Many Patient Advocacy Organizations Are Funded By Industry
New research investigates the financial conflicts of interest (FCOI) of patient advocacy organizations (PAOs) in the United States.
Federal Regulators Urge Cuts in Antipsychotics for Seniors
An Office of the Inspector General report says that nearly nine out of 10 prescriptions for antipsychotics given to Medicare beneficiaries are for unapproved uses....
Rate of Antipsychotics in Foster Care Climbs
One in six adolescents were taking antipsychotic medications by the end of a five-year study of 686,000 children in foster care in 48 states....
Sleep Aid Melatonin May Not Be Safe for Children
Increasing numbers of children with sleep disorders are being treated with the hormone melatonin, but the medication has not been approved for such use.
“Silent” Forms of Child Abuse Strongly Tied to Depression
Psychological abuse and childhood neglect are strongly associated with depression in adulthood, according to a meta-analysis of childhood trauma and depression published in this month’s issue of the Journal of Affective Disorders. “The findings clearly highlight the potential impact of the more ‘silent’ types of childhood maltreatment (other than physical and sexual abuse) on the development of depression,” the researchers conclude.
Hallucination in the General Population
Investigating the prevalence and types of hallucination-like experiences (HLEs) in a sample of 437 young adults, researchers in Italy, Belgium, the U.K. and Denmark found...
GAO Calls for Patient-Centered Research, Public Comment
The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI)'s Methodology Committee released a report dated July 23, 2012, calling for "Standards for Patient-Centered Outcomes Research." In a...
Racial Discrimination Associated With Psychotic Symptoms
A study of 650 immigrant and racial & ethnic minority young adults in the United States finds that psychotic symptoms are significantly correlated with...
David Healy Critiques Gibbons’ Reanalysis of Antidepressants and Suicide
David Healy critiques the reanalysis by Robert Gibbons of antidepressants and suicidality in children and adolescents that was reported on this page yesterday. He...
Response to Placebo is On the Rise
Study subjects' responses to placebo have increased from an average two-point decline in symptom ratings in studies done from 1991 to 1998, to an...
Antidepressants Linked to Risk of Adult-Onset Diabetes
A meta-analysis of studies of 168,435 adults who were free of diabetes at baseline found that those who used antidepressant medication were 68% more...
Majority of Anorexia Patients are Prescribed Psychotropics Despite Lack of Data
Research from the medical schools of Harvard University and the University of Melbourne, reported in the December International Journal of Eating Disorders, found that...
5,012 Englishwomen Poisoned Last Year by Benzos, 8,501 by SSRIs
Addiction Today reports "Attention on illicit drugs has deflected focus from the gigantic scale of harms by legal, prescribed drugs. We give you the...
Are Mental Health Screenings for Youth Worth the Risk?
Researchers shed light on the limitations of mental health screening instruments for youth that are increasingly being used in schools and medical settings.
Yoga Improves Both Positive and Negative Symptoms and Quality of Life in Schizophrenia
In a review of randomized controlled trials, researchers in Belgium and the Netherlands found that yoga significantly improved both positive and negative symptoms as...
Former APA Member Protests the DSM on Fox News
Dr. Keith Ablow, who resigned from the APA in protest "some time ago," criticizes the unscientific and arbitrary process by which diagnoses are generated...
Members of Parliament Disclose Struggles w/ Depression & Anxiety
"Like a hundred little blackmails a day" is how British Member of Parliament Charles Walker described his struggle with obsessive compulsive disorder. He, along...
Is Exercise Best for Depression?
Time magazine reviews the evidence on exercise for depression, finding that exercise alters brain chemistry such that the brain shows less stress in response...
Cymbalta Suicide Suit Settled
Eli Lilly & Co. will pay an undisclosed amount to settle the lawsuit of the parents of a South Dakota boy who committed suicide...
Drug Regulator Destroys Licensing Data After 15 Years
The Sunday Times of London reports on Peter Gotzsche's efforts to obtain pharmaceutical licensing data before the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA)...
California Senate Panel Investigates Drugging of Foster Kids
The chair of a state Senate committee told a public hearing that California’s foster care system “has grown more addicted to mind-altering medication."
Psychiatrist Census is Declining
The declining number of U.S. medical students choosing psychiatry as a specialty will exacerbate what the A.P.A. already calls a shortage of psychiatrists, according...
Nonwhites Twice as Likely to Receive Injectable Antipsychotics
Research published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry shows that of all 901 patients diagnosed with schizophrenia from July 2009 to June 2010 at a...
Discrimination Impacts Mental Health: Especially Among the Educated
A cross-sectional study of 1,994 individuals in a deprived area of Japan found that perceived discrimination was significantly associated with depressive symptoms and a...
NE Journal of Medicine Backs Congressional Call for Research Transparency
Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) introduced the Trial and Experimental Studies Transparency (TEST) Act into congress on August 2, 2012; a bill aimed at closing...
