The Devastating Allure of Medical MiraclesSheila Advento was not feeling well. It was July 6, 2003, and her mother’s house in northern New Jersey was filled with people. Sheila and her mom were there, along with Sheila’s boyfriend, sister, and brother-in-law—a slice of a huge extended… Feb 18 19February 18, 2019Article at Wired
Why a ‘Lifesaving’ Depression Treatment Didn’t Pass Clinical TrialsSome medical experiments are more daunting than others. The one that the neurologist Helen Mayberg came up with to test a model of depression she had developed over about 15 years involved drilling two holes in the top of a patient’s skull and… Apr 17 18April 17, 2018Article at The Atlantic
Public health: Gore and gloryDavid Dobbs extols a history of New York's Bellevue hospital, a crucible of discovery in medicine. To many Americans, the name Bellevue signifies 'psychiatric facility' as much as Bedlam does to Britons. The psychiatric unit of the New York City… Nov 16 16November 16, 2016Article at Nature
Why There’s New Hope About Ending BlindnessFrom the day Christian Guardino was born, his mother, Elizabeth, knew that something was wrong with his eyes. They would jiggle and jerk and roll up into his head. One eye turned inward. When she fed him, instead of gazing up at her, Christian would… Sep 01 16September 01, 2016Article at National Geographic
The Human Cost of a Misleading Drug-Safety StudySara Bostock once sent me a picture of her and her daughter Cecily in happier times, and it’s a happy shot indeed: mother and daughter, 40-something and 20-something, outdoors in the sun, looking radiant. With their beaming smiles—the same smile,… Sep 18 15September 18, 2015Article at The Atlantic
Psychiatry: A very sad storyDavid Dobbs enjoys a brilliant look at the making of DSM-5, the new 'psychiatrists' Bible'. When it is published this month, the fifth edition of the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, DSM-5, will mark well over a… May 01 13May 01, 2013Article at Nature
Strange Voices & Apartments as Antipsychotics - T.M. Luhrmann on Schizophrenia and CultureHow does culture shape the expression of mental illness or anamolous mental states? I've explored that questions several times at Neuron Culture, sometimes provoking sharp objections to the idea that culture has any effect at all on the expression of… Jan 15 13January 15, 2013Article at Wired
Psychiatry Throws a TantrumOver at Slate I have a story, "The New Temper Tantrum Disorder," about the "Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder" I wrote about more briefly here a couple weeks ago, when DMDD was still a proposed diagnosis. Last week the DMDD diagnosis was… Dec 07 12December 07, 2012Article at Wired
STOP PROCRASTINATING! Here's How"A Handy Tip for the Easily Distracted": Filmmaker Miranda July, who apparently suffers from the distractibility that led you and me both to this film (she once had a real problem resisting the PennySaver), fashioned this short instructional film… Oct 08 12October 08, 2012Article at Wired
