The Brain on Trial. Advances in brain science are calling into question the volition behind many criminal acts. A leading neuroscientist describes how the foundations of our criminal-justice system are beginning to crumble, and proposes a new way forward for law and order.

"We may someday find that many types of bad behavior have a basic biological explanation—as has happened with schizophrenia, epilepsy, depression, and mania."

[more inside]
posted by Eideteker on Jul 15, 2011 - 99 comments

The epidemic of mental illness plaguing the Americans and the overmedication of psychiatric patients are in part artifacts of the diagnostic method. [more inside]
posted by hat_eater on Jun 22, 2011 - 50 comments

Is the contemporary epidemic of mental illness fueled by useless or even harmful anti-depressants and other psychoactive drugs? A review of books by Irving Kirsch, Robert Whitaker, and Daniel Carlat, notes that per Kirsch, "[a]n active placebo is one that itself produces side effects...there was no difference between the antidepressant and the active placebo" (new research claims very severe cases are different). Whitaker argues that psychoactive drugs may actively "disturb neurotransmitter function" and cause mental illnesses which a mounting cascade of drugs are then needed to manage. (previously, previously)
posted by shivohum on Jun 6, 2011 - 113 comments

Are you batshitinsane? Viruses and/or bacteria may be the cause.
posted by amyms on Apr 19, 2008 - 17 comments

The list is impressive. According to psychiatrists, society suffers from a number of mental disorders. Asperger Syndrome. ADHD. OCD. Bi-Polar Disorder. PTSD. Anorexia. And that is just the tip of the iceberg. There are so many here that the average person could probably find at least 3-4 in their immediate family. Perhaps all these ills are the real pandora's box, although Borderline Personality maks the others seem mild.

So the question is, what's your dysfunction?
posted by mystyk on Sep 11, 2005 - 93 comments

SHINE ON YOU CRAZY DIAMONDS "Treating Mentally Ill Musicians Without Removing Their Muse."
posted by konolia on Jun 3, 2003 - 28 comments

A Home for Crazy Artists - "The Haus der Künstler (House of Artists) at the Lower Austrian Psychiatric Hospital in the hamlet of Gugging, outside Vienna, was established by psychiatrist Leo Navratil, who began to notice that the art produced by certain of his patients far transcended the qualitative parameters of traditional art therapy ... The Gugging colony has exhibited throughout Europe, the United States and Japan, and is widely recognized for its pioneering integrity and quality."
posted by sheauga on Apr 28, 2002 - 3 comments