Research Emphasizes Association Between Inflammation, Diet, and Depression
Study finds adults with a pro-inflammatory diet have a greater incidence of depression.
Critical Psychiatry Textbook, Chapter 9: ADHD (Part Three)
ADHD is a disaster area, in terms of the diagnosis, clinical research, and the harms inflicted on hundreds of millions of healthy people.
Antidepressant Dependence Discussed at the Seat of Welsh Government – Video
In parts of Wales in the UK, one in six adults takes antidepressants and support for anyone struggling with dependence or withdrawal issues is patchy and inconsistent. To help draw attention to these issues, an awareness day was arranged for the Welsh Government and here we provide video of the presentations made at the Senedd in Cardiff, Wales.
Mental Health Survival Kit, Chapter 3: Psychotherapy: The Human Approach to Emotional Pain
Through the process of healing—whether assisted by psychotherapy or not—we learn something important that can be useful if we get in trouble again.
Greed Disguised as Science: How a Multitude of Factors Led to the Opioid Crisis
Opioids are now the leading cause of mortality from overdose, accounting for 91 deaths every day. The context and key players that created and contributed to the opioid epidemic must be brought into sharp focus if we are to have any hope of stemming the tide of this public health crisis.
ECT Shock Treatment Class Action – Case Update April 2018
In March, 2018, the Court issued an Order denying class certification in the case filed against the manufacturers of ECT shock devices. Attorneys for the ECT victims strongly disagree with the Court's assessment, and have now petitioned the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals for permission to appeal the ruling denying class certification.
Martin Luther King Jr. and the Psychiatric Violence Survivor Movement
My question to the mental health reform movement, the mad movement, the critical psychiatry movement — whatever we call our movement — is: Will we join the movement to make real change, to get to the heart of human freedom and work to fulfill the promise of democracy against control by monied elites?
Biogen Pushes FDA to Approve Failed Alzheimer’s Drug
A new analysis, published in Lancet Neurology, demonstrates how Biogen is spinning results from two failed trials for a new Alzheimer's drug.
Supreme Court Decides Case on Insanity Defense
The debate between the majority and dissent shows how distorted and destructive the stereotypes of madness are as they have passed down through the law. But there are also winds of change coming from tensions inherent in the insanity defense itself, and we should take this opportunity to develop some sensible policies.
Researchers Push for Transparency of Mental Health Outcome Data
A new analysis of UK mental health data suggests the way organizations deliver mental health services can alter patient outcomes.
Call for Client Inclusion in Recovery-Focused Psychiatric Diagnosis
A new review, published in The Lancet Psychiatry, examines the perspectives of clinicians and service-users on psychiatric diagnosis.
Increasing Prevalence of Mood Disorders Among Teens and Young Adults
Depression, serious psychological distress, and suicide attempts have risen substantially since the early 2000s among young adults – what’s changed?
Anthropologists Contemplate the Future Role of Psychiatry
Anthropologists who study the psychiatric field recently had papers published in two highly influential journals. While they both call for or describe reform initiatives, they point us in different directions with regard to the future role of psychiatrists. With a shift in resources, might psychiatry finally get it right?
The Winding Road and the Importance of Going Sideways
The winding path is very often the only path that a human being can follow. It has to become an acceptable path. We have to stop pushing young kids because WE want them to be somewhere without regard to what they are ready for.
Positive Antidepressant Study “Misleading” and “Erroneous”
An analysis of last year’s positive finding in The Lancet about antidepressant efficacy shows errors, obfuscations, and misrepresentations.
Collective Action Can Lead to Empowerment and Strengthened Relationships
Individuals who participate in efforts of collective action report changes in personality, behavior, and worldview.
Book Review: The Other Mrs. Smith by Bonnie Burstow
In The Other Mrs. Smith, Dr. Burstow chose to use the fiction format, presumably because she felt it was the best way for readers to understand what it is like to experience electroshock and deal with the aftermath of massive memory loss. In this she succeeds spectacularly.
Sodium Nitroprusside Shows No Efficacy in Schizophrenia Treatment
Researchers question biases of preliminary trials that found that sodium nitroprusside, an antihypertensive drug, has positive effects on schizophrenia symptoms.
US Considering Policies That Will Lead to Mass Death Of Psychiatric Patients
Being a psychiatric patient likely puts you at much greater risk for illness or dying from COVID-19. While most of the talk about "mental health in the time of the pandemic" focuses on mindfulness, ways to relieve your stress, and the accessibility to psychiatrists during social distancing, this reality of COVID-19 and mental health is being overlooked.
Out of the Bubble: Now or Never?
Never in human history did a powerful institution, no matter how harmful and corrupt, slide into self-inflicted irrelevancy. Institutions like the current psychiatric system can only be toppled by a powerful social movement.
Books Under Review: Summer 2022
Reviews of five recent books reflecting various perspectives on the mental health system.
Robert Whitaker Refutes Jeffrey Lieberman; But Is Psychiatry Reformable?
When the neuroleptics-are-necessary-to-treat-schizophrenia myth falls, psychiatry is finished. And that is why the Goff et al paper was produced: a desperate attempt to maintain its position by a profession that is truly on the ropes. For psychiatry this is a death-struggle.
Individuals with Psychosis Symptoms More Likely to be Victimized
Individuals diagnosed with a psychotic disorder are 4-6 times more likely than the general population to experience victimization.
Scientists Call for Increased Transparency in Research
Scientists at the Yale Collaboration for Research Integrity and Transparency (CRIT) published a new policy paper this month criticizing the current state of biomedical research and calling for improved transparency in research methods.
Interventions that Promote Disclosure Among Voice-Hearers
The perspectives of the voice-hearers featured in the research underscore that stigma and negative perceptions of voice hearing present significant obstacles within early intervention programs.
