Tag: Depression
Study Highlights Lack of Evidence for Antidepressants in Treatment of Chronic...
A new Cochrane review details the lack of evidence for antidepressants in the treatment of chronic pain.
Alarming Overprescription Patterns for Older Adults on Antidepressants
New study finds polypharmacy for 73% of older adults on antidepressants, with 56% at risk of harmful drug interactions.
No Link Between Serotonin and Depression: What Does That Mean for...
Peter Simons covers in detail a new systematic review that debunks the widely popularized myth of low serotonin in depression, the “chemical imbalance theory.”
Dying to Stay Alive: A Ketamine Disaster
Ketamine treatment, which was being hailed as a ‘miracle cure’, backfired so spectacularly that it very nearly cost me my life.
Shifting Away from ECT and Antidepressants for Depression
Researchers argue that we need a paradigm shift away from the biomedical model of mental illness to one informed by political action and common sense.
SSRI Antidepressants Do Not Improve Depression After a Stroke
A study in JAMA Neurology finds that antidepressants do not reduce depression symptoms more than placebo in patients recovering from a stroke.
Psychotherapy Has an Enduring Effect on Depression—in Contrast to Depression Pills
A meta-analysis published last month showed that psychotherapy has an enduring effect on depression—in contrast to depression pills.
Garbage in, Garbage out: The Newest Cochrane Meta-Analysis of Depression Pills...
In May 2021, Cochrane published a network meta-analysis of depression pills for children. The abstract is misleading and reads like drug company marketing.
Researchers Propose Study to Test Whether Antidepressants Impede Recovery
Evolutionary theorists suggest that antidepressants interfere with the adaptive function of depression and propose a test of this theory.
Four Essential Studies on Antidepressant Withdrawal Every Prescriber Must Read
A researcher and service user Stevie Lewis recounts her own experience with antidepressant withdrawal and what she wishes her doctors knew.
Cochrane Review Calls for More Research on Antidepressant Withdrawal
Researchers find a lack of current literature on safe, effective ways to manage antidepressant withdrawal and make suggestions for future research.
New Research Questions Safety of Esketamine for Depression
An analysis of FDA adverse event reports related to esketamine shows the potential for negative effects such as suicidal and self-injurious ideation.
Grief and Its Potential Lessons
Within the current mental health paradigm, profound grief is often shoved into the universal category of depression and treated as a malfunction according to the biomedical model.
Dr. Pies: Still Going Wrong
In his attacks against the British Psychological Society's report "Understanding Depression," Dr. Pies falls into his own trap: "There are none so blind as those who will not see."
Insane Medicine, Chapter 5: The Manufacture of Childhood Depression (Part 2)
The promotion of SSRI antidepressant use began with the pharmaceutical industry and occurs despite evidence that these drugs are harmful, not helpful, in children and adolescents.
Insane Medicine, Chapter 5: The Manufacture of Childhood Depression (Part 1)
The medicalisation of our emotional lives has led to a horrific cultural shift in which we, and our children, have become alienated from and suspicious of our emotions, chipping away at our natural resilience.
Promising Preliminary Results from a Small Study of Psilocybin-Assisted Therapy
A new study offers promising results for psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy for depression.
Not Just Another Stain on the Wall
During my 96-hour hold in the psych unit—despite that I was rational and a danger to no one—I was made to feel ashamed and somehow unclean. I went home feeling more depressed than ever.
Researchers: It’s Time to Stop Recommending Antidepressants for Depression
Researchers review a new synthesis of the existing evidence and conclude that the harms of antidepressants outweigh any benefits.
Suicidal Thoughts, Psychiatric Diagnosis, and What Really Helps: Part Two
This piece is the second of a two-part essay about suicide, diagnosis, what doesn't help, and what does help. This part is about barriers to seeking help and about the ways we actually can be of help to people who are considering suicide.
Suicidal Thoughts, Psychiatric Diagnosis, and What Really Helps: Part One
This piece is the first of a two-part essay about suicide, diagnosis, what doesn't help, and what does help. This part is about suicide, diagnosis, and some of what fails to help.
Strategies for Tapering and Discontinuing Antidepressants
A new review of strategies to support both patients and practitioners through the process of discontinuing antidepressants.
JAMA Psychiatry Retracts Antidepressant Study
Once an appropriate statistical method was used, the study findings were “no longer valid,” according to the editors of JAMA and JAMA Psychiatry.
No Good Evidence That Antidepressants Prevent Relapse
Trials of antidepressants for relapse prevention are confounded by withdrawal effects caused by the drugs.
Psychiatry and the Stupidification of America
There are three steps to modern psychiatry’s successful business formula: 1. Get people to think that they’re stupid even though they’re smart. 2. Train them to actually think stupidly. 3. Directly stupidify them with chemicals.