An illustration of a doctor running after a brain.

The ENIGMA-MDD Project: Searching for the Neuropathology of “Major Depressive Disorder”

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There's an old saying in research: "garbage in; garbage out". Research based on invalid concepts or false assumptions will produce invalid conclusions.

ADHD Drugs Are Convenient to Get Online. Maybe Too Convenient

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From Bloomberg Businessweek: Backed by SoftBank and promoted by Simone Biles, Cerebral has built the fastest-growing online mental health business. Former employees say the rapid expansion comes at the expense of patient care.

Anti-Psychiatry, Szasz, Torrey, Biederman & the Death of Freethinking

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Americans appear to be increasingly terrified by the possibility of ostracism, including for failing to conform to psychiatry dogma. This prevents critical thinking.

Illnesses or Loose Collections of Vaguely Described Problems?

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What's needed at this time are not glib, inane rejoinders, but an honest scrutiny by psychiatrists of their fundamental assumptions and methods.
Photo of a cassette tape with the words "Robert Spitzer, Feb 22, 2006" on the label

Robert Spitzer on DSM-III: A Recently Recovered Interview

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Robert Spitzer, chair of the Task Force for DSM-III, discusses his decisions on inclusion, exclusion, expansion, and renaming disorders in the manual.

The Unveiling of the Truth: A Journey Into the Invisible World

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It is through the experience of suffering that God educates us with the knowledge of the heart that He alone holds the key to.

Medicating Preschoolers for ADHD: How “Evidence-Based” Psychiatry Has Led to a Tragic End

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The prescribing of stimulants to preschoolers diagnosed with ADHD is on the rise, which is said to be an "evidence-based" practice. A review of that "evidence base" reveals that claims that ADHD is characterized by genetic and brain abnormalities are belied by the data, and that the NIMH trial of methylphenidate in this age group told of long-term harm.

Depression: Compulsive Self-Deception | Alice Miller

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From alice-miller.com: Depression is not a form of suffering that relates to the present; instead it is caused by the separation from one’s own self, abandoned early on, never mourned for, and accordingly doomed to despair and death.

Fairness, Justice, and Childhood Trauma | Daniel Mackler

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From Daniel Mackler/Wild Truth: Unresolved trauma tends to twist people's sense of fairness and justice because they lose perspective on where they are and who they are in relation to other people.

The Danger of Marginalizing People

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Instead of increasing understanding of our differences, the mental health system contributes to the marginalization of people it classifies as mentally ill.
Two photos. On the left, a woman cries while holding a phone to her ear. On the right, two police officers peer into the glass door of a home.

Roll-out of 988 Threatens Anonymity of Crisis Hotlines

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Even after their own advisory committee criticized call tracing, leaders of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline have been lobbying government for cutting-edge mass surveillance and tracking technology. Privacy experts are raising concerns.
Photo: selective focus on the word "psychiatry" in a dictionary

Why Is Psychiatry So Defensive About Criticism?

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Although I disagree with much of Dr. Aftab's article, it is, nevertheless, a courageous piece of writing. He calls out many of psychiatry's contradictions and errors.

Feds Open Investigation of SC Group Homes for Adults With ‘Mental Illness’

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From The Post and Courier: "Most of them, they’re horrible. It’s nowhere that you would ever want your family member to be," said Kimberly Tissot, executive director of Able SC.

When It Comes to Mental Health Problems, The Disability Framework Fails: A Response to...

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A response to the thought-provoking comments and concerns on the previous blog, furthering the discussion about disability and mental disorder.

For Life: Opera on Psychiatry and Its Drugs

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An interview with composer Dawn Sonntag and librettist Kermit Cole about their new opera about the harms that can come from psychiatric drugs.

When Tapering Antidepressants, is Going Slow Always the Best Strategy?

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Do we take enough account of total drug exposure time when devising antidepressant tapering strategies?

Dear Doctor (Unsent Letters) by Rose Y.

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Dear Doctor, Can we please rewind, slip back in time? To the first time that we spoke. You say you don’t remember me It’s no trouble, Let’s refresh your memory I’m...

Tragic Schoolboy Was Prescribed Huge Increase in Anti-Depressants

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From Belfast Telegraph: Johnny Shields, 14, who tragically took his own life had been prescribed up to a 700% increase of controversial anti-depressant drugs in the months leading up to his death.

How Emotions Affect Our Cognitive Functioning | Gabor Maté, MD

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From Gabor Maté, MD: Nature has given us the capacity to tune out or dissociate as a survival mechanism to escape overwhelming stress.

Art-Making as an Alternative Philosophy of Care During Emotional Crisis

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From National Empowerment Center: MIA Arts Editor Karin Jervert gives a talk on the role of creativity in the healing process as part of the "Compassionate Approaches to Crisis" webinar series.
akathisia suicide

No More Tears: In Memory of Kathleen Fliller

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My friend Kathleen Fliller ended her life last month. She had written a chronicle of her struggles with psychiatric drug withdrawal and akathisia, which she asked me to share with Mad In America to be published in hopes that it might help others not feel so alone.
silhouette of a man trapped against tangled barbed wire

Institutionalized 18 Years Ago, I May Never Be Released

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Bill Sutherland took a plea deal for a crime he says he didn't commit. Almost two decades later, he was still being held in a psych unit.

He Cheered on Britney Spears—While Fighting a Guardianship Battle of His Own

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From The Washington Post: The aftershocks of #FreeBritney could continue to rattle the American legal system long after Spears’s victory.

Break Down. Wake Up. podcast – 007 – Questioning Primary Beliefs to Reconnect with...

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How an unexpected business rejection launched a quest for a successful entrepreneur to understand his personal pain and protective strategies.

Renee Schuls-Jacobson – Psychiatrized: Waking up After a Decade of Bad Medicine

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We interview Renee Schuls-Jacobson about her book Psychiatrized: Waking up After a Decade of Bad Medicine which details Renee's experiences being prescribed the benzodiazepine clonazepam (Klonopin) for seven years.