Psychiatric Capitalism & "Chemical Imbalance"

Group exercise and mindfulness are also to be recommended before medication, according to new advice.

Modern work has created an epidemic of poor mental health, yet we treat it as an individual problem. Micha Frazer-Carroll sits down with Tribune to discuss why fixing a crisis created by capitalism demands transformative political change.

New studies have intensified the debate over psychology’s “reproducibility" problems.

New research is zeroing in on a biochemical basis for the placebo effect — possibly opening a Pandora’s box for Western medicine.

Stimulant drugs like Ritalin should be used judiciously in hyperactive children because they can have unpleasant side effects, say experts.

An exhaustive, well-powered review may have conclusively debunked the “chemical imbalance” theory of depression.

The chemical imbalance theory has fallen in status from bedrock scientific principle to mere marketing device in the minds of many researchers. A broken heart and a blue, bedevilled brain. They've been twinned, metaphorically, in poetry and song...

In recent years, bacteria have been growing increasingly resistant to antibiotics – our strongest weapon against them.

Evidence-based medicine is valuable to the extent that the evidence base is complete and unbiased. Selective publication of clinical trials — and the outcomes within those trials — can lead to unre...

Long-term use of pills for anxiety and sleep problems may be linked to Alzheimer's, research suggests.

To me, anyone who is too far on one side of the fence -- either wanting to throw a pill at any negative emotion, or wanting to blame medications for all of society's ills -- seems to be missing the point. Instead of taking an extreme view, I strive to take a wise, balanced, and integrative approach.

I blame mainstream Western psychology for a lot of the neoliberal bullshit we’re all inundated with. As I’ve gone further into the field of psychology (I have a Masters in counseling psychology and work with therapy clients regularly), I’ve come to see it as mostly individualized, white-centered, male-led, capitalist propaganda. While this isn’t always true, generally speaking, it’s an issue, and it’s having devastating impacts on our ability > MORE

It continues to come as a great surprise for many people to learn that psychiatry’s leading authorities, including the former longtime director of the

A Harvard historian urges psychiatrists to focus less on making money and more on helping patients

British Psychological Society to launch attack on rival profession, casting doubt on biomedical model of mental illness There is no scientific evidence that psychiatric diagnoses such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder are valid or useful,...

In this extract from his new book, Johann Hari, who took antidepressants for 14 years, calls for a new approach

Mental health has declined as prescriptions for antidepressants and other drugs keep surging