Monthly Archives: November 2013

“An Overabundance of Caution”

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Under Canada's Mental Health Act (MHA), police respond to anonymous calls expressing concern about a person's mental health, often leading to that person's detainment...

Inpatient Hospitalization: An Inside Perspective

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When someone is in severe crisis due to feeling emotionally overwhelmed, one of the main access points for care is an inpatient hospital setting.  Though many disparage the hospital setting, there are few alternatives to this setting during an acute mental and emotional crisis. At the same time, there are a number of barriers to individuals getting optimal care. I will try to examine some of these barriers and some of the main critiques of hospitalization. In a perfect world, those experiencing severe emotional crisis would be able to find true sanctuary; a place for rest and healing. With enough time, nourishment and self-care, people experiencing severe emotional distress can and do get better.

Leader in World Psychiatry Calls for Radical Change

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  • Incoming president of WPA questions medical model
  • Focus should be on functioning, not symptoms
  • Says psychiatry has much to apologize for

Vicki Martin, MD – Short Bio

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Kid’s Voice: Vicki Martin, a child and adolescent psychiatrist who over 20 years became disillusioned with the mental health system, writes about developing training programs...

Vicki Martin, MD – Long Bio

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KID'S VOICE – PROMOTING RESILIENCY: RETHINKING MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES FOR VULNERABLE CHILDREN Vicki Martin, MD, is a board certified child & adolescent psychiatrist with over...

Increasing Mental Health Diagnoses of Youth, by Non-Psychiatrist MDs

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The mental health care of young people has increased more rapidly than that of adults, and has coincided with increased psychotropic medication use, according...

“Psychosis Risk Syndrome is Back to Haunt Us”

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Allen Frances adds to his catalog of DSM-5 mistakes with the return of the controversial - and ultimately rejected - "Psychosis Risk Disorder", under...

Response To Sandy Hook Report

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I do not claim to know how to heal the wounds from the tragedy that occurred in Newtown on December 14th, 2012. Nor do I claim to know how to prevent future tragedies of this sort. The intent of this post is to oppose ineffective and inhumane practices, prompted by reactions to the events in Newtown and other communities, that are falsely thought to be effective.

A Small Revolution in Belgium: Psychologists to be Recognized Health Professionals

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In Belgium, patients with mental health problems mostly receive drug treatment despite the emphasis in international guidelines on the importance of psychological approaches. Currently one in ten Belgians takes antidepressants. That makes Belgium the European leader when it comes to antidepressant prescriptions and costs our country 300 million euros annually. This has been a glaring concern for our Minister of Health. From January 1, 2016, all psychologists and psychotherapists in Belgium will need to register in an official list. This should slash the number of unqualified therapists and help more Belgians stay off antidepressants.

Psychiatric Drug Withdrawal and Human Metamorphosis

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The ocean’s waves are constant and unchangeable, bound by earth and gravity; for a long time I believed life was this way, too—that who I was and how I felt and what I believed about myself were all bound by some invisible force that would always keep me trapped in a perpetual state of agonizing being. What a beautiful thing to know that after so many years of believing this, I’ve proven myself wrong.

Childhood Adversity and Psychosis: From Heresy to Certainty

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Presentation by John Read at the Meanings of Madness Conference. (Presentation begins at 5 minutes in.)

KMSP-TV Investigative Report on Psychiatric Research Abuse at the University of Minnesota

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For a scathing, 11-minute overview of the death of Dan Markingson at the University of Minnesota, and new allegations of coercion into psychiatric clinical trials, you can't do much better than this excellent investigative report by Jeff Baillon.

Chairman of DSM-5 Task Force & Others Belatedly Admit Conflict of Interest Related to...

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The authors of a paper that endorses a computerized test for depression have acknowledged failure to disclose joint ownership of a company formed to bring the test to...

“What’s it Really Like to Take Antidepressants?”

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Britain's HealthTalkOnline.org offers videotaped interviews with 36 people in their homes, talking about their decision to take antidepressants and the impact of that decision...

An Opportunity for “Mad Caring”: David Oaks Needs Our Help

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For decades, one of the most prominent voices for radical change, or “non-violent revolution” in mental health care has been David Oaks, former director of MindFreedom International. Many activists today were drawn into their work due to David’s influence. Robert Whitaker, for example has credited an interview he did with David in 1998 for propelling him into noticing and writing about the way psychiatric drugs were harming more than helping. My own journey in becoming outspoken on these issues has also been massively influenced by David’s activism and ideas, which is one reason I care strongly about the issue I am bringing up here. While David has been helpful, directly or indirectly, to so many of us, he now needs our help.

Diagnosis Dispute Traps Teenager in Boston Children’s Hospital

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Justina Pelletier, a 15-year-old Connecticut teenager who had been diagnosed with mitochondrial disease, remains trapped in Boston Children's Hospital 9 months after a team...

J&J Fraud Plea Prompts Academics to Regret Participation

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Following Johnson & Johnson's record $2.2 billion settlement for criminal marketing — including $1.4 billion related to its marketing of Risperdal, making it one of the...

Sleep Therapy for Depression

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Pending research on the connection between insomnia and depression offers new prospects for treatment, according to recent articles in the New York Times.  "Psychiatrists...

Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome Linked to Polypharmacy, Benzos, and Race

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Research from London and Taipei finds that neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS) is associated with the number of different antipsychotics used (polypharmacy), rather than the overall...

Childhood Social Function & Schizophrenia

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A 48-year longitudinal study of 244 subjects, published in Schizophrenia Research, finds that those with schizophrenia-spectrum diagnoses had had the worst social functioning scores at...

“Suffering From Depression? Take a Course of Surf Lessons! Doctors Prescribe Watersports for Young...

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A pilot program of Britain's national health service prescribes surfing lessons for youth with anxiety disorders. 'What is great is it doesn’t feel like therapy...

The Church of GSKology

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Facing a sexual abuse lawsuit, the archdiocese of St Paul and Minneapolis made a big deal of putting an independent panel in place to investigate. They put the Reverend Reginald Whitt in charge of appointing the panel and receiving its reports on behalf of the archdiocese. Rev. Whitt told priests and deacons that the task force may review specific files to determine whether the policies of the archdiocese concerning clergy sexual misconduct were properly followed. But, he wrote, “Access to these files will be within my control, and limited only to what is necessary for the task force.” This sounds terribly like the approach Sir Andrew Witty is attempting to put in place for GSK, AbbVie and the rest of the branded pharmaceutical industry vis-a-vis abuses, including child abuse committed in their name. They are asserting their right to spin their version of what it is you put in your body even though this clashes fundamentally with your right to know what you are putting in your body.

“Are Mental Illnesses Real?”

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The Institute for Emerging Ethics & Technologies offers a three-part exploration of the questions revolving around mental illness & diagnosis, wending through Szasz, mental...

Benzos & Brain Tumors

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Researchers in Taiwan found a 3.33x greater risk of benign brain tumors in patients who had been prescribed benzodiazepines for at least 2 months....

Antidepressants & Sexual Function

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Two studies of the effects of antidepressants on sexual function - one on the relative effects across classes of antidepressants on men, the other...