Yearly Archives: 2013

This post is a bit different from my typical system sausage making pieces in that I would like to reflect on the Mad in...

The indefatigable Beyond Meds' Monica Cassani proffers a video from RX Benzo.org that concludes "you have only one mind, and only YOU have a right to...

A major research group mentions in a paper published in an academically rigorous psychiatric journal (and I get it that some readers consider that an oxymoron) the possible influence of super-sensitivity on increasing the risk of relapse when neuroleptic drugs are stopped. Yet those of us who raise this as a reason to moderate our use of these drugs are considered biased or scientifically naive.

EXPERIENTIAL WISDOM Lyn Legere writes about the power of lived experience to change hearts and minds, and the ups and downs of trying to bring this...

The Huffington Post touches in on the mind/body connection. Article →

Experiential Wisdom: Lyn writes about the power of lived experience to change hearts and minds, and the ups and downs of trying to bring...

The mother of a man charged with trespassing for leaping from a monorail into a tiger's den at the Bronx Zoo, where he was...

The Huffington Post reviews "the standard text for students of mental health policy", saying "the new edition focuses attention on several of the major controversies...

The label of schizophrenia has a chilling ring. It carries with it the suggestion of a wrecked and wretched life. It is also a diagnosis that is notoriously difficult to shed. For this reason, the diagnosis of schizophrenia should not be applied lightly and not without a thorough understanding of the patient’s family and wider circumstances.

Youtube →  

Yesterday I attended psychiatry grand rounds, where Andy Miller presented his latest research. Andy has been a pioneer in the field of psychoneuroimmunology and an exponent for the view that major depression reflects systemic inflammation. (I have published a review of this literature recently in Frontiers in Psychology which is available for download).

The logic of equating forced psychiatry with torture is undeniable, it is a severe injury to the body, soul, mind and spirit, and it is only because of discrimination that such violence has enjoyed social and legal approval in western societies and unfortunately spreading throughout the world. The logic that comes from a non-discrimination analysis is rooted in our self-respect and pride, our unwillingness to let go of the last spark of identity and resistance that makes us who we are. Non-discrimination is advancing in the world, it represents the best of humanity and we are part of this truth.

The invitation from the London Review of Books to review Ben Goldacre’s Bad Pharma™ reads: “We were unsure, at first, what a review could add that isn’t already in the book – scrappy summaries and bits of praise are not for us. The book is of sufficient importance that the main thing is to get someone who knows what they’re talking about to present the material confidently... frame the discussion”. My head said it was inconceivable that the LRB wouldn’t take a review, even if it was at odds with the invitation to praise Bad Pharma. But my gut told me the inconceivable was about to take flesh.

On March 26^th, a small group of us gathered outside the State House in Boston, Massachusetts, to rally and protest against several oppressive, dehumanizing, and dangerous bills put forth by the House and Senate.  If you’re interested in reading more about them, go to www.malegislature.gov/Bills, and search for House Bills 110, 141, 1802, 3253, 1792, and Senate Bill 41.  This is my speech from the event.

Pete Early, author of Crazy, traces the history of NAMI, including its "complicated love-hate relationship with Dr. E. Fuller Torrey" and shift from his...

Dr. Toby Watson, The International Society for Ethical Psychology and Psychiatry's former executive director, reports on his expert testimony to the Federal Congress and...

A review in BMC Psychiatry concludes that "Non-English language general psychiatry journals contribute substantially to the body of research. However, recognition, and in particular...

Speak Out Against Psychiatry offers this helpful primer on an important subject. Article →

An article in Truthout asserts that "Since all human occurrences take place in society, it is obviously a truism that all insanity must, in...

In a study of 6,767 reports of antidepressant trials in juveniles treated for depressive and anxiety disorders, the risk of psychopathological behavioral or mood...

Despite the integral importance of blinding and blinding assessment to randomized controlled trials (RCTs), they are rarely reported on or documented in trial reports...

A study of 442 individuals discharged from a U.K. hospital, published today in The Lancet, finds that the rate of readmission after 12 months...

The American Journal of Psychiatry (January, 2103) recently published a series of articles that analyzed the outcomes of the field trials that were conducted by the DSM-5 Task Force, to determine the inter-rater reliability of the multiple diagnostic categories that will comprise the DSM-5. A table below tracks the downward progression of inter-rater reliability from DSM-III through DSM-5.

Martin Harrow and Thomas Jobe have a new article coming out in Schizophrenia Bulletin that I wish would be read by everyone in our society with an interest in “mental health.” Harrow and Jobe, who conducted the best study of long-term schizophrenia outcomes that has ever been done, do not present new data in this article, but rather discuss the central question raised by their research: Does long-term treatment of schizophrenia with antipsychotic medications facilitate recovery? Or does it hinder it?

Robert Whitaker appears on Science for the Public on March 20, 2013, speaking about how the ADHD is diagnosed and why users of medications...