Sat.Jan 20, 2024 - Fri.Jan 26, 2024

article thumbnail

Searching for the “Psychiatric Yeti”: Schizophrenia Is Not Genetic

Mad in America

T he decades-long attempt to locate the gene or genes for schizophrenia has failed, according to a new article in Psychiatric Research by prominent schizophrenia researcher E. Fuller Torrey. In the article, Torrey reviews the history of the Human Genome Project, their hopes for identifying the genetic basis for schizophrenia, and how those hopes have been dashed by the complete failure to find anything of the sort.

article thumbnail

Day # 152: Circadian Rhythm Sleep-Wake Disorders

Bullet Psych

Today we will discuss Circadian Rhythm Sleep-Wake Disorders (CRSWDs). We will cover an introduction, definitions, diagnostic criteria, risk factors, and treatment. Today's Content Level: All levels (Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced) Refresher on the Circadian Rhythm 1 Circadian rhythm = roughly 24-hour cycle that is synchronized with the day-night cycle of the Earth.

Insiders

Sign Up for our Newsletter

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

article thumbnail

Two Out of Three Find Antidepressant Effects Not Worth Burdens

Mad in America

In a recent study published in BMJ Mental Health , a team led by Ethan Sahker from Kyoto University’s Department of Health Promotion and Human Behavior, alongside an international cohort of researchers, confronts a pressing question in depression treatment: What is the smallest beneficial effect of antidepressants that patients deem worthwhile given their burdens?

article thumbnail

Much of U.S. Healthcare Is Broken: How to Fix It (Chapter 2, Part 5)

Mad in America

Editor’s Note: Over the next several months, Mad in America is publishing a serialized version of Les Ruthven’s book, Much of U.S. Healthcare is Broken: How to Fix It. In this blog, he addresses increases in suicide and homicide caused by antidepressant drugs. Each Monday, a new section of the book is published, and all chapters are archived here.

article thumbnail

SSRI Withdrawal has Social, Cognitive, and Emotional Consequences

Mad in America

A recent article published in the Health Expectations journal reveals that discontinuing the use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI withdrawal) has an impact on the emotional, cognitive, and social aspects of the lives of users, in addition to causing physical withdrawal symptoms. The study, led by Raqeeb Mahmood from the University of Bath, also suggests that withdrawing from SSRIs has positive effects on health.

article thumbnail

The Dangers of Precision Medicine: Mental Health Is Not a Battlefield

Mad in America

P recision medicine promises a new era of highly targeted treatments akin to precision strikes in warfare, aimed at ‘combating’ disease at the most individual, localised level. Hailed as the future of mental health care, it conjures images of medical interventions as carefully planned and executed military operations, striking with lethal accuracy at the heart of mental suffering while minimising collateral damage.

article thumbnail

“Get Over It”? A Response to Empower Parents to Repair Instead of Victim Blame

Mad in America

F amily estrangement is on the rise, headlines read, followed by many articles about setting healthy boundaries, communication, self-care and emotional maturity. However, a recent article titled “Growing All The Way Up” (the online version is titled “ The Words Every Adult Child Needs to Hear ,” January 2024) in Psychology Today suggests adult children estranged with their parents take control of creating the life they want by “getting past old hurts” that they may have with their pa

More Trending

article thumbnail

Lady Yellow, Lady Blue by Brighid Aime

Mad in America

2am is a bipolar blessing. On the one hand, Her clock ticks, waking worlds away. On the other… Dreams tattoo pulses of heart, Maneuvered by her beaten, brush stroking pen. Playing on punctuation, Pushing paper preying and praying: Nevermore. Nothing remarkable here, Just another ‘Starry Starry Night’ Vincentanian Plight. Crafting worlds of her own, Growing tired of midnight awakenings, She lay in waiting.

93
article thumbnail

Oceans of Energy: What Paranoia Reveals About Interconnection

Mad in America

“The psychotic drowns in the same waters in which the mystic swims with delight.” — Joseph Campbell W ords like interconnection and oneness point to an underlying unity, an ocean of consciousness, in which we swim. And yet, as individuals with a fixed point of consciousness, humans experience the Great Mystery through a narrow lens. The tension of experiencing union as an individual is at the heart of a spiritual awakening; the desire to transcend this narrow lens, innate in humanity.

article thumbnail

“Impairment: Says Who?”: The Fundamental Question of Mental Health Treatment

Mad in America

O ne of the defining features in the socially constructed mental disorders in the DSM is the concept of “impairment.” In order to get a diagnosis for certain mental conditions, significant distress or disturbance in functioning in certain areas of life is required. Functional impairment may seem like a clear criterion on the surface, but in practical application, it is not in the slightest.

article thumbnail

How the Life Coaching Industry Sells Pseudo-Solutions to Our Deepest Problems

Mad in America

From Current Affairs : “The Robbins coaching formula is simple. If Robbins was able to face his fears and overcome such challenges, so can you. Victims are self-made losers. Poverty, trauma, abuse, and life-threatening illnesses can be reframed as badges of honor—opportunities to transmute life’s lemons so one can become a winner. Coaching immediately conjures up the realm of sports and gamesmanship with clear winners and losers.