MetaFilter posts tagged with psychiatry

Aaron Beck & Cognitive Therapy

Non Prosequitur — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 18:05:20 -0800

“The psychoanalytic mystique was overwhelming. It was a little bit like the evangelical movement.” How Aaron Beck and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy helped increase empiricism in psychotherapy.

The Jet-Propelled Couch

empath — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 00:15:53 -0800

In 1954, Harper's Magazine ran a story called the Jet-Propelled Couch (Part 2) about a government scientist who was forced to go into to treatment. His problem? He lived half his life on another planet:

“As I read about the adventures of Kirk Allen in these books the conviction began to grow on me that the stories were not only true to the very last detail but that they were about me. In some weird and inexplicable way I knew that what I was reading was my biography. Nothing in these books was unfamiliar to me: I recognized everything–the scenes, the people, the furnishings of rooms, the events, even the words that were spoken. My everyday life began to recede at this point. In fact, it became fiction–and, as it did, the books became my reality.”

Ever since the story was published, sci-fi fans have attempted to discover who Kirk Allen really was. One theory is that it was cleverly disguised Cordwainer Smith, others think there may have been a government physicist named John Carter, and some think he might have been more than one patient. Either way, it's a great story. [via] Bonus Linkage: Several Cordwainer Smith stories. A Princess of Mars

NICU PTSD

swift — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 12:05:31 -0800

About three months after her son's birth, Ms. Roscoe asked to see a psychiatrist. She was given a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder, or P.T.S.D. — a mental illness more often associated with surviving war, car accidents and assaults, but now being recognized in parents of premature infants in prolonged intensive care. (nyt)

Placebos

homunculus — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 09:08:59 -0800

Placebos Are Getting More Effective. Drugmakers Are Desperate to Know Why.

Thud, empty, hollow.

grounded — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 20:59:08 -0800

Revisiting Dr. Rosenhan. Between 1969 and 1972, seven friends embarked on what became known as the Rosenhan Experiment, posing as patients in a dozen psychiatric hospitals. While the medical staff diagnosed the poseurs as 'schizophrenic', their fellow patients quickly caught on to their ruse. The resulting paper, On Being Sane in Insane Places, became an instant classic.

A perfect storm of stupid

Joe Beese — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 16:37:43 -0800

Sarah Palin understands the importance of religion in politics. That's why the Political Action Committee preparing for her 2012 presidential bid is being run by John Coale - an OT-VII Scientologist. Coale - who switched his support from Hillary Clinton to John McCain during the 2008 campaign - originally turned to Scientology to get off drugs. He later introduced to the faith his wife - fellow attorney Greta Van Susteren. Together they assisted in the Church's successful takeover of the Cult Awareness Network. (In her later role as a FOX News personality, Van Susteren has been an ardent defender of Palin herself.) In 1986, Coale developed a plan to help Scientology gain influence in Washington. While he reports that nothing came of it, a Scientology PAC currently operates as Citizens for Social Reform - helping to fight the Church's war against psychiatry.

Cross-cultural psychiatry

homunculus — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 00:34:35 -0800

West treats East. "To help traumatized Tibetan monks, doctors in Boston turn to cross-cultural medicine." [Via]

Neuroses of the Rich and Famous

Weebot — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 11:15:59 -0800

Psychotherapy in the Age of Obscene Wealth

Lost Souls

chuckdarwin — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 02:24:37 -0800

According to a new report, children in Sweden are becoming increasingly concerned by their parents' internet habits. "This summer she has been sitting up all day and all night and she forgets what's important to me. And when she's not at the computer she's like a lost soul. She just looks straight ahead and says nothing. I'm not doing so well." Dr Jerald Block from Oregon Health and Science University in Portland is pushing for internet addiction (and its three subtypes: excessive gaming, sexual preoccupations and e-mail/text messaging) to be included as a common disorder in the next update of the DSM (DSM-V). "The relationship is with the computer. It becomes a significant other to them. They exhaust emotions that they could experience in the real world on the computer... It's much more acceptable for kids to talk about game use, whereas adults keep it a secret. Rather than having sex, or arguing with their wife or husband, or feeding their children, these adults are playing games..."

Well, they're great big brown pills, and they look like M&Ms. They don't melt in your mouth, and they won't melt in your hand.

jtron — Mon, 26 May 2008 15:54:01 -0800

The Bonkers Institute presents The Nearly Genuine and Truly Marvelous Psychoneuropharmacological Mental Medicine Show, a gallery of modern and vintage psychiatric drug advertising. post title is a reference to a song by Penn Jillette's old band

Ibn Rushid Psychiatric Hospital

homunculus — Thu, 22 May 2008 16:32:45 -0800

Decline of an Iraqi Hospital: War Takes Toll on Baghdad Psychiatric Hospital. [Via Mind Hacks]

Mental Illness Might Be Caused By Microbes

amyms — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 23:05:11 -0800

Are you batshitinsane? Viruses and/or bacteria may be the cause.

Coming of Age on Antidepressants

homunculus — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 14:15:00 -0800

Who Are We? Coming of Age on Antidepressants. [Via Mind Hacks.] The Medicated Americans: Antidepressant Prescriptions on the Rise.

Anti-depressants, Serotonin and Depression

OmieWise — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 08:12:07 -0800

"Researchers found that failing to publish negative findings inflated the reported effectiveness of all 12 of the antidepressants studied." See also: Serotonin and Depression: A Disconnect between the Advertisements and the Scientific Literature. NEJM paper referenced. (Subscription required) Older: Antidepressants Versus Placebos: Meaningful Advantages Are Lacking,
but, Small Effects Are Not Trivial From a Public Health Perspective.

Seven Interview with Foster Children

chunking express — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 08:29:32 -0800

I took my video camera to a Foster Care Alumni meeting and asked seven foster kids to tell me about there experiences in Child Protective Services while wards of the state: Tristen, Andrew, Kyle, Aisha, Elnita, Ashley, Joshua. The author of the video is interested in how these children were drugged from a young age, but they each talk about their experiences in general, which usually aren't that great. I thought Tristen's video was particularly depressing.

The Model of a Psychopharmacologist

homunculus — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 12:50:11 -0800

I Am the Very Model of a Psychopharmacologist. [Via Omni Brain.]

It is no small labor to rescue all mankind, every mother's son

Miko — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 08:14:21 -0800

The MacArthur Foundation awarded its "genius" grants yesterday. Among the winners was Jonathan Shay, a a VA psychiatrist whose midlife discovery of the Homeric epics inspired him to use their depictions of soldier bonding and cohesion, leadership, trust and betrayal, and terror and rage to treat the psychological disorders and transition difficulties of combat veterans. NPR interview.

Bizarre Experiments

Brittanie — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 00:05:36 -0800

They don't smoke marijuana in Muskogee, but my fellow Okies have given LSD to their elephants, all in the name of SCIENCE! — The Top 20 Most Bizarre Experiments of All Time Previously on MetaFilter: #1, #2, #7, #10, #12, #13, and #16 (Though I may have missed a few)

Psychiatry in pictures

charmston — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 13:54:03 -0800

Psychiatry in Pictures is a monthly feature of The British Journal of Psychiatry which often demonstrates art created by the psychopathologically afflicted. Other installments include portraits of important figures in the history of psychiatry, paintings drawn during art therapy, and photographs of (quite inhumane) psychiatric treatments.

"Do you hear voices?" "Doesn't everyone?"

srs — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 08:33:19 -0800

INTERVOICE (International Network for Training, Education and Research into Hearing Voices) "offers information, publications, research, and good practice on hearing voices and other key issues." Voice hearing is surprisingly common, even normal. Many people find it a pleasurable and positive experience. Find everything from stencil graffiti to a recent New York Times magazine article on the work of the Hearing Voices Movement. (w i k i s)

Primum non nocere

Pastabagel — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 13:51:15 -0800

Rebecca Riley died of a drug overdose in December. The police charged her parents with murder, alleging that they poisoned her with an overdose of clonidine. What's clonidine? A drug used to treat hyperactivity. You see, Rebecca was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and was prescribed clonidine. She was also diagnosed with bipolar disorder and put on valproic acid and Sero quel. Rebecca was diagnosed with both disorders by a psychiatrist when she was 2 1/2 years old. She died when she was 4 years old. Some in the psychiatric community are outraged.

The Art of Psychiatry

Gyan — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 11:48:48 -0800

Dictionary of Disorder - shaping the DSM

Stephen Fry and Bipolar Disorder

elpapacito — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 06:26:03 -0800

The Secret Life of the Manic Depressive Is the recently aired work of Stephen Fry. [1][2] a well know english comedian diagnosed as manic-depressive.Now also know as bipolar disorder manic-depression is a class of mood disorders in which the person experiences clinical depression and/or mania, hypomania, and/or mixed states; a rollercoaster of highs and lows.Fry's work and personal involvment help shine a spotlight on a condition obscured by the stigma associated with mental disorders.

Is Medicalization Aversion Disorder a real disease?

Gyan — Sat, 26 Aug 2006 19:54:35 -0800

Psychiatry by Prescription - Do psychotropic drugs blur the boundaries between illness and health?

ptsd

augustweed — Thu, 11 May 2006 19:21:33 -0800

Only 2,029 out of 9,145 veterans with post traumatic stress disorder resulting from combat have been referred to mental health for evaluation/treatment. I say give them the same treatment the IDF gets.