Tag: overdiagnosis and overtreatment

Overheated, then Overtreated: My 10-Day Involuntary Hold

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Had the hospital simply treated me for heatstroke, they would have made next to nothing. But 11 days in the hospital (10 on a locked ward) and a battery of tests and psych drugs? Well, I’ll let you do the math.

We Are All in This Together

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We need a new narrative of shared distress to replace the failed one of individual disorders. We need human connection and mutual support. We can learn to manage our feelings in a way that helps us through the crisis and gives us the energy to make much-needed social and environmental changes afterwards. The usual dividing lines melt away in the face of global emergency. We really are all in this together.

Together for Sustainable Change: The Launch of Mad in Sweden

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It is with great pleasure that I announce that Mad in Sweden launches today. The number of people receiving a psychiatric diagnosis in Sweden has increased dramatically in recent years, and the need for alternative perspectives to today’s biomedical and pharmacologically oriented paradigm of mental health has never been greater.

What Exactly Do We Mean by Overdiagnosis?

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From The Lown Institute: "Is overdiagnosis inherently bad? Overdiagnosis not only leads to overtreatment but creates stress for patients who have to deal with this...

Cultural Confusion: The Shifting Line Between Sane and “Unsane”

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From STAT: An unprecedented number of Americans have been diagnosed with a mental, behavioral, or emotional disorder. Does this represent an increase in psychological distress...

Barbara Ehrenreich: Why I’m Giving Up on Preventative Care

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In this piece for Literary Hub, Barbara Ehrenreich critiques the overuse of preventative medicine and describes how our healthcare system's emphasis on screenings and early...

The Trump Administration Isn’t Taking on Health Care Waste

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From U.S. News: The Trump administration is not taking any actions to address the epidemic of waste, i.e. unnecessary tests and treatments, in the medical...

The Issue of Over-Diagnosing in Psychiatry

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From The Concordian: On October 30th, Dr. Joel Paris, a professor of psychiatry at McGill University, gave a lecture about the dangers and consequences of...

So Much Care It Hurts: The Impact of Unneeded Treatment

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From Kaiser Health News: A growing number of patients and doctors are becoming concerned and speaking out about overtreatment, including unneeded scans, tests, surgeries, and...

Psychiatry’s Greatest Harm: Its Lies Have Poisoned Our Entire Culture

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Psychiatry’s harms extend far beyond those people it ‘treats’ — they are undermining our society’s entire foundation. In just thirty years in America, the medical model's widespread acceptance has largely undone the huge adaptive potential that millions of years of brain evolution had provided.

Vikas Saini: Protecting Patients From Excessive Medicine

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In this piece for the BMJ, Jeanne Lenzer profiles Vikas Saini, a cardiologist who is working to fight against excessive medical treatment. His work with...

Dr. Vinay Prasad Takes on Big Pharma and Big Medicine

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In this piece for STAT, Meghana Keshavan profiles Dr. Vinay Prasad, a physician who has become an influential voice in the medical community through his...

Overtreatment is Common, Doctors Say

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From The New York Times: In a recent study, researchers surveyed 2,106 physicians in various specialities regarding their beliefs about overtreatment. On average, the doctors...

Our Health Care System Still Massively Overtreats Patients

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From the Center for Health Journalism: It is a commonly held belief that more medical care is always better; however, overtreatment can be harmful to...

Despite Official Recommendations, Depression Screening in Children is Not Supported by...

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Earlier this year, the US Preventative Services Task Force (USPSTF) came out with the controversial recommendation that all adolescent and adult patients undergo depression...