Research News

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

Systematic Review Finds Antidepressants Double the Risk for Agitation and Violence in Healthy Volunteers

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The Nordic Cochrane Center conducted a systematic review of existing research trials on antidepressants and found that the drugs doubled the risk of feelings...

Policies to Reduce Antipsychotic use Among Elderly are Failing

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Research reveals that rates of antipsychotic prescribing to the elderly in the UK have not dropped despite national recommendations.

Study Finds Meditation Can Reduce Trauma Symptoms for Inmates

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Researchers found that Transcendental Meditation could significantly decrease anxiety and depression, among others symptoms.

Use of Antidepressants Linked to Diabetes

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Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (such as Prozac and Zoloft) are the most commonly prescribed medication for depression. SSRIs have long been associated with an...

Clinical Trials Underreport Harms of Antidepressant Medications

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A group of researchers recently found serious bias in the reporting of harm due to adverse events in antidepressant medication clinical trials. They report...

Hormonal Contraception May Increase Risk for Depression and Antidepressant Treatment

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The results of the nationwide study, analyzing data from over one million women, suggest that hormonal contraceptive use may increase the risk of depression and use of antidepressants, especially for adolescents.

iPad Use Before Surgery as Effective as Sedatives for Children

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A group of French doctors presented a new study in the area of pediatric anesthesiology at this year’s World Congress of Anaesthesiologists in Hong...

New Study Casts Doubt on Efficacy of Ketamine for Depression

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A new study, published this month in the Journal of Affective Disorders, investigated the effectiveness of weekly intravenous ketamine injections as a treatment for...

The Failed Quest for Biomarkers in Psychiatry

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A recent commentary by Ganesan Venkatasubramanian and Matcheri Keshavan notes that efforts to identify biomarkers in people diagnosed with psychiatric disorders have been overwhelmingly...

How Do Antidepressants Really ‘Work’?

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A recent review, published in Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, challenges the dominant assumptions about the neurochemical and therapeutic effects of Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors...

Antidepressant Effects Thwarted by Stressful Environments

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A new study, about to be published in the journal Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, investigates the role a stressful environment plays in antidepressant effectiveness....

German Psychologists Declare “the Drugs Don’t Work”

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Jürgen Margraf and Silvia Schneider, both well-known psychologists at the University of Bochum in Germany, claim that psychotropic drugs are no solution to mental...

STOP or GO? Tapering Pregnant Women off of Antidepressants

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A team in the Netherlands is currently investigating the effects of tapering off of antidepressants known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) during pregnancy....

Ghostwriting has a New Name but Same Problems

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A new paper, published in the British Medical Journal, explains how the pharmaceutical industry has publicly denounced ghostwriting while still finding ways to engage...

CDC Advises Nonopioid Treatments for Chronic Pain

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Primary care clinicians and mental health providers face a particular set of challenges when treating individuals with chronic pain. These problems are compounded by...

The ADHD Drug Epidemic: Addiction, Abuse, and Death

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A new analysis of FDA data, published on September 10th by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel/MedPage Today, reveals the dangers of the common prescription of...

Psychiatric Drug Ads Lead to More Prescriptions and Worse Treatment

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A new analysis published in the The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry investigates the public health effects of direct-to-consumer advertisements for psychiatric drugs. The researchers...

Garbage In–Garbage Out: Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses can tell us a Flawed Story

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Well known Stanford University researcher John Ioannidis published a new paper this week criticizing the use and production of systematic reviews and meta-analyses, often...

Review Calls for Critical look at Prescribing Antidepressant Drugs

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The August issue of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics published a review conducted by André F. Carvalho and colleagues regarding the literature around the long-term use...

Review Finds Link Between Recession and Mental Health Issues

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A literature review published in BMC Public Health by researchers from Portugal and the Czech Republic summarizes results from 101 studies investigating the effect...

Meta-Analysis Finds Exercise Improves Cognition in Individuals with Schizophrenia

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A new review, published in Schizophrenia Bulletin, examines the effects of exercise on cognition in individuals diagnosed with 'schizophrenia.' The results of the meta-analysis...

Review Examines Complementary Approaches for Pain Conditions

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A review published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings used U.S.-based clinical trial evidence to examine the efficacy of complementary health approaches for chronic pain management....

Ioannidis Questions Strength of Psychology and Neuroscience Literature

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Last week, well-known Stanford scientist John Ioannidis and his colleague Denes Szucs released a new analysis online. They examined research published in eighteen prominent...

New Study Raises Doubts About fMRI Neuroimaging Research

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More than forty thousand papers have been published using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) technology to explore the brain. A new analysis of the common...

Clinton Releases Mental Health Plan

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Today, Hillary Clinton’s campaign released their plan for addressing mental health care in the United States. The plan calls for a full integration of...