New Study Explores Approaches to Discontinuing Antidepressants

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

Psychotic Symptoms/Childhood Trauma Common in Primary as Well as Psychiatric Care

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Researchers in Finland reviewed questionnaires filled out by 911 primary and psychiatric care patients over 16 years of age. They found that more than...

“Study Suggests Shift in Focus in Cognitive Behavior Therapy”

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A new research study examines the relationships that makes cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) successful.

Childhood Adversity Increases Psychosis

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Researchers in the U.K. and Netherlands found a nearly 3x greater chance of childhood adversity among patients with psychosis in 36 studies of various...

Selling Bad Therapy to Trauma Victims

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From Psychology Today: The American Psychological Association has just issued guidelines for treating trauma that are backed by faulty science. The research behind the guidelines...

“Some of gaming’s greatest heroes are mentally ill, and that’s a great thing”

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In gaming magazine Polygon, Liana Kerzner reviews video games that weren't designed as "therapy," but include primary characters who are struggling with deep psychological...

There is Big Medicine in Everyone

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I woke up at 3 am this morning. The spring is a time of big energy for me. Once upon a time in my life this energy was pathologized and called manic, bipolar. I was taught to fear it and drug it and by no means express it. I have been unlearning all that for some years now.

Trauma and Misdiagnosis in Childhood Bipolar Disorder

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Psychology Today offers a psychoanalytic perspective on childhood bipolar disorder that finds trauma at the root, a view that sees Beyond Meds as extending beyond the diagnoses...

I Wonder if There is Some Axis II Going on Here? Further Thoughts on...

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This blog was prompted by an invitation to do a guest post on the site of one of my favorite bloggers, 1 Boring Old Man. This is my response to the notion that there are certain conditions - Schizophrenia among them - that correspond more directly to biomedical conditions

The Sane Society: The Great Philosopher Erich Fromm

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According to philosopher Erich Fromm, the more technologically and intellectually advanced a society becomes, the more the society risks collective insanity, subjecting itself to...

Motherhood: Pride & Recovery

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Researchers at the Rockland Psychiatric Center in New York found that of the 39% of female inpatients who were mothers, the majority reported having...

In Texas, People With Mental Illness Find Work Helping Peers

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From Kaiser Health News: Peer support for people diagnosed with serious mental illness is becoming increasingly common. In places like Texas, where there is a...

I Am “Pro-Healing”

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Yoga helped me explore and reconnect with the body I’d abandoned and abused for years. My pain and sadness had me living exclusively in my mind, my body nothing more than a battleground for my inner wars. Through yoga and meditation, I slowly began to love myself again, learning to treat myself with care and respect. I felt a greater sense of self-awareness, and a sense of connection to something greater. This was a drastic contrast to the days when I felt as if god had forgotten about me, or like I was a mistake not meant for this world.

A Traumatic Experience Can Reshape Your Microbiome

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From Science of Us: A recent study suggests that our guts may harbor evidence of traumatic life experiences many years after the fact, impacting our...

Why There’s Growing Interest in Art By People Diagnosed with Mental Illnesses

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-Artists who have "outsider" ways of thinking and expressing are reportedly becoming more popular with some galleries and collectors.

10 Reasons Survivors Might Know More Medicine Than Psychiatrists

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We've been discussing a potential role for psychiatrists on this site, and I wanted some of the doctors to understand why many mental health...

Over 16,000 Australian Children Prescribed Antipsychotics

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From The Sydney Morning Herald: New data from Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme shows that a total of 16,570 Australian toddlers, children, and teens under 17 were...

Psychics Who Hear Voices Could Be on to Something

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In this piece for The Atlantic, Joseph Frankel compares and contrasts the voice-hearing experiences of self-described psychics and mediums with the experiences of people diagnosed with...

United Nations Statement Criticizes Medicalization of Depression on World Health Day

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"There is a need of a shift in investments in mental health, from focusing on 'chemical imbalances' to focusing on 'power imbalances' and inequalities"

“Financial Conflicts of Interest in Medicine”

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Citing the work of Lisa Cosgrove and Robert Whitaker in Psychiatry Under the Influence, Giovanni A. Fava, MD, provides an analysis of some subtle...

Depression: “Can Mood Science Save Us?”

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The November/December issue of the Psychotherapy Networker is called "Depression Unmasked: Exposing a Hidden Epidemic." It includes articles such as, "Can Mood Science Save...

How to Cope With Social Anxiety Over Thanksgiving

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In this piece for Medical News Today, Jasmin Collier describes five non drug-related ways to cope with social anxiety over the Thanksgiving holiday: preparing in...

Researchers Call for Transparency About Limits of Psychiatric Knowledge

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A new paper explores how the disputed nature of psychiatric knowledge influences public perceptions and debates within the field of mental health.

“Fixing the Brain is Not the New World for Psychiatry”

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Writing on his critical psychiatry blog, Duncan Double critiques Joe Herbert’s piece on “Why can't we treat mental illness by fixing the brain?” in Aeon. While Herbert admits that there is a "mysterious and seemingly unfathomable gap" between psychology and neuroscience, which "bedevils not only psychiatry, but all attempts to understand the meaning of humanity,” he goes on to speculate that someday psychiatrists will be able to relate symptoms to brain activity.