Integrative Mental Health

Based on any data from any country it is clear that we have a problem. Mental illness is on the rise. Researchers in the emerging field of nutritional psychiatry have documented the benefits of micronutrients to treat mental illness, showing that micronutrients help treat depression, stress, anxiety and autism and ADHD. Not a single study shows that the Western diet is good for our mental health. Many questions remain to be answered, but we can make some recommendations.

A new study examines the effects of CBD as an adjunct therapy to antipsychotic medication for patients diagnosed with schizophrenia.

Dr. Dainius Pūras argues that the status quo in mental health treatment is no longer acceptable and demands political action to promote human rights.

BPS releases report encouraging behavioral interventions for people with dementia, rather than antipsychotics

A diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, and fish has repeatedly been found to improve mental health.

The first time I tried to write about peer support—that emerging form of “service delivery” in which one person in recovery from what is described in the field as a “serious mental illness” offers support to another person who is in distress or struggling with a mental health condition—was in 1994. The manuscript was summarily rejected from an academic journal as representing what one of the reviewers described as “unsubstantiated rot.” That same article was eventually published 5 years later, and used by the President’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health to support its recommendation that peer supports be implemented across the country. Now, more than a decade later and as peer support arrives at something of a crossroads, both of these reactions remain instructive.

Psychology can only deal with racial health disparities effectively by incorporating critical race theory and intervening at a structural level.

Group-based MBSR and PCGT therapies effective as a complementary treatment for PTSD.

What meaning do psychological constructs really hold, and how are they operationalized and statistically modeled within psychology research?

A large and rigorous meta-analysis fails to find support for the gene-environment interaction theory of depression.

New understandings of medication and withdrawal experiences warrant rethinking conceptualizations of health and “madness."

An article on contributory injustice describes the clinical and ethical imperative that clinicians listen to service users experiences.

New review ties increased screen time to increasing anxiety and depression among young adults throughout the United States.

Hearing Voices Network self-help groups are an important resource for coping with voice hearing, study finds.

A new randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial has found bright light therapy to be a powerful intervention that could provide an alternative to medication for people with “bipolar depression.”

$24,000 later and no one knew what was wrong with me. They sent me home with a bag of pills. After being in the hospital, I developed a fear and mistrust of doctors. My general practitioner suggested antidepressants. More pills. It was all they could recommend. I wouldn’t take them. My anxiety worsened. I was obsessed with the idea that if I slept, I would die. So, I stayed awake as much as I could. For an entire year, this was how I lived.

A review of CBT research findings raises questions about its status as the “evidence-based” psychotherapy of choice.

Individuals with long-term mental health conditions identify pets as valuable supports in their daily lives.

According to Lifshitz and Thompson, mindfulness is best understood as “complex orchestration of cognitive skills embodied in a particular social context.”

Confronting existential anxiety through “Basal Exposure Therapy” shows promising results in people withdrawing from psychotropic drugs.

We are profoundly social beings living not as isolated individuals but as integral members of interdependent social systems—our nuclear family system, and the broader social systems of extended family, peers, our community and the broader society. Therefore, psychosis and other forms of human distress often deemed “mental illness” are best seen not so much as something intrinsically “wrong” or “diseased” within the particular individual who is most exhibiting that distress, but rather as systemic problems that are merely being channeled through this individual.

Researchers examine the transformation of work, life, and identity in India as a result of Western corporate and psychological culture.

Debate ensues as scholars and policymakers discuss how to bring a rights-based approach to mental health policy.

Structural competency in psychiatry emphasizes the social factors shaping patient presentations and encourages physician advocacy.

New research explores the use of broad-based school-integrated resiliency and mindfulness interventions to prevent mental health concerns before they occur.