Mental Health

Brain Distrust: Shrinks and Scientologists Find Weird Common Ground Over the DSM-5

Occupy Psychiatry: Amid DSM 5 Controversy, Movement Wants to Return to Freud

At first blush, this year's gathering of the American Psychiatric Association had the air of a coronation. It kicked off at the George Moscone Center in San Francisco just as the dust was settling on Google's I/O 13, with a keynote by former president Bill Clinton and a grand unveiling of the newly ... More >>

Nevada Sends S.F. Trove of Public Records Related to "Patient Dumping"

To many Californians, perhaps the only thing more outrageous than the idea of Nevada dumping hundreds of mentally ill patients into the Golden State is the idea that Nevada's Governor would have the audacity to deny it. But last week, Gov. Brian Sandoval did just that, acknowledging no more than o ... More >>

Museum of the Uncommon Mind: The New Exploratorium Gets Wilder and Darker

UCSF Study Presents Potential Neurological Treatment for Cocaine Addiction

Researchers may have discovered the initial steps to helping cocaine abusers overcome their addiction. A study conducted by scientists at UCSF and the National Institute of Health found that activating neurons in the brainʼs prefrontal cortex eliminated cocaine addition in lab rats. The paper, pu ... More >>

Federal Judge Criticizes State for "Profound Ethical Violation" in Prison Mental Health Case

For 18 years, a federal court has overseen the California state prison system's mental health care. This week, the state is making its case: conditions for mentally ill prisoners have improved enough for California to regain control of its facilities. A good chunk of the state's evidence lies in a ... More >>

Genetics Could Explain "Marijuana Psychosis"

Science can be tricky thing, and particularly so when discussing the cannabis plant.  Laymen -- and your average Internet expert -- often sum up complex studies involving biochemistry and neurology in overly simplistic and often misleading bromides. For example, "cannabis may have antitumor eff ... More >>

"Bill W.": Alcoholics Anonymous Founder in the Flesh

Eliminating the "Crazy" Stigma, One Photograph at a Time

A local grassroots nonprofit launched a new campaign last month to eliminate the stigma that still shrouds mental health.The "Stomp Out Stigma" campaign, also referred to as the SOS campaign, is spearheaded by a locally based organization, Youth In Mind. Through the campaign, the group hopes to infl ... More >>

Ya Big Baboon!

Thought for Food

Mental Health Employees Sue Over Crazy Work Schedule

Stop the madness!​City employees who care for the severely mentally ill have sued over a severely unstable work schedule that's driving them craaaaaaaazy. They are scheduled to work four days one week, then six days the next, then four, then six .....This routine was devised by a madhouse, known f ... More >>

OWNing It: We're Addicted to Oprah

OWNCast of "Addicted to Food," a reality series that debuted last night on Oprah's TV network.​Is Oprah your God? Have you made the move to her new home? OWN, the Oprah Winfrey Network, has kept us all waiting for the original programming it promised. And though Kidnapped by the Kids may not b ... More >>

UCSF Researchers Believe They Have Found a Drug To Cure Alcoholism

Curing Alcoholism ​Leave it to Americans to try to cure alcoholism with a pill. UCSF researchers believe a muscle relaxant already out on the market can drastically reduce the urge to binge drink.Researchers from UCSF's Ernest Gallo Clinic used drunk rats to prove their hypothesis. They studied t ... More >>

Ibogaine has helped addicts kick meth and heroin. Is it the trip that does the trick?

Bouncer: At the Lone Palm, mulling Prop. 8 and dead German tourists

Dirty Thieves put a spell on you

And the Happiest Place in America Is ... Sunnyvale?

Be well...​If there were a list compiled of how many lists a city is listed in -- well our city of San Francisco would be tops on that list. So I'm always reticent to write about some national rankings the City by the Bay finds itself on. That being said, we just stumbled across one that's interes ... More >>

Longtime Friends of Man Accused of Slaughtering Dog in Church: 'We've All Been Very Worried About Him For a While'

Joe Byrnes' friends say they pleaded with him to seek help -- and he always refused​Longtime friends of Joe Byrnes say the man accused of slaughtering his pit bull with an axe while naked in a San Francisco Catholic church has a long history of mental illness and has steadfastly refused his loved ... More >>

Distraught Friends Stick Up for Man Accused of Slaughtering Dog in S.F. Catholic Church

Joseph Byrnes' longtime friends have trouble believing he'd ever harm one of his beloved dogs -- but note the San Francisco musician's battles with mental illness ​On Monday, SF Weekly broke the disturbing story of a nude man eyewitnesses and police claim hacked his pit bull to death in a Bernal ... More >>

Chronic City: After Further Review, Smoking Pot Doesn't Make You Crazy -- Blimey!

oldies.comWhich came first, the lunatics or the grass? The time-honored notion of reefer madness, given new life recently in the British tabloid press, has taken another hit from reality. Widespread marijuana use by the public has not been followed by a proportional rise in diagnoses of schizophreni ... More >>

Gay porn star Michael Brandon vows comeback

Salvation for Drunk Punks

There is hope for you after all, and without bringing God into it.

Homeless SF State students struggle to stay in school and stay loaded

American Journal of Psychiatry: S.F. Behavioral Courts Work

Breaking the Cycle

It's expensive and time-consuming, but a court can help cure the hard-core homeless problem in San Francisco

Just Say No

Conventional wisdom says psychiatric drugs save lives, but for some San Franciscans the pills are a prescription for disaster

Psycho Dogs

What makes canines go crazy? The answer is in their genes.

Big Pharma

A competent performance depressed by a one-sided argument

Olive Woo Murphy 1/08/03 – 3/29/06

Bouncer

Journey inside the mind of Janis Joplin and Bob Marley as Bouncer gets "Crucial."

Cowboy Junkies

One Soul Now

Sex and the Single Psychologist

Should Dr. Al Cooper's fuzzy data and controversial subject stop him from becoming a media darling -- or getting a date?

Big Doctor Is Watching

As of April 14, the national security police can monitor your medical records without your knowledge. So can the local police.

Brain Storms

A City Hall plan to downgrade S.F.'s only long-term-care facility for the severely mentally ill has critics up in arms

Letters to the Editor

Mental Breakdown; Criticisms and Compliments; Corrections

Mental Cruelty

Michael Wise and Susan Owsley are recovering schizophrenics who got the right kind of help, and got off the street.The mayor's secret budget cuts will make sure that doesn't happen anymore.

The Black Heart Procession

Three (Touch and Go)

Blind Faith

A new treatment for victims of severe emotional trauma involving rhythmic eye movements has therapists claiming almost miraculous results. Psychological researchers say the eyes just don't have it.

Broken Fix

In a radical approach, San Francisco is making addiction a health issue rather than a law enforcement imperative. So far, though, treatment on demand has been a costly pipe dream.

Letters

Cothran

A Spoonful of Sugar

Using sex -- and celebrity -- to sell an antidepressant

Perverted Justice?

Or is a new law that puts sexual predators in long-term psychiatric lock-up really -- and finally -- justice for perverts?

Letters

Savage Love

Father Knows Bud Didn't Use Heroin

How a false rumor of drug use dogged the life and career of actor Billy Gray

Of Community and Quarantine

A fight over mental health treatment blurs the line between civilization and discrimination

Cold Turkey

New law axes disability benefits for alcoholics, addicts; advocates fear homelessness upsurge

Matrix's Happy Face

New statistics contradict Jordan's spin on homeless crackdown