Kermit Cole

Psychiatrist Pat Bracken, “a friend of Mad Pride Ireland,” writes about the current state of psychiatry in the Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine. As a review of the 2001 Irish Mental Health Act approaches, Dr. Bracken states that “the decision-making powers that are currently given to psychiatry cannot be justified on either scientific or moral grounds. I will go on to argue that shedding these powers (and subsequent responsibilities) would be a positive move for our profession.”

In a sample of 56 participants who met criteria for a mood disorder, anxiety disorder, and/or substance dependence, researcher from the Emory School of Medicine and OSU found that a mindfulness-based intervention (DBT) significantly lowered depression & anxiety and significantly raised hope. While mindfulness itself was not significantly increased, even the small changes in mindfulness ratings that were observed predicted the clinically significant changes that were observed.

Researchers at Columbia University and Queens College reviewed 10 trials of antidepressants that used wait-listed controls in order to determine the contribution of spontaneous improvement to a positive placebo response. They determined that of a significant number of the 340 subjects improved “acutely” without treatment, but that the improvements did not in themselves account for the magnitude of the placebo response. Results will appear in an upcoming Journal of Psychiatric Research.

In a continuing series, Scientific American analyzes the “Trouble at the Heart of Psychiatry’s Revised Rule Book.”

“Although negative symptoms are a barrier to recovery,” says a study in

An anthropological study of mental health service use in Ghana, published online June 21 in Transcultural Psychiatry,

A former vice president of neuroscience at Eli Lilly and Amgen writes, in

Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica reviews the literature on psychological and biological findings on resilience, finding that secure attachment, the experience of positive emotions and having a purpose in life are three building blocks.

Researchers in the U.K. examine how “insight” into schizophrenia is represented in psychiatrists’ accounts, finding “three dimensions of insight into schizophrenia in the data we collected: a sense of illness, criticism, and readiness to receive treatment. We argue that they are embodiments of the dominant medical perspective in the relations between patients and physicians. Whereas in the former two it is possessing and accepting psychiatric knowledge which constitutes having insight, in the latter it is unquestioning acceptance and trust in whatever treatment the doctor deems fit to administer.”

Research from the U.K. shows that involvement in bullying between the ages of 8 and 11, whether as victim or perpetrator, is linked to an increased risk of psychotic experiences at the age of 18. This finding was based on a longitudinal, community-based study comprised of 4,270 subjects. Results appeared today in Psychological Medicine.