BPS Hosts ‘Beyond Psychiatric Diagnosis’ Legal Event

3
The British Psychological Society (BPS) is hosting a free event aimed at the legal community and politicians on the controversy around the use of...

In Honor of Fear and Pain

10
Our use of antidepressants has turned single-episode struggles that recovered 85% of the time within one year, never to recur, into chronic and debilitating disorders that hold patients hostage in their own arrested development. But, If you are in the hole of pain, here’s what I have to say to you. It’s what I say to my patients, and what I tell myself in times of struggle.

“The Unfulfilled Promise of the Antidepressant Medications”

7
A new article in The Medical Journal of Australia laments that, while antidepressant use continues to climb, the research evidence shows that their effectiveness...

Do We Really Need Mental Health Professionals?

138
Professionals across the Western world, from a range of disciplines, earn their livings by offering services to reduce the misery and suffering of the people who seek their help. Do these paid helpers represent a fundamental force for healing, facilitating the recovery journeys of people with mental health problems, or are they a substantial part of the problem by maintaining our modestly effective and often damaging system?

Interview: Researchers Deconstruct Ghostwritten Industry Trial for Antidepressant

3
Researchers, Jon Jureidini, Jay Amsterdam and Leemon McHenry, have taken a closer look at the data from a randomized control trial of citalopram (Celexa) that was ghostwritten and then used by the manufacturers to support claims of the drug’s efficacy and safety in the treatment of child and adolescent depression. To get the background on this story, we connected with Dr. Leemon McHenry, an investigator in this study and a lecturer in philosophy at California State University, Northridge.

Truth and Reconciliation: An Evening of Sharing and Healing

8
On Wednesday, March 20, 2016, Rethinking Psychiatry collaborated with The M.O.M.S. Movement and The Icarus Project to host our first Truth and Reconciliation Circle for Receivers and Givers of Psychiatric and Mental Health Services. In this three-hour event, both receivers and givers of psychiatric and mental health services expressed their thoughts and feelings in a structured, facilitated environment.

Report from the Parliament: Can Psychiatry At Least Be Curious?

47
In the past six years, I have had the opportunity to speak at several conferences or meetings that I felt had particular potential to stir some political activity that would challenge current psychiatric practices, and one of those events was the meeting convened in the U.K.’s Parliament on May 11th, which had this title for the day: Rising Prescriptions, Rising Mental Health Disability: Is There a Link?

Antidepressants Do Not Prevent Suicides, May Increase Risk

9
When the CDC released data revealing an increasing suicide rate in the US, some experts, speaking to major media outlets, speculated that the increase...

“Constructing the Modern Mind”

0
Psychiatrist and historian George Makari tries to illuminate the historical evolution of our understanding of the conscious mind and how it relates to the...

“What Are Delusions – And How Best Can We Treat Them?”

6
For The Conversation, psychologist John Done, from the University of Hertfordshire, explains his approach to discussing delusions with his patients. Done recommends more qualitative...

“The Psychology of Time and the Paradox of How Impulsivity and Self-Control Mediate Our...

0
From brainpickings, Maria Popova explores “how our subjective experience of time’s passage shapes everything from our emotional memory to our sense of self.” “What...

Psych Patients Who Resist Stigma Do Better

16
A new study in press in the Journal of Schizophrenia Research finds that patients who actively resist the negative stigma associated with mental health...

“Politicians and Experts Meet at Parliament to Explore Record Antidepressant Prescribing and Disability”

1
The All-Party Parliamentary Group for Prescribed Drug Dependence is meeting today, May 11th, to discuss evidence of the link between the rise in disability...

“fMRI and False Positives: A Basic Flaw?”

0
For Discover Magazine, Neuroskeptic covers the pioneering work of Anders Eklund, which points to flaws in the analysis of psychiatric and neurological research using...

“The New Eugenics: Why Genetic Theories of Mental Illness and Addiction Are a Damaging...

3
For The Influence, addiction expert Stanton Peele criticizes our current genetic and biological “brain disease” approaches to addiction and mental health. Article →

“CDC Warns that Americans May be Overmedicating Youngest Children with ADHD”

5
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released new data indicating that as many as 75% of young children who are diagnosed with...

“Can Personality Traits Affect Use of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction?”

0
A new article in The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine finds that MBSR, which combines yoga, meditation, and body scanning, may be especially...

“Medical Error—The Third Leading Cause of Death in the US”

3
In this podcast from the BMJ talk medicine series, researchers discuss their finding that medical error is the third leading cause of death in...

Mindfulness Therapy Can Prevent Depression Relapse, Review Finds

0
Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) may be more effective at reducing the risk of depressive relapse compared to current standard treatments with antidepressant drugs. A...

“Bullied Children Need Support Not Antidepressants”

0
Nick Harrop, a campaign manager at YoungMinds, supporting young people’s mental health and wellbeing, said antidepressants for children should never be the only course of action....

Group Mindfulness Shows Promise Reducing Depression Associated with Hearing Voices

10
A new study out of Kings College London found that twelve sessions of a group mindfulness-based therapy relieved distress associated with hearing voices while reducing depression over the long-term. The person-based cognitive therapy (PBCT) intervention had significant effects on depression, voice distress, voice controllability and overall recovery.

“World Benzo Awareness Day, First Step To End Global Dependency Woes”

3
“In a bid to raise awareness towards the global epidemic of abuse on Benzodiazepine or ‘benzos’ abuse, a global campaign dubbed as World Benzo Awareness...

“Depression Relapse Prevention with Mindfulness Therapy ‘On Par’ with Drugs, Review Shows”

3
A new review finds that mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) can help stave off recurring depression as effectively as antidepressants. People suffering from depression who...

Lancet Editorial Points to “Trouble with Psychiatry Trials”

4
While clinical trials make up the “bedrock of evidence-based medicine” in other specialties, psychiatry faces a number of both ethical and scientific problems related to its use of randomized control trials. According to a new editorial in The Lancet Psychiatry, the field of psychiatry research has particular problems with ethical issues in recruitment, inaccurate classification systems, and controversial placebo comparisons, and then, once the studies are finished, it often remains unclear what the “outcomes actually mean for people’s lives.”

“Why So Many Smart People Aren’t Happy”

2
The Atlantic interviews Raj Raghunathan about his new book, If You’re So Smart, Why Aren’t You Happy? “If you were to go back to the...