“Medication and Female Moods”
Listen: NPR’s On Point with Tom Ashbrook discusses the new book “Moody Bitches: The Truth About the Drugs You’re Taking, The Sleep You’re Missing, the Sex You’re Not Having and What’s Really Making You Crazy,” by the psychiatrist Julie Holland.
The Forced Psychiatric Treatment of a Child
This is my story of forced psychiatric treatment as an eight-year-old girl, from my perspective as an adult mental health professional. Being held down kicking and screaming to be injected with a benzodiazepine is a human rights violation no child should endure for saying no to a pharmaceutical. In hindsight, when I reflect on that day, it feels like a form of child abuse.
The Wellness Epidemic
In this piece for The Cut, Amy Larocca investigates various aspects of the wellness industry, including homeopathy, natural medicine, spiritual exercise classes, and meditation, exploring...
Climate Change, Mental Health and Collective Action: An Interview with Jennifer Freeman
In an interview with MIA's Akansha Vaswani, narrative therapist Jennifer Freeman calls for a shift away from individualistic approaches to 'eco-anxiety' and toward responses that connect us all to a counter-tsunami of action for the planet.
The Original Natural Remedy for Burnout: Nature
From Science of Us: Studies show that spending time in nature has a number of positive effects on mental health, including decreased rumination, reduced depression...
Explorations in “Post-Traumatic Growth”
US News interviews people who've been touched by tragedies, and then found ways to "embrace pain" and experience revelations about their lives followed...
“Is Time Outdoors the Key to Helping Veterans Overcome PTSD?”
Abbie Hausermann, MSW, LICSW, discusses why ecotherapy works for former service members. “The aim of these ecotherapy programs and services is to connect veterans...
Wellbeing Enhanced More by Places Than Objects, Study Finds
From The Guardian: New research suggests that people are more likely to experience feelings of wellbeing, contentment, and belonging from places that evoke positive memories...
When Oregon Sent its Most Troubled Patients Into the Woods
From TIME: In 1972, 51 of the most troubled mental health patients at Oregon State Hospital were sent into the woods for a camping trip....
How Love, Support, and Exercise Build Resilience After Trauma
In this piece for ABC News, Farz Edraki and Lucy Fahey present five stories of people who have recovered from traumatic events through various means,...
“How Meditation, Placebos And Virtual Reality Help Power ‘Mind Over Body’”
NPR’s Fresh Air interview science writer Jo Marchant about her new book “Cure: A Journey into the Science of Mind over Body.” Marchant explores...
Trees and Your Mental Well-being
Trees reduce anxiety, stress and distress, and improve memory and concentration, says an op-ed published in Business Insider that includes links to many other...
Study Explores Correlates of Low-Level Physical Activity and Psychosis
A study examines the variables correlated with low levels of physical activity in persons diagnosed with psychosis in low and middle-income countries
Natural Disasters Have a Serious Impact on Mental Health
From Bustle: Natural disasters often inflict psychological harm on those who experience them, increasing the likelihood of PTSD in survivors. In addition to repairing physical...
Pets Play Central Role in Management of Mental Health Problems
Individuals with long-term mental health conditions identify pets as valuable supports in their daily lives.
Effects of Exercise on Depression Underestimated, Review Finds
A new meta-analysis finds that the large antidepressant effects of exercise may have been underestimated in previous reviews. This latest report, published this month...
Dissolving the Ego: Transcendence and Ecstasy
From Aeon: Experiencing ecstasy and transcendence has long been pathologized and marginalized by Western culture and the psychiatric model of "mental illness." However, ecstatic experiences, including...
Nutrient Supplementation Improves Outcomes for Patients Diagnosed with Schizophrenia
A review article and meta-analysis of 18 articles published in the journal of Psychological Medicine reported effects of vitamin and/or mineral supplements on psychiatric symptoms in people diagnosed with schizophrenia. The study provides evidence of the beneficial effects of taking certain vitamins and minerals for improving symptoms associated with schizophrenia.
More Physical Activity-Based Mental Health Interventions Needed in Schools
What physical activity-based programs are being implemented in schools, how are they being researched, and what kind of impact have they made?
Is The Microbiome our Puppeteer?
“My message today is that your state of gut will affect your state of mind. To have a healthy brain, we may need a...
Are Depression Guidelines Missing the Evidence for Exercise?
A recent review suggests that depression guidelines do not incorporate evidence for exercise within a stepped-care approach and may be over-reliant on pharmacological treatments.
Philosophers Challenge Psychiatry and its Search for Mechanisms of Disorder
Attempting to locate the mechanisms of psychiatric disorder is a step in the wrong direction and fails to challenge potentially unjust social practices.
“The Feeling That Expands Time and Increases Well-Being”
PsyBlog presents research on the experience of awe. “That jaw-dropping moment when coming across something surprising, powerful, beautiful or even sublime can have a transformative effect, they find.”
Inner Fire: Healing and Recovery Without Meds
For five years, I and others worked to create a residential healing community in Brookline, Vermont, where people could recover from debilitating and traumatic life experiences, which often lead to addiction and mental health challenges, without the use of psychotropic medications. We welcomed our first six seekers to a yearlong, therapeutic and farm-based, day program last September, and we now can report on what we have learned during this time.
The Role of Pets in Supporting People Living with Mental Distress
From The Mental Elf: Recent research confirms what many animal lovers already know - that pets can play a major role in improving people's mental...
