Side Effects

Chronic Pain

Christopher Lane Ph.D. on October 24, 2024

A new novel invites us to reconsider where we put emphasis, how we think about attachment, and how we might live differently.

SSRIs

Antidepressant Dysregulation: An Interview With David Healy

Christopher Lane Ph.D. on September 16, 2024

A new understanding of drug dysregulation syndrome and how it can be managed.

Trust

Inclusive Citizenship: A Film Review

Christopher Lane Ph.D. on July 29, 2024

An award-winning new documentary on the many benefits of social trust and civic engagement, including a stronger democracy.

Psychopharmacology

Long-Term Use of Benzodiazepines and Dementia Risk

Christopher Lane Ph.D. on July 19, 2024

A large new meta-study on benzodiazepine harms from long-term use finds evidence of volume loss of the hippocampus and amygdala.

SSRIs

Antidepressant Withdrawal: A Tale of Two Studies

Christopher Lane Ph.D. on June 10, 2024

After almost four decades of antidepressant prescribing, the incidence, duration, and severity of withdrawal effects is still highly contested.

Psychopharmacology

Whistleblowers and Medical Fraud: A Book Review

Christopher Lane Ph.D. on May 14, 2024

A riveting new book examines the history—and price—of exposing corruption in medical research.

Grief

Committed: An Interview With Suzanne Scanlon

Christopher Lane Ph.D. on April 16, 2024

A moving new memoir on the treatment of prolonged grief in one of America’s most influential psychiatric hospitals.

Psychiatry

The Rebel’s Clinic: A Book Review

Christopher Lane Ph.D. on April 10, 2024

An outstanding new biography of Frantz Fanon sees the psychiatric clinic he ran in Algeria as a cornerstone of his thinking and activism.

Psychopharmacology

Saving Minds: A Film Review

Christopher Lane Ph.D. on February 22, 2024

A powerful new documentary investigates how severe mental illness is commonly treated.

SSRIs

Can the Rate of Antidepressant Prescribing Be Reversed?

Christopher Lane Ph.D. on December 19, 2023

In the UK and Australia, medical professionals and organizations are calling for a reduction in antidepressant prescribing.

Health

New Mental Health Guidelines from the World Health Organization

Christopher Lane Ph.D. on December 6, 2023

Newly updated guidelines from the World Health Organization prioritize psychosocial treatments over pharmaceutical ones.

Psychiatry

The Problem of Inflated Efficacy in Psychiatry Journals

Christopher Lane Ph.D. on October 23, 2023

New research finds widely prescribed drugs are much less effective than their published record suggests.

Coronavirus Disease 2019

How to Socialize During a Pandemic

Christopher Lane Ph.D. on September 26, 2023

On the continuing right to avoid infection, and its costs.

Psychopharmacology

Benzodiazepines Linked to Long-Term Neurological Dysfunction

Christopher Lane Ph.D. on June 29, 2023

A large survey of benzodiazepine withdrawal found that almost half of respondents experienced drug-related symptoms more than a year later.

Coronavirus Disease 2019

“We Want Them Infected”: A Review of the Push for Herd Immunity

Christopher Lane Ph.D. on May 22, 2023

Why was mass infection a centerpiece of the nation’s pandemic response, more than five months before vaccines were available? An outstanding new book investigates.

Psychiatry

When Psychiatric Treatment Isn’t Voluntary

Christopher Lane Ph.D. on March 31, 2023

A timely new book on why the number of involuntary detentions involving psychiatry is skyrocketing.

Sex

Sexual Dysfunction May Continue Even After SSRIs Are Ended

Christopher Lane Ph.D. on March 10, 2023

Post-SSRI sexual dysfunction is a medical condition that persists after antidepressants are discontinued. A field review says that it causes “substantial and prolonged suffering.”