Next to the Diet Coke

David Fitzsimmons, Cagle Cartoons, The Arizona Star Dec 20, 2012 Dig deeper

Guns, of Course, but What About Mental Illness?

Staff / Truthdig Dec 18, 2012 Although gun policy is certainly important to talk about in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook tragedy, mental illnesses may be more crucial to discuss; President Obama fed the loyal Susan Rice to the sharks for the same reasons he's both feared and admired; meanwhile, education is becoming a commodity rather than a right thanks to the neoliberal agenda. These discoveries and more after the jump. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Doctors Get a Clue About How Shock Therapy Works

Staff / Truthdig Mar 20, 2012 It's long been a subject of controversy, as well as a few dramatic movie scenes, but electroconvulsive therapy, aka shock therapy, also appears to work when other treatments don't in some persistent cases of depression. Now the medical community has a little more insight into how it helps patients. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

UPDATED: Two of Six Officers Charged in Kelly Thomas Death

Staff / Truthdig Sep 21, 2011 Two of six Fullerton, Calif., police officers involved in the brutal public beating that resulted in the death of 37-year-old Kelly Thomas, a homeless schizophrenic man, have been charged in connection with the case. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

This Stressful American Life

Staff / Truthdig Sep 18, 2011 Living in stressful urban settings affects health negatively; K-Pop floods the Japanese entertainment market; and "Uncle Tom's Cabin" may have caused the American Civil War. These discoveries and more after the jump. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Antidepressant Nation

Staff / Truthdig Jul 14, 2011 A serious conversation is under way in the United States on the subject of psychiatric drugs The debate consists of three fundamental issues: first, whether antidepressants actually treat depression; second, the vast, growing body of evidence that psychotropic medications (more). Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Recessions Are Not Good for Your Mind

Staff / Truthdig Nov 19, 2010 According to the government agency with the fun acronym SAMHSA, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2009 was no party in terms of adult Americans' mental health. (continued) Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Supporters Hold London Vigil for British Death Row Inmate in China (Updated)

Staff / Truthdig Dec 29, 2009 With less than a day to go before his scheduled execution in China, British supporters of Londoner Akmal Shaikh held an eleventh-hour vigil in London on Monday in an attempt to persuade the Chinese government to spare his life, arguing that Shaikh, 53, suffers from mental illness. Update after the jump. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Psychiatrists Chart a Disorderly Territory

Staff / Truthdig Dec 19, 2008 Drawing the lines between quirky behavior and potential mental disorder can be, well, a sketchy business, but psychiatrists working on the fifth iteration of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V) are doing just that right now, sparking debates within and outside of their community about possible new additions to the manual. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Shock Therapy Buzzes On

Staff / Truthdig Aug 7, 2008 Tens of thousands of the desperately depressed sign up every year in the U.S. to have electricity-induced grand mal seizures even though nobody has ever figured out why the treatment works or how severe the associated brain damage is. The good news: You no longer have to be awake, and muscle relaxants now keep your bones from breaking. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Step Away From the Blackberry

Staff / Truthdig Mar 25, 2008 There's a new kind of addiction out there, to which many of us are currently vulnerable, and from which some of us may be suffering right this moment: According to one Dr. Jerald Block, writing in the American Journal of Psychiatry, excessive e-mailing and text messaging could be a form of mental illness. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Virginia Closes Insane Gun Loophole

Staff / Truthdig May 1, 2007 Mentally ill people who've been deemed a danger to themselves and involuntarily committed will no longer be able to legally buy guns in Virginia. Gov. Timothy Kaine issued the executive order in response to the massacre at Virginia Tech. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )