RESEARCH NEWS
Summaries of research findings that tell of a scientific need to “rethink psychiatry.”
An archive of research reports on psychiatric drugs can also be found here.
Research News
Delusion or Design? Rethinking the Logic of Madness
A new philosophical analysis challenges psychiatry’s core assumptions about delusion, calling for a rethink of purpose, meaning, and epistemic justice.
The Brain Isn’t a Computer: Why That Matters for Mental Health
Philosopher Daniel Hutto argues that mainstream cognitive science rests on faulty metaphors and that a more humane, dynamic theory of mind is possible.
Liberation Psychology Gains Ground in a Fractured World
As crises of displacement and inequality intensify, more scholars are turning to Liberation Psychology’s commitment to structural change.
Study Reveals How Adolescent Mental Health Is Shaped by Inherited Wounds
A new study reveals that family trauma, not just genetics, fuels mental health risks across generations.
Elderly Patients Who Stop Antipsychotics Have Better Outcomes
Older adults are often prescribed antipsychotics off-label for behavioral control in the hospital. But there’s no evidence for antipsychotics helping, and a great deal of evidence of harm.
Online Racism Tied to Psychotic Experiences in Youth of Color
New research finds that online racism significantly increases the odds of psychotic experiences in Black and Asian American young adults, even beyond the impact of everyday discrimination and anxiety.
From EMPOWER to Exercise: What Actually Helps Older Adults Quit Benzos?
Despite clear risks, benzos and z-drugs remain widely prescribed to the elderly. New research explores what helps—and what doesn’t—when trying to stop.
Exposure to Antidepressants in the Womb Makes for Sad, Scared Adolescents
SSRI exposure in utero “alters the offspring’s brain structure,” causing a hyperactive amygdala and fear circuits, leading to anxiety and depression.
Addicted to Masculinity: How Patriarchal Ideals Fuel Substance Use
Men in recovery describe how masculinity’s rules—always be ready, never show weakness—made sex and substances a battleground for self-worth.
Hate Goes Viral: How Online Abuse Reshapes Minds and Divides Communities
A new meta-analysis reveals that hate speech normalized online can reshape attitudes, foster intergroup hostility, and erode mental well-being.
Peer Supporters Face Systemic Hurdles in Digital Mental Health Rollout
A comprehensive study uncovers the challenges peer workers encountered in California's ambitious digital mental health initiative, highlighting issues from unclear roles to funding uncertainties.
Autistic Scholar Proposes a Justice-Oriented Philosophy of Science for Autism Research
Critical realism, community psychology, and epistemic justice form the foundation of a new framework that challenges the neutrality of mainstream mental health science.
Why We Need Sociology at the Heart of Mental Health Discourse
Bruce Cohen’s new manifesto challenges the dominance of biomedical models in psychiatry and urges a deeper reckoning with the social structures shaping mental health.
Disability-Inclusive Policy Influenced by Power, Politics, and Perception
A study in PLOS Global Public Health finds that disability-inclusive policymaking must confront its epistemic blind spots—and meaningfully engage disabled communities to drive real change.
Post-Acute Withdrawal Syndrome (PAWS): Why Don’t We Know More About It?
Persistent antidepressant withdrawal is a debilitating experience, but little research exists about its prevalence and treatment.
Indigenous Healing Practices Challenge the Ground Psychology Stands On
Far from cultural add-ons, these traditions reveal how Western psychology’s assumptions about mind, health, and healing may be too narrow to serve a diverse world.
From Behavior Control to Justice: Rethinking School Social Work
A new paper challenges the punitive and pathologizing roots of school social work and proposes a justice-oriented alternative rooted in abolitionist thinking.
PTSD Treatments Work Equally Well, But Who They Work For Still Varies
EMDR performs just as well as other therapies in reducing PTSD symptoms, but new findings suggest that sociodemographic factors like employment and gender still shape outcomes.
Study Reveals Emotional Burden and Moral Distress Faced by Peer Support Workers
The study explores how peer support workers in Poland experience emotional and moral distress, with recommendations for organizational changes to reduce these challenges.
Antidepressant Withdrawal Is Common and Debilitating
Those using antidepressants long-term were more likely to experience withdrawal and to have severe withdrawal symptoms.
More Evidence That Antidepressants Work Via Placebo Effect
Antidepressants were more effective for depressed patients who were more “optimistic.” Still, only 30% responded to SSRIs.
The Climate Doom Paradox: Awareness Without Agency Fuels Anxiety
A growing number of people are overwhelmed by climate change not just physically but psychologically. New findings show that awareness without outlets can isolate but shared action can help.
People in Crisis Want Respectful, Personalized Support from Mental Health Professionals, Study Finds
A new qualitative study finds that service users in psychiatric crisis prioritize respectful, individualized support over standardized interventions.
From Stereotype to Slur in Three Clicks: Inside AI’s Mental-Health Hate Machine
Researchers trace how AI chatbots escalate mild stereotypes into full-blown attack narratives, raising alarms about tech already creeping into digital therapy and clinical decision support.
Coercion in Psychiatric Wards Tied to Worse Recovery, Spanish Study Finds
Investigators found that these experiences increase the risk of suicide and repeated hospitalization, fueling demands for compassionate, collaborative crisis services.
Survivor Accounts Reveal Longstanding Failures in Healthcare Responses to Child Sexual Abuse
Historian Ruth Beecher examines survivors’ own words to show the persistent failures of doctors, nurses, and psychiatrists to offer real help.
Disease Model of Addiction Lacks Empirical Support, New Study Finds
A new Lancet Psychiatry article argues that the brain-disease model of addiction lacks empirical support and obscures the social causes of substance use.
Profiting from Distress: How Outsourcing Mental Health Undermines Public Schools
A new Canadian study finds that privatized mental health programs in schools may erode public education, reinforce stigma, and ignore systemic roots of distress.
Beyond the Clinic: Community-led Mental Health Programs Offer Hope
A review of 35 studies finds that mental health initiatives built with community participation show promise, though lasting impacts on quality of life remain uncertain.
Half of Those Who Take Antidepressants Are Labeled “Treatment Resistant”
Millions of people are trying multiple antidepressant drugs without success, and psychiatry labels them “treatment resistant.”
Objectivity Isn’t Neutral: How Standardization in Psychiatry Can Undermine Epistemic Justice
A new article in Synthese identifies how psychiatric diagnostic tools contribute to the marginalization of patient voices.
Can You Tell If a Mental Health Message Was Written by AI? Most People...
A new study finds AI can convincingly mimic peer support, raising difficult questions about authenticity, trust, and what we lose when the language of care is generated by machines.
Who Speaks for Global Mental Health? New Study Exposes Narrow Power Base
Dominated by Western, male, and psychiatric voices, the global mental health field remains fragmented and lacking in lived experience perspectives, researchers find.
Study Links Economic Hardship and Family Trauma to Teen Mental Health Issues
Norwegian researchers trace rising adolescent depression and behavioral issues to both poverty and adverse experiences at home.
The Certainties of Therapy-Speak Are Contributing to Our Social Collapse
A Lacanian and psychosocial critique challenges the assumption that more self-knowledge always leads to more freedom.
How Psychiatric Labels are Used as Tools of Abuse in Family Court
Even as diagnostic categories face scrutiny, they’re being used in courtrooms to make life-altering decisions about parenting and custody.
ADHD Drugs Linked to Cardiomyopathy
Presented at a major cardiology conference, the study suggests a 57% increased risk of heart muscle disease after 8 years of stimulant use.
Antidepressant Trials Last Eight Weeks, So Why Do We Take Them for Years?
The studies are of short duration and are riddled with methodological issues like unblinding and failure to assess withdrawal.
Direct Cash Aid Linked to Long-Term Mental Health Gains in Youth, New Study Finds
Structural solutions like cash transfer programs could be key to reducing emotional distress where traditional treatment falls short.
Nearly All Guideline Authors for Mood Disorders in Japan Took Industry Money
A new study reveals that 93% of authors writing treatment guidelines for depression and bipolar disorder received payments from the drug companies whose products they promoted.
A Glossary for Reimagining Mental Health Ethics, From ‘Tokenism’ to ‘Justice’
Psychiatry still sidelines survivors in research and care. A new framework says that has to change.
What Happens When Voice-Hearers Share Stories Without Judgment
Peer-led Hearing Voices Groups offer a rare space for meaning-making and mutual understanding outside the biomedical model.
Being Anxious About Socializing Is Not Autism
Those who self-diagnose with autism don’t have ASD traits or behaviors, but do exhibit higher social anxiety and avoidance scores than those with clinician-diagnosed ASD.
Why Neighborhood Matters in Psychosis Risk: Psychosis Is Not Just in the Brain
A growing body of research reveals how segregation, social exclusion, and structural racism shape brain development and psychosis risk, especially for youth.
Involuntary Psychiatric Detention Linked to Numerous Harms
A sweeping review uncovers widespread harms and only one dubious benefit of forced psychiatric hospitalization.
What Happens When We Treat Nature as Essential to Mental Health
A new study shows that fostering nature connection in youth promotes well-being, empathy, and pro-social values.
Trapped by the Target: Rethinking Goals in School Therapy
While some students find therapy goals motivating, others describe feeling stuck, judged, and disheartened.
Psychiatric Drugs “A Crude Form of Chemical Restraint”
Mental health nursing has a key role to play in helping people discontinue the drugs, writes Timothy Wand.
Most People Want Therapy That Gets to the Root, but Are They Getting It?
A new national study shows that while the public favors depth-oriented therapy, most are not receiving it—and cost, access, and tech platforms may be to blame.
The Birth of Macropsychology: Psychologists Call for a New Discipline to Tackle Systemic Harms
A growing field explores how laws, policies, and power shape mental health far more than internal traits or disorders.