Tag: psychiatric drugs
“Assault” and “Torture”: Patients Recall the Institutional Violence of Forced Drugging
A new article published in the Journal of Humanistic Psychology finds that patients often experience forced drugging in psychiatric contexts as dehumanizing and violent....
“A System Built on Medication:” How Psychiatric Institutions Undermine Drug-Free Care
In 2015, the Norwegian Health Minister issued a directive ordering regional health authorities to create a plan for providing mental healthcare without drugs. A...
With Veterans Demanding Action, Bipartisan Support Emerges for Written Informed Consent...
On the morning of April 29, representatives of 35 veterans’ service organizations (VSOs) gathered under cloudy skies on Capitol Hill for a press conference...
Which Would You Prefer: Electroshock or a Safe Taper?
Imagine you’ve spent your entire life as a healthy person, seven decades in fact, and suddenly being recommended ECT by the psychiatry department of a prestigious university.
Why Critical Mental Health Knowledge Is Essential for Ethical Practice: An...
In this conversation, Jan DeFehr argues that ethical practice requires access to what the field itself disputes, including the risks people rarely hear about.
Did Something Happen?! The Power of Poetry in Telling My Son’s...
It's hard, if not impossible, to impose on my son’s story any kind of literary “sense.” As a writer and a mother both, this has been my challenge.
Ken Burns’ “Hiding in Plain Sight…”: Candid Interviews, Canned Conclusions
I was hoping for more accurate representation of youth mental health challenges. What I saw instead was a glossy patchwork of mixed messages.
Mental Health Survival Kit, Chapter 2: Is Psychiatry Evidence Based? (Part...
Many patients end up on terribly harmful drug cocktails they might never escape from. Although it’s hard to believe, it’s getting worse.
Insane Medicine, Chapter 8: Treatment Traps and How to Get Out...
Sami Timimi provides a discussion of the ways medication may be helpful for some, and advice and information on discontinuing psychiatric drugs.
Exploring Psychiatric Drug Withdrawal: A Town Hall Discussion Series
Our new discussion series aims to explore what we do and don’t know about safe withdrawal from antidepressants, antipsychotics, benzodiazepines and stimulants.
Navigating the Mind: What Medication Cannot Address
I believe there's no harm in giving meds a try—it worked for me. Just be aware that they can only do so much. The rest of the journey requires some navigation and self-direction.
How Little We Really Know About Psychiatric Drugs
Joanna Moncrieff reflects on what has and has not changed in the field of psychiatric drug treatment in the years between the first and newly published second edition of the Straight Talking Introduction to Psychiatric Drugs.
Stuart Shipko – SSRI Withdrawal: Shooting the Odds
We interview Dr. Stuart Shipko, a psychiatrist and author who has a particular interest in the side effects and withdrawal effects of SSRI antidepressants and the need for informed consent when prescribing.
Service-User Knowledge Helps Researchers Develop Psychiatric Drug Tapering Approaches
New strategies for tapering psychiatric drugs achieved by acknowledging withdrawal symptoms and valuing service-users’ first-hand knowledge.
Drugs? Thank You, I’ll Pass
If I ever lose my mind again, I hope that psychiatrists in charge of my care will grant me but one wish. Please do not force me to take drugs that fill me full of fear.
Psychological Support for Psychiatric Drug Withdrawal
We discuss the release of guidance which has been specifically written to support UK psychological therapists and their clients in having discussions about taking and withdrawing from psychiatric drugs. The guidance is a collaboration between counsellors, therapists, psychologists, peer support specialists and psychiatrists.
Mad Science, Psychiatric Coercion and the Therapeutic State: An Interview with...
MIA's Peter Simons interviews David Cohen, PhD, on his path to researching mental health, coercive practices, and discontinuation from psychiatric drugs.
Migrant Kids Are Being Traumatized, Not Treated
From The Sacramento Bee: "I don’t know what it’s like to be an immigrant kid, to travel alone to an unfamiliar country or be...
Is Anti-Anxiety Medication the Next U.S. Drug Crisis?
From NBC News: "Prescriptions have increased more than 60 percent in the last two decades and overdose deaths involving them have more than quadrupled...
Challenges for the Next Phase of Integrated Medicaid Care in OR
From The Lund Report: "Access to the current disease-centered system of mental health care will almost certainly mean worse outcomes for many people than if...
We Have Turned Childhood Into a Mental Disorder
From The Daily Wire: "...nowhere is this tendency to medicalize the human condition more apparent, or more dangerous, than with children. As most people know,...
Here’s a Surprising Extreme Heat Risk for 1 in 6 Americans
From NBC News: "White is among the one in six Americans who take psychiatric medications. Many can interfere with the activity of the hypothalamus, a...
Medical Malpractice Verdict Seen as Powerful Message
From PR Newswire: On May 16th, a $2 million verdict was issued in favor of Stanley and Marianne Truskie, whose son died from toxic levels...
A Text Therapy App Plans to Start Prescribing Drugs to Users
From Business Insider: Talkspace, a text message-based therapy platform, is bringing on a team of psychiatrists to prescribe medications to patients. The app is also...
“Psychiatric Meds Saved Your Life,” and Mine
It's not about whether it's right or wrong, true or false that psychiatric drugs save lives. It's about telling the stories that aren't being told. That's why psychiatric drugs saved my life after they destroyed my health and nearly killed me. They gave me something I care about and am passionate about writing about. They gave me a pathway to bring healing to others.































