Who Gets to Define âPeer Support?â
The definition of âpeer supportâ should be straightforward. But over the years, âpeer supportâ seems to have morphed into âpeer specialistâ â or, to put it more bluntly, psychiatric survivorsâ experiential knowledge has been co-opted by the system. How does peer-developed peer support differ from the peer staff model? And what can we do about this?
Study Finds Heavy Metal Music Beneficial to Mental Health
A new study highlights the role heavy metal music plays in the mental health of adolescents facing adversity.
How Online Forums Offered ‘Lifeline’ for Sufferers
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...
5 Ways to Address a Mental Health Crisis Without Calling 911
From The Body Is Not An Apology: For many people, calling the police during a mental health emergency can result in brutality. Here are five...
Challenging the Relentless Rise of Depression in Young People
In this piece, Dave Traxson discusses the social and cultural factors contributing to the rise of depression among young people in Britain, arguing that...
Study Investigates Factors that Foster Posttraumatic Growth in Prison
Emotional support, religion, and searching for meaning are positively correlated with posttraumatic growth among prisoners.
Psychiatrist Calls for Increased Attention to Therapeutic Alliance
Sandra Steingard, writing in the journal Psychiatric Services, reviews a recent article finding that the quality of the therapeutic relationship impacts the efficacy of medication treatment.
Interventions that Promote Disclosure Among Voice-Hearers
The perspectives of the voice-hearers featured in the research underscore that stigma and negative perceptions of voice hearing present significant obstacles within early intervention programs.
Social Recovery Therapy for First Episode Psychosis
Social Recovery Therapy shows promising results for individuals who experience first-episode psychosis.
Students With Mental Health Conditions Find Support at BU
From STAT: For the past three years, Boston University has offered one of the few programs in the nation dedicated to teaching students who have...
How Psychology Undermines Feminist Activism
In this piece for the Feminist Current, Tove Happonen argues that the therapy model pathologizes women's responses to systemic injustice, aiming to change their emotional reactions...
Researchers Present Structural Competency Training Model for Psychiatrists
Researchers argue that a structural competency and social determinants of health approach must be made central to psychiatry training.
It’s Time for Full Legal Equality for People With Diagnoses
In this piece for the National Survivor User Network, Liz Sayce argues that people with mental health conditions will continue to stay silent about their...
Human Connection is the Antidote to a Culture of Isolation
We need to burn through some darkness before we collectively see the light. The light is a palpable shift toward reaching for human connection; toward opening our hearts and our minds and intentionally focusing on the positive future that wants to emerge.
How Loneliness Affects Our Health
From The New York Times: The potentially harmful impact of loneliness and isolation on our health and well-being have been well documented over the past...
Mad Pride: Making a Truce With the Voices in Your Head
In this piece for Vice, Tess McClure describes New Zealand's Mad Pride movement, a movement that seeks to destigmatize, normalize, and celebrate experiences of voice-hearing...
When the Mad Research the Mad
In this piece for Asylum Magazine, Sue Phillips, Penny Stafford, and Shirley Anne Collie discuss their involvement in a participatory action research project evaluating the...
Anyone Can Be Trained to Hallucinate
From Flipboard: In a recent study on auditory hallucinations, all participants â not just those who had been diagnosed with psychosis â experienced conditioned hallucinations. The study...
The Club Where You Bare Your Soul to Strangers
From The Atlantic: A new movement called Authentic Relating is hosting events across the country where people participate in exercises and games to learn the...
Study Challenges Assumption that Schizophrenia Impairs Cognitive Ability
Secondary factors may impair performance on cognitive tasks, making it difficult for individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia to perform to the best of their ability.
Screen Time Linked to Increased Depressive Symptoms Among Teens
New study examines how increased screen time and social media may be contributing to depressive symptoms and suicide risk in teens
A Lazy Person’s Guide to Happiness
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...
Inside Croatia’s Pioneering Mental Health Center
From The Guardian: The oldest asylum in the Balkans has now been transformed into an unlocked mental health center. The patients have begun living in...
The Link Between Poor Mental Health and Low Income
From Metro: Poverty can have a dramatic effect on people's mental and physical health, as it can impact diet, healthcare access, sleep, and socialization.
"There are plenty...
Review Reinforces Social Connection as Protective Health Factor
Is a lack of social connection in the US harmful to health? In a review of social connection and health literature, researcher calls for a societal shift in values towards interdependence.
