Global Mental Health: An Old System Wearing New Clothes
On October 10th, 2018, World Mental Health Day, The Lancet Commission on Global Mental Health and Sustainable Development published a report outlining a proposal to “scale up” mental health care globally. In this podcast series, we discuss the implications.
Peruvian Legal Capacity Reform – Celebration and Analysis
Peru has moved closer to full compliance with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities than any other country in the world. Here I analyze the Peruvian reform as it pertains to legal capacity and the right to be free from disability-based detention and forced medical interventions.
55 Steps to Informed Consent
55 Steps is a new film based on a true story that centers around two women: Collette, a lawyer with a tendency to work long hours, and Eleanor, who has spent far too much time incarcerated in hospitals. Over the course of five years, Collette fights for Eleanor’s right to choose whether or not she takes psychiatric drugs. This film is imperfect, but its importance can’t be ignored.
Trauma Blocks the Frontal Lobes – “Verbal Physiotherapy” Can Unblock Them
Trauma makes the speech centers of the brain shut down. This is why talking about abuse is so difficult: the words are blocked. If you reclassify trauma effects as trauma-strokes, and you adapt physiotherapy to take this clinical evidence into account, then you come up with Verbal Physiotherapy.
What Happened When I Went Off Meds and Onto Nutrients
I remember clearly thinking, “I’m done. I’m not putting myself through this again.” I wasn’t going to settle for the side effects of a marginally better than placebo treatment again. Here is a brief look into my rollercoaster journey of recovery, returning to work, having my trauma re-triggered, finding a way through, and finally living well.
Results of World’s Largest Antidepressant Study Look Dismal
The STAR-D study is by far the largest and most expensive study of antidepressants ever conducted, and it suggests that in real life situations, people taking antidepressants do not do very well. This may be the reason why the results of the main outcome of the STAR-D study have remained buried for so long.
The Cochrane Collaboration Has Failed Us All
The "independent report" that investigated the complaints against Peter Gøtzsche (which included a complaint from E. Fuller Torrey) reveals that they arose in connection with his criticisms of psychiatric drugs. The Cochrane Collaboration's ouster of Gøtzsche betrays a commitment to open-minded science that is vital to serving the public good.
MIA Survey on Psych Wards
MIA is conducting a survey on the experiences of people who have been in psychiatric wards and psychiatric hospitals around the world. The anonymous survey takes about six minutes to complete.
Parenting Today: Raising Strong Resilient Kids
Dr. Chuck Ruby is Director and General Manager of the Pinnacle Center for Mental Health and Human Relations. He is also a psychotherapist and coach, addressing emotional and behavioral problems as natural human reactions in life, rather than as dysfunction or disease. Click here for more Parenting Today videos.
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ARTWORK AND POETRY
Lancet Psychiatry Needs to Retract the ADHD-Enigma Study
Lancet Psychiatry, a UK-based medical journal, recently published a study that concluded brain scans showed that individuals diagnosed with ADHD had smaller brains. That conclusion is belied by the study data. The journal needs to retract this study.
UPDATE: Lancet Psychiatry (online) has published letters critical of the study, and the authors' response, and a correction.
Helping Children With Angry Outbursts
Finnish psychiatrist Ben Furman reviews various non-drug therapies for children with aggressive outbursts of anger, including the Kids' Skills approach that he and social psychologist Tapani Ahola developed. These approaches focus on helping children come up with their own ideas for overcoming their problems with the help of family and friends.
The Science and Pseudoscience Podcast - Episode 1 Zach Bush
58:26
From nightmares to Ecstasy: Can MDMA help with PTSD?
08:06
Use transgender teens' chosen names to reduce suicide risk?
05:22
Treat teen depression without side effects or stigma?
03:46
Ketamine as a chemical restraint?
03:01
Blame school shootings on mental illness?
05:26
Stigma and psychosis: when medical labels injure
09:24