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.

In 1962, in the wake of the thalidomide crisis, a new Amendment to the Food and Drugs Act introduced Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) into the regulations governing the licensing of medicines. It was believed that requiring companies to demonstrate their products were effective through RCTs would contribute to safety. In 1962, RCTs were a little-understood technique. It was thought trials would produce generalizable knowledge with similar outcomes for successive trials. As a result, regulators adopted a criterion of two positive placebo-controlled trials for licensing medicine. For physicians keen to stall therapeutic bandwagons and eliminate ineffective treatments, a negative RCT result was a good outcome. When it made a gateway to the market, companies, in contrast, had an interest to transform RCTs from assessments that might throw up unexpected or negative results into Randomized Controlled Assays (RCAs) that efficiently generated approvable results. This article outlines the differences between RCTs and RCAs, the steps companies took to transform RCTs into RCAs, and the consequences of this transformation.

Purpose: COVID-19 is an unprecedented pandemic that has caused an increase in the intimate partner violence (IPV) victims rate, and social service-providing agencies shifted to emergency online and distance service-providing systems. In our study, we aimed to explore the experiences of IPV service providers during this pandemic.

Method: We used a cross-sectional qualitative method containing some quantitative questions. Data were collected by conducting 15 in-depth interviews and a survey with the service providers (22–65 years old) from six IPV service-providing agencies that are located in the Dallas-Forth Worth metroplex in North Central Texas. We used a phenomenological hermeneutical method to capture the service providers’ experiences.

Results: Four key themes highlight the essence of the experiences of the IPV service providers while providing the services during COVID-19. The four major themes are (a) experiences with telehealth, (b) barriers to social and legal services, (c) altered relationships, and (d) mental health impacts. In addition, a few subthemes are explored under the first three major themes. The service providers we interviewed provided details and vital information regarding challenges, adaptations, and resilience they experienced to assist the most disadvantaged group of the population.

Conclusion: This study will contribute to making attention to improving facilities, accessibility, and resources for both service providers and their clients. Findings highlight the need for agency owners and policymakers to consider more multimodal and creative solutions for such a vulnerable population and their service providers.

This article presents a critical discourse analysis (CDA) of the Johnny Depp and Amber Heard case in news media. The aim of the current research is to allow for an in-depth analysis of how a range of news media outlets used discourse to frame intimate partner violence (IPV) in modern news media. A synthesis of previous literature revealed methodological limitations and a potential research bias in the existing body of research addressing news media discourse regarding IPV. The current study utilized a sample of 12 articles from three news media outlets of distinct political orientations that were analyzed following guidelines on maintaining quality in CDA. Two discursive strategies are presented in this article: (a) predication and argumentation; (b) the construction of ingroups and outgroups. This article argues that these strategies were used to discredit the experience of Depp and create perceived ingroups and outgroups throughout the discourse. It is also noted that this sample of articles only highlighted instances of physical violence. Future research should investigate the effect this representation of IPV may have on consumers of news media, as societal expectations may inform help seeking.

This study investigates the prevalence of coping strategies (CSs) among women with intimate partner violence (IPV) experience in Jordan and the relationships between types of IPV, demographic factors, and CSs (problem-focused strategies [PFS], emotion-focused strategies [EFS], and avoidance-oriented strategies [AOS]) that they use. It also explores the predicting factors affecting the types of CSs applied. Eighty-nine Jordanian and Syrian women who experienced abuse were involved in the study. The data were collected using the revised version of the Conflict Tactics Scale (Straus et al., 1996) and the Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations: Situation-Specific Scale (Endler & Parker, 1990). The results indicated a moderate use of PFS and EFS and mid-to-high use of AOS. The psychological aggression and physical violence, injuries, help-seeking, education level, children, and marriage duration were significantly related to the use of all three strategies. Employment status, age, legal residency, and negotiation skills had no significant relationships with the used CSs. The regression results indicated that children, psychological aggression, and asking for help predicted 49% and 41% of the covariance of using PFS and EFS, respectively, while the number of children, physical violence, and injuries predicted 81% of the covariance of using AOS. The study suggested the importance of supportive social services for women with IPV experiences. The clinical practice implications for helping women who experience IPV and future research were discussed.

This qualitative study explores available intimate partner violence (IPV) intervention programs offered in Saskatchewan, Canada, a province with a substantial rural population and a high rate of IPV. Given these unique circumstances, it was necessary to investigate what IPV interventions are currently available and if professionals who work at these programs feel these programs are effectively meeting the needs of men who have perpetrated IPV and working toward reducing rates of IPV in the province. Interview respondents represented IPV intervention programs based in mental health, community corrections, and community-based organizations. Taken together, information shared by the professionals who work at these IPV intervention programs provides an overview of the current state of intervention programs offered in Saskatchewan, including the extent to which interventions align with the Principles of Effective Intervention (PEI). Findings include differences in the delivery of IPV interventions in rural communities and highlight challenges in delivering group interventions for clients who perpetrate different types of IPV, have different criminogenic needs, and have varying levels of risk. Findings inform recommendations for policy and practice, including the need for training for IPV intervention professionals, increased public awareness about IPV interventions, and incorporation of the PEI. Findings also inform recommendations for research, including longitudinal evaluations of outcomes for participants from various programs that incorporate data from multiple sources.

This study aims to determine the prevalence and the associated factors of domestic violence (DV) against pregnant women in Northeast India. The present study considers ever-married women who have experienced violence during any pregnancy. The association between DV and all socioeconomic variables that are thought to be associated with DV is examined using the bivariate analysis, which produces chi-square p-values for the significance of the measure of association. A logistic regression model is fitted using the significant covariates in the bivariate analysis and computes the relative risks of categorical variables via the odds ratios. About 2% of women experienced DV during any pregnancy in the region. During any pregnancy, the main perpetrators of violence are the husbands (74.1%) and the former husband or partner (10.5%). The main risk factors for violence during pregnancy were alcohol use by the husband and the low-income group. Urban women experienced more violence than rural women. Women who divorced and no longer lived with their husbands in Northeastern India experienced more abuse during pregnancy than women still living with their husbands. Current or former husbands are mostly responsible for violence during pregnancy.

Background: Intimate partner violence (IPV) against women is common during pregnancy and can have adverse mental health outcomes in women. Our objective was to evaluate the association between IPV and symptoms of depression in Peruvian pregnant women.

Methods: In this study, we performed a secondary analysis of the Demographic and Family Health Survey, ENDES 2013–2019. The study population consisted of a subsample of married or cohabiting Peruvian pregnant women. IPV was defined as any reported violence (psychological, physical, or sexual) committed by the last partner of women. The symptoms of depression were measured using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9. Poisson regression-generalized linear models were used to calculate adjusted prevalence ratios (aPR) with their respective 95% confidence intervals (95% CI).

Results: Overall IPV was 11.64%. The prevalence of psychological, physical, and sexual IPV was 6.92%, 8.56%, and 1.12%, respectively. After adjusting for confounding variables, IPV was associated with the symptoms of depression (aPR: 2.26, 95% CI: 1.88–2.73; p < 0.001). Likewise, psychological, physical, and sexual violence were also associated with the symptoms of depression (aPR: 2.01, 95% CI: 1.65–2.50; p < 0.001, aPR: 2.34, 95% CI: 1.91–2.86; p < 0.001, aPR: 2.31, 95% CI: 1.45–3.68; p <0.001).

Conclusion: One in 10 pregnant women experienced IPV, the most frequent type being physical violence. One in four pregnant women experiences depressive disorders. Furthermore, the presence of psychological, physical, or sexual violence independently doubles the probability of the occurrence of depression in Peruvian pregnant women.