Science of Psychiatric Drugs

Antidepressants in Pregnancy: Risks to the Fetus and Long-term Health of the Child

0
The research literature reveals that antidepressant use in pregnancy poses considerable risks to the fetus and the long-term health of the child. These risks include preterm birth, birth defects, abnormal brain development, and behavioral abnormalities in early childhood.
A person, out of focus, holding a pill bottle in focus

Half of Those Who Take Antidepressants Are Labeled “Treatment Resistant”

20
Millions of people are trying multiple antidepressant drugs without success, and psychiatry labels them “treatment resistant.”

Antidepressant Withdrawal Symptoms Linked to Life-Altering Consequences, New Study Shows

29
A new study reveals that withdrawal symptoms from antidepressants can last years, disrupting lives and relationships.
Miniature people - The worker at work with medicine pills

Antidepressant Trials Last Eight Weeks, So Why Do We Take Them for Years?

7
The studies are of short duration and are riddled with methodological issues like unblinding and failure to assess withdrawal.

Hyperbolic Tapering off Antidepressants Limits Withdrawal

6
New research by Jim van Os and Peter Groot finds that using hyperbolic tapering to discontinue antidepressants reduces withdrawal effects.

Summing up the STAR*D Scandal: The Public was Betrayed, Millions were Harmed, and the...

76
American psychiatry, the NIMH, the larger medical community, and mainstream media have betrayed the American public by failing to make this scandal known.
Closeup of pills in hand, a magnifying glass

Psychiatric Drugs “A Crude Form of Chemical Restraint”

8
Mental health nursing has a key role to play in helping people discontinue the drugs, writes Timothy Wand.

Therapy Beats Drugs for Depression for Long-Term Outcomes

4
Combining drugs and therapy also did not lead to better depression outcomes than therapy alone.

Randomized Controlled Trial Confirms That Antipsychotics Damage the Brain

90
A new study published in JAMA Psychiatry connects antipsychotics with damage to the brain in multiple areas.

Researchers Search for Subgroups Where Antidepressants Are More Effective

6
The researchers theorized that this increased effectiveness was due not to “antidepressant” properties, but rather to the drug’s side effects, which include insomnia, drowsiness, and nausea.

Exploding Myths About Schizophrenia: An Interview with Courtenay Harding

23
The Vermont Longitudinal Study, led by Courtenay Harding, belied conventional beliefs about schizophrenia by showing remarkably good outcomes for patients discharged in the 1950s and '60s.

Do Antipsychotics Protect Against Early Death? A Review of the Evidence

75
Psychiatry is now claiming that research has shown that antipsychotics reduce mortality among the seriously mentally ill. A critical review of the literature reveals that this claim is best described as the the field's latest "delusion" about the merits of these drugs.

SSRI Use During Pregnancy Alters the Child’s Brain Development

6
Reduced brain volumes due to SSRI exposure in pregnancy was not explained by maternal depression alone.

Antidepressants in Dementia Patients Increase Risk of Death and Fractures

4
A large-scale study reveals that antidepressant use is linked to faster cognitive decline in dementia patients, raising concerns about their widespread prescription.

Benzodiazepines Linked to Suicide, Study Finds

3
A new study finds that benzodiazepines—alprazolam (Xanax), lorazepam (Ativan), and diazepam (Valium)—are associated with an increased risk of suicidal events.

A Short History of Tardive Dyskinesia: 65 Years of Drug-Induced Brain Damage That Rolls...

93
Psychiatry has long turned a blind eye to the full scope of harm associated with TD. New TD drugs "work" by further impairing brain function.
sertraline antidepressant withdrawal

Ambushed by Antidepressant Withdrawal: The Escape Story

29
I’m alive. More than 30,000 veterans in the past decade alone are not. I was not warned of the risks of this drug. I was not told that once on it, I might never be able to get off it, or the nightmare that would ensue when I tried. I know millions of others were not told either.

Antidepressants No Better Than Placebo for About 85% of People

25
Researchers can’t predict the 15% who benefit from antidepressants, and the other 85% are unnecessarily exposed to the harms of the drugs.

Peer-Support Groups Were Right, Guidelines Were Wrong: Dr. Mark Horowitz on Tapering Off Antidepressants

57
In an interview with MIA, Dr. Horowitz discusses his recent article on why tapering off antidepressants can take months or even years.

Suicide in the Age of Prozac

94
During the past twenty years, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and American psychiatry have adopted a "medicalized" approach to preventing suicide, claiming that antidepressants are protective against suicide. Yet, the suicide rate in the United States has increased 30% since 2000, a time of rising usage of antidepressants. A review of studies of the effects of mental health treatment and antidepressants on suicide reveals why this medicalized approach has not only failed, but pushed suicide rates higher.

New Research Questions Safety of Esketamine for Depression

10
An analysis of FDA adverse event reports related to esketamine shows the potential for negative effects such as suicidal and self-injurious ideation.

Medication-Free Treatment in Norway: A Private Hospital Takes Center Stage

43
At the Hurdalsjøen Recovery Center in Norway, patients with a long history of psychiatric hospitalizations are tapering from their medications and, in a therapeutic environment that emphasizes a good diet, exercise, and asking patients "what do they want in life," are leaving their old lives as chronic patients behind.

Deadly Prescriptions: New Study Links Antipsychotics to Life-Threatening Risks in Dementia Patients

4
With pharmaceutical companies pushing antipsychotics for off-label use, dementia patients are being put at risk for devastating health consequences. Research suggests safer alternatives exist—but why aren’t they being prioritized?

Overuse of Psychiatric Drugs is Worsening Public Mental Health, Doctor Argues

12
A new research article asserts that the overuse of psychiatric drugs may create neurobiological changes that hamper long-term mental health recovery.

Antipsychotics Increase Risk of Dementia; New Research Illuminates Why

16
In JAMA psychiatry, researchers outline new theories connecting antipsychotic use in people with schizophrenia and increased dementia risk.