Elder Eyes Wide Shut
There is no universal moral code: Elder law and the injustice and inhumane practice of legal guardianship are a calculated effort by the court, the attorneys, and the healthcare system.
Q&A: My Child Is Self-Harming. How Can I Help?
I walked in on my teenaged daughter cutting her upper leg with a razor. I have also noticed multiple cuts and what look like cigarette burns on her wrists and torso. She’s always made excuses about them, but now I realize she has been self-harming for a while. She swears she isn’t suicidal. What’s this all about, and what can I do?
What If This Pandemic Is the Best Thing to Happen to Children with Challenges?
Families may be worried that the stress of lockdown may aggravate their child’s struggles. Yet, we hear some parents say the situation has changed their child for the better. Why might that be? In this interview, Dr. Nicole Beurkens talks about the impact of “quarantine life” on children with different types of behavioral, emotional, and neurodevelopmental challenges.
Countervailing Forces Against Ritalin Use in France
A new study in the journal Social Science and Medicine explores why French children take stimulants far less than children in the United States. The study looks at how particular forces in society, in concert with government agencies, became an effective check on stimulant marketing for kids in France.
“Virtual Autism” May Explain Explosive Rise in ASD Diagnoses
New clinical case studies have found that many young children who spend too much screen time—on TV’s, video games, tablets and computers—have symptoms labeled as “autism.” When parents take away the screens for a few months the child’s symptoms disappear.
Lois Holzman, PhD – Short Bio
How To Get Psychology Out Of Our Lives: Lois takes a practical-critical approach to exposing how the biases of psychology permeate our everyday lives—by...
Why Are the Youngest Children in a Classroom Diagnosed with ADHD?
A new article examines the implications of relative age on the ADHD diagnosis.
NIMH’s It-girls: The Genain Quadruplets and the Whiteness of Psychiatry
The poster-children of psychiatric genetics, who endured abuse throughout their lives, were also the product of a racist culture.
Mindfulness in Schools Does Not Improve Mental Health, Study Finds
From The Guardian: Students who engaged with the meditation practice benefitted but many were bored by it, say researchers in the UK.
Emotional Crisis Response: The Peer-Run Respite/Soteria House Approach Compared to the Conventional Approach
The peer respite/Soteria house model responds to emotional crisis with compassion and curiosity, rather than pathologizing.
Allowing Human Nature to Work Successfully | Jean Liedloff
From ContinuumConcept.org: In her book The Continuum Concept, Jean Liedloff argued that the psychosocial ills of modern society result from our misconception of human nature as something inherently bad or problematic.
Maria Bradshaw – Short Bio
DelusionNZ: Maria Bradshaw, who currently lives in County Wicklow, Ireland, writes of social models of suicide prevention, pharmacovigilance, and alternatives to psychiatric interventions for...
Lawsuit Over Teen’s Diagnosis, Treatment Heads to Trial
From AP: The suit was brought against Boston Children's Hospital by the parents of Justina Pelletier, who in 2013 was placed into state custody after a dispute over her diagnosis and put in a psychiatric unit.
Dan Kriegman, PhD – Short Bio
The Politics of Diagnosis and Treatment - An Evolutionary Biological View: A practicing clinical psychologist, Dan Kriegman explores the negotiation of conflicting realities that...
Jan Haaken, PhD – Op-Ed Bio
Jan Haaken is professor emeritus of psychology at Portland State University, a clinical psychologist in private practice, and documentary filmmaker. Haaken has published extensively...
‘Toxic Culture’ of Abuse at Mental Health ‘Hospital’ Revealed by BBC Secret Filming
From the BBC: Humiliated, abused and isolated for weeks - patients are being harmed due to a 'toxic culture' at one of the UK's biggest mental health 'hospitals.'
Paula Caplan, PhD – Short Bio
Paula J. Caplan, PhD, is a clinical and research psychologist, activist, Associate at the DuBois Institute, Harvard University, and the author of 11 books,...
Facebook Documents Show How Toxic Instagram Is for Teens, WSJ Reports
From CNBC: Facebook has repeatedly found that its Instagram app is harmful to a number of young people - the demographic that makes up over 40% of its user base. The company is also working on a version of Instagram for kids.
The Diseasing of Defiance
Is every defiant child a freedom fighter? Of course not. Disrupting your fourth grade class is not the same as embarking on the underground railway. But is oppositional defiant disorder a label meant to subjugate and to serve the needs of the authorities? Yes, absolutely.
The Pandemic Will Haunt Today’s Children Forever
From The Washington Post: Stress during this vulnerable period can be especially damaging to children who already have accumulated trauma in their lives.
Kjetil Mellingen – Short Bio
Seeing the Positive in the Negative: Kjetil Mellingen is a clinical psychologist working in an anxiety and OCD clinic at the University of Oslo,...
Q&A: Dad Is Coercing Son to Get Off Meds
My son was diagnosed with schizophrenia five years ago and now lives in a residential facility with a holistic treatment approach. However, his father has repeatedly and aggressively tried to coerce him to get off medication. My son and his provider have repeatedly asked him to stop, and the stress of his father’s pressure is setting him back. What should we do?
This Teen Was Prescribed 10 Psychiatric Drugs. She’s Not Alone.
From The New York Times: The problem of multiple medication use, or polypharmacy, that first emerged a decade ago among young people in foster care and low-income settings, has now gone mainstream.
Johann Hari: Lost Connections
An interview with journalist and author Johann Hari about his latest book: Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real causes of Depression and the Unexpected Solutions, in which he learned that almost everything we have been told about depression and anxiety is wrong.
Short Bio – Short Bio
Get Off Prescription Drugs: Psychotherapist Elliot Goldberg writes about his experiences running an outpatient rehab program that helps people get off prescription drugs, and...
