Corrupt Pharma Execs Could Soon Face Jail in Canada
Pharmaceutical industry executives who mislead the public could soon face fines of up to $5 million or two years in jail in Canada. According...
Brain Response to Antidepressant Mirrors Placebo Effect
People diagnosed with severe depression show the same changes in brain scans when they respond to a placebo as they do when they take an actual antidepressant, according to a new study. Researchers also found that those whose symptoms were decreased by a placebo were more likely to report relief from antidepressant drugs.
Corrupted Drug Trials Frequently Found, But Facts Hidden from Journals, Public
The US Food and Drug Administration frequently uncovers evidence of improper conduct in drug trials, but they are almost never mentioned in the medical journals that subsequently publish the findings.
In-school Exercise a Help for Attention Deficits
Researcher Michele Tine of Dartmouth College’s Poverty and Learning Lab reports in the journal Frontiers in Psychology that 12 minutes of aerobic exercise caused...
Long-term Usage of ADHD Drugs Linked to Growth Suppression
Findings suggest that treatment not only fails to reduce the severity of “ADHD” symptoms in adulthood but is associated with decreased height.
Nightmares in Childhood Associated With Later Psychosis
Children who reported experiencing frequent nightmares between 2.5 and 9 years of age were significantly more likely to report psychotic experiences at age 12, regardless...
Researchers Make the Case to Rename Schizophrenia
The authors outline reasons for renaming schizophrenia and the way a change can reform practice.
Global Pharmaceutical Industry Fined $11 Billion in Three Years
Although the global pharmaceutical industry racked up $11 billion in fines in the last three years, "Companies might well view such fines as a...
Psychosis is Not Unique to Schizophrenia
In a sample of 3021 adolescents and young adults with anxiety or depression, Dutch researchers found that 27% also had one or more psychotic symptoms.
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Arkansas AG Seeks to Reinstate $1.2B Risperdal Verdict
Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel announced yesterday he will ask the state Supreme Court to reconsider its decision to toss out the $q.2 billion...
New Study Finds That Lavender Extract Eases Anxiety
A new study in Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience has found that the smell of lavender extract has an anxiolytic effect.
Seniors More Likely to Get Psych Meds, Less Likely to See Psychiatrists or Therapists
Seniors are twice as likely to receive psychotropic prescriptions than younger adults but are much less likely to receive mental health care from psychiatrists or to receive psychotherapy, according to a recent study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. "Our findings suggest that psychotropic medication use is widespread among older adults in outpatient care, at a far higher rate than among younger patients," the study’s lead author Dr. Maust said in a press release. “In many cases, especially for milder depression and anxiety, the safer treatment for older adults who are already taking multiple medications for other conditions might be more therapy-oriented, but very few older adults receive this sort of care."
Elderly With Dementia can be Withdrawn From Antipsychotics
The Cochrane Library reports that "many older people with Alzheimer's dementia and NPS (neuropsychiatric symptoms) can be withdrawn from chronic antipsychotic medication without detrimental effects...
Antidepressant Withdrawal: A Psychiatrist’s 30-Year Challenge to Conventional Wisdom
For thirty years, Dr. Giovanni Fava has sounded the alarm on the long-term effects of antidepressants and the risks of withdrawal, pushing back against pharmaceutical narratives.
No Long-Term Efficacy For A.D.D. Medication
L. Alan Sroufe, emeritus professor of psychology at the University of Minnesota, writes in the New York Times Sunday Review that there is no...
Two Thirds of Patients See Physicians Who Receive Payments From Pharma
Study finds more patients are visiting physicians who have ties to industry than previously thought.
“Sluggish Cognitive Tempo” is the New ADHD
"Some powerful figures in mental health," according to today's New York Times, "are claiming to have identified a new disorder that could vastly expand the...
Emotional Child Abuse Just as Harmful as Physical Abuse
Different types of child abuse have equivalent psychological effects, according to a study in JAMA Psychiatry. It has previously been assumed that emotional and verbal abuse could have different or less harmful impact on a child’s psychology than physical or sexual abuse, but research now suggests that these forms of abuse can be just as damaging.
People With Schizophrenia Diagnoses Actually Do Listen
Contrary to the hypothesis that delusional beliefs in schizophrenia are a persistent general deficit, patients using a well-documented advice-taking task revise their beliefs, taking...
Quitting Smoking May Help with Depression
A new study suggests that smoking cessation is related to depressive symptom improvement, but that depression may also make it harder to quit.
Zoloft Causes Cells to Eat Themselves
Researchers at Princeton found that Zoloft accumulates in yeast cells, leading to curvature of the cellular membrane that triggers "autophagy," wherein cells eat themselves...
The Evidence-Based Long-Term Treatment for Depression
While antidepressants are the most commonly used long-term treatment for depression, the efficacy of these drugs after one year is unknown. In a commentary for The Lancet, psychiatrists Rudolf Uher and Barbara Pavlova suggest that cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) now has the most substantial body of evidence for long-term treatment for major depressive disorder.
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.
Taking “Holidays” from ADHD Drugs Helps Prevent Growth Retardation in Children
It's common for children and adolescents to take prolonged "drug holidays" from their ADHD medications during summer months away from school, and there appear...
Criticism of the DSM Goes Mainstream
Criticism of the upcoming revision of the DSM has gone mainstream, with Forbes Magazine weighing in on the economics of medicalizing grief, and Fox News questioning the...