Opening Doors in the Borderlands: An Interview with Liberation Psychologist Mary Watkins
MIA’s Micah Ingle interviews Mary Watkins about reorienting psychology toward liberation and social justice.
Surviving Psychiatry: A Typical Case of Serious Psychiatric Drug Harms
I reproduce here a patient's journey as she presented it to me, shared at her request. She was seriously harmed by psychiatric drugs; her life became endangered; and she suffered an excruciating withdrawal phase because she did not receive the necessary guidance. But she is doing well today.
Higher Drop-Out Rates for Those Taking Antidepressants
A review of 73 antidepressant studies finds that 12% more people drop out of clinical trials when taking antidepressants than when taking placebo, evidence that many find the adverse effects of antidepressants difficult to tolerate.
Researchers Fail to Predict Antidepressant Treatment Success
In a new study published in JAMA Psychiatry, researchers investigated whether they could use EEG (electroencephalograph) technology to predict whether people would feel better...
Real Doctors Are Peddling Fake Diseases: Here’s How to Spot Them
We’re bombarded with ads for newly discovered diseases. Are they all legitimate, or are some sham illnesses that were created to sell more drugs? Here are four ways to logically test whether or not something really is a classic (physically-based, symptom-causing) disease.
Overcoming the Madness in Us All
I believe that the greatest challenge or threat to our identities and mental soundness comes from the fear of being unworthy of love. We cannot ameliorate this dread wholly on our own but must instead rely in part on resources outside ourselves who invite, encourage, exemplify or draw out our own capacity to feel and to give love.
“Ontological Insecurity” May Play A Role in Psychotic Experiences
In a new study published in the Journal of Clinical Psychology, researchers tested how well “ontological insecurity” predicted psychotic-like experiences (PLEs). They found that...
On Recovery: Scaling the Wall of Fear
I pray for a rich life, away from the fear of job insecurity, coercive medicine, and false labels. The question still remains as to how to handle societal fears about the ‘mentally ill’. My blessed family are like hypervigilance officers on the watch for the slightest behavioural aberration.
Experiences of Depression Connected to Declining Sense of Purpose
In-depth interviews find that those who screened positive for depression did not explain their experience in terms of diagnostic symptoms.
The Invisibles: Children in Foster Care
Millions of current and former foster children experience multiple kinds of trauma, as documented in a six-part investigative series published in the Kansas City Star this month. Too often invisible, these young people deserve our attention and our care.
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.
Zel Dolinsky: I Have a Right to “Death With Dignity”
Researcher Zel Dolinsky once taught at medical school and worked as a medical writer in the pharmaceutical industry. In his last emails, he told of how the adverse effects of psychiatric drugs led him to choose to end his life.
How Western Psychiatry Harms Alternative Understandings of Mental Health
An anthropological look at the Global Mental Health (GMH) movement suggests several ethical problems and contradictions in its mission.
Does Facebook Use Improve Social Connections or Weaken Attention?
A network analysis of participants’ social media use and well-being reveals complex links with social capital but a minimal association with attentional control.
Merry, Beautiful, Unique: YOU
You and me, we are different. We live in the world of magic, where angels appear, where voices scare but also reveal, where visions show us the other, real, parallel world. God blesses only very few of us with such an ability. And that’s why you have to fight for this right.
Anatomy of a Suicide: Stress and the Human Condition
The Defense Cascade is a survival framework that evolutionary researchers are exploring as an explanation for extreme states that many people experience. It can help explain why chronic stress can make us feel like ending our life is the only reasonable way out.
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.
Researchers Set the Record Straight on Controversial Zoloft Study
An issue of Lancet Psychiatry is devoted to clarifying the lack of efficacy for Zoloft (sertraline).
Medical Ghostwriting: When an “Author” Is Not Necessarily an “Author”
Ghostwriting, which is prominent in the psychiatry literature, is a scam in which pharmaceutical companies use an academic sleight of hand to stump the naïve reader. It is time for editors of the major medical journals to use the same standards of authorship found in the humanities and social sciences.
The House of Cards with Informed Consent Standards
I recently submitted a recommendation to Oregon’s mental health officials as they consider revising their clinical standards. If adopted, my proposal will open the door to a much wider recognition of the role that poorly conducted informed consent plays in the excessive use of psychiatric medications.
What is the Evidence for Empirically Supported Treatments in Psychology?
New meta-scientific review questions the evidence for the gold standard psychotherapies and empirically supported treatments.
Twin Studies and Ken Burns’ Upcoming Documentary on “The Gene: An Intimate History”
Siddhartha Mukherjee clearly knew little about the evidence supporting his claim that schizophrenia is a “genetic disease,” yet he thought he knew enough to reach strong conclusions in favor of genetics in what would become an award-winning book that was turned into a Ken Burns documentary.
Growing Research Connects Nutrition and Mental Health
A new article reviews studies in the field of nutritional psychiatry and how nutrition can prevent and treat mental health issues.
The Media’s New Hashtag: #GuardianshipIsGood for Britney Spears
Recent press coverage of top star Britney Spears, who remains under a personal and professional guardianship, reflects conventional attitudes about “mental illness” that are both stigmatizing and encourage legislation that promotes forced treatment.
Ketamine for Harmful Drinking: A Look at the Data
New research contends that ketamine can reduce problematic alcohol use but does the data support the claims?
