2011:

June 15: Ritalin for children is “quick fix” and should be reviewed, demand psychologists - Association of Educational Psychologists fears there is insufficient data on the effects psychotropic drugs have on child development.

2010:

2009:

Comment:
April 24: Treating schizophrenia without drugs? There's good evidence for it - award-winning researcher and psychiatrist Tim Calton examines studies demonstrating how psychosis can be managed without medication.

Jan 30: ADHD drugs are beneficial, say European investigators - no urgent restriction to methylphenidate needed says regulatory group

Jan 12: 'No evidence' for psychiatric medication by force - literature review authors, including Professor Len Bowers call for more research on the validity of compulsory treatment

2008:

October 1: Drugs should not be first-line treatment for ADHD, doctors told - and NICE says medication should not be prescribed at all to pre-school children with ADHD.

May 1: Psychologist's non-drug approach provokes storm of reactions - psychiatrists call NHS clinician's work “dangerous”. But other professionals give support

EXCLUSIVE:
April 25: Children on ADHD drugs should have heart test, - US scientific statement follows fears the drugs can lead to sudden cardiac death

April 18: Anti-depressants: which research should we believe? SSRIs are clinically beneficial, says the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence. But a high-profile study claims they are no more useful than placebo for mild and moderate depression. Who is right? Report by Adam James

EXCLUSIVE:
April 18: Underground recovery - Clinical psychologist Rufus May explains why, when using a non-drug approach to help a doctor who heard voices, he had no choice but to work in secret.

Comment
April 2, 2008: The anti-psychotic myth exposed?
Anti-psychotics are not effective long-term, shrink the brain and almost triple the risk of an early death, a London NHS psychiatrist and academic has written in a new book. Has the mental health establishment got it wrong over the true validity of such drugs, asks Adam James

Feb 20: No increased suicidal behaviour of children after anti-depressant reduction - study rebuffs concerns after doctors were advised not to prescribe SSRIs to under 18s

EXCLUSIVE:
Jan 16: Schizophrenia psychologist launches 'coming off' psychiatric drugs website - Rufus May, left, fears medication withdrawal effects are confused with illness symptoms

Jan 10: ADHD drug prescribing soars in Scotland - more than 8 per cent of Scottish people aged 15 and over also take antidepressants daily, new figures reveal

2007:

Nov 21: Government to consider review of ADHD causes and treatments - Lords statement made following peer's concerns over prescribing for ADHD

Nov 14: "Investigate ADHD drugs" peer to urge - Baroness Susan Greenfield, a professor of pharmacology, says "time is ripe for an inquiry exploring the actual causes of ADHD"

August 8: Third of patients have no information on side effects of psychiatric medication - findings reported in review of of adult community mental health services in England

June 13: People with schizophrenia not on antipsychotics more likely to recover, states research - patients in US are followed up after 15 years

May 16: Massive increase in antipsychotic prescriptions for community patients - statistics revealed in a new community mental healthcare report by Professor Louis Appleby

Feb 28: Consider ECT for severely depressed pregnant women, psychiatrists told - new guidelines issued for women with prenatal or antenatal mental health problems

Jan 31: People with psychosis on too much medication - report advises NHS trusts on how to improve medication prescribing for people with mental health problems

Jan 12: Charity criticises mental health service in London for paying people to take medication - the move does did not offer a "real solution"

2006:

June 15: Prozac can be prescribed for children as young as eight – but only if they are also having psychological therapy, European drugs regulator rules.

June 2: Antipsychotics tumour link - US research finds antipsychotics "associated" with development of benign pituitary tumours

May 19: End “routine” prescribing of high-dose antipsychotics - "possible link" of antipsychotics with sudden death, states report

Feb 20: ADHD drug can increase risk of epileptic fits and abnormal heart rhythm, doctors told - advice follows previous warning that children on Strattera were at risk of having suicidal thoughts

Feb 14: ADHD drugs should carry heart attack warning, US scientists recommend - pressure on UK’s drug licensers to issue similar warning likely to mount.

Mental health comment
Feb 14: Disordered thinking? - the prescribing of ADHD drugs is soaring, while concerns are escalating about dangerous side effects. Is it time the social and family lives of ADHD-diagnosed children are examined as much as their brains, asks Adam James

Jan 31: Prescribing of drugs to treat ADHD children doubled in six years - figures revealed by National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence as it starts work on ADHD clinical guidelines

Jan 23: Campaign leads to U-turn on Alzheimer drugs - pressure from patients, carers and pharmaceutical firms leads to NHS’s drugs advisory body making U-turn on Alzheimer drug prescribing