America has one of the highest rates of bipolar disease in the world with a staggering 5.7 million adults diagnosed. Characterized by periods of bone crushing depression swinging to cycles of mania, the disorder can destroy families and finances while
Prominent forces are criticizing the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, the newly revised cannon of the mental health community, to be released Wednesday. Dr. Thomas R. Insel, director of the U.S. National Institute of Mental
ausea, headache, fever, trembling, panic attacks and hallucinations. These are but a few of the symptoms that depression-struck patients risk facing when they discontinue their treatment with SSRI drugs, popularly — but falsely — dubbed “happy pills”. It sounds like
The world’s biggest mental health research institute is abandoning the new version of psychiatry’s “bible” – the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, questioning its validity and stating that “patients with mental disorders deserve better”. This bombshell comes just
In 1886, Pliny Earle, then the superintendent of the state hospital for the insane in Northampton, Massachusetts, complained to his fellow psychiatrists that “in the present state of our knowledge, no classification of insanity can be erected upon a pathological
In a world where creativity is deemed a “mental illness” by scientists, is it any wonder that a large portion of the population is on medications for some type of ‘mental illness’? The old fashioned psychiatrist’s writing pad for taking
The world’s first clinical trial designed to explore using a hallucinogen from magic mushrooms to treat people with depression has stalled because of British and European rules on the use of illegal drugs in research. David Nutt, president of the
I spend a lot of time wondering what life is really like for my daughter, who has Asperger’s Syndrome, a form of autism. Watching her navigate the day-to-day is one thing: comprehending the sources of her meltdowns and frequent distress
Nightmares, out-of-control aggressive behavior, extreme sadness and passivity, confusion, hallucinations, mania, brain damage, suicide, homicide—these are just a few central effects of psychiatric drugs. Read the staggering statistics reported by Robert Whitaker, the author of Mad in America: “The number
Electroshock — a brute force assault on the brain deemed the most controversial treatment in psychiatry — is being administered across Ontario in record numbers and with scant oversight. Nearly three decades after a government inquiry called for provincial training
Researchers from Yale and NIMH have recently found ketamine to be extraordinarily useful in treating major depression by restoring damaged neurons. The psychedelic anesthetic has been popularized as one of the best reputed substances to instigate out-of-body experiences. Unique within the entheogenic
Psychiatric hospitals have a certain smell. Old urine hits the nostrils first and then the sting of bleach. As I unlock the metal doors, the smell lets me know where and what I am: a pre-doctoral intern at a forensic
In any given year, 7% of adults suffer from major depression, and at least 1 in 10 youth will reckon with the disorder at some point during their teenage years. But about 20% of these cases will not respond to current
When Dr. Michael Anderson hears about his low-income patients struggling in elementary school, he usually gives them a taste of some powerful medicine: Adderall. The pills boost focus and impulse control in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Although A.D.H.D is
Woman who are planning to have a baby or are already pregnant are now being warned to avoid foods containing Mercury and are now being encouraged to eat more fish during pregnancy. A new study published in the Archives of Pediatrics &
In the absence of any objective medical tests to determine who has ADD or ADHD, doctors rely in part on standardized assessments and the impressions of teachers and guardians while the they administer leave little room for other causes or
Was the suspect in the ‘Sikh temple shooting‘ case on a medley of pharmaceutical drugs like James Holmes, Columbine shooter Eric Harris, Ted Kaczinski the “Unabomber”, and virtually all others? The latest incident in which a minimum of seven innocents were
We were on something like the 15th round of rummy, and my father was winning decisively. He cracked a wide, toothy grin as he laid his cards on the table. “That’s 321 for BaBa, and 227 for String Bean,” he
Autism in genetically vulnerable people could be triggered by very low levels of chemicals found in the water supply, researchers have discovered. Experts from the University of Idaho in the US were ‘astonished’ to find that just traces of common
A specific antioxidant supplement may be an effective therapy for some features of autism, according to a pilot trial from the Stanford University School of Medicine and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital that involved 31 children with the disorder. The antioxidant,
Prescriptions of Ritalin for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder have quadrupled in a decade, prompting fears it is being pushed on children at the expense of alternative treatments and without appreciation of long-term effects. Figures released by the NHS business services
In the first days after the twin terror attacks last year, Norway’s prime minister was quick to come out with a comforting message to the grieving nation. The country would respond to Anders Behring Breivik’s massacre with “more openness, more
Did you know that roughly 10% of the American population suffers from depression? It isn’t exactly a coincidence, with the FDA approving a wide variety of damaging foods and drugs that many millions of Americans consume each day. The FDA
