RAISE Study Out Of Sync With Media Reports

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Writing on his 1 Boring Old Man blog, Dr. Mickey Nardo reflects on the media frenzy around the RAISE study and asks why the prescription data has not been released. He adds skepticism about the political motives of the potentially overblown results, which he sees as a clear push for increased mental health funding.

Time Spent in Green Places Linked With Longer Life in Women

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From Harvard Health Blog: A 2016 analysis found that women living in areas with higher levels of green vegetation had lower rates of mortality. Spending time...

This is Why Today’s Young Men Feel So Lonely

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In this piece for The Times, Josh Glancy reflects on the difficulty that many men experience in forming meaningful friendships, finding community, and building emotional...

Federal Regulators Urge Cuts in Antipsychotics for Seniors

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An Office of the Inspector General report says that nearly nine out of 10 prescriptions for antipsychotics given to Medicare beneficiaries are for unapproved uses....

Vail Place Focuses on Collective Work for Mental Health

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Minn Post did a feature story last week on Vail Place, an alternative mental health treatment center run on a community “clubhouse” model where the nearly 900 members and staff work side by side to run the center’s activities. Vail Place was founded in Hopkins, Minnesota in the early eighties by mental health activists and family members as a community for psychosocial rehabilitation. “The work isn’t therapy,” a member explains. “It’s growth. It’s ‘I cans’ rather than ‘I can'ts.’ And that’s important for mental health and survival.”

Reading the Bible Through Neuroscience

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In this interview for The Atlantic, James Kugel speculates on the minds and experiences of ancient prophets through a neuroscientific lens, exploring how biblical people's sense of...

Book Review: Psychiatry Reconsidered

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Hugh Middleton, MD, Associate Professor at the School of Sociology and Social Policy, University of Nottingham, and NHS Consultant Psychiatrist, Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust has written an interesting and worthwhile book, “Psychiatry Reconsidered, From Medical Treatment to Supportive Understanding.” Dr. Middleton is co-founder of the Critical Psychiatry Network and this book could serve as the foundational textbook for our field. As his academic appointment would suggest, he has a decidedly social perspective on the kinds of problems that bring many people to a psychiatrist’s attention, but in this book he offers eloquent discussions of many perspectives that inform our field. It is remarkable that in this 200 page text, he is able to cover so many topics – diagnosis, pharmacotherapy, schools of psychotherapy - with such clarity.

Med Free Or Working On It

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A website for "survivors of medical abuse, through psychiatric drugs and other medications, and are looking for healthy ways to support our minds and...

Is Mental Illness Real?

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From The Guardian: Conceptualizing emotional distress or suffering as the result of a biological, genetic illness may be stigmatizing and inaccurate, and may lead to...

How Online Forums Offered ‘Lifeline’ for Sufferers

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From The Times: In an age in which benzodiazepine dependence is increasingly becoming a global problem, online forums serve as a lifeline for numerous benzodiazepine...

Fighting for the RLCs Continued: Where’s the Evidence?

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The Western Mass Recovery Learning Community (along with the five other RLCs across the state of Massachusetts) remains in jeopardy of a 50% slash to our budget that would go into effect July 1, 2015 should it come to pass. As noted in my previous post (Peer Supports Under Siege), the proposed reduction was introduced by Governor Charlie Baker in early March. However, there are many hoops to jump through and so we’ll remain in budget limbo for some time to come while the House and Senate draw up their own recommendations and then everyone comes together to make a final call.

“Helping Others Dampens the Effects of Everyday Stress”

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"The holiday season can be a very stressful time, so think about giving directions, asking someone if they need help, or holding that elevator...

Difficult Decisions About Antidepressants

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In this piece for Research with Plymouth University, Richard Byng discusses the difficulty that both doctors and patients experience in discerning the effectiveness of antidepressants in...

“A Revolutionary Approach to Treating PTSD”

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The New York Times Profiles Bessel van der Kolk, and the controversial approaches to working with trauma, such as yoga and "tapping," that he...

“Culturally Specific Treatment Center Knows That One Approach Doesn’t Work for All”

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"What was going on inside Turning Point was an experiment: a community-based treatment center designed to serve low-income African-Americans. After a few bumpy early...

“How People Learn to Become Resilient”

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In the New Yorker, Maria Konnikova delves into the research on why some people are able to adapt and overcome adversity, trauma, and poverty...

Call For Abstracts: Philosophical Perspectives on Critical Psychiatry

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The Association for Advancement in Philosophy and Psychiatry is issuing a call for abstracts, with a particular interest in submissions from service users. The...

Seroxat (Paxil) & SSRI User Group

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The Seroxat & SSRI User Group was founded to support and advise patients experiencing problems with Seroxat (Paxil). This English-based group offers information, forums,...

Here’s How to Beat Anxiety Without Medication

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From The Independent: The medication that is frequently prescribed to treat anxiety often does not work in the long-term. According to a new study, a variety...

A Lazy Person’s Guide to Happiness

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From The Atlantic: According to author Dan Buettner, who studies the healthiest people in the world, improving our surrounding environment has a much greater impact...

How Our Ancestors’ Trauma May Influence Who We Are

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In this blog post, Dale M. Kushner explains how the field of epigenetics can illustrate the role of ancestral and transgenerational trauma in shaping our...

Talking Over Fences: Why I Am Helping to Organize Community Dialogues on Mental Health

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I understand that some people are staunchly opposed to public mental health services, and I understand why. However, millions of people reach out to these organizations and agencies for assistance in getting through difficult times. It is common knowledge that the “help” they get is not always helpful, but I have known a few people who found the support they were looking for and, let’s face it, until there are widely available and accessible alternatives that people are able to turn to, many people who are struggling reach out to public and private providers for help. Some people call me naïve because I have faith in the human capacity to make good choices, when given the opportunity and presented with evidence that supports a decision that is informed not only by data, but by recognition of their potential to be a force of healing and justice in the world.

Mad In America Film Festival In The News

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Boston.com has published an article about the Mad In America Film Festival, running through this weekend in Medford, Massachusetts. "Making people rethink psychiatry —...

“Saving Minds Along With Souls”

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Tanya Luhrmann writes in the NY Times about Pastor Rick Warren's effort to "get the church directly involved with the care of people with...

The Mouse That Roared: CIAD & Friends vs. the State of New York

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If you log onto the website of the New York State Office of Mental Health at www.omh.ny.gov, you’ll find out that less than three...