MIA Today

Headlines of Today's Posts

What Is the Role of the Prosumer in the Mental Health System?

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I believe "prosumer" is the best term to describe consumers of mental health services who are also traditional professionals in mental health care.

Serious, ‘Unexpected’ Adverse Events From Nasal Esketamine

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From Medscape: Researchers identified 2274 esketamine-related adverse events (AEs) among 962 patients (mean, 2.4 events per person); 389 patients had a serious AE, and there were 22 deaths.

Critical Psychiatry Textbook, Chapter 5: Psychiatric Diagnoses Are Not Reliable (Part One)

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Psychiatric diagnoses have poor validity and do not tell us much about the nature, course, and treatment of the "diseases."

Study Highlights Lack of Evidence for Antidepressants in Treatment of Chronic Pain

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A new Cochrane review details the lack of evidence for antidepressants in the treatment of chronic pain.
electric shock

Electric Shock Update: Allegations of Regulatory Misconduct Filed with the FDA

The New York State Office of Mental Health (OMH) is publishing false and misleading advertisements about electric shock services under the guise of educational materials without even acknowledging the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) December, 2018 Rule.

The Bipolar Rollercoaster: Looking Beyond the Labels

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Removing assumptions evoked by my family member’s diagnoses has transformed my understanding of their experience and increased my ability to arrive at solutions applicable to their expressed needs.
Doctor attentively examines the MRI scan of the patient.

SSRI Antidepressants Do Not Improve Depression After a Stroke

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A study in JAMA Neurology finds that antidepressants do not reduce depression symptoms more than placebo in patients recovering from a stroke.

Online Experts on Withdrawal

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Online communities are stepping in to help people facing withdrawal effects amass information and receive support for their withdrawal experiences.

Discourse, Drug Use, and Psychiatry: An Interview with Critical Psychologist Ilana Mountian

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Richard Sears interviews Ilana Mountian on drug use, marginalization, the disease model of addiction, and problems with prohibition.
A black couple holds hands out of focus in background. In foreground, a therapist's hands on a clipboard taking notes.

De-privatizing Our Relationships

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I’m glad we’re chipping away at the cracks in psychiatry and psychology and de-privatizing our lives.
Profile of a bearded man head with a symbol of neurons in the brain

A Brain for Our Emancipation

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In times of crisis, we are required to adapt to conditions of suffering to safeguard capitalist production. We are asked to adapt our flexible brains to a hostile environment, and the possibility of transforming that environment is suppressed.
A selective focus shot of garbage collectors, trash cans, and giant pills

Cochrane Reviews of Psychiatric Drugs Are Untrustworthy

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Cochrane is keen to protect guild interests and to comply with official views from governments even when they contradict the evidence in Cochrane reviews.

An American History of Drugs and Addiction, Part Two: Immigrating to a Temperance Culture

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As Prohibition was taking hold on the East Coast in response to European immigrants, equal efforts for Prohibition were occurring on the West Coast, fueled by racist caricatures of Chinese immigrants.
Photo of books on a table in a prison

Inside a Forensic Psychiatry Unit: Access to the Courts—A Right and Survival Tool

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Being stuck in the custody of a malicious treatment team could mean death. I had to resort to the Mother of All Tactics Hegemony (a lawsuit).
A mother takes her young son to an imposing psychiatric hospital

You’ve Got to Be Crazy to Go to a Psychiatrist

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To those who say that major scientific/medical advances since 1975 have made going to a biological psychiatrist a rational choice, I say: What advances? 45 years have passed: Is any psychiatric “diagnosis” now verified by lab test, x-ray, or physical exam finding?
Opening Up: The Parenting Journey by Anne Peretz

Book Review: “Opening Up: The Parenting Journey”

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This is a book about stories, urging families to recognize their own strengths and create new narratives on the path ahead.
UK street in winter

How I Learned the Social and Environmental Causes of Madness

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My first encounter with mental illness was when I was 17. My friend was hospitalised in the psychiatric unit of the local general hospital and diagnosed with hypomania.
Close-up photo of the shift button on a computer keyboard, but it's labeled "Paradigm shift."

Are We Witnessing the Emergence of a New Paradigm?

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Increasing numbers of people are finding the perspective that sees mental distress as an isolated, static category, fixed within a biological predisposition or malfunction, to be insufficient.

Adults Treated for ADHD Report Low Quality of Life

Adults receiving ADHD medications and therapy frequently experience adverse events that interfere with employment and daily life.
3D illustration of a bunch of red and white pills labeled "ADHD"

Critical Psychiatry Textbook, Chapter 9: ADHD (Part Two)

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Peter Gøtzsche discusses the results of the MTA study on ADHD drugs and the misleading statements textbooks make about ADHD treatment.
lonely man on the bench autumn, winter

Psychiatrogenesis (Whither Psychiatry or Reform)

Preying on the privatisation of distress comes the medical-industrial complex perverting the mental health landscape.
Closeup photo of pills on a sheet that reads "Anxiety Disorder"

Critical Psychiatry Textbook, Chapter 10: Anxiety Disorders

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Peter Gøtzsche discusses psychotherapy versus drugs as the preferred treatment for anxiety, panic attacks, and OCD.
Photoshopped image of a businessman with his head covered by a cloud

The New York Times Confidently Misinterprets a New ECT Study

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The New York Times article paints a rosy picture of ECT, but it’s based on a misleading study and dismisses the plentiful research on ECT’s harms.

The Worst Thing: How My Mother’s Death Pushed Me to Overcome OCD

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The goal of creating a legacy for my mother required that I go beyond managing my symptoms to confronting my OCD at its roots. I had to fundamentally change my understanding of anxiety.

Stimulant Prescribing Patterns for ADHD Not Impacted by Scientific Evidence

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The article suggests that research challenging the evidence for ADHD drugs does not lead to changes without public campaigns.