New Clinical Guidelines on Deprescribing Benzodiazepines
New guidelines recommend deprescribing benzodiazepine receptor agonists for adults.
Review Finds Lack of Evidence for Antidepressants in Treatment of Insomnia
Results from a Cochrane meta-analysis find that the common practice of prescribing antidepressants to treat insomnia is not supported by current evidence.
Tapering Strips Help People Discontinue Antidepressants
A new study by Peter Groot and Jim van Os has found that tapering strips help people successfully discontinue antidepressant medications.
Increasing Antidepressant Dose Does Not Improve Outcomes
A systematic review of literature and meta-analysis indicates that there is no clinically or statistically significant effect of antidepressant dose increase after nonresponse to initial treatment.
Rethinking Madness and Medication: Researcher Discusses Psychiatric Drug Withdrawal and Survivor Movements
New understandings of medication and withdrawal experiences warrant rethinking conceptualizations of health and “madness."
Social Support Improves Antipsychotic Discontinuation, Study Finds
A new study explores how people manage to discontinue antipsychotic medication and examines how social supports may improve outcomes.
Antidepressant Use Leads to Worse Long Term Outcomes, Study Finds
Results from a 30-year prospective study demonstrated worse outcomes for people who took antidepressants, even after controlling for gender, education level, marriage, baseline severity, other affective disorders, suicidality, and family history of depression.
Effort to Tackle Overuse of Antipsychotics in Older Adults Backfires
A partnership designed to decrease antipsychotic use in elderly patients may have led to increased use of medications with even worse risk/benefit profiles.
Most Direct-to-Consumer Drug Advertisements Do Not Adhere to FDA Guidelines
Few DTC drug advertisements fully adhere to FDA guidelines, the overall quality of information provided in DTC advertisements is low, and some advertisements market off-label indications.
Existential Therapy Assists Patients Withdrawing From Psychiatric Drugs
Confronting existential anxiety through “Basal Exposure Therapy” shows promising results in people withdrawing from psychotropic drugs.
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?
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.”
Psychiatrists Warn Policymakers Benzodiazepine Overuse Could Lead to Next Epidemic
Although opioid addiction and overuse have garnered significant national attention, similar trends in benzodiazepine overprescription and overuse continue to go unnoticed.
Do Antidepressants Work? A People’s Review of the Evidence
After a meta-analysis of RCTs of antidepressants was published in Lancet, psychiatry stated that it proved that "antidepressants" work. However, effectiveness studies of real-world patients reveal the opposite: the medications increase the likelihood that patients will become chronically depressed, and disabled by the disorder.
Race and Class Affect Teacher Perceptions of ADHD Medication Use
Study uncovers teachers’ attitudes surrounding ADHD medication use and examines the influence of race and social class on teacher beliefs.
Researchers Challenge Industry-Friendly Depression Guideline
Review of a new mixed depression guideline reveals financial bias of guideline developers and lack of evidence supporting recommendations for prescribing of antipsychotics.
CDC Reports Increased Psychostimulant Prescriptions in Women of Reproductive Age
Psychostimulant prescriptions have increased by 344% (from 2003 to 2015) for women of reproductive age (15-44 years old).
Cognitive Impairment from Long-Term Benzodiazepine Use Remains Even After Drug Withdrawal
Long-term benzodiazepine use shown to effect cognitive function during current use and for years after drug discontinuation.
Researchers Expose Pharmaceutical Industry Misconduct and Corruption
Corruption of pharmaceutical industry sponsored clinical trials identified as a “major obstacle” facing evidence-based medicine.
Vitamin B6 Effective in Reducing Antipsychotic Induced Akathisia
A recent RCT showed that vitamin B6 is as effective as propranolol for the treatment of akathisia.
Preventing Long-term Benzodiazepine Use
Researchers Identify risk factors for long-term benzodiazepine use to prevent harmful effects.
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..
Anticholinergic Medications Linked to Dementia Similar to Early Alzheimer’s
A new study, published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, investigates the effects of anticholinergic medications, such as antidepressants and antipsychotics, on cognition in older adults diagnosed with schizophrenia.
Antidepressants During Pregnancy Increase Risk of Psychiatric Diagnosis in Children
New research, based on data from almost a million children in Denmark, suggests that children of mothers who use antidepressants during pregnancy are more likely to be diagnosed with autism and psychiatric disorders.
New Research on Prenatal SSRI Exposure and Autism
Does maternal SSRI exposure increase the chances that a child will develop characteristics associated with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)?
