When Calling the Police Results in Harm, Not Help
From Slate: The death of Charleena Lyles, who was shot by the police after she called them to report a burglary, serves as a reminder...
Treating Addiction With an App
From MIT Technology Review: A new app, Triggr, is using smartphone data to track the behavior of people struggling with substance use and addiction, with...
Sense of Purpose Reduces Negative Effects of Social Media Use
New research shows that having a strong sense of personal meaning and purpose can reduce the negative effects of social media use.
Court-Ordered Psychiatric Tests Used as a Weapon
From Courier Mail: Divorced parents are increasingly ordering involuntary psychiatric examinations against one another to be used as a weapon in custody fights.
"Family lawyer Deborah...
Researchers Fail to Predict Criminal Intent with Brain Scans
A new study in the journal PNAS explores whether brain scans are ineffective at identifying criminal intent in carefully designed situations.
Researchers Make Recommendations to Improve FDA Transparency
Organizations, advocates, scholars, and practitioners had a chance to give feedback regarding FDA processes.
The Power Thinker
In this essay for Aeon, Kolin Coopman explores the impact and legacy of Michel Foucault.
"It was a bio-power wielded by psychiatrists and doctors that,...
Is Facebook a Structural Threat to Free Society?
From TruthHawk: Facebook's technology has an unprecedented ability to surveil and manipulate people.
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Facebook Uses Machine Learning to Spot At-Risk Users
From Forbes: Facebook is now using algorithms to monitor users' online activity for warning signs of suicidal ideation or self-harm.
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Bill Would let Employers Demand Workers’ Genetic Test Results
From STAT: Last week, the House approved a bill that will grant employers access to employees' genetic test results and other health information.
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Experts Concerned That Depression Screening Will Lead to Overdiagnosis
Behind the U.S. task force recommendation to screen all children and adults for depression.
Patient Race Associated with Varied Psychiatric Treatment Experiences
Findings point to association between race and the mental health care experiences of African-American and White veterans.
“FDA Agrees to New Trials for Ecstasy as Relief for PTSD Patients”
Last week, the FDA gave permission for ecstasy to move into Phase 3 clinical trials for the treatment of PTSD. “If they can keep...
“Recoil, Reform, Repeat”
For The Boston Globe, Michael Rezendes writes about the dehumanizing conditions for mental health patients and the Bridgewater State Hospital. While previous exposés have...
“Bernie Sanders Attacks the 21st Century Cures Act and Pharmaceutical Industry ‘Greed’”
“At a time when Americans pay, by far, the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs, this bill provides absolutely no relief for...
“Gottesfeld Indicted for Alleged Cyber Attack on Hospital”
Martin Gottesfeld was charged in October in relation to the hacking of Boston Children’s Hospital in 2014 following the alleged mistreatment of one of...
“Should You Tell Work About Your Mental Health Condition?”
For Vice, Hannah Ewens explores how employers react to depression and anxiety in their employees. “In a fair world, employers wouldn't judge you for...
“Rutgers Professor Taken for Pysch Evaluation by NYPD After Political Tweets”
“According to Allred's tweets from Tuesday night, the New York Police Department visited him at home to investigate ‘political statements’ he made ‘on campus...
“What Will President Trump Mean for Science?
Sarah Kaplan for the Washington Post reports that while “Trump has pledged to cut federal spending he hasn’t offered details on how this will affect funding for scientific research.”
VA Hospitals Perform Worst on Inpatient Psychiatric Care
The results of the cross-sectional study show that U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) owned hospitals perform worst on most measures.
Evolution or Revolution? Why Western Psychiatry Won’t Change by Incremental Steps
...but how realistic is it to expect that the biological skew of Western psychiatry can be sustainably changed one small step at a time?
Clinton Releases Mental Health Plan
Today, Hillary Clinton’s campaign released their plan for addressing mental health care in the United States. The plan calls for a full integration of...
“Woman Hospitalized Involuntarily Wants Legal Aid for Mental Health Hearing”
A Canadian woman is attempting to assert her right to a lawyer in order to fight an involuntary psychiatric hospitalization. While homeless, the patient...
You Can Have Any Kind of Treatment You Want, Providing it’s Our Kind
Mental health nurse education supports institutional psychiatric practice in an insufficiently questioning way. Its formal curricula in universities are often undermined by the informal curricula of practice environments. As an institution, mental health nursing pays insufficient attention to both these issues because it is an arguably un-reflexive and rule-following discipline.
“The Secret Documents That Detail How Patients’ Privacy is Breached”
“When the federal government takes the rare step of fining medical providers for violating the privacy and security of patients’ medical information, it issues...
