15 Years Ago on Psych Central

Seek Out Help

One of the first things I wrote for the website was an editorial piece about how you should nearly always seek out psychotherapy in addition to medications for treatment of mental health issues (which is even more true today than it was 15 years ago). And I announced a call for articles for a new online mental health magazine called Perspectives.

5 Years Ago on Psych Central

At trial, noted cardiologist criticizes Merck’s behavior

Talk about the “tip of the iceberg.” In this blog entry from December 2005, I noted how a cardiologist was calling out Merck for its marketing and biased research on the drug Vioxx. In the years after this lawsuit was filed, dozens more lawsuits were filed independently against virtually every drug company for their deceptive and/or off-label marketing practices, and their active suppression of research data that showed their drugs often performed only as well as a sugar pill. It’s been the biggest shakeup of the pharmaceutical industry we’ve seen in the past decade.

1 Year Ago on Psych Central

The Dysfunctional Holiday Letter

A classic holiday letter written by Gina Gallagher and Patricia Konjoian.

Addicted to Sex? The Internet? Friendship?

With it looking more and more likely that “behavioral addictions” will make it into the DSM-5, one has to ask the question — where do we draw the line between normal behavior and “addicted” behavior?

11 Years Ago on Psych Central

The Great Psychology Prescription Debate

I boiled psychologists’ push for prescription privileges down to a question of money in this post. Psychologists are being pushed down the income ladder by cheaper psychotherapy providers (like marriage and family therapists and clinical social workers), and so look upward to see what they could be doing that could be making them more money. Psychiatrists can make twice as much psychologists because they can prescribe psychiatric medications.

Re-reading this essay, I think things are a little bit more complicated than I originally suggested. Indeed, in some rural parts of our country, there is a lack of psychiatric prescribers. But I don’t think the answer is tacking on a few more years of study to psychologists’ training programs, who have no intrinsic or specialized medical training to begin with (psychological training, yes; medical training, no).

Over lunch a few weeks ago, Dr. Danny Carlat suggested the answer is an entirely new training paradigm for professionals, combining the best of both worlds of psychiatry and psychology. And why not, when it’s so clear the existing training paradigm for both professions leaves much to be desired. It sounded intriguing and full of potential, so I look forward to reading more about his ideas in this vein in the months to come.

5 Years Ago on Psych Central

Lovers no good in spotting others in love

I love this study, even five years later, because it goes against the conventional wisdom that lovers in love should be able to see such love in others, too. In fact, adding some traction to the saying that “love is blind,” people in love actually fared twice as badly in identifying love in others than those who were not currently in love. Love is not only blind to the partner we love, but also to anyone else in love too, apparently.

1 Year Ago on Psych Central

10 Ways to Make Friends

Regular World of Psychology contributor Therese J. Borchard listed 10 ways a person can go and make new friends. It seems like such a simple topic that you wouldn’t even need to write it. Yet as we get older and out of school, making friends can be a lot more challenging than you might realize. Especially if you’re shy, or are in a work environment where socialization is frowned upon.

Suicide: When It Hurts Too Much To Live

Suicide is a topic that still makes my heart skip a beat whenever I see it in print or write about it. I lost my dearest friend to suicide in 1990, so it’s close to my heart, even 20 years later. While we’ve come a long way in making progress to help decrease suicides in 20 years, it remains a significant problem and one of the leading causes of death in young adults. In this entry by World of Psychology contributor Erika Krull, MS, LMHP, she talks about the pain of suicide and invites readers to contribute to a discussion on this issue; readers respond with over 120 comments.

Yesterday I had the honor at presenting at the First International E-Mental Health Summit 2009 in Amsterdam, where I’ve spent the week exploring the wonderful cities of Bruges and Amsterdam in my first visit to northern Europe. It is a wonderful place and we’ve met some of the nicest and friendliest people here. So being that I’m in no hurry to get back into the office, here’s some wonderful articles that have appeared on Psych Central in the past.

12 Years Ago on Psych Central

• The Drugging of Our Children: Over-diagnosis Leads to Over-prescription of Ritalin

  I can’t believe I wrote this 12 years ago, calling out the too-quick diagnosis of ADHD in children seen for only a few minutes by overworked family doctors and pediatricians. It’s not the doctor’s fault — the parents are sitting there, waiting for an answer. ADHD is always a simple one to give (regardless of whether it’s right or wrong for that particular child). This articles note the tripling of Ritalin prescriptions over 5 years (1990-1995), and not surprisingly, prescriptions for ADHD medications have grown exponentially since then. Is ADHD a serious problem in children? Absolutely. But can it be too-quickly diagnosed without a thorough mental health evaluation of the child? Yes, even today.

5 Years Ago on Psych Central

• A Patient’s Suicide, a Psychiatrist’s Pain

  Five years ago we highlighted this story from The New York Times, where a psychiatrist describes his first experience with one of his patients committing suicide. While not for the feint of heart, it remains a poignant story worth reading.

• FDA Orders Strong Antidepressant Warnings

  The first black box warnings hit antidepressant medications 5 years ago, and despite warnings about the sky falling (from falling prescription rates), the sky held fast and people continue to be prescribed (and take) more antidepressants than ever before. The warning was to alert people to the link between the drugs and increased suicidal thoughts and behavior among children and teens taking them.

1 Year Ago on Psych Central

• Top Ten Bipolar Blogs 2008

  While we’re working on the list for 2009, I thought it might be a good time to revisit the list from last year so you can revisit and view some of the best blogs on the Internet on bipolar disorder.

• Is Grief a Mental Disorder? No, But it May Become One!

  Dr. Ronald Pies shared a great entry with us about grief, which garnered many comments and interesting responses. As he noted at the time, “Not all of these are occasions for a medical diagnosis or professional treatment — most are not. But there are times when a simple cut can become infected, and there are also times when so-called “normal” grief can become a very nasty beast called clinical depression.” I wholeheartedly agree with this sentiment.

• Golden Gate Bridge To Get a Suicide Net

  We expressed our appreciation and gratitude, on behalf of the thousands who’ve lost their lives to this infamous landmark, for the Bridge’s board of directors to finally agree to a suicide barrier. The Golden Gate Bridge is the most popular place in the country to commit suicide. Sadly, a year later, there’s not a whole lot to update, as the plan winds its way through the planning and approval processes (they signed a Memorandum of Agreement between all of the agencies responsible for the project on July 31, 2009; that’s the last update on their site).

10 Years Ago on Psych Central

• Moving On

  Ten years ago, I resigned from my position at the large mental health site I co-founded in 1995 (not this one!), and took up with drkoop.com, an e-health site founded by the former Surgeon General of the U.S., to help them build their mental health content. This was my first big startup experience, and I couldn’t have picked a better company to watch implode shortly after its IPO. I also moved from Columbus, Ohio to Austin, Texas, a big geographic and cultural change. Austin, Texas remains one of my favorite towns to visit, though, as it’s pretty much the antithesis of Columbus (and the rest of Texas as well!).

5 Years Ago on Psych Central

• Knowing When to Call It Quits in Psychotherapy

  Five years ago I wrote this three-part series to help you understand when it’s time to call it quits in psychotherapy. After all, therapy wasn’t meant to last your lifetime (at least most forms of modern psychotherapy). The series covers understanding the ground rules and expectations in psychotherapy, recognizing the signs that it may be time to leave, and how to make a clean, emotionally-healthy break.

1 Year Ago on Psych Central

• Facebook Scams of Narcissists

  Guest blogger, Samuel López De Victoria, Ph.D., wrote a provocative entry describing research that showed, unsurprisingly, narcissists are drawn to social networking websites like Facebook. Is it any wonder? Your Facebook page is a universe centered solely upon you and all that you’re doing.

• Is the Research Any Good?

  Need help interpreting the results of a psychological research study? This short crib sheet, meant for consumers, helps you make sense of such scientific research in down-to-earth terms. While greatly simplified, it can nonetheless help you spot the studies that aren’t as rigorous or generalizable (and may be biased).

10 Years Ago on Psych Central

• When Tragedy Provides

  My essay about the Columbine tragedy, which also just celebrated its 10 year anniversary a few months ago. Tragedy reminds us that we’re human and gives us a chance to reconnect with one another. But nothing can make sense of tragedies such as Columbine.

5 Years Ago on Psych Central

• Drug Maker Acknowledges Misleading Claims

  In case you thought that some pharmaceutical companies’ recent problems with telling the whole truth about their drugs is something new, I noted 5 years ago when Janssen admitted that it minimized some of the potential side effects of its drug, Risperdal. According to the story, “the FDA determined that the company’s promotional materials still minimized the risk of strokes, diabetes and other potentially fatal complications. The agency also said Janssen made misleading claims that the medication was safer in treating mental illness than similar drugs.” The more things change…

• Caught in the WebForeshadowing the rise of the non-existent disorder, “Internet addiction,” this entry noted how some soldiers in Finland were having a hard time being away from the Internet and got their military service time decreased. Why wouldn’t that work for TV?

1 Year Ago on Psych Central

• One Year Medication-Free with Bipolar Disorder

  We noted the anniversary of when blogger extraordinaire Philip Dawdy over at Furious Seasons marked his one year anniversary medication-free while living with bipolar disorder. His brief second year followup here, where he says he no longer has bipolar disorder:

  So two years after my psychiatrist talked me into going off the last of 18 years of psych meds, my case establishes one of four things: that I was a bad diagnosis back in 1989 and was never bipolar at all; that bipolar disorder burns out over time; that I’m a medical miracle of some kind; or, that I am a sick, delusional man, soon to be hospitalized.

• Another Brain Fad for Depression?A love letter to neuroscientists was published in the Boston Globe which caught my BS-alert detector. Just a ridiculous, one-sided article suggesting that only a biological understanding of mental illness will result in the golden age of treatment. Meanwhile, hundreds of psychological studies are published each and every year on different psychological treatments and theories of mental disorders. Few get noticed because psychological explanations are so… boring compared to the pretty, compelling pictures of fMRI, for instance.

10 Years Ago on Psych Central

• Becoming Stuck Online
  In this classic post, I rant about the world of Internet mental health moving at a glacier’s pace, compared to the world of Internet technologies and services. I also allude to my moving on from the founding of Mental Health Net to take a short-lived position with the doomed Internet startup, drkoop.com. I wrote then, “My goal is to pursue and push others to explore the positive uses and effects of the Internet,” and never has that been more true than today. The Internet has opened so many doors for so many people, I still enjoy talking about all the pro-social ways people are using this technology in ways never even imagined in 1999.

5 Years Ago on Psych Central

• Teenagers reach out via weblogs
  As blogging started to enter into the mainstream consciousness (yes, only 5 years ago), some researchers already started expressing concern about their use by teens. And as we’ve seen since that time, teens’ “oversharing” online can indeed become a problem for them (especially when it comes to those embarrassing or X-rated photos).
• Sex Therapy On Call (and Online!)
  Who knew that you could do sex therapy online? Well, five years ago, The Washington Post explored this topic and we noted it as part of a growing and potentially interesting trend and part of e-therapy.

1 Year Ago on Psych Central

• Forgo the Brain Training, Drugs, Vitamins & Meditation and Just Get Some Exercise
  A year ago, I noted the controversy surrounding the brain training industry, insomuch that the “brain training” research wasn’t all that robust. PsyBlog had the original story, and Sharp Brains, the self-proclaimed “brain fitness authority,” was none too happy with our coverage and opinions in the matter. Yeah, why let science get in the way of a lucrative market? Time to revisit soon.
• 10 Myths of Mental Illness
  A classic post by any definition, if you ever wondered what the top 10 myths about mental health and mental illness are, this is the post for you.
• Wyeth’s Dr. Phil Ninan on Pristiq
  I had the opportunity to interview Wyeth’s VP of Medical Affairs to talk about the then-new antidepressant Pristiq, and the post has ended up becoming a support group for those looking for advice and help in switching over to Pristiq from Effexor (Pristiq’s predecessor), and how to safely get off of either Effexor or Pristiq. Probably not what Wyeth had in mind.

10 Years Ago on Psych Central

Becoming Stuck Online
Ten years ago, I was contemplating my first big career move, leaving a company I had been with for four years in Columbus, Ohio and moving to Austin, Texas to go to work for an Internet startup called drkoop.com. No wonder I was feeling “stuck,” as the job I had created for myself was no longer very challenging (especially with the limited resources I had available versus the rampant resources available to startups).

5 Years Ago on Psych Central

J&J Warned on Claims About Antipsychotic Drug
In an ominous warning of things to come, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 5 years ago warned the J&J unit Janssen Pharmaceutica that some of the marketing materials it was sending to doctors about its antipsychotic Risperdal failed to mention the serious side effects like excess blood sugar and diabetes, and minimized the risk of serious events including coma and even death. That didn’t stop the FDA from approving Risperdal 3 years later for the treatment of schizophrenia in adolescents ages 13-17 and for the short-term treatment of bipolar mania associated with manic or mixed episodes of bipolar I disorder in children and adolescents ages 10-17.

If Not Pills, What?
The practice guidelines of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatrists (AACAP) hold that talk therapy (also known as psychotherapy) should be the first line of treatment for children with depression. Medication is called for as a first treatment only in the most severe cases of depression — when a child is incapacitated, suicidal or otherwise endangered by the illness.

1 Year Ago on Psych Central

I Think I’m in Love with My Therapist
One of our more popular blog entries, we explored those feelings one might experience in psychotherapy that seem very much like being in love with your therapist. Often something called “transference,” such feelings are actually more common than you might think and a perfectly normal and health part of therapy.

Need to Get Into College? Try ADHD!
We noted a newspaper advice column that complained of parents who have their children tested and diagnosed with attention deficit disorders so the students have the advantage of prescription medicine and untimed standardized tests. Not sure if that’s a good idea since such labels may follow a teen far into their adult lives (and careers), especially if they don’t actually have ADHD. See also our most recent entry on ADHD and college, Dealing with ADHD while away at college.

When a Generic Isn’t Equal to the Brand Name
Like most people, I’ve always taken for granted that because the FDA says it’s true, it must be. So generic medications must be just as good as their name-brand counterparts. That is, until I read about people’s experiences with the generic form of Wellbutrin XL — bupropion XL — in 2006. Joe and Terry Graedon of The People’s Pharmacy conducted their own investigation into the bioequivalence of it and found it, well, not exactly the same as the name brand. A year later, nothing’s changed as far as I can tell. The FDA hasn’t changed their generic standards, and we seem still to be stuck with sometimes-inferior medications masquerading as the real thing.

10 Years Ago on Psych Central

• Detecting Deception: A quick review of the psychological research
  A decade ago, we did a quick lit search on psychologists’ ability to detect deception in others, and this issue has come up as one of the cornerstones of anti-terrorism efforts at airports in the U.S. since then. A great special issue of Criminal Justice and Behavior in October 2008 (Snook, 2008) noted that “hypnotic interviewing, polygraph examination, criminal profiling, critical incident stress debriefing, and detecting of deception solely on the basis of nonverbal cues” all lack strong scientific support and are “indicative of pseudoscience.” Yet they continue to be used by law enforcement personnel, the TSA, and even psychologists around the country as supposedly-valid tools.
  

5 Years Ago on Psych Central

• February 2004 Blog Entry
  We noted that optimism provides no protection against cancer (e.g., those who had a more positive attitude about their life did not enjoy a greater survival percentage). A more recent meta-analysis in 2008 “showed that positive psychological well-being was associated with reduced mortality in both the healthy population and the diseased population. [...] Both positive affect (e.g., emotional well-being, positive mood, joy, happiness, vigor, energy) and positive trait-like dispositions (e.g., life satisfaction, hopefulness, optimism, sense of humor) were associated with reduced mortality in healthy population studies” (Chida & Steptoe, 2008). I don’t think a positive attitude’s going to help you much once you get cancer, but it may help you before you do.
  

1 Year Ago on Psych Central

• 10 Common Reasons to Lie to Your Therapist
  After our controversial entry in January Why Would You Lie to Your Therapist?, I answer my own question with this entry giving common, legitimate reasons why people are not always honest with their therapist in psychotherapy. I still believe psychotherapy works best when honesty is a foundation, but understand there are times where it’s not always possible.
• Mentally Ill Unfairly Portrayed as Violent
  People who have a mental health concern often get an unfair shake in the media, especially if they happen to get into trouble with the law. Media often note a person has a mental illness if they are involved in some violent act, but never mention whether he or she has diabetes or a heart condition. This sort of stigma is the kind of thing we rail against year after year. And earlier this week, yet another study was published showing the lack of a link between mental illness and violence (except when a substance disorder is also present). When will journalists get it?

10 Years Ago on Psych Central

• Enjoying the Moment: It’s Harder Than It Seems
  I’ve always been fascinated by the passage of time, and how our perceptions make something that is unchanging seem dynamic and fluid. Sometimes in our life, we feel like time is flying by. Other times, it appears to crawl to a halt, with each second passing seeming like hours. A decade ago, I wrote about this phenomenon and how when we’re younger, we don’t much notice time. But as we age, it seems to take on a larger-than-life meaning.
  

5 Years Ago on Psych Central

• January 2004 Blog Entry
  A 14-country Internet survey conducted by the World Internet Project demonstrated that the average Internet user, far from being a geek, was actually, well, you and me — everyday people who watch less TV than the average person and who enjoy socializing with friends. The Internet is the biggest socialization tool in the late 20th century, so it’s no wonder it’s being used to connect us with one another.
  

1 Year Ago on Psych Central

• Cornell Cuts Suicide Rate in Half
  How did they do it? With the implementation of expensive electronic medical records? Nope, a simple change in policy that allowed greater communication amongst the mental health team at Cornell, and administrators, campus police, resident assistants, and other staff about students’ mental health concerns. We still haven’t found much evidence that other universities are following suit, despite the dramatic drop in suicides at Cornell.
• Why Would You Lie to Your Therapist?
  This entry generated a lot of controversy and comments when we published it a year ago, asking people why they bother lying to their therapists (when the whole point of psychotherapy is to be honest with yourself and your therapist, to find ways to bring about needed changes in your life). If you’ve already read the entry, it’s worth reading the 82+ comments, which bring a rich and unique perspective on this issue.
  

10 Years Ago on Psych Central

• Relationship Reprise: Don’t Forget Them
  As the holidays descend upon us, it may be a good time to remember what’s really important in life — our relationships with our friends, family and others, not things. Focus on those relationships, renew old ones, and do some relationship housekeeping to start the next year off right with the people that matter most in your life.
  

5 Years Ago on Psych Central

• November 2003 Blog Entry
  Five years ago, I blogged on the finding that UCLA researchers find gingko biloba may help improve memory. More recent research published this week, however, suggests that gingko biloba has no impact in helping prevent Alzheimer’s disease or other dementias. So it’s probably not helpful to take gingko just because you believe it’s warding off later-life dementia or such.

  It was also five years ago this month that Massachusetts’ highest court ruled that a ban on gay marriage is unconstitutional, paving the way for Massachusetts to allow for gay marriage.
  

1 Year Ago on Psych Central

• The Power of Deception Online: The Megan Meier Story
  It was a year ago when 13 year old Megan Meier took her own life, after being teased by a fake persona on MySpace created by Lori Drew. Drew’s trial was underway last week, and The New York Times has an update. Drew was not charged in connection with Meier’s suicide, but rather with conspiracy and three counts of accessing a computer without authorization via interstate commerce to obtain information to inflict emotional distress. On Wednesday, Lori Drew was convicted on three misdemeanor charges. The jury rejected felony charges against Drew, and was deadlocked on a conspiracy count. With Drew’s successful conviction, perhaps it will send a warning to any online bully that such behavior can be prosecuted.
• Social Anxiety Disorder or Just Plain Shy?
  I wrote about social anxiety disorder, a legitimate mental disorder that appears in the DSM-IV, which has unfortunately been increasingly diagnosed more and more, as more and more drug treatments coincidentally become available for it. While the argument could be made that since companies increase information about the disorder after a drug has been approved to treat it, it is simply an awareness effect. However, my more cynical brain suggests that it’s not only consumer awareness, but also physician awareness that results in far more prescriptions to treat the sometimes-questionable diagnosis of social anxiety disorder.
  

10 Years Ago on Psych Central

• Mental Health Care is Available in Varied Forms
  Ten years ago, I wrote about the various forms or types of treatments available to treat mental illness and mental health related issues. It’s a good primer on what to expect from different modalities, like outpatient care versus going to a private psychiatric hospital or the like.
  

5 Years Ago on Psych Central

• August 2003 Blog Entry
  You know it’s a slow news cycle when I was blogging about the rise of bachelorette parties — and the researchers who study them. “Dr. Beth Montemurro, assistant professor of sociology at Penn State’s Abington Campus, has interviewed more than 50 women and personally attended many bachelorette parties in an attempt to determine what significance that bachelorette parties — especially those containing sexually charged themes — have for them.” I love that part where she “personally attended” many of them. Nothing like first-hand research, right?
  

1 Year Ago on Psych Central

• Health 2.0 in The Economist
  I discussed this article that helps to dismantle the Health 2.0 hype machine. With the inevitable sale of Revolution Health to one of its competitors, it seems that this particular bubble is about to burst. I say it’s about time.
• TV & ADHD
  While watching television doesn’t cause ADHD, researchers did find a significant correlation with watching TV and being diagnosed with ADHD as a child (ages 5 to 11). The reason? The researchers speculated that “rapid scene changes influence brain development and television replaced other activities like reading — activities that require attention development.” An important research finding worth repeating — limit your child’s television time every day.

10 Years Ago on Psych Central

• Fee-for-service Self-Help Sites
  Ten years ago this summer, I wrote about a questionable new trend at the time of a growing number of mental health self-help websites which began appearing that charged users access to their services. Keep in mind, this was during the heydays of the dot.com boom, meaning that all you needed was an idea and a website and investors would hand over fistfuls of cash. This was a horrible business idea in 1998, and remains so today. People generally don’t pay for subscription services online, with a few notable exceptions (online dating and dieting/weight loss).

  Even today, I still see new services who are trying to get people to fork over their cash for services of questionable value. I tried out a “virtual robot shrink” the other day and despite the low price point, I got absolutely nothing of value from the service (except some amusement at how rudimentary the AI was). Could there be value to such services someday? Perhaps, but I have yet to see convincing evidence.
  

5 Years Ago on Psych Central

• July 2003 Blog Entry
  Only five years ago, we received what I believe was our first mention in The New York Times, in a column by Maureen Dowd on whether all of America might not have adult ADHD. It’s a tongue-in-cheek jab at America’s Republican political party’s numerous foreign policy gaffs. While I have no comment on the political commentary, I appreciated the mention of our ADHD quiz (taken now by 1.7 million people!).
  

1 Year Ago on Psych Central

• Does EMDR Work for PTSD in Just 5 Sessions?
  Last year, I posted an entry noting some research that supports the effectiveness of EMDR for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). While not a cure-all, the data suggested that many people were significantly helped by EMDR techniques in just 5 psychotherapy sessions. If you’re struggling with PTSD and making headway with it, it’s a technique worth giving a try.
• Closed Psychiatric Hospitals Reused, But Current Patients’ Rights Restricted
  An entry about the re-use of old psychiatric buildings and campuses caught more than one person’s eye when I also noted that current patients in private psychiatric hospitals often have to fight for their right to something the rest of us take for granted — breathing in some fresh air. Heck, even prisoners not in solitary confinement have the right and access to fresh air. Not so in many psychiatric hospitals. I recently received an update from the Coalition for Fresh Air Rights here in Massachusetts and discovered that, not surprisingly, the right to fresh air is still not available to psychiatric patients. The proposed bill here is watered down to be meaningless and largely unenforceable. Opponents continue to argue that providing the right to take a walk outside or such would present risks — financial (gosh, we’d have to provide some space for that!), safety (what happens if someone breathes in a bug?!), and mitigating general risk (can’t have patients just walking away from the hospital, now can we?). Ironically, many hospitals that deny patients access to fresh air provide a place for smokers to inhale away.

10 Years Ago on Psych Central

• Secrets Confessed: The Larry Froistad Case
  Can you believe it’s already been 10 years since The Larry Froistad Case? Larry Froistad was a guy who confessed to murder on a self-help online support group back in 1998. I took a look at the case and the issue of whether there was a duty to report the confession to the authorities (which was done), and what the case meant for privacy expectations in online self-help support groups (there should be no expectation of privacy in an online support group). On August 7, 1998, Froistad pled guilty to murdering his daughter and remains in prison in North Dakota. Subsequent appeals Mr. Froistad has filed have been denied.
  

5 Years Ago on Psych Central

• Henry Saeman, a pioneer in psychology, passed away
  I noted the passing of Henry Saeman, a pioneer in setting the standards for a psychological state association and founder of the National Psychologist, a newspaper for therapists that is still publishing today by his son. I met and knew Henry back in the 1990s, and was saddened by his death.
  
• Press from the American Psychiatric Association convention
  In August you get a plethora of press releases from the American Psychological Association’s annual meeting. In May, the same is true from the psychiatrists. In this entry, I ran down a bunch of the press releases and their primary findings, with very little analysis (mostly just commentary).
  

1 Year Ago on Psych Central

• Withdrawal from Antidepressants
  A year ago, we mentioned the serious problems many people — up to 80% of those who take an antidepressant medication — have with getting off of the drug when they’re done with it. These sometimes-severe withdrawal symptoms are minimized by both the industry and doctors, and rarely mentioned to people when a doctor first begins prescribing the medication. Withdrawal from antidepressants remains a significant problem, and one still rarely addressed by doctors.
• Violence and Mental Illness: Simplifying Complex Data Relationships
  Our take on the complex relationship between mental illness and violence, but which generally boils down to this soundbite — people who are mentally ill are no more likely to be violent than those who are not, unless they are also abusing alcohol or an illegal drug. Researchers have produced a decidedly mixed (and sometimes biased) data foundation in which to draw reliable conclusions. So while it’s convenient to think there is a relationship between these two things, there is not.
  

10 Years Ago on Psych Central

• Changes and Illusions
  We all go through transitions in our lives, and some are more painful than others. But transition teaches us valuable lessons, too, if we’re open to listening for them. Life is short, fleeting, and we all comfort ourselves in a world made of partial illusion. Without such illusion, however, life may be unmanageable for many.

5 Years Ago on Psych Central

• The Seven Warning Signs of Bogus Science
  “There is, alas, no scientific claim so preposterous that a scientist cannot be found to vouch for it. And many such claims end up in a court of law after they have cost some gullible person or corporation a lot of money. How are juries to evaluate them?” This excellent article, written 5 years ago, describes how to discover junk science in a quick and efficient manner, and largely holds up to scientific scrutiny. It still holds up today and you should judge any scientific story you read or watch by its 7 simple measures.
  

1 Year Ago on Psych Central

• Light and Dark
  Contributor Sandra Kiume wrote one of our most commented-upon blog entries describing the use of special light therapy to help treat mania and the cycling often associated with bipolar disorder. The comments are a must-read and provide additional sources for investigation, including research citations.
  
• Antidepressants and Bipolar Disorder
  Contributor Will Meek noted a study published a year ago that showed no real benefits or risks associated with adding an antidepressant to someone being treated for bipolar disorder. The New England Journal of Medicine published the study showing that the use of “antidepressant medication, as compared with the use of mood stabilizers, was not associated with increased efficacy or with increased risk of treatment-emergent affective switch.” In others, adding an antidepressant doesn’t really do anything. So why do doctors continue to prescribe them in people with bipolar disorder? Who knows.

10 Years Ago on Psych Central

• The Birth of a New Society:
  The International Society for Mental Health Online
  Ten years ago this March marks the 10th anniversary of the founding of this Society, dedicated to mental health online (contrary to the organization’s website, it actually remains open to anyone interested in online mental health, not just professionals). As one of the founders and its first president, it still holds a warm place in my heart as an organization dedicated to the exploration and discussion of mental health online.
  

5 Years Ago on Psych Central

• Borderline personality disorder prognosis looks good
  In February 2003, we noted that researchers found that symptomatic improvement among patients with borderline personality disorder is both common and stable. The researchers followed the rates of remission and recurrence in 290 patients with borderline personality disorder, and 72 who met DSM-III-R criteria for other axis II disorders over a 6-year period.

  Among those with borderline personality disorder, nearly 35% were in remission after 2 years. This status was also achieved by nearly half of the patients after 4 years, and by nearly 70% after 6 years, resulting in a total 74% remission rate for the entire follow-up period.

  “This finding suggests that the majority of borderline patients experience substantial reductions in their symptoms far sooner than previously known,” the researchers comment. So for everyone who might suffer from borderline personality disorder and think it’s untreatable, I guess this strongly suggests otherwise.
  

1 Year Ago on Psych Central

• Lost Love
  If you’re still reeling from the effects of a February break-up, contributor Sandra Kiume’s post-Valentine’s day entry from last year is for you.
  
• Can a 3 year old Be Accurately Diagnosed?
  Well, a year ago I wrote that question, and we still don’t have any new answers as to whether children at such a young age can be reliably and consistently diagnosed with a serious mental disorder like bipolar. Childhood is such a fast-paced time of development, mimicking peer behaviors, and acting-out and learning about boundaries with parents and adults, I’m not sure how any pediatrician or child psychologist would feel comfortable handing out these kinds of diagnoses regularly. Maybe in some rare cases, but I still don’t think a 3 year old can be accurately diagnosed with a mental disorder.
• Trouble in jPod
  Contributor Sandra Kiume describes a woman who won a settlement from video game maker Electronic Arts after firing a woman for depression-related lost productivity. She describes that while it appeared that Electronic Arts pampered its workers, it didn’t have much compassion or empathy for workers with illnesses, especially those of the mental sort. The ruling upheld that EA had discriminated against the worker and ordered them to pay her a judgment of nearly $150,000 CAD. I’m not sure the message made it to other companies, however, as many still discriminate against employees who admit to mental health or emotional issues.