In the worrisome context of increasing rates of intimate partner violence and a number of recent deaths reportedly occurring in domestic situations, the establishment and maintenance of effective intervention strategies is a critical public health concern. The present study aimed to evaluate the functioning of a regional intersectoral rapid intervention collaboration agreement (called A-GIR) initiated to respond preventatively to situations identified as high risk of domestic homicide, in Quebec, Canada. In order to better understand how such a collaboration may be successfully implemented, a qualitative analysis was conducted of the perceived functioning of A-GIR and the factors that favor its success as well as issues that should be addressed in this and other such initiatives to ensure efficient and effective practices that prevent the loss of life. Participants (N = 15) were active A-GIR members, who responded to semi-structured interviews which were thematically analyzed. Results are discussed in relation to established partnership action evaluation criteria. The study highlights the necessary conditions for the success of a collaborative agreement such as A-GIR.

Objective: Share new knowledge about workplace practices related to employer success in hiring, retaining, and promoting people with disabilities, and promote use of findings to employers and service providers.

Design: A transdisciplinary and multifaceted data gathering approach.

Results: Provides an overview of the research approach taken and the strengths regarding this approach.

Conclusions: The significance of findings for rehabilitation researchers and policy makers focused on improving employment outcomes for people with disabilities, for rehabilitation counselor educators preparing future service providers, and for practicing professionals providing services to individuals with disabilities and consultation to employers regarding disability issues, are presented.

Objective: Many thousands of people still receive electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) but it remains highly contested. A recent audit of the United Kingdom patient information leaflets found multiple inaccuracies and omissions, minimizing risks and exaggerating benefits (e.g., only six leaflets mentioned cardiovascular events). This study reports efforts to improve accuracy for patients and families. Methods: Letters were sent twice to managers of all 51 United Kingdom National Health Service Trusts, (regional bodies which deliver most healthcare) detailing the audit’s findings and the accuracy of their own Trust’s leaflet, also asking what changes would be undertaken. Results: Only nine Trusts responded and three committed to improvements. The Royal College of Psychiatrists released a slightly better but still highly misleading information sheet. Efforts to engage Government and all other relevant United Kingdom bodies failed. Conclusions: Trusts are unwilling to correct misinformation/ provide balanced information.

Mainstream psychiatry is unable to decide on its model of mental disorder. While the great bulk of research is biologically oriented, many practitioners prefer a more holistic model integrating biological, psychological, and social factors. The “biopsychosocial model” attributed to George Engel appears to offer theoretical support, but the evidence is that it does not exist in any form suitable for science. This puts psychiatry in an invidious position, exposed to allegations of misconduct with no obvious defense.

Medications to treat attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) can increase students’ ability to stay awake to cram for exams. Although popularly viewed as “academic steroids,” there is no evidence that ADHD medications promote complex cognitive functioning or scholarship. To the contrary, compelling new evidence indicates that ADHD drug treatment is associated with deterioration in academic and social-emotional functioning. Yet, ADHD diagnosis and drug treatment have risen unabated for decades. Today, ADHD medications are so prevalent on college campuses that students falsely perceive these drugs as relatively benign and freely use them for nonmedical reasons, resulting in record numbers of adverse events and deaths. This article describes the nature of the ADHD drug abuse epidemic, rules some colleges have implemented to manage risk, and actions that any educational institution may consider to combat ADHD drug abuse and to promote student health and campus safety.

The 35-million-dollar Sequenced Treatment Alternatives to Relieve Depression (STAR*D) study is the largest antidepressant effectiveness study ever conducted. STAR*D enrolled 4,041 depressed patients and provided them with exemplary free acute and continuing antidepressant care to maximize their likelihood of achieving and maintaining remission. Patients who failed to get adequate relief from their first antidepressant were provided with up to three additional trials of pharmacologically distinct treatments. This article identifies numerous instances of apparent bias in the conduct and reporting of outcomes from this study. In contrast to STAR*D’s report of positive findings supporting antidepressants’ effectiveness, only 108 of its 4,041 patients (2.7%) had an acute-care remission, and during the 12 months of continuing care, these patients neither relapsed nor dropped out. This article also discusses the roles of the American Journal of Psychiatry (AJP) and the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) in promoting the biased reporting of STAR*D’s results.

Electroconvulsive therapy, also known as shock therapy and electroshock, is a psychiatric treatment that sends electricity into the brain of the patient with the purpose of inducing a seizure in that patient’s brain. A brief overview of relevant literature introduces an autobiographical narrative account of what it is to experience shock therapy. The author, a woman who had been given a diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder to explain her natural and expected responses to trauma and adversity, concludes with a critically reflective commentary on ECT.

Ongoing farmers' protests have once again brought back the spotlight on the agrarian crisis in India. Even though upstream factors that perpetuate farmers' suffering, including the role of the state in promoting agrocapitalism, have been discussed extensively by scholars and activists across the spectrum, mental health discourses almost always frame it as a mental health problem to be addressed by increasing access to psychopharmaceuticals. Drawing on developments around farmers' protests and analysis of articles published in flagship journals of largest professional bodies of clinical psychologists and psychiatrists in India, I highlight the intimate relationship between neoliberal state and farmers' distress to which the mental health system shuts its ears and eyes obscuring and downplaying socio-structural determinants of farmers' mental health.