Researchers Question Findings of Some Correlational Studies
In a new study, researchers argue that correlational studies may not sufficiently account for alternative explanations, and offer suggestions for mitigating this danger.
Researchers: “Antidepressants Should Not be Used for Adults with Major Depressive Disorder”
A new review, published in BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine, concludes that antidepressants should not be used as the risks outweigh evidence for benefits.
Review Finds FDA Approval of Digital Antipsychotic Misguided
The approval of the digital antipsychotic may open the door for more pharmaceutical company profits without evidence of benefits to patients.
How ‘Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder’ was Created by Pharma
For MinnPost, Susan Perry discusses that the pharmaceutical industry played in the creation of the ‘mental disorder’ known as premenstrual dysphoric disorder or PMDD....
Outcome Reporting Bias in Antipsychotic Medication Trials
A new study in the journal Translational Psychiatry, an influential journal in biological psychiatry published by Nature, challenges the state of the research on antipsychotic drugs.
Study Finds ADHD Drugs Alter Developing Brain
A new study, published in the JAMA Psychiatry, investigates the effect of stimulant ‘ADHD’ drugs on the brains of children and young adults. The...
Withdrawal Symptoms Routinely Confound Findings of Psychiatric Drug Studies
Researchers examine how rapid discontinuation can mimic the relapse of mental health symptoms and confound psychiatric drug studies.
A Tale of Two Studies
With increasing evidence that psychiatric drugs do more harm than good over the long term, the field of psychiatry often seems focused on sifting through the mounds of research data it has collected, eager to at last sit up and cry, here’s a shiny speck of gold! Our drugs do work! One recently published study on withdrawal of antipsychotics tells of long-term benefits. A second tells of long-term harm. Which one is convincing?
Safety Analysis Weighs Harms and Benefits of Antipsychotic Drugs
The researchers find that the drug effects for reducing psychosis are small and that treatment failure and severe side effects are common.
Therapy Recommended As First Line Treatment for Depression
Following an extensive systematic review of treatments for major depression, the American College of Physicians (ACP) issued a recommendation to clinicians suggesting cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) as a first-line treatment for major depressive disorder along with second-generation antidepressants. The results of the review revealed that CBT and antidepressants have similar levels of effectiveness but that antidepressants present serious side-effects and higher relapse rates.
Despite Claims, EPA Supplement Does Not Improve ADHD Symptoms in Youth
A new study reports that the supplement EPA improved ADHD symptoms but a closer look calls these results into question.
“Many Psychology Findings Not as Strong as Claimed, Study Says”
Today’s NY Times front page featured a story on the problem reproducibility poses for many psychology studies. The story is based on the results of a year-long study where the researchers found they were unable to reproduce 60 out of 100 studies published in three leading psychology journals. “The overall ‘effect size,’ a measure of the strength of a finding, dropped by about half across all of the studies.”
Researchers Find Inadequate Reporting of the Dangers of Ketamine Treatment for Depression
Researchers report that dangerous side effects are not being adequately reported in the trials of ketamine for depression.
Publication Bias Inflates Perceived Efficacy of Depression Treatments, Study Finds
Researchers report the cumulative effects of major biases on the apparent efficacy of antidepressant and psychotherapy treatments.
Upon Further Review: Did the Black Box Warning on SSRIs Lead to Increased Suicide...
A study that appeared online in the British Medical Journal suggests that the FDA’s warning in 2003 that antidepressants increase the risk of suicidal ideation in youth paradoxically led to an increase in suicide attempts in this age group. Media reports on the study tell of how the black-box warning “backfired.” But is this conclusion warranted by the study? Or is the study flawed? And how did the media report on this story?
Despite Official Recommendations, Depression Screening in Children is Not Supported by Research
Earlier this year, the US Preventative Services Task Force (USPSTF) came out with the controversial recommendation that all adolescent and adult patients undergo depression...
Reanalysis of STAR*D Study Suggests Overestimation of Antidepressant Efficacy
Reanalysis of the original primary outcome measure in the STAR*D study suggests STAR*D findings inflate improvement on antidepressant medication and exclusion criteria in conventional clinical trials results in overestimation of antidepressant efficacy.
SSRI Ineffective at Treating Depression in Individuals with Chronic Kidney Disease
Dr. Madhukar Trivedi and colleagues find that the SSRI sertraline does not reduce depressive symptoms any more than placebo in people with Chronic Kidney Disease.
New Study Challenges Impartiality of Peer Review
New research shows that more connected and well-known researchers are more likely to be published, even when they receive negative reviews.
Researchers Fail to Replicate Evidence for “Biotypes” of Depression
A new study casts doubt on whether such biotypes for depression exist.
New Study Concludes that Antidepressants are “Largely Ineffective and Potentially Harmful”
A new study published in Frontiers in Psychiatry concludes that “antidepressants are largely ineffective and potentially harmful.”
The Impact of Regression to the Mean in Psychiatric Drug Studies
Could the statistical phenomenon of regression to the mean be responsible for the dramatic effects of placebo—as well as the supposed effectiveness of some psychiatric drugs?
Researchers Test Harms and Benefits of Long Term Antipsychotic Use
Researchers from the City College of New York and Columbia University published a study this month testing the hypothesis that people diagnosed with schizophrenia treated long-term with antipsychotic drugs have worse outcomes than patients with no exposure to these drugs. They concluded that there is not a sufficient evidence base for the standard practice of long-term use of antipsychotic medications.
Lancet Psychiatry’s Controversial ADHD Study: Errors, Criticism, and Responses
Amid calls for a retraction, Lancet Psychiatry publishes articles criticizing the original finding and a response from the authors.
“With Sobering Science, Doctor Debunks 12-Step Recovery”
NPR interviews Dr. Lance Dodes, author of The Sober Truth: Debunking the Bad Science Behind Twelve-Step Programs and the Rehab Industry. Despite the fact...
