Research News

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

Abbott to Pay $1.6 Billion for “Elder Abuse”, Off-Label Marketing

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Abbott Laboratories has pled guilty to civil and criminal charges of illegally marketing Depakote for the control of agitation and aggression in elderly patients...

Researchers Discover How Antipsychotics Lead To Parkinsonism

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A new study published this month in the journal Neuron identifies the mechanism by which antipsychotic drugs can induce parkinsonism, a condition involving movement...

Temperature-Related Deaths in People with Mental Illness

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Writing in the British Journal of Psychiatry, English researchers found that "patients with mental illness showed an overall increase in risk of death of...

Symptom Remission Does Not Equal Recovery

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Researchers in the Netherlands and the U.K. explored the relationship between symptom reduction in schizophrenia (according to Andreason's 2005 criteria for remission) and social...

Australians to Get More Info on Doctor-Pharma Relationships

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Drug companies must start publicly releasing information about different types of payments to Australia's physicians.

“CDC Warns that Americans May be Overmedicating Youngest Children with ADHD”

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released new data indicating that as many as 75% of young children who are diagnosed with...

Benzodiazepines May Double the Risk of Pneumonia

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An editorial in Thorax reviews the evidence for an association between mental illness, benzodiazepine use, and pneumonia. The authors find an equally augmented rate...

J&J Loses Case Over Risperdal Antipsychotic Causing Male Breast Growth

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A jury decided Johnson & Johnson must pay a Philadelphia man $2.5 million in damages "for failing to warn that its Risperdal antipsychotic could cause gynecomastia."

“Hearing Voices: tracing the borders of normality”

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-Rhianna Goozee discusses the development of the Hearing Voices Movement and how research has blurred the lines between "healthy" and "normal" minds.

Racial Discrimination Associated With Psychotic Symptoms

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A study of 650 immigrant and racial & ethnic minority young adults in the United States finds that psychotic symptoms are significantly correlated with...

Authors of BJP Editorial Critical of Antipsychotics Urge Reader Comment

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The authors of a recent editorial in the British Journal of Psychiatry that urges a rethinking of the use of antipsychotics are asking that readers...

Mother Sues Pfizer for Alleged Zoloft-Related Birth Defects

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The latest in a series of Zoloft-related birth defect lawsuits was filed in St. Louis yesterday, by a firm that claims to represent hundreds...

A Review of Drug-Company Funded Mental Health Websites

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A meta-analysis of studies of mental health websites by John Read found that 42% are either drug company owned or receive funding from drug...

Social Prescribing May Improve Self-Esteem and Mental Well-Being

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Systematic review suggests social prescribing benefits individuals with mental and physical health issues, but more program evaluations are needed.

The Changing Face of NAMI

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Pete Early, author of Crazy, traces the history of NAMI, including its "complicated love-hate relationship with Dr. E. Fuller Torrey" and shift from his...

Adderall Use in Women Up 750%

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Citing reasons from weight loss to housecleaning, there has been a 750% increase in the use of Adderall among women in the U.S. aged...

Closing Arguments Begin in Arkansas Risperdal Trial

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Arkansas is asking for a minimum of $1.2 billion in fines for the 250,000 Risperdal prescriptions issued under its medicaid program. Fletch Trammel, lawyer...

Hearing Voices Network Responds to Susan Inman HuffPo Piece

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On Saturday morning, Susan Inman, writing for HuffPost Canada, published “What You’re not Hearing About the Hearing Voices Movement.” In it, she criticizes HVM for “failing to differentiate between the needs of people who actually have psychotic disorders and those who don't.” On Sunday the Bay Area Hearing Voices Network published an open letter in response, writing: “Ms. Inman has profoundly mischaracterized hearing voices networks (HVNs) and also demonstrates a troubling lack of understanding of the empirical literature on psychosis, optimal psychosocial intervention and recovery.”

Dateline NBC to Cover Child Psychiatric Overmedication Epidemic This Sunday

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This Sunday, June 12 at 7pm (EDT) on NBCs Dateline will cover MIA author Steve Francesco's book, Overmedicated and Undertreated: How I Lost My...