Marx, Spinoza, and the Political Implications of Contemporary Psychiatry

Simple logic tells us that those atop a societal hierarchy will provide rewards for professionals—be they clergy or psychiatrists—who promote an ideology that maintains the status quo, and that the ruling class will do everything possible to manipulate the public to believe that the social-economic-political status quo is natural.

Marx, Spinoza, and the Political Implications of Contemporary Psychiatry

Wisconsin ranks among 10 states with the most uninsured veterans

Source

(Stacker) – Over 9 million veterans receive healthcare through the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), but as many as 1.5 million remain uninsured — amounting to about 6% of veterans nationwide (or one out of every 15 veterans), data shows. These insurance gaps mean that many who served our country go without necessary healthcare each year

Wisconsin ranks among 10 states with the most uninsured veterans

6 proven health benefits of magnesium—a critical mineral you’re probably not getting enough of

You may already know that magnesium is one of the top supplements for healthy aging, but its benefits go beyond supporting you in your golden years. “It’s essential for all stages of life,” says Andrea Wong, Ph.D., senior vice president for scientific and regulatory affairs at the Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN).

6 proven health benefits of magnesium—a critical mineral you’re probably not getting enough of (archived)

Council for Responsible Nutrition is a trade association and lobbying group for the dietary supplement industry…lol.

Related:

12 Evidence-Based Health Benefits of Magnesium

Kamala Harris Touts DHS Program Encouraging High School Spying

When Vice President Kamala Harris toured the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School this week, site of the infamous 2018 Parkland, Florida, mass shooting, she pushed for more gun control and called for communities to accept more federal help in stopping school shootings. “I will continue to advocate for what we must do in terms of universal background checks and assault weapons ban” Harris said.

Kamala Harris Touts DHS Program Encouraging High School Spying

Millions of Dollars of Pharma Money Went to the DSM-5-TR Authors

Source: Talk World Radio: Bruce Levine on Psychiatry and Spinoza

About 60% of the authors had financial ties to industry, which are not disclosed in the DSM. Studies show that conflicts of interest lead to pro-industry decision-making.

Millions of Dollars of Pharma Money Went to the DSM-5-TR Authors

H/T: Unorthodox Truth

Previously:

Scientific Misconduct and Fraud: The Final Nail in Psychiatry’s Antidepressant Coffin

Scientific Misconduct and Fraud: The Final Nail in Psychiatry’s Antidepressant Coffin

Source

“. . . if the major media picks up on this story, they will have the chance to report on what arguably is the worst—and most harmful—scandal in American medical history”

Robert Whitaker, publisher of madinamerica.com, January 3, 2024

Historically, there have always been some patients who report that any treatment for depression—including bloodletting—has worked for them, but science demands that for a treatment to be deemed truly effective, it must work better than a placebo or the passage of time without any treatment. This is especially important for antidepressant drugs—including Prozac, Zoloft, and other selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), as well as Effexor, Cymbalta, and other serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs)—because all of these drugs have uncontroversial troubling side effects.

Scientific Misconduct and Fraud: The Final Nail in Psychiatry’s Antidepressant Coffin

Related:

Once Radical Critiques of Psychiatry are Now Mainstream, So What Remains Taboo?

Psychedelic Drugs Are Rushing Towards Approval for Therapy. Here’s What’s Next

Psychedelic Drugs Are Rushing Towards Approval for Therapy. Here’s What’s Next

Source

Psychedelic Drugs Are Rushing Towards Approval for Therapy. Here’s What’s Next

Yet one glaring problem remains. Despite promising clinical results, no one knows exactly how psychedelic drugs work in the brain. Examining their actions on brain cells isn’t just an academic curiosity. It could give rise to variants that maintain antidepressant properties without the high. And because hallucinogens substantially alter our perception [management?!] of the world, they could be powerful tools for investigating the neurobiology behind consciousness.

This year, scientists found another common themepsychedelics seem to “reset” the brain to a more youthful state, at least in mice. Like humans, mice have an adolescent critical period, during which their brains are highly malleable and can easily rewire neural circuits, but the window closes after adulthood.

An earlier study showed that MDMA reopens the critical window in adult mice, so that they change their “personality.” Mice raised alone are often introverted and prefer to keep to themselves in adulthood. A dose of MDMA increased their willingness to snuggle with other mice—essentially, they learned to associate socializing with happiness, concluded the study.

It’s not that surprising. MDMA is well-known to promote empathy and bonding. The new study, by the same team, extended their early results to four psychedelics that don’t trigger fuzzy feelings—LSD, ketamine, psilocybin, and ibogaine. Similar to MDMA, adult mice raised alone changed their usual preference for solitude when treated with any of the drugs. Because habits are hard to change in adulthood—for mice and men—the drugs may have reopened the critical period, allowing the brain to more easily rewire neural connections based on new experiences.

These are just early results. But psychedelic research is gaining a new ally—artificial intelligence. Algorithms that predict protein structure, combined with rational drug design, could generate psychedelics that retain their psychiatric benefits without the high.

H/T: The Most Revolutionary Act

Related:

Psychoanalytic roots of CIA psychoprofiling/pseudoscience

Meaghan thought psychedelic therapy could help her PTSD. Instead it was the start of a nightmare

Why is the American right suddenly so interested in psychedelic drugs

What if a Pill Can Change Your Politics or Religious Beliefs? (archived)

Do Psychedelic Trips Change Your Political Views? (archived)