“Drug Overdoses Propel Rise in Mortality Rates of Young Whites”

1
“The rising death rates for those young white adults, ages 25 to 34, make them the first generation since the Vietnam War years of the mid-1960s to experience higher death rates in early adulthood than the generation that preceded it,” the ‘Times reports.

Lawsuit Over a Suicide Points to a Risk of Antidepressants

0
From The New York Times: The recent trial of Wendy Dolin, whose husband died of suicide after starting the antidepressant paroxetine, demonstrates our need for more...

Autism’s Drug Problem

2
From Scientific American: Many autistic children are prescribed multiple psychiatric medications, which can lead to serious adverse effects and are often ineffective. "Multiple diagnoses lead to...

I Smoked Weed Three Times and Ended Up in Rehab Hell

0
From VICE: In her recently published memoir, The Dead Inside, Cyndy Etler tells her story of being abused and subjected to attack therapy in a teen rehab...
treatment advocacy center cherry-picks data

Forced-Treatment Advocacy Group Cherry-Picks Data to Support Agenda (Again)

24
Did the Treatment Advocacy Center actually uncover research proving that poor psychiatric medication adherence plays a "significant" role in whether people diagnosed with schizophrenia become violent? If such research does exist, is it as compelling as TAC described?

Teenage Antidepressants “Doing More Harm Than Good”

0
From BBC: A leading UK psychiatrist, Dr. David Healy, speaks out about the dangers of the growing prescription of antidepressants to young people under age...

Flibanserin’s ‘Effects’ Do Not Outweigh Harms, Review Finds

7
Despite concerns about the risk to benefit ratio, the FDA approved flibanserin (Addyi) to treat low female sexual desire in August. In a new...

“’Disease Awareness’—How Big Pharma Preps You to Buy Drugs You Probably Don’t Need”

1
The latest from Martha Rosenberg: “Pharma companies love disease awareness advertising because, unlike direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising, risks and warnings of possible drug treatments do...

How Many Pills are too Many?

0
From The New York Times: Overprescription is becoming an increasingly prevalent public health issue, especially for older adults with multiple chronic conditions. "Though studies have found...

Animal Study Supports Influence of Probiotics on Resilience to Stress

1
Researchers experimenting on mice found that Lactobacillus—the probiotic commonly found in yogurt—may help reduce depressive symptoms in reaction to chronic stressors. But human studies have found mixed results.
Berlin Manifesto launch

Berlin Manifesto for Humane Psychiatry Released

43
Changing the mental health and psychosocial support system in Germany requires public debate about the ways our society should help and support people in mental crisis and with chronic mental health problems. We believe the driving force behind all help and support should be humanitarianism and respect for inalienable human rights.

Researchers: Antidepressant Withdrawal, Not “Discontinuation Syndrome”

20
Researchers suggest that the pharmaceutical industry had a vested interest in using the term “discontinuation” in order to hide the severity of physical dependence and withdrawal reactions many people experience from antidepressants.

More Follow Up Needed for Drugs Granted Accelerated FDA Approval

0
Drugs to treat serious or life-threatening conditions can receive accelerated FDA approval, but may expose patients to increased safety risks and reduced efficacy.

Funny/Sad Video About Overmedication, ‘Immature’ Kids

1
A YouTube video called “Drugs for Kids” takes a rather tongue-in-cheek approach to the overmedication and overdiagnosis of kids. Studies reveal a correlation between how young...

New Study Explores Approaches to Discontinuing Antidepressants

12
Psychiatrist and psychologist outline pharmacological and psychotherapeutic strategies for discontinuing antidepressants.

Type 2 Diabetes and Antidepressant Use: Is There a Causal Link?

0
From EndocrinologyAdvisor: A recent meta-analysis suggests that antidepressant drug use may increase patients' risk of diabetes. According to the lead investigator, over 1 million diabetes...

Reporter was Locked in Mental Hospital for 10 Days

0
This piece from Newsner chronicles the life and work of Elizabeth Cochran Seaman, a journalist who went undercover to expose the conditions at an infamous mental...

Antidepressants Often Prescribed to Enforce Heteronormativity, Study Concludes

8
A new study investigating fifteen years of patient records at a Midwestern hospital found that psychiatrists almost always responded to patient complaints about their relationships by prescribing antidepressants, despite the fact that these complaints had little to do with the DSM criteria for depression. The study’s lead author, Jonathan Metzl, a professor of Sociology and Medicine, Health and Society at Vanderbilt, suggests that after the decision in 1974 to remove homosexuality from the DSM, psychiatry continued to enforce socially accepted forms of relationships through the prescription of antidepressants.

Feds Close ‘Evidence Based’ National Registry

7
From Education Week: The Substance Use and Mental Health Services Administration has put a halt on the National Registry of Evidence-Based Programs and Practices, a...

Drugs for Bad Behavior Cause Alarming Weight Gain in Kids

1
From National Post: Antipsychotic drugs are increasingly being prescribed to children as young as two for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, aggression and behavior problems. A...

Use of Electroconvulsive Therapy Without Patient’s Consent Rises

2
From The Irish News: Although the use of ECT has been steadily decreasing internationally, the use of ECT in Northern Ireland has significantly increased over...

Links Between Benefits and Mental Ill-Health Could be Recorded

1
From Vox Political: In a new proposal in the medical journal The Lancet, Kate Allsopp and Peter Kinderman have called for mental health professionals to record psychosocial...

Investigation Reveals Alarming ECT Practices in England

9
Audit of ECT usage, demographics, and adherence to guidelines and legislation raises concern over its continued use.

Study Identifies Link Between Antidepressants and Newborn Hypertension

2
A new study, published in the American Journal of Physiology, investigates how the use of antidepressants during pregnancy can lead to a life-threatening lung...

Off-Label Prescribing Increases Risk of Adverse Effects

0
The first systematic investigation of the adverse effects associated with prescribing drugs “off-label” found that the common practice of using drugs for conditions for which they are not approved increases the risk of adverse effects.