Research Suggests that Forensic Psychological Examinations are Unreliable and Biased
Concerns have been raised about inconsistent and unreliable results, which may lead to injustices in sentencing or even wrongful convictions.
Why Social Media can Never Fill the Void in our Depressing Lives
From VICE: According to Marcus Gilroy-Ware, author of Filling the Void: Emotion, Capitalism & Social Media, society's widespread use of social media stems from and is exploited...
Division 32 APA Response to Racism & Violence in Charlottesville
It is not hate that kills, as much as it is silence. That is why Division 32 of the American Psychological Association is encouraging...
“Researchers Confront an Epidemic of Loneliness”
Katie Hafner, writing in the ‘Times, describes how loneliness has become a major public health issue. “The profound effects of loneliness on health and...
Polypharmacy Associated with Cognitive Decline in Elderly Patients
Study finds that elderly patients taking at least 5 medications were at increased risk of mild cognitive impairment and dementia.
What Transgender Actors can Teach Medical Residents
A new training program teaches medical residents how to provide appropriate care and services to transgender clients.
Exercise Intervention for Youth at Risk for Psychosis Shows Promise
A new pilot study finds that an exercise intervention can lead to improvement in clinical, social, and cognitive domains for those deemed at risk for psychosis.
Victim Blaming: Childhood Trauma, Mental Illness & Diagnostic Distractions?
Why, despite the fact that the vast majority of people diagnosed with a mental illness have suffered from some form of childhood trauma, is it still so difficult to talk about? Why, despite the enormous amount of research about the impact of trauma on the brain and subsequent effect on behaviour, does there seem to be such an extraordinary refusal for the implication of this research to change attitudes towards those who are mentally ill? Why, when our program and others like it have shown people can heal from the effects of trauma, are so many people left with the self-blame and the feeling they will never get better that my colleague writes about below?
Anticholinergic Medications Linked to Dementia Similar to Early Alzheimer’s
A new study, published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, investigates the effects of anticholinergic medications, such as antidepressants and antipsychotics, on cognition in older adults diagnosed with schizophrenia.
Economic Deprivation and Social Fragmentation Drive Suicide Rates in US
Major study finds that economic deprivation and a lack of social capital are driving increasing rates of suicide in the U.S.
Children Diagnosed with ADHD Younger are More Likely to get Multiple Medications
New research demonstrates that children diagnosed with ADHD at younger ages are more likely than those diagnosed later to receive multiple medications within five years of their diagnosis.
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.
Do Family Interventions for Psychosis Translate in China?
Researchers explore how family interventions for psychosis might be adapted to China’s emerging integrated mental health care landscape.
High Doses of Antidepressants Increase Self-Harm in Children, Young Adults
A comprehensive meta-analysis of randomized trial data by researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health finds that children and young adults who start...
Statement of APA President in Response to Florida Shooting
APA President Jessica Henderson Daniel has released a statement on the recent school shooting in Florida emphasizing the lack of correlation between gun violence...
Feral Psychiatry: The Case of Garth Daniels
Garth Daniels, a 39-year-old Melbourne man, has been shackled for 110 days and forced to undergo ECT 94 times at three times a week against his will. Last year, his family asked me to provide a second opinion on Garth’s case. As predicted, my recommendations against continued ECT were quickly dismissed by the hospital. There are critically important issues at stake in this case.
“New Research Links Contact with Nature to Community Cohesion and Reduced Crime”
The Pacific Standard highlights new research out of the University of Cardiff that found the more green space there is in a neighborhood, the less crime. “The more a person felt connected to nature, the more they felt connected to others in their neighborhoods.”
You are not Mentally Ill
In this piece for Medium, Brendan O'Neill critiques campaigns that aim to de-stigmatize "mental illness" and the trend toward identifying as "mentally ill."
"The problem here...
‘Salami Slicing’ Found in Analyses of Antipsychotic Trials
Evidence of duplicate publishing in articles analyzing data from clinical trials testing second-generation antipsychotics for depression
“California Courts Step Up Oversight of Psychotropic Medication Use in Foster Care”
The Mercury News reports that California’s judicial council is taking major steps to address the rampant use of psychiatric drugs in foster care. The...
Using Participatory Action in Bioethics Research
Participatory action approaches in bioethics research used to decrease coercion and seclusion in psychiatric treatment.
“How The Military Could Turn Your Mind Into The Next Battlefield”
Interviews in io9 with neuroscientists James Giordano of Georgetown University Medical Center and Jonathan Moreno from the University of Pennsylvania supplement a discussion of...
“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.
Psychiatry, Society and Stigma: Placing the Blame Where It Belongs
I believe that those who understand psychiatry’s self-serving claims and want to be most effective in a campaign of re-education must never lose sight of the critical role of language in the forming of public opinion. Here I will use the example of stigma to illustrate psychiatry's “War of the Words.”
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Halves the Risk of Repeated Suicide Attempts
A new study suggests that cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) may halve the likelihood of re-attempting suicide, for those who have attempted in the past.