Mental iIllness Breakthrough: Fish Oil Prevents Psychotic Disorders

Omega-3 fatty acids in fish oils have been found to prevent heart arrhythmias and treat depression. Now, a new study finds that people at prone to developing a psychotic disorders were less likely to develop them after just 12 weeks of taking fish oil capsules containing omega-3 fatty acids.

... According to a report just published in the February issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, people at extremely high risk of developing a psychosis were found to be less likely to develop psychotic disorders after just 12 weeks of taking fish oil capsules containing omega-3 fatty acids. The study authors pointed out that omega-3 supplementation may be effective because individuals with schizophrenia have an underlying dysfunction in fatty acid metabolism. Read more

The Lobotomist

A PBS program The Lobotomist reminds us that the “miracle cures" of yesteryear are today’s medical quackery. (It looks like anti-depressant drugs are already beginning to fall into that category.)

In the early decades of the 20th century, before the development of psychiatric medications, there were few effective treatments for mental illness. For most patients, the last stop in their anguished journey was an overcrowded state asylum. While Freudian psychoanalysis and "talk" therapy was gaining prominence as a potential cure, an ambitious young neurologist named Walter Freeman advocated a more radical approach -- brain surgery to reduce the severity of psychotic symptoms. Read more