“Randomized Controlled Trials in Environmental Health Research: Unethical or Underutilized?”
-Simon Fraser University health scientists argue that we need to start doing more randomized controlled trials to better understand the negative impacts of environmental pollutants on human bodies and brains.
The Slow Torture of Mary Weiss
Dan Markingson was floridly psychotic and unable to give informed consent when University of Minnesota researchers coerced him into an industry-funded drug study. His mother, Mary Weiss, warned the researchers that Dan was in danger of killing himself, but she was ignored. Dan committed a violent suicide in 2004. Last week, after fighting the university and research regulators for nine years, Mary suffered a severe stroke. Her struggle for justice is in serious danger.
Antipsychotics Ineffective Against Cocaine, Stimulant Addictions
Although cocaine and psychostimulant dependence are thought to be related to increased dopamine release, research from Tokyo and Long Island finds that the effect...
The Reckoning in Psychiatry Over Protracted Antidepressant Withdrawal
Medically-induced harm—affecting tens of millions of people worldwide—has taken the field decades to take seriously.
Why We Need to Get Better at Critiquing Psychiatric Diagnosis
In this piece for Mind Hacks, Vaughan Bell, a long-term critic of psychiatric diagnosis, points out the major flaws and logical fallacies in some of...
The Future of Evidence-Based Psychotherapy
Researchers from the Brown University School of Medicine, writing in Clinical Psychology Review November special issue on the future of evidence-based psychotherapy, report that psychotherapy...
Better Recovery and Less Relapse Without Meds: A 20-Year Study
Researchers at the University of Illinois College of Medicine found, in a 20-year prospective study of 139 psychotic patients, that patients had a far...
Antipsychotics Increase Mortality Risk in Patients with Parkinson’s Disease
A new study in JAMA Neurology finds that the use of antipsychotic drugs more than doubled the risk of death in patients with Parkinson’s...
“Former FDA Official Settles Insider Trading Charges”
For STAT, Ed Silverman reports that Gordon Johnston, a former FDA official, has agreed to a settlement after being accused of insider trading. “Johnston,...
Rejecting Illness as Chronic Contributes to Better Outcomes
Swiss researchers investigated the paradox that both low and high levels of "insight" are a risk factor for poor outcomes such as depression, hopelessness,...
The Emotional Impact of Critical Consciousness on Youth
Middle school students with critical consciousness of US politics and inequality exhibit more emotional distress and lower academic achievement.
Voice Hearing as a Dissociative Rather Than Psychotic Phenomenon
Researchers in England review in depth the evidence for voice hearing as dissociation, rather than psychosis, and suggest that voice hearing is a common...
Check the FAQs On Online Counseling
-Some online counseling services have half-hidden disclaimers that they aren't actually providing "counseling."
Meta-Analysis Finds Asking About Suicidal Thoughts Does Not Predict Suicide
A recent meta-analysis finds that the association between reported suicidal ideation and later suicide is low.
Prescriber of Huge Amounts of Antipsychotic Drug Was Taking Kickbacks
ProPublica has provided an update on their investigation of Dr. Michael Reinstein. "A former Chicago psychiatrist who was the nation's top prescriber of the...
Improving the Efficacy of Mindfulness in Schools
New research examines factors that make mindfulness interventions in school most effective for adolescent’s mental health outcomes.
Childhood Victimization Connected with Experiences of Psychosis
Childhood victimization associated with experiences of psychosis later in life, and in persons without childhood victimization, there is a bidirectional association between psychosis and adult victimization.
“The Myth of Human Adult Neurogenesis?”
Neuroskeptic discusses a recent paper claiming that there is very little evidence for adult neurogenesis – the ongoing creation of new neurons. “The authors...
Psychological Research Fails to Capture Human Diversity, Researchers Call for Action
Data demonstrate an overreliance of non-representative and non-diverse sampling biases in psychological research.
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.
CBT Helpful For Benzo Discontinuation
CBT helps in benzo discontinuation, over and above relaxation training and contact with a therapist. Published in Behaviour Research and Therapy.
Abstract → ...
Silicon Valley Courts Brand-Name Teachers, Raising Ethics Issues
From The New York Times: Tech companies are increasingly recruiting school teachers to help improve and promote their education tools in exchange for perks, including...
The Increasing Placebo Response in Antipsychotic Drug Trials
The American Journal of Psychiatry explores the implications for science and ethics of the rising placebo response rate in trials of antipsychotic drugs, in an...
Schizophrenia Patients Calmed by Video Game
From BBC: In a recent study, patients diagnosed with schizophrenia were able to reduce the power of their hallucinations by playing a video game.
"All 12...
Yoga Intervention Effective in Reducing Depressive Symptoms
Researchers find that yoga and controlled breathing reduced symptoms in individuals diagnosed with depression.
