Are Drug Side Effects Driving Depression Rates?
A new study finds that more than a third of Americans are taking prescription drugs that can cause depressive symptoms as a side-effect.
“Substantial” Relapse After ECT, With or Without Medication
The Journal of ECT, looking at the question of whether antidepressant medications at the start of ECT reduced post-ECT relapse in a sample of...
“Psych Drug Link to Violent Episodes Analysed”
The Irish Examiner reports on research by Yolande Lucire connecting antidepressant-induced akathisia to violent episodes. The research concludes that the “medicalisation of common human...
Depressed Patients on Antidepressants Do Worse in the Long Run
From Medical Xpress: A new analysis of the long-term effects of antidepressants found that symptoms of depression were more sharply elevated nine years following treatment...
Existential Therapy Assists Patients Withdrawing From Psychiatric Drugs
Confronting existential anxiety through “Basal Exposure Therapy” shows promising results in people withdrawing from psychotropic drugs.
GSK to Face Lawsuits Over Antidepressant Paxil and Birth Defects
The antidepressant Paxil has been linked to birth defects. "An Ohio federal judge on Wednesday ruled that GlaxoSmithKline must face a product liability suit brought by a woman whose child was born with heart defects after she took the antidepressant Paxil during her pregnancy, ruling that she had successfully pled fraud."
Therapy Gets More Effective Over Time While Antidepressants Decrease in Effectiveness
New review of long-term depression data finds psychotherapy more effective over time whereas antidepressants decrease in effectiveness.
More Bogus Conclusions From More Bogus Research
The FDA's black box warnings on antidepressants, which incidentally were long overdue, had a negative impact on pharma-psychiatry's image, and on their business, but had no negative impact on client welfare. Nevertheless, psychiatry continues to resist the reality that their sacred drugs do in fact cause harm, and that the FDA warnings were needed. For psychiatry, business and professional status routinely trump client welfare.
2X Risk of Postpartum Hemorrhage Antidepressants
A study of 106,000 pregnant women with a diagnosis of mood or anxiety disorder, by researchers from Harvard, Duke, Michigan State and the university...
FDA: New Depression Drug “Not Approvable”
Gepirone, a new depression drug by Fabre-Kramer Pharmaceuticals, did not meet the FDAs efficacy standards. The new drug application for gepirone has now received...
Latest Antidepressant a Case Study in Institutional Corruption
A new study tracks the approval of the latest antidepressant, vortioxetine, by the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA). The...
The Demoralized Mind
From openDemocracy: The distress, boredom, and disillusionment so commonly diagnosed as depression may actually result from the demoralization people experience in consumerist cultures. Large-scale cultural change,...
More Evidence Antidepressants Might Induce Sexual Dysfunction Even After Stopping Them
A retrospective study in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry examined cases of people who suffered sexual dysfunction that endured even after stopping taking SSRI antidepressants.
Videos from Trial Over Generic Paxil-Induced Suicide
The trial of Dolin v. GlaxoSmithKline over the alleged paroxetine-induced suicide of Stewart Dolin recently began. Click the following links for video depositions of...
Antidepressant Use Linked to Dementia
A new study finds that elderly individuals using antidepressants are at significantly higher risk for dementia compared to depressed individuals who did not take the drugs.
The Long-term Consequences of Antidepressant Use: An Interview with Michael Hengartner
Researchers at the University of Zurich, led by Michael Hengartner, recently reported that antidepressant use was associated with worse outcomes in patients followed over 30 years. Here Hengartner provides more information about the study methodology and their findings.
Could ‘Treatment Resistance’ be an Effect of Antidepressants?
Previously taking antidepressants could make individuals less likely to respond to treatment for bipolar II depression.
Living Alone Nearly Doubles Antidepressant Use
Finnish researchers found that in a study of 3471 men and women, those living alone were almost twice as likely to use an antidepressant....
Two Years Tapering an Antidepressant – A Life-Changing Experience That I Didn’t Want
My heart goes out to anyone experiencing withdrawal, but especially those who are so ill they can’t work and are struggling to navigate a heartless and cynical ‘benefits’ system. Their only crime is to have experienced difficulty from a prescribed treatment, yet they are treated as medical pariahs.
Freud in the Scanner: A Revival of Interest in Introspection
From Aeon: For the past several decades, mainstream mental health professionals as well as the general public have dismissed Freud's ideas, turning instead to neuroscience...
“The Drugs Don’t Work: a Modern Medical Scandal”
Ben Goldacre reflects on his having been mislead as a psychiatrist in his forthcoming book Bad Pharma (excerpted here in the U.K. newspaper The Guardian), and...
Majority of Pediatric Antidepressant Industry Trials Considered Low Quality
Meta-analyses including studies that detail these trials could be presenting misleading information.
Peter Breggin Testifies for the “Zoloft Defense”
Dr. Peter Breggin, acting as an expert witness for the defense in former police officer Anthony Orban's California trial for kidnapping and rape, testified...
American Woman
On Thursday, May 31, 2001, a woman whose name is known only to GlaxoSmithKline emailed the company:
"My name is... I was diagnosed with panic...
Going Off My Meds Gave Me Rage Attacks
In this piece for Glamour, Suzannah Weiss tells her story of SSRI withdrawal, which resulted in intense rage attacks for six months after discontinuation and...
