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Headlines of Today's Posts

Photo of an open hand on a deep red background with scattered white pills

Much of U.S. Healthcare Is Broken: How to Fix It (Chapter 2, Part 6)

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Les Ruthven addresses the research showing that psychiatric hospitalization increases suicidality.
Climber snaps the safety carabiner on the rope. A climber on a cliff ties a safety knot

RADAR and the Dignity of Risk-Taking

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The goal may not be to eliminate risk, but to respect the risk that people are willing to take, and to help make tapering as safe as possible.
Unhappy Woman In Converstion With Friend Or Counsellor

“Get Over It”? A Response to Empower Parents to Repair Instead of Victim Blame

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An epidemic of children blaming their parents in therapy? In my 20 years as a psychologist, I've seen the opposite.

The FDA Warned an Asthma Drug Could Induce Despair. Many Were Never Told.

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From The New York Times: Singulair, now a generic, is still used by millions of Americans even after thousands of patients and dozens of studies have described harm. Children face the greatest risks of the drug's ill effects.
3D illustration of a matrix with tablets and the words risks and benefits. Concept of clinical trials results

Two Out of Three Find Antidepressant Effects Not Worth Burdens

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New study reveals: 2 in 3 people need more than the current antidepressant benefits to consider them worthwhile.

The Dangers of Precision Medicine: Mental Health Is Not a Battlefield

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Rather than a war to be fought within individuals, we should envision mental health as a garden to be carefully nurtured.

How the Life Coaching Industry Sells Pseudo-Solutions to Our Deepest Problems

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From Current Affairs: The cultural pressures to become a self-made individual have intensified at the same time that sources of social support have decreased. Enter the life coach.
Pattern of blue and yellow pills or tablets on a pink background. concept of medicine, pharmacy and coronavirus. copy space

SSRI Withdrawal has Social, Cognitive, and Emotional Consequences

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New research finds that the non-physical aspects of withdrawal from SSRIs are often overlooked.
A male doctor looks slightly angry at a woman who looks sad in profile

“Impairment: Says Who?”: The Fundamental Question of Mental Health Treatment

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The criterion of "impairment" is defined not by the person seeking treatment, but by other people: parents, clinicians, courts, employers, and so on.
Miniature hazmat team inspects hazardous pills

Much of U.S. Healthcare Is Broken: How to Fix It (Chapter 2, Part 5)

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Les Ruthven addresses increases in suicide and homicide caused by antidepressant drugs.
AI-generated image of a snowy yeti and an ice-crusted double-helix

Searching for the “Psychiatric Yeti”: Schizophrenia Is Not Genetic

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After decades of study, billions of dollars spent, and thousands of studies conducted, the failure to identify any genes for schizophrenia should definitively put to rest the notion that schizophrenia is a genetic disorder, according to E. Fuller Torrey.

Workplace Wellness Programs Have Little Benefit, Study Finds

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From The New York Times: An Oxford researcher measured the effect of popular workplace mental health interventions, and discovered little to none.
3d illustration of pawns over black background with red, orange and green circles

Toxic Interactions: Social Circumstances and Well-Being

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Social circumstances are indisputably connected to psychological well-being, but this has gained no traction in policy and service provision.

Scientific Misconduct and Fraud: The Final Nail in Psychiatry’s Antidepressant Coffin

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From CounterPunch: A recent reanalysis of previously undisclosed data reveals that STAR*D may go down in US medical history as one of its most harmful scandals.

What It Was Like to Be a Black Patient in a Jim Crow Asylum

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From Mother Jones: "You see a society that was comfortable discarding people," says author Antonia Hylton. "I think a lot of families are still allowing loved ones who are suffering to slowly disappear."

The Psychological Humanities Manifesto: An Interview with Mark Freeman

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Justin Karter interviews narrative and philosophical psychologist Mark Freeman about his vision for the future of psychology.
Lonely, suffering man in a crowd of people who do not notice him.

Accounting for Mental Disorder: Time for a Paradigm Shift

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Many people continue to be victimized by psychiatry’s adherence to a model that exists to satisfy guild interests, not science.

The Longest Journey – or, What Can We Expect from Psychotherapy? | Alice Miller

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From Alice Miller: Child Abuse and Mistreatment: The longest journey of my life was the journey to my own self. Successful therapy should shorten this long journey.

Attitudes Towards and Patterns of Medication Use Among Persons With ‘SMI’

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From Mifrasim Institute for Psychotherapy Research and Teaching: A recent conference in Israel explored how attitudes and patterns of medication use are related to different aspects of the identity and domains of recovery.
pills and money

Much of U.S. Healthcare Is Broken: How to Fix It (Chapter 2, Part 4)

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Les Ruthven addresses a ghostwritten study claiming effectiveness of antidepressants for children and adolescents.

Arrested Development: Britney Spears’ Memoir Is a Survivor’s Tale of Generational Trauma, Psychiatric Abuse,...

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Miranda Spencer discusses Britney Spears' new memoir and the harms of conservatorship.

Giving Caregivers a Platform: Sherita, Mother of Tony

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This is the story of Sherita and her son Tony, and her efforts to help him following years of psychiatric drugs and hospitalizations.

Financial Conflicts of Interest Persist in DSM-5-TR Panel Members

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From the BMJ: Lisa Cosgrove and colleagues report that 60% of the panel and task-force members of the DSM-5-TR received payments from industry. Collectively,...
Suffering young man on couch and compassionate woman.

What Helped—and What Didn’t Help—My Recovery

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In order to recover, it was necessary to give up the psychiatric treatment system, and the idea that I need something from that system, that I belong there.
Illustration depicting a face with hypnotized eyes, strings like a puppet

It’s Health’s Illusions I Recall, I Really Don’t Know Health at All

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There is a core concept shaping the ‘market’ in health, the concept of an assay, that few doctors or patients understand.