“The Impact of Shift Work on Health”
Medical News Today provides an overview of the research on the effects of shift work on the physical and mental well-being of employees. "Although...
Psychology Needs New Concepts and Healing Models for Racial Trauma
Contemporary empirical research explores new ways to conceptualize and heal racial trauma through anticolonial and sociohistorical lenses.
First Systematic Review of Leading School-Based Mental Health Programs
Results reflect moderate to strong evidence in support of the non-pharmacological school-based interventions reviewed in the study.
“Pentagon Wants Psychologists to End Ban on Interrogation Role”
Only months after the American Psychological Association voted to ban psychologists from “advanced interrogation” facilities like Guantánamo Bay prison the Pentagon is asking them to...
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.
Implications of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement on Equitable Access to Healthcare
A new generation of multilateral and bilateral trade agreements is likely to significantly threaten access and cost of healthcare, and limit signatory Governments sovereignty to prioritise health care policy to protect and improve the health of citizens. The Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA), a Pacific Rim regional trade agreement involving 12 countries — including New Zealand, Australia and the US — is one such agreement, and it has the potential to significantly alter the domestic environment for health policy-making.
Experts Call on Presidential Candidates to Improve Study Transparency
In an open letter to all US presidential candidates published Thursday in the BMJ, a group of global health care experts assert that current research regulations allow drug companies to publish incomplete and misleading results. They ask the candidates to declare whether they support improved transparency measures that would make data on drug studies publically available and open to scrutiny.
Mobile Apps for Mental Health Lack Transparency in Data Sharing
Research illustrates privacy concerns with how mental health applications collect and share users’ data.
Traditional South African Healers Use Connection in Suicide Prevention
Study finds that traditional healers in South Africa, whose services are widely used by the country’s population, perform important suicide prevention work.
United Nations Report Calls for Revolution in Mental Health Care
In a new report, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to health, Dr. Dainius Pūras, calls for a move away from the biomedical model and “excessive use of psychotropic medicines.”
Psychologists for Social Responsibility Oppose APA CEO Search
Psychologists for Social Responsibility (PsySR), one of the groups that led the push for changes to the American Psychological Association’s (APA) collusion in the CIA torture program (as detailed in the Hoffman report), is again calling on the APA for a change in policies.
“Bernie Sanders Blocks Obama’s FDA Nominee for Big Pharma Ties”
Yesterday, senator and presidential candidate Bernie Sanders announced that he will formally oppose Robert Califf’s nomination as FDA commissioner. “Dr. Califf’s extensive ties to...
Spending on Social Services Improves Health Outcomes
Canadian study finds that social service spending is associated with a decrease in mortality and increase in life expectancy.
Experts Concerned That Depression Screening Will Lead to Overdiagnosis
Behind the U.S. task force recommendation to screen all children and adults for depression.
Climate Change Negatively Impacts Mental Health, Study Finds
Climate change-related extreme weather and increasing temperatures associated with higher rates of mental health challenges.
Smartphone Based Interventions for Depressive Symptoms
New meta-analysis of smartphone based interventions demonstrates small-to-moderate effect.
Scales Assessing Child and Adolescent Psychopathology Lack Cross-Cultural Validity
Researchers find few existing "psychopathology scales" are appropriate for global utilization.
China Mills Talks Back to the Movement for Global Mental Health
The Movement for Global Mental Health Newsletter has published a substantive interview with one of the movement's most prominent critics, China Mills, author of...
“Google’s Latest Hire Has a Creepy Plan to Track Your Mental Health”
Google has hired the former director of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), Thomas Insel, with plans to create “a wearable sensor to measure mood, cognition and anxiety.” Gizmodo points out the problems with this idea:“One can easily imagine a message popping up on some poor desk jockey’s monitor: ‘You’re not in the right mood today. Please take a day of unpaid leave.’ Or, worse: ‘We’ve detected signs of mental instability, based on how you’ve been talking and sleeping. Please report to a doctor immediately.’”
“Why San Bernardino Polarized America and What It Means for Our Political Future”
What does the psychology of terror mean for America’s future? Social psychologist Daniel Kort weighs in on what the science of terror management theory, behavioral economics, and political polarization can tell us about where we’re headed.
“Why Are Young Westerners Drawn to Terrorist Organizations Like ISIS?”
"ISIS provides existential fast food, and for some of the most spiritually hungry young Westerners, ISIS is like a Big Mac amidst a barren wasteland of an existence,” Omar Hague writes in the Psychiatric Times. “Who actually joins ISIS? Not psychopaths or the brainwashed, but rather everyday young people in social transition, on the margins of society, or amidst a crisis of identity.”
Using Participatory Action in Bioethics Research
Participatory action approaches in bioethics research used to decrease coercion and seclusion in psychiatric treatment.
Perfectionism May Lead to Significant Psychological Distress, Study Suggests
A new study suggests needing to appear perfect to others leads to mental health stigma and a higher risk of untreated psychological distress.
Targeting Hypocrisy Reduces Islamophobia and Collective Blame of Muslims
Interventions calling attention to participants’ hypocrisy proved effective in reducing Islamophobia and collective blame of Muslims for individual acts of violence.
“The Psychology of Terrorism: Q&A with John Horgan”
The Scientific American reprints their interview with psychologist and terrorism expert John Horgan following the attacks in Paris on November 13th. “An issue I find problematic right now is the idea that to prevent terrorism, we have to first prevent radicalization… There are far more people who hold "radical" views than will ever become involved in terrorism, and there are plenty of terrorists (who are already small in number – a point we tend to forget) who don’t initially hold radical views but drift into terrorism regardless.”