“Dad, You Were Right”: I Got Better When I Stopped Treatment
Through all the years that I was a mental patient, my parents were excellent advocates who constantly questioned what the docs were doing, even though my own faith in psychiatry was unwavering.... Amazingly, what cured me was not some type of “treatment,” but getting away from drugs and therapy.
“Dad, You Were Right”: I Got Better When I Stopped Treatment
Through all the years that I was a mental patient, my parents were excellent advocates who constantly questioned what the docs were doing, even though my own faith in psychiatry was unwavering.... Amazingly, what cured me was not some type of “treatment,” but getting away from drugs and therapy.
Media Errors in Covering “Mental Health” – Advice to Fellow Writers and Editors
In 2015, I published a BuzzFeed feature story about Teresa Sheehan, a woman who was diagnosed with "schizoaffective disorder" and was shot by police. At the time I didn’t realize that it was my job to take the point of view of people who’ve been psychiatrically diagnosed very seriously. I was terrified of appearing to challenge the profession of psychiatry.
Update on Marci Webber: Will the Nightmare Ever End?
According to the law, when an NGRI patient is no longer mentally ill and dangerous, they are supposed to be released. Marci petitioned for discharge and has a hearing scheduled for May 7-9, 2019. It is critical that we convince the judge that Marci should be discharged. She is finding it increasingly difficult to tolerate life under the present circumstances.
The Lonely Wave: On the Failure of Group Therapy
If you put mortally desperate people in a room together, what do you expect? Emotions will spill over and people will jostle for time and topic. In my groups, even the most kindhearted had attempted to either become the center of attention or slink away into silence, often leaving early with a whispered “sorry” and a quick shuffle out of the room.
The New Yorker Peers into the Psychiatric Abyss… And Loses Its Nerve
The New Yorker's story on Laura Delano and psychiatric drug withdrawal is a glass-half-full story: It addresses a problem in psychiatry and yet hides the deeper story to be told. A story of how her recovery resulted from seeing herself within a counter-narrative that tells of the harm that psychiatry can do.
Struggling Parents, Burdened Social Services: What We Can Change
Parents encounter many obstacles when trying to secure adequate educational, medical, psychological, and social supports for their children. These “dense bureaucracies” hurt not just families, but everyone.
MIA: Support Groups for Parents
Mad in America hosts several moderated, online support groups for parents skeptical of, or seeking alternatives to, conventional drug-based treatments for their children with mental health challenges. Learn more, and sign up here.
UN Special Rapporteur Seeks Input
UN Special Rapporteur Dainius Puras, who has called for a revolution in psychiatry, seeks input for new report on mental health.
Research Surveys
Ongoing studies seeking participants for surveys on mental health issues. The newest survey is from researchers at the University of Manchester studying the role of psychological processes in psychosis.
ARTWORK AND POETRY
Do Antidepressants Work? A People’s Review of the Evidence
After a meta-analysis of RCTs of antidepressants was published in Lancet, psychiatry stated that it proved that "antidepressants" work. However, effectiveness studies of real-world patients reveal the opposite: the medications increase the likelihood that patients will become chronically depressed, and disabled by the disorder.
How “Mental Health Awareness” Exploits Schoolchildren
Imagine being a parent at a meeting with educators to discuss Johnny's academics or behavior. Suddenly, your child’s teacher is telling you that he needs to see a doctor for an assessment of a suspected “mental disorder,” which usually leads to a prescription for medication. Warned of “the risks against failing to intervene,” you will likely acquiesce.
MIA GLOBAL
Read updates from Mad in America’s family of affiliated sites here.
Mad in Sweden officially launches, March 16, 2019.
The Science and Pseudoscience of Women’s Mental Health Conversation with Kelly Brogan
01:00:11
Is fast acting buprenorphine the best treatment for opiate addiction?
03:59
Robert Whitaker - Scientific Censorship in Psychiatry - March 9, 2019 - CPH
27:28
“ADHD: A Return to Psychology” Video Series, Part 1
23:54
The Fragile Pillars of Biological Determinism for ADHD
45:00
ADHD: Medicate and Coerce or Develop Self-Reliance and Cooperation?
01:06:26
APA Protest - Vera Sharav
06:14
Episode 47 Conflicts of Interest Questioned in Review of Prescribed Drug Dependence
38:27
Open Paradigm Project - Dr. Dan Fisher
06:08
Open Paradigm Project - Joanna Moncrieff
10:12
Robert Whitaker at "Pharmaceuticals – Risks and Alternatives", 15th of October, 2016.
40:19
UCLA/ISEPP - John Read
15:07
UCLA/ISEPP - Tomi Gomory
20:13