David M. Allen, M.D.

David M. Allen, M.D. This page critiques psychiatry and psychotherapy, with an emphasis on the role of family dysfunction in mental health.

03/10/2026

The fundamental attribution error and the antidote: Too often, we attribute other people's poor behavior to their character, while attributing our poor behavior to external/situational factors. Hanlon's razor: "Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by ______." While it is possible that the behavior you are observing is, in fact, due to malice or some flaw in the person's character, Hanlon's razor provides a mental tool that allows you to first consider other options.

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03/03/2026

From the Dept. of mixing up cause and effect: Higher levels of physical activity and healthier sleep patterns are associated with lower odds of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) among adolescents, according to findings published in General Hospital Psychiatry.

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02/17/2026

Can’t is not the same as won’t, but they kinda look alike. Performance is not the same as ability. Some psychology researchers haven’t figured that out yet.

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02/10/2026

Parents these days think it’s too dangerous to let their children play outside on their suburban front lawns or walk two blocks to school for fear that the children will be whisked away by sexual predators. They keep them indoors and let them be online all day. The irony is that sexual predators aren’t outside much any more – they’re mostly online.

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02/03/2026

From the Department of Redundancy Dept.: Someone needs to tell neuropsychiatrists who label every brain process that seems to differ in different groups a "disease" that all such processes (including all normal ones) are “mediated by the brain.”


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A book about therapists actually looking at the mother-infant relationship and not judging it right off the bat. It also...
01/29/2026

A book about therapists actually looking at the mother-infant relationship and not judging it right off the bat. It also has some important ideas for therapists who treat adults.

https://davidmallenmd.blogspot.com/2026/01/book-review-getting-to-know-you-by.html

The author of this book has been working on the understanding and treatment of attachment issues between infants and very young children wit...

01/27/2026

I believe the correct translation of “Why do I have to listen to this?” in a conversation between a parent and a teenager in a situation in which the parent has been telling the teen over and over again about the same thing is actually, “Why do you have this compulsive need to keep telling me over and over again what to do? I will be oppositional so you can continue to indulge yourself!”

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01/20/2026

In interpersonal interactions, just because one’s response is normal does not always mean that it’s also adaptive.

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01/13/2026

Psychotherapy research tends to be linear and simplified, while relationships, response patterns and development in the real world are layered and complex.

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01/07/2026

If it's true that we are here to help others, then what exactly are the others here for?

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Self Help book by Dr. Allen

My self-help book, Coping with Critical, Demanding, and Dysfunctional Parents: Powerful Strategies to Help Adult Children Maintain Boundaries and Stay Sane available online at Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, and https://www.newharbinger.com/coping-critical-demanding-and-dysfunctional-parents