Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Isaac Baldwin @ibaldwin.bsky.social · 8d

“Boredom proneness overlaps with inattention and impulsivity but does not capture hyperactivity, working memory deficits, or problems with planning and organization.”

Excellent article. An example of this distinction: the higher risk of car accidents is probably not due to boredom proneness alone.

Awais Aftab @awaisaftab.bsky.social · 11d

ADHD, Boredom Proneness, and the Pills That Make Tedium Tolerable

www.psychiatrymargins.com/p/adhd-bored...

ADHD, Boredom Proneness, and the Pills That Make Tedium Tolerable

Exploring the relationship between ADHD and boredom

www.psychiatrymargins.com

1 1

Isaac Baldwin @ibaldwin.bsky.social · 20d

An interesting look at integrating several emerging heuristic models in psychiatry. With some discussion of what it would really take to create a paradigm shift.

New diagnosis in psychiatry: beyond heuristics | Psychological Medicine | Cambridge Core

New diagnosis in psychiatry: beyond heuristics - Volume 55

www.cambridge.org

Isaac Baldwin @ibaldwin.bsky.social · Sep 6

This is excellent work. Exactly the type of research that can help us resolve the tense debates around the diagnosis, epidemiology, and nosology of catatonia. Spoiler: presentations change fast, even within 24 hours!

Fluctuation of Catatonic Signs in a Naturalistic Clinical Sample - Brian S. Barnett, Andrew Francis, 2025

Background We are unaware of investigations into whether catatonic signs fluctuate over short periods, so we quantified changes in catatonic signs over 24-hours...

journals.sagepub.com

Reposted by Isaac Baldwin

Awais Aftab @awaisaftab.bsky.social · Aug 30

The RFK Jr + MAHA alliance may very well ensure that the psychiatric harm movement is eventually remembered not for saving lives from medical overreach, but for wrecking public health in America. The irony of this outcome will not be lost on observers and future commentators.

3 5 30

Isaac Baldwin @ibaldwin.bsky.social · Aug 29

Recent articles about the use of AI
in psychotherapy make me feel the way an older generation of psychiatrists must have felt watching the interpersonal aspects of their practice being discarded with applause from the business world and media.

1

Isaac Baldwin @ibaldwin.bsky.social · Aug 15

Very well deserved

1

Isaac Baldwin @ibaldwin.bsky.social · Aug 5

This post made me think of the many times I’ve heard a patient describe their past treatment with misleading metaphorical language, oftentimes inherited from a physician. It’s humbling to remember that our metaphors are carried outside our offices and may shape self understanding for a lifetime.

Awais Aftab @awaisaftab.bsky.social · Aug 4

“the profession of psychiatry, over its long history, has impoverished its conceptual foundations by a strong brain-focused bias in how we talk, and, more importantly, think about mental disorders.” Ken Kendler

www.psychiatrymargins.com/p/brain-meta...

Brain Metaphors Beyond Brain Mythologies

A commentary on Kendler's history of metaphorical brain talk in psychiatry

www.psychiatrymargins.com

4 16

Reposted by Isaac Baldwin

Eric Michael Garcia @ericmgarcia.bsky.social · May 16

Robert F. Kennedy calls autism an epidemic and treats it like a crisis. But the Trump administration has cut autism-related research by 26 percent since he took office.
www.reuters.com/business/hea...

Exclusive: Trump administration cut autism-related research by 26% so far in 2025

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr has vowed to address rising U.S. autism rates as a top health priority for the Trump administration .

www.reuters.com

8 44 100

Isaac Baldwin @ibaldwin.bsky.social · May 14

Thanks to @autismsciencefd.bsky.social for giving me some time to talk about how catatonia is diagnosed in autism. Some really excellent questions at the end. Enjoyed being with you all!

May 14, 2025: Diagnosis of Catatonia

YouTube video by Catatonia and Severe and Challenging Behaviors SIG

youtu.be

1

Isaac Baldwin @ibaldwin.bsky.social · May 3

The MAHA vision is of a type of utopia, where those able to utilize lifestyle practices such as organic food to improve health can live a full life. For disabled people and those lives improved by psychiatric medications & public assistance, however… it’s not clear there is a plan for them.

1

Isaac Baldwin @ibaldwin.bsky.social · May 3

4. And what are those motives? Based upon everything we’ve seen so far, it appears to be the promotion of libertarian ideology that sees suffering and disability as individual responsibilities. To replace medical care and social support with “beneficial lifestyle changes”

Piece by Jesse Meadows

Unshrunk and MAHA: A Diagnosis-Critical Case Study

a tangent inspired by my new video :)

open.substack.com

1 1

Isaac Baldwin @ibaldwin.bsky.social · May 3

3. We are now seeing what appear to be efforts by the government to address longstanding issues (insufficient evidence and awareness regarding the risks of medications). Still, it is clear there are ulterior motives.

Piece by @awaisaftab.bsky.social

Opinion | What Kennedy Gets Right, And Wrong, About Antidepressants

Prozac is nearly 40 years old. Why are there still unanswered questions?

www.nytimes.com

1 2

Isaac Baldwin @ibaldwin.bsky.social · May 3

2. Public trust has eroded in medical professions (including and maybe especially psychiatry) for both legitimate reasons (poor communication about certainty, risks, and harms) and because of leaders using rhetoric meant to undermine that trust.

Piece by @awaisaftab.bsky.social

American Psychiatry in the Shadow of MAHA and MAGA

Reflections on medicine, politics, and public trust

open.substack.com

1 2 8

Isaac Baldwin @ibaldwin.bsky.social · May 3

1. There’s a myth that we used to be healthier in the past, and that we can get back there by shunning the medical establishment. It’s a myth that’s existed for a long time and has more to do with an idea of moral purity than it does with health.
Piece by @drrobertchapman.bsky.social

Neurodiversity and the Myth of Moral Decline

How to spot reactionary critiques of medicalisation

open.substack.com

1 5 11

Isaac Baldwin @ibaldwin.bsky.social · May 3

I’ve been searching for “the point” behind the MAHA movement and RFK’s policies. All the doctors I know feel like it’s headed for disaster. So why does it have so much steam? Some recent pieces have made it clearer to me: (1/6)

1 4 4

Isaac Baldwin @ibaldwin.bsky.social · May 3

If psychiatrists want an effective collective response to the administration’s approach to psychiatric medications, it’s going to take clear-eyed communication like this.

Awais Aftab @awaisaftab.bsky.social · May 3

My opinion piece in today’s @nytimes.com . I discuss how clinical neglect of medication-related harms has made RFK Jr’s stance on antidepressants appealing to so many and moving the public conversation in a productive direction requires us to remedy this neglect.

www.nytimes.com/2025/05/03/o...

Opinion | What Kennedy Gets Right, And Wrong, About Antidepressants (Gift Article)

Harm from these drugs is real. Let’s not cede the conversation to Kennedy.

www.nytimes.com

1 4

Isaac Baldwin @ibaldwin.bsky.social · Apr 20

Many major autism advocacy organizations representing a huge variety of viewpoints (sometimes starkly opposing one another) released this joint statement.

Their points:
1. Vaccines do not cause autism
2. Autistic individuals deserve respect and support
3. Evidence-based policy is essential

Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN) @autisticadvocacy.org · Apr 17

ASAN, Autistic Women & Nonbinary Network, the Autistic People of Color Fund, Autism Society of America, Autism Speaks, The Arc, and others stand united: Autistic people deserve respect, support, and science-based policy, not dangerous disinformation. autisticadvocacy.org/2025/04/lead...

Leading Autism Organizations Release Joint Statement on Upholding Scientific Integrity and Supporting the Autism Community - Autistic Self Advocacy Network

April 17, 2025, Washington, D.C. – As national organizations dedicated to advancing the well-being of Autistic individuals, the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, Autism Society of America, Autism…

autisticadvocacy.org

4

Isaac Baldwin @ibaldwin.bsky.social · Apr 18

This is the language of eugenics. Autistic lives are inherently valuable.

The Independent @the-independent.com · Apr 16

WATCH | RFK Jr claims autistic children will never go on dates or pay taxes

Read the recent CDC autism report here: www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...

2

Isaac Baldwin @ibaldwin.bsky.social · Apr 2

An important perspective. Thanks for sharing.

1

Reposted by Isaac Baldwin

Julia Métraux @juliametraux.bsky.social · Mar 28

The Administration for Community Living, housed in HHS, is shutting down. I spoke to disability experts for @motherjones.com about questions they have for what’s next, the services ACL provides, and how this move may lead to more folks being institutionalized. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

RFK Jr. moves to close Administration for Community Living

The shutdown will mean "more people forced into institutional settings."

www.motherjones.com

16 350 540

Reposted by Isaac Baldwin

Robert Chapman @drrobertchapman.bsky.social · Mar 25

One way the mainstream "over" (or "under") diagnosis discourse is misleading is the assumption there is some natural, correct number of neurodivergent people. But there is no natural number, as disability is relationally, materially, and socially produced.

4 32 100

Isaac Baldwin @ibaldwin.bsky.social · Mar 22

“The psychiatrist, scrolling through the criticism on their phone, can sigh, close the app, and move on with their evening, while the harmed patient sits, eyes wet, waiting for a response, feeling alone and terrified by the world’s indifference to their suffering.”

Awais Aftab @awaisaftab.bsky.social · Mar 22

Building Mutual Aid Communities Outside the Clinical Context: Q&A with Cooper Davis

And reflections on relationships with psychotropics gone awry

www.psychiatrymargins.com/p/building-m...

Building Mutual Aid Communities Outside the Clinical Context: Q&A with Cooper Davis

And reflections on relationships with psychotropics gone awry

www.psychiatrymargins.com

1 3

Reposted by Isaac Baldwin

Robert Chapman @drrobertchapman.bsky.social · Mar 18

Labour seems set on imposing what I've called neoliberalism's privatisation of eugenic responsibility: instead of enforcing mass authoritarian eugenics, the world is made increasingly unlivable; welfare necessary for life is cut; ensuing deaths are then framed as caused by the individual's choices.

3 50 130

Reposted by Isaac Baldwin

Alexey Tolchinsky @tolchinsky.bsky.social · Mar 8

Fantastic presentation by @jrbneuropsiq.bsky.social

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pl-J...

Phenomenology in Literature and Neuropsychiatry with Dr. Ramirez-Bermudez

YouTube video by Neurohumanities Network

www.youtube.com

4 7

Isaac Baldwin @ibaldwin.bsky.social · Mar 4

RFK and friends would have us believe medicine (especially psychiatry) is ruining our country. He would like to return to a golden age before all this. As this article brilliantly illuminates, there is no such time. Reactionary voices have been blaming medicine for “moral decline” for centuries.

Neurodiversity and the Myth of Moral Decline

How to spot reactionary critiques of medicalisation

open.substack.com

1