We’re All Less Biased Than Most People
-Only one person out of 661 in a psychological study said that he/she is more biased than the average person.
“Maybe Oregon Shooting and Others Aren’t About Mental Illness”
Matthew Cooper, writing for Newsweek, reports that despite the preponderance of political rhetoric about “mental illness” after mass shootings, a review of the research suggests that the connection between mental health and gun violence is dubious.
Reducing Antipsychotic Use May Improve Health for People with Mental Health Diagnoses
A new study offers radical solutions for improving the cardiovascular health of people with mental health diagnoses: reducing antipsychotic prescriptions..
Diagnosing Conflict-of-Interest Disorder
Article by Lisa Cosgrove from June, 2010 reviewing conflicts of interest related to the DSM.
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Previous Experiences with Treatments Influence Effectiveness of New Treatments
Previous experiences of treatments working or not working significantly influence the effectiveness of new treatments on clinical trial participants and patients, even in relation...
Alan Dershowitz Will Work With Justina Pelletier’s Family on “Broader Constitutional Issues”
Harvard Law professor (emeritus) Alan Dershowitz will represent Justina Pelletier in her family's fight to regain custody from the state of Massachusetts and Boston...
Wellbeing Enhanced More by Places Than Objects, Study Finds
From The Guardian: New research suggests that people are more likely to experience feelings of wellbeing, contentment, and belonging from places that evoke positive memories...
Six Years of Re-education and Restrictions Sufficient to Change Inappropriate Prescribing Habits
A six-year program run by the NHS Foundation Trust aimed at reducing high rates of inappropriate polypharmacy and overprescribing by physicians and psychiatrists to mental health patients in UK inner cities was successful.
New Review Highlights Dangers of Electroconvulsive Therapy
Data shows that over a third of users experience permanent memory loss and that approximately half report not receiving adequate information about the risks from their doctors.
How Babies Learn – And Why Robots Can’t Compete
In this piece for The Guardian, Alex Beard compares robot learning to language acquisition and development in children. While robot learning is abstract and formulaic, learning...
J&J Asks to Keep Risperdal Studies Under Seal
Law 360 reports that Johnson & Johnson asked a Pennsylvania judge to keep a series of clinical studies related to the drug Risperdal under...
Not an Onion Study: Loss of a Loved One Increases Risk of Psychological Distress
When a loved one dies, some people are more likely to become very sad, drink more, and be diagnosed by mental health professionals as...
Completely New Naming System for Psychotropic Drugs Proposed
A group of influential organizations are beginning an effort to change the entire way that psychiatric medications are named, according to a press release...
Childhood Stress Subtypes Predict Adult Psychiatric Subtypes
A review of the literature from 2001 to 2011 on child abuse, neglect, and psychiatric disorders finds that early life stress subtypes can predict...
Contribution of Antipsychotics to Suicidality and Depression
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...
Is Philosophy Therapy, or is it Simply a Search for Truth?
In this interview for Aeon, Nigel Warburton and Jules Evans explore the potential therapeutic value and shortcomings of using ancient philosophy to overcome emotional suffering.
"Personally, I’m not...
Canadian Study Links Cannabis and Psychosis in Youth
The Cannabis and Psychosis Awareness Project, a four-year study from Canada that was released on Tuesday, finds that smoking marijuana - particularly heavy use in...
Big Pharma Enlists Leading Professors to Justify Drug Prices
From ProPublica: The pharmaceutical company has deployed a potent new ally to justify skyrocketing drug prices. Precision Health Economics, a firm comprised of leading economists and...
NEJM Hosts Online Poll on Conflicts of Interest in Medicine
-An NEJM "Reader Poll" shows nearly 80% of respondents trusting that scientific reviews can be responsibly written by people taking money from pharmaceutical companies, but not who work with patient-advocacy groups.
Psychiatrists Discuss Psychiatry’s Poor Public Image and What to Do About It
The January 2015 issue of Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica has a section of freely available articles discussing the public image of psychiatry from a variety...
“Controversial ‘Female Viagra’ Hits the Market, New Questions Arise”
Despite concerns about the drug’s necessity, effectiveness, and side-effects, Flibanserin (Addyi) has come to market as the first drug designed to increase sexual desire in women
“New Depression Meds Not Effective Generally, But Drug Companies Insist Otherwise: Study”
The International Business Times covers a new study showing “trials for new antidepressant medications may not be applicable to the population at large.” “The finding, published in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings, shows recent trials are less generalizable than the prior studies, as researchers excluded most depressed patients from drug company-sponsored treatment studies.”
SSRIs May Cause Bone Loss
An Israeli study of 10,621 women found that those taking an SSRI more than 80% of the time were 1.4 times more likely to...
Researcher Urges Caution When Applying Genetics to Psychiatry
In a review editorial for the journal Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, neurobiology researcher Steven Dubovsky from the University at Buffalo argues against the adoption of...
Explaining Depression Biologically Increases Prognostic Pessimism
Psychoeducation that explains depression in biological terms increases prognostic pessimism, perceived stability of depression, and openness to psychiatric medication.
