Research News

Summaries of research findings that tell of a scientific need to "rethink psychiatry."

Deadly Prescriptions: New Study Links Antipsychotics to Life-Threatening Risks in Dementia Patients

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With pharmaceutical companies pushing antipsychotics for off-label use, dementia patients are being put at risk for devastating health consequences. Research suggests safer alternatives exist—but why aren’t they being prioritized?
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Antidepressant Trials Last Eight Weeks, So Why Do We Take Them for Years?

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The studies are of short duration and are riddled with methodological issues like unblinding and failure to assess withdrawal.

New Study Links Antidepressants to Increased Risk of Diabetes

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Using genetic analysis, a new study finds that antidepressants—not depression—are responsible for a significant rise in type 2 diabetes risk.

Antidepressants No Better Than Placebo for About 85% of People

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Researchers can’t predict the 15% who benefit from antidepressants, and the other 85% are unnecessarily exposed to the harms of the drugs.

New Study Investigates Negative Side Effects of Therapy

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Researchers find that nearly half of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) patients experience treatment side effects.

Involuntary Hospitalization Increases Risk of Suicide, Study Finds

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New study finds that people who felt they were coerced into being hospitalized were more likely to attempt suicide later.
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Animal Study: SSRI Neurotoxic in Pregnancy

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Researchers: Fetal exposure to vilazodone hampers neurodevelopment and leads to "long-lasting neurodevelopmental impairments."

Traditional South African Healers Use Connection in Suicide Prevention

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Study finds that traditional healers in South Africa, whose services are widely used by the country’s population, perform important suicide prevention work.

Study Finds Hearing Voices Groups Improve Social and Emotional Wellbeing

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Hearing Voices Network self-help groups are an important resource for coping with voice hearing, study finds.

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Halves the Risk of Repeated Suicide Attempts

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A new study suggests that cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) may halve the likelihood of re-attempting suicide, for those who have attempted in the past.

Suicide Rates Rise While Antidepressant Use Climbs

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Multiple media sources are reporting on new data from the CDC revealing a substantial increase in the suicide rate in the United States between 1999...

Study Confirms Higher Suicide Risk for Sexual Minority Adolescents

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Researchers report that sexual minority adolescents have considered, planned, and attempted suicide substantially more than their heterosexual peers.

Psychiatry and the Selves We Might Become: An Interview with Sociologist Nikolas Rose

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MIA’s Ayurdhi Dhar interviews the well-known sociologist of medicine, Nikolas Rose, about the role psychiatry plays in shaping how we manage ourselves and our world.

Germanwings Pilot Saw Psychiatrist Three Times, Doubled Antidepressant Before Crash

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The man who deliberately crashed a Germanwings commercial airliner with 150 passengers aboard was actively in psychiatric treatment at the time, reported the New...

Contribution of Antipsychotics to Suicidality and Depression

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Peter Lehmann reviews the contribution of antipsychotics to suicide and depression in schizophrenia in the current International Journal of Psychotherapy.  Publications about the intrinsic effects of...

Lexapro for Children: Drug With No Meaningful Benefit and Increased Suicidality Gets FDA Approval

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Response and remission rates were the same in the drug versus placebo groups, and Lexapro increased suicidality sixfold.

Risk of Suicide After Hospitalization Even Higher Than Previously Estimated

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New analysis of post-discharge suicide rates finds estimates 6 times higher than recent studies.

Smoking Restrictions Linked to Reduced Suicide Rates

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Smoking laws and cigarette taxes have strong links to suicide rates, according to psychiatrists from Washington University in St. Louis. Previous studies have presumed...

Rise in Suicides Baffles Military

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The New York Times reports that the "baffling" rise in suicide rates in the U.S. military is not correlated to deployment, as is often...

Antidepressants Do Not Prevent Suicides, May Increase Risk

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

Dialectical Behavior Therapy Reduces Self-Harm and Suicide Attempts

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A new meta-analysis finds that DBT reduces self-harm, suicide attempts, and reduces the frequency of psychiatric crisis service utilization.

Antidepressants Linked to Lasting Sexual Dysfunction, Study Finds

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New research highlights the challenges in quantifying the prevalence of Post-SSRI Sexual Dysfunction (PSSD), a condition that continues to affect patients long after they stop taking antidepressants.

Overuse of Psychiatric Drugs is Worsening Public Mental Health, Doctor Argues

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A new research article asserts that the overuse of psychiatric drugs may create neurobiological changes that hamper long-term mental health recovery.
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“Ontological Insecurity” May Play A Role in Psychotic Experiences

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In a new study published in the Journal of Clinical Psychology, researchers tested how well “ontological insecurity” predicted psychotic-like experiences (PLEs). They found that...

How Does the Soteria House Heal?

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The alternative treatment model of Soteria helps individuals suffering from schizophrenia without relying on medication or coercion.