Heritability Explains Less About Mental Disorders Than You Think
The focus on diseased brains and genes obscures the significance of social and environmental influences.
BPS Releases Review of Alternatives to Antipsychotics
BPS releases report encouraging behavioral interventions for people with dementia, rather than antipsychotics
Trust Among Those People in Prison, Rising From the Borderlands
With a vision to transcend the cycle of incarceration into a restorative model of justice, rituals are integrated alongside acupuncture.
6 Ways Trauma Might Inform Your Current Life
The following are some ways in which trauma commonly impacts a trauma survivor’s life. Imagine, as you read, how different our society might be if systems of care and justice were as trauma-informed as your life might be.
Dr. Lucy Johnstone: The Power Threat Meaning Framework
An interview with Dr. Lucy Johnstone about the new Power Threat Meaning Framework, an ambitious attempt to outline a conceptual alternative to psychiatric diagnosis which was published on January 12th this year by the Division of Clinical Psychology of the British Psychological Society.
Inconvenient Truths About Antipsychotics: A Response to Goff et al
The most worrying thing about the Goff et al paper is the minimisation of the evidence that antipsychotics produce brain shrinkage. There are no studies that show progressive brain changes in people diagnosed with schizophrenia or psychosis in the absence of antipsychotic treatment.
How Pain is Treated Depends on Socioeconomic Status
A new international study reveals how healthcare providers treat patient’s pain may depend on that patient’s socioeconomic status.
National Boards of Health Are Unresponsive to Children Driven to Suicide by Depression Pills
Peter C. Gøtzsche reports what happened, or rather did not happen, when he contacted National Boards of Health in eight countries with his serious concern that the use of depression pills in children is increasing and leads to more suicides. The continued official denial that these drugs cause suicide and that something substantial needs to be done is appalling.
Exposure to Antidepressants in the Womb Linked to Autistic Behavior in Mice
Researchers experimenting on mice found that exposure to fluoxetine (Prozac) in utero resulted in behaviors considered in animal studies to be analogous to autism in humans.
Neurodiversity is Dead. Now What?
The neurodiversity movement is a public relations campaign that emphasizes the positive qualities associated with some presentations of autism—creativity, increased tolerance for repetition, enhanced empathy, and exceptional memory—while erasing or minimizing the experiences of autistics who are severely disabled.
Experts Raise Ethical Concerns About Machine Learning in Medicine
The use of machine learning algorithms (known as artificial intelligence) in the medical field raises a slew of ethical concerns.
Ben Furman – Understanding and Dealing With Adolescent Rage
A podcast interview with Finnish psychiatrist Ben Furman in which he discusses adolescent rage and how parents can come to understand and deal with teenagers and young adults who are angry and explosive.
Neuroqueering Judaism: Reflections on Mad Passover
For our Haggadah, the reading material that guides the Seder activities, we included a list of the 10 modern plagues: psychiatric incarceration, forced drugging, electroshock therapy, restraint, seclusion, coercive behavior therapies, outpatient commitment, the pathology paradigm, sanism, and societal coercion to recover.
Critical Psychology for a Better Society: An Interview with Sebastienne Grant
Micah Ingle interviews Sebastienne Grant about her work developing a critical psychology program to reimagine and restructure social systems.
Self-test for Adult Symptom Deficiency Disorder (ASDD)
In the spirit of the thinking behind the DSM, I have worked out a test for a new disorder for those who don't meet criteria for anything else.
Childhood Trauma May Alter Immune Function
A new study finds an important link between childhood trauma, immune activation, and the development of psychiatric disorders.
Does Longer Duration of Untreated Psychosis Cause Worse Outcomes?
New research counters the long-held assumption that a longer duration of untreated psychosis is associated with worse outcomes.
Power, Privilege & Controlling the Narrative: Vested Interests in ‘Mental Health’
Alienating someone from their own meaning-making is a violent action, but that's what happens when professionals use unscientific, decontextualised diagnoses.
Why Scientists Should Reconsider Presenting with TED
How many other scientists like me are going to be flagged, publicly reprimanded by TED, for challenging current ways of thinking? Is it even possible to be innovative and follow conventional thinking at the same time? If there are scientists out there with great new ideas, the TED stage may not be the optimal place to state them.
Social Relationships Integral to Recovery in First Episode Psychosis
Research finds patients of first-episode psychosis report benefits from social relationships where their personhood is respected.
Informed Consent Must Reflect Information from Online Withdrawal Forums
Online withdrawal forums document an assortment of risks associated with discontinuation of psychiatric drugs. Such information is readily available and must be disclosed during informed consent.
National Institute of Mental Health Violates Law on Posting Clinical Trial Results
Last year, over twenty major institutions worldwide jointly committed to posting the results of all their clinical trials within a 12 month time frame. NIMH’s frequent failure to do so is especially concerning because evidence distortion appears to be remarkably widespread in journal articles discussing trials of psychiatric drugs.
“Dad, You Were Right”: I Got Better When I Stopped Treatment
Through all the years that I was a mental patient, my parents were excellent advocates who constantly questioned what the docs were doing, even though my own faith in psychiatry was unwavering.... Amazingly, what cured me was not some type of “treatment,” but getting away from drugs and therapy.
Patient or Prisoner? My Hospital Experience
We need to come up with a plan that destigmatizes mental health issues for all races, including respectful and non-punitive treatment in in-patient settings.
Stop Saying This, Part Four: Does Time Heal All Wounds?
In part four of this series, Megan Wildhood takes on the tropes of "That's not about you," "The outer world is a reflection of your inner world," "I didn't mean to," and "Time heals all wounds."
