Links for the week

Interesting links from around the net in the last week:

• Dietary Supplements Are Safe, Effective And Well-Regulated From the article!! ha!! “Speaking of adverse events, surely with so many Americans using dietary supplements, the FDA would be receiving thousands of complaints now that a system is in place to report them. But the truth is that in the first year the dietary supplement adverse reporting system was in place, 2008, the FDA received a total of only 1,080 reports[8]. Compare this to the more than 450,000 it receives annually for prescription drugs.[9]”
• The Placebo Effect: Studies Reveal How Fake Medicine Actually Reduces Pain — I love placebo studies. They show us the wondrous powers of our minds. Look here for other stuff on placebo. And something equally interesting and important here, the nocebo effect,

• Schizophrenia, epidemiologists, and race? Not a good mix. « Urocyon’s Meanderings
  
• Obesity and Psychiatric Disorders – Psychiatric Times — medication as cause of obesity is hardly mentioned…it should be CENTRAL
• Consumer Reports: Antidepressants can be helpful but risky – washingtonpost.com — pretty good for a mainstream paper.
• ‘Mystery Shoppers’ Check Out Conditions in a Psychiatric Ward – NYTimes.com — outcome isn’t mentioned, just a bunch of ridiculous ethical crap. What’s not  asked is why they don’t talk to people who routinely use services. Unfortunately it’s not considered a viable question as those who are housed in such institutions are routinely dehumanized, so much so they can’t be asked about their own experience and believed.
• Medicine: Magic & Mickey Mouse – TIME article from 1941 on mental health “science” I’m struck by how clear it is we’ve made no progress
• There’s Nothing Inside | The Tao of Chaos — “Piece by piece, I disown that anger. Inch by inch, I am free.”
• We Perform Best When No One Tells Us What To Do
• Psychiatrist Drug Yourself — somewhat interesting report on a study in which psychiatrists do indeed drug themselves. It really doesn’t tell us much given they were only on the stuff for a month…
• Phillip Toledano – Days with My Father — last link for the day, but certainly not least. Amazing, moving photography and story. Poignant, sad and life affirming.