Research News

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

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.

Psychiatric Drugs Do Not Improve Disease or Reduce Mortality

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Nassir Ghaemi: “Most psychiatric medications are purely symptomatic, with no known or proven effect on the underlying disease. They are like 50 variations of aspirin, used for fever or headache, rather than drugs that treat the causes of fever or headache.”

Systemic Violence and the Mental Health Industrial Complex

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A recent paper, by Dr. Eric Greene, builds upon critiques of the biomedical model and illustrates how the mental health industrial complex overmedicates, stigmatizes,...

What Is the Risk of Permanent Sexual Dysfunction from Antidepressants?

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Males taking antidepressants were at 100 times the risk of erectile dysfunction compared with the healthy population and more than three times the risk even after controlling for other variables.

For People “At Risk for Psychosis,” Antipsychotics Associated with Worse Outcomes

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Researchers studied whether antipsychotics could prevent transition to full psychosis and found that the drugs worsened outcomes.

New Study Concludes that Antidepressants are “Largely Ineffective and Potentially Harmful”

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A new study published in Frontiers in Psychiatry concludes that “antidepressants are largely ineffective and potentially harmful.”

Study Confirms Overdiagnosis of ADHD in Children and Teens

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Medical researchers present evidence that ADHD is overdiagnosed in children and teens, which can lead to significant harm.

Mental Health Concerns Not “Brain Disorders,” Say Researchers

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The latest issue of the journal Behavioral and Brain Sciences features several prominent researchers arguing that mental health concerns are not “brain disorders.”

Bridging Critical and Conceptual Psychiatry: An Interview with Awais Aftab

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MIA’s Justin Karter interviews psychiatrist Awais Aftab about how “conceptual competence” uses philosophy to transform psychiatry.

Developing Alternatives to the DSM for Psychotherapists

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A new article suggests counselors and psychotherapists are dissatisfied with current diagnostic systems and outlines some potential alternatives.

Is Long-term Use of Benzodiazepines a Risk for Cancer?

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A large study of the population in Taiwan reveals that long-term use of benzodiazepine drugs, commonly prescribed for anxiety, significantly increases the risk for brain, colorectal, and lung cancers. The research, published open-access in the journal Medicine, also identifies the types of benzodiazepines that carry the greatest cancer risk.
3D render of placebo pills isolated over wood background

Placebo Effect—Not Antidepressants—Responsible for Depression Improvement

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In adolescent depression treatment, those who received a placebo but thought they received Prozac improved more than those who received the drug and knew it.

Addressing the Roots of Racial Trauma: An Interview with Psychologist Lillian Comas-Díaz

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MIA’s Hannah Emerson interviews Comas-Díaz on the need for culturally competent care in a medicalized and individualistic society.

When Healing Looks Like Justice: An Interview with Harvard Psychologist Joseph Gone

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MIA’s Ayurdhi Dhar interviews Joseph Gone about how a history of dispossession, conquest, and colonization shapes mental health outcomes in Native American communities.

New Data Supports Acupuncture as a Treatment for Depression

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Researchers found acupuncture effective in the treatment of chronic pain and depression

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.

Vitamin B6 Effective in Reducing Antipsychotic Induced Akathisia

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A recent RCT showed that vitamin B6 is as effective as propranolol for the treatment of akathisia.

Understanding the Neurobiology of Post-SSRI Sexual Dysfunction

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Post-SSRI sexual dysfunction (PSSD) may be a common adverse effect of antidepressants. Researchers are now attempting to understand the neurobiology behind it.

Study Finds Heavy Metal Music Beneficial to Mental Health

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A new study highlights the role heavy metal music plays in the mental health of adolescents facing adversity.

ADHD Diagnosis Leads to Worse Quality of Life, Increased Self-Harm in Kids

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When comparing kids with the same symptoms who were either diagnosed with ADHD or not, those who received the diagnosis had worse outcomes.

Stopping SSRI Antidepressants Can Cause Long, Intense Withdrawal Problems

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In the first systematic review of withdrawal problems that patients experience when trying to get off SSRI antidepressant medications, researchers found that withdrawing from SSRIs was comparable to trying to quit addictive benzodiazepines.

When Psychology Speaks for You, Without You: Sunil Bhatia on Decolonizing Psychology

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MIA’s Ayurdhi Dhar interviews Sunil Bhatia about decolonizing psychology, confronting the field’s racist past, colonial foundations, and neoliberal present.

Very Slow Tapering Best For Antidepressant Withdrawal

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A new article in Lancet Psychiatry finds that slower tapering of SSRIs is better for preventing antidepressant withdrawal effects.

Leading Psychology in Existential Times: An Interview with Kirk Schneider

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MIA’s Justin Karter interviews humanistic-existential psychologist Kirk Schneider about how psychology can play a role in confronting the political, social, and climate crises facing humankind.

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.