The Pandemic Will Make Kids or Break Them
During a pandemic, as always, life is about balancing risks, not eliminating them.
Psychology/Psychiatry
A Phase 3 Clinical Trial Confirms MDMA's Effectiveness As a Psychotherapeutic Catalyst
Subjects diagnosed with severe post-traumatic stress disorder made substantially more progress when they received MDMA rather than a placebo.
Our Moral Judgments Affect Our Perception of COVID Risk
Plus: Wired is wrong about Section 230, the Democratic disagreement over a SALT deduction cap, and more...
HBO Documents the Tragic Tale of Lucy, the Chimp Raised Like a Human
An experiment to see if nurture could overcome nature did not end well.
The Indianapolis Shooting Highlights the Shortcomings of 'Red Flag' Laws
Although police seized the perpetrator's shotgun when he was deemed suicidal, he was never identified as a potential murderer.
Why Americans Are Suckers for Quick Fixes From Psychologists
From "power poses" to the self-esteem movement to implicit bias tests, we want to believe one small tweak will solve our problems, says Jesse Singal.
Do Mass Shootings Inspire More Mass Shootings? If So, What Can Be Done About That?
Both advocates and skeptics of the copycat theory recommend self-restraint by the news media.
Jesse Singal: Why We Keep Falling for Psychological Quick Fixes
From "power poses" to the self-esteem movement to implicit bias tests, Americans are suckers for bad ideas from psychologists.
What It's Like To Treat Opioid Addiction in Appalachia
Psychiatrist Sally Satel on her eye-opening year at a clinic in Ironton, Ohio
Civil Commitment of Sex Offenders Pretends Prisoners Are Patients
The practice evades constitutional constraints by casting punishment and preventive detention as treatment.
'I Use Heroin to Be a Better Person': Columbia University Neuroscientist Carl Hart
His new book, Drug Use for Grown-Ups: Chasing Liberty in the Land of Fear, is a provocative manifesto for legalizing all drugs.
Treating Lin Wood's Wild Conspiracy Theories As a Psychiatric Symptom Invites Him to Play Free Speech Martyr
The State Bar of Georgia is demanding that the pro-Trump lawyer undergo a mental health evaluation.
This 71-Year-Old 'Love Doc' Says MDMA Is 'Emotional Superglue'
"It's like taking a chemical helicopter ride above my life," says psychotherapist Charles Wininger. "Then I can come back down and rededicate myself to the way I want to be living."
Charles Wininger: Why We Should Listen To Ecstasy and Other Psychedelics
A 71-year-old therapist comes out of the "chemical closet" to promote MDMA as a means of self-discovery
Sally Satel: The Secret History of the Opioid Epidemic
The story of why pain relievers took root in Appalachia begins decades before the introduction of OxyContin.
Therapist Elizabeth Brokamp Fights for the Right To See Patients Virtually
"I hope my case can start removing senseless boundaries to teletherapy," said Brokamp, who is suing in federal court on First Amendment grounds.
Self-Victimhood Is a Personality Type, Researchers Find
People who suffer from a "tendency for interpersonal victimhood" present themselves as weak, hurt, and vengeful.
Federal Circuit Court Rules Bans on LGBT Conversion Therapy for Minors Unconstitutional
A court split between Florida and California may mean an eventual Supreme Court decision.
Does Google Secretly Manipulate Us To Vote for Democrats? The Evidence Is Flimsy.
Republicans have seized on the dubious claims of a psychologist who thinks Big Tech is shifting millions of votes to the left.
Scott Barry Kaufman on Narcissists and Libertarians
The author of the new book Transcend updates Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs for an era of pandemics, racial strife, and extreme polarization.
When Choosing What To Believe, People Often Choose Morality Over Hard Evidence
In new studies, many people "reported that morally good beliefs require less evidence to be justified, and that, in some circumstances, a morally good belief can be justified even in the absence of sufficient evidence."
Narcissists, Psychopaths, and Manipulators Are More Likely To Engage in 'Virtuous Victim Signaling,' Says Study
Plus: Protesters sue over alleged mistreatment by arresting officers, a new ruling on robocalls, and more...
RIP Lester Grinspoon, Who Encouraged Americans To Reconsider Demonized Drugs
For half a century, Grinspoon tirelessly advocated a more rational and tolerant approach to marijuana and other psychoactive substances.
'People Should Have the Fundamental Right To Change Their Consciousness'
Rick Doblin, a leading force in America's psychedelic renaissance, imagines a world of "mass mental health" facilitated by formerly demonized drugs.
The FDA Just Approved the First Video Game for Prescription Use
It’s a new era of digital therapeutics—and a reminder of how burdensome the federal regulatory process is.
Treating Mental Illness With Care, Not Punishment, Goes Beyond Defunding Police
We need to remove all the ways that government deters people from seeking treatment.
We Don't Need a Psychiatric Diagnosis To Assess the President's Obvious Faults
No amount of psychoanalyzing can disguise the grim choice facing voters this fall.
Rick Doblin: 'People Should Have the Fundamental Human Right To Change Their Consciousness'
The Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) is making MDMA and other drugs medically legitimate and socially acceptable.
There's Light—and Growth—at the Other End of the Coronavirus Tunnel
"We are far more resilient than we give each other credit for."
Supreme Court Upholds State Law Limiting the Use of the Insanity Defense
Kansas “will not wholly exonerate a defendant on the ground that his illness prevented him from recognizing his criminal act as morally wrong.”
Virginia Is About To Require a Government License for 'Art Therapy,' Because Glue and Scissors Are 'Potentially' Dangerous
The real motive for laws like this has nothing to do with scissors and glue. It's all about protectionism.
Psychiatric Hospitals Can Still Force Patients to Accept Shock Treatment. One Connecticut Patient Has Been Shocked 500 Times in Five Years.
Despite concerns about efficacy and side effects, courts are slow to act on behalf of patients who don’t want the treatment.
Dismissing Her Political Opponents As Mentally Ill, Yale Psychiatrist Diagnoses Alan Dershowitz
By complaining to Yale about Bandy Lee's violation of the Goldwater Rule, Dershowitz lets her portray herself as a brave dissident.
The 'Negativity Effect' Leads to Bad Journalism, Big Government, and Busted Relationships
John Tierney and Roy F. Baumeister want to defeat The Power of Bad.
How To Fight the 'Power of Bad' and the 'Negativity Effect'
Human beings are designed to remember trauma more than joy, bad times more than good ones. But John Tierney and Roy F. Baumeister have good news on the despair front.
Trump Mulls Orwellian Proposal to Stop Mass Shootings by Monitoring 'Mentally Ill People' for Signs of Imminent Violence
The program would try to develop a surveillance system based on predictive tests that don't exist.
Lindsey Graham's Dishonest Defense of 'Red Flag' Laws
"The Second Amendment is not a suicide pact," the senator says, while glossing over the due process issues raised by gun confiscation orders.
The Puzzle of Identifying Future Mass Murderers Cannot Be Solved by Psychiatry, Background Checks, or Red Flag Laws
If "the notion that we can identify mass killers before they act" is a "fiction," the conventional policy responses to mass shootings are unlikely to be effective.
No, Scientists Didn't Find That Men Are Afraid to Carry Reusable Bags for Fear of Appearing Gay
The media are misreporting this one wildly.
To Stop Mass Shooters, Trump Says, We Should Make Involuntary Psychiatric Treatment Easier. No, We Shouldn't.
Because psychiatrists are terrible at predicting violent behavior, the wider net would catch lots of harmless people.
Trump Says Mental Illness 'Pulls the Trigger' in Mass Shootings
Plus: Monday market swings spark freakout, Hong Kong "now a revolution," and more...
How Confirmation Bias Sends Innocent People to Prison
A new study of wrongful convictions shows the problem goes beyond misconduct by police and prosecutors.
Another Study Finds Trigger Warnings Are Useless, or Even Harmful
A scientific consensus has emerged that trigger warnings just don't work—and student activists should stop demanding them.
Our Big Brains Are Pre-Wired for Love, Friendship, Cooperation, and Learning
A new book offers an answer to the nature/nurture debate.
How Biased Are We, Really?
A new book offers a tour of the modern study of race and racism.
If You Think Having Too Many Choices Is Tyranny, Wait Until You Have Too Few
Articles complaining "there is too much stuff" may be the one thing of which we have too many.
