healing Companions, which describes his life with, and love for, his wife and her “alters.” 

International Study Examines Environmental Factors Associated with Psychosis

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Study finds the incidence of “psychosis” to vary by person and place, corresponding to factors such as race, ethnicity, age, and environment.

PTSD and Psychiatric Medication Linked to Dementia in Older Veterans

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Veterans diagnosed with PTSD and taking SSRIs, novel antidepressants, or atypical antipsychotics are more likely to develop dementia.
White pills on a green leaf, close-up photo

Prescription Drugs: The Hidden Costs to Health and the Planet

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Pharmaceuticals seem to overtake every facet of life, but it’s important to start thinking critically about what we are putting in our bodies.

Connections Between Climate Change Concerns, Mental Health, and Pro-Environmental Actions

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Concerns about the impact of climate change on animals and nature results in more effective coping to reduce hopelessness about climate change and promotes pro-environmental behaviors.

Agency and Activism as Protective Factors for Children in the Gaza Strip

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Researchers recommend a ‘politically-informed focus', including activism, when assessing children and designing interventions in areas of chronic political violence.

Higher Minimum Wage May Result in Fewer Suicide Deaths, Study Finds

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New research suggests that minimum wage laws provide financial security that may help prevent suicide.

Transcranial Electrical Stimulation Can’t Directly Alter Brain Patterns, Researchers Find

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Due to the thickness of the scalp and skull, transcranial electrical stimulation (TES) is incapable of targeting networks of neurons in the brain.

Call to Monitor Adverse Effects of Antipsychotics in Youth

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Researchers point to the risks of using antipsychotics with youth and caution against the practice.
health care

What Would a Truly Integrated System of Care Look Like?

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Imagine that you were the director of a health insurance company and you had just agreed to provide health coverage to several hundred thousand people and you will have to fund health care including mental health and alcohol/drug care too. The purpose of this blog is to show the kind of system you would have to design.