Yearly Archives: 2019
In Memoriam: Mel Starkman, Psychiatric Survivor and Activist
From NOW Toronto: Don Weitz pays tribute to his friend Mel Starkman, a former University of Toronto archivist and psychiatric survivor who spoke out against electroshock treatment.
Founding Member Looks Back on 20 Years of the Critical Psychiatry Network
Founding member of the Critical Psychiatry Network (CPN), psychiatrist Duncan B. Double, reviews the past 20 years of the Critical Psychiatry Network in an editorial published in the British Journal of Psychiatry.
Third Time Lucky: Open Dialogue and Finding Meaning in My Inherited Trauma
A year after my twin’s death, I stood in a supermarket and felt my body disintegrating into a thousand pieces. My soul knew it needed the right teacher and helper. Fortunately, I found Open Dialogue. It helped me expose the real childhood trauma, and gradually rebuild my shattered, grief-stricken psyche.
Anti-Stigma Campaigns Potentially Making Life Worse for People in Distress
From Psychologists for Social Change: These campaigns leave little resources or public appetite to tackle anything harder that might actually make life better for swathes of people.
Are Antidepressants Enabling the Population to Tolerate the Intolerable?
Just how sad is our current state of affairs that it causes so much of the population to feel depressed and/or anxious? Just how much are these drugs changing the state of our society as a whole? Are the drugs desensitizing the population to the point that it will tolerate social conditions it would otherwise find intolerable?
Mother Whose Son Killed Himself in Solitary Wants FL to Change Practice
From the Orlando Sentinel: While many states have reduced the number of inmates in solitary confinement, an SPLC study found Florida has not been part of that trend.
My Son and the “Mental Health” System
As a father whose 27-year-old son is trapped in the mental health system, I am painfully aware that I have been unable to protect him. At age 19, my son naively told his mother and his doctor that he was hearing voices, marking the beginning of a hellish nightmare which he is still unavoidably immersed in. I would like to explain my perspective on why this is the case.
States Considering Statute of Limitations Reform for Childhood Sexual Assault
From WNYC Studios: States around the country are considering extending statutes of limitations for crimes like these, which have historically been very short.
Refugee Child Saved by Therapy Now Leading a Mental Health Revolution
From The Guardian: The boy, who would go on to become one of the most high-profile child psychologists of his generation, was sent to the Anna Freud National Centre For Children and Families in Hampstead, north London, for help.
Children Taking ADHD Drugs More Likely to Take Antidepressants as Teens
Adhering to a commonly prescribed medication for ADHD in children is associated with higher chances of being prescribed antidepressants in adolescence.
Patients “May Be Afraid” of Microchipped Schizophrenia Pill
From The Daily Mail: Abilify MyCite, which contains a tracker so doctors can check if it's been taken, isn't being used because it could add to patients' paranoia, an expert has warned.
Teacher Wellbeing Matters for Student Mental Health
Teacher’s personal wellbeing plays a role in students’ mental health outcomes, suggests a new study.
Mad Science, Psychiatric Coercion and the Therapeutic State: An Interview with Dr. David Cohen
MIA's Peter Simons interviews David Cohen, PhD, on his path to researching mental health, coercive practices, and discontinuation from psychiatric drugs.
Recovery Versus Mad Pride: Exploring the Contradictions
What would mental health treatment look like if it balanced an awareness of the need for “recovery” with an awareness that people also sometimes need to go “out of their minds” to resolve problems that they haven’t been able to solve otherwise, or maybe that their entire culture has not been able to face and resolve?
Exposure to Antidepressants in the Womb Linked to Autism
Researchers, publishing in Toxicology Research, review the evidence that antidepressant exposure in the womb is linked to autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in humans.
‘Mental Illness’ Was a Label Assigned to Me Until I Took Ownership of My...
From PublicSource: Labels were always attached to me without my permission. They haunted me every time I wanted to heal from my past traumas, to be truly myself.
FDA Signs Off on First Medical Device for Treating ADHD in Children
From USA TODAY: The Monarch eTNS connects via wire to a small patch placed on the forehead of the patient, generating a low-level electrical pulse to the brain.
De-Othering “Schizophrenia” by Placing it in Socio-Historical Context
Understanding schizophrenia as a non-enigmatic, understandable human experience goes against a history of institutional “othering” that has sustained psychiatric legitimacy and further marginalized service-users.
Stop Shocking and Torturing Women – My Sisters
Think of all those women who have undergone or will undergo electroshock and suffer severe losses in memory, intelligence, special skills, creativity. Women too disabled by shock to pursue promising careers. Women who suddenly die after being shocked. Electroshock is torture, and informed consent in psychiatry is a myth and a lie.
Reflections on 25,000 Hours of Being With People in Extreme States
Being with someone in an extreme state or other emotional pain, it feels like we’re two young friends who have ridden our bikes to a quiet place by the river and my friend turns to tell me about awful things happening at home — and they cry or yell in anger while I sit there and wonder what to say or do, and realize that just being quiet is okay.
Today’s Biggest Threat: The Polarized Mind
From Scientific American: To counter it, two psychologists call for a mobilization of mindfulness practices and dialogue groups on the scale of a public works program for human civility.
Thought About Killing Yourself Lately? It’s Not All In Your Head
As the world economic leader in GDP at $24 trillion per year, the United States has had steadily rising suicide rates for nearly two decades, though when compared to other economic leaders such as France, Germany, Japan, India, the UK and Italy, it remains the outlier; the rest have dropped. Why is the United States unique in its degree of misery?
The Couch and the Cushion: Why Mindfulness Is No Substitute for Therapy
From Tricycle: The Buddhist Review: When I was performing mindfulness meditation practices, I was basically alone. With my analyst, I was not. And that seems to have made all the difference.
Increase in Suicide Attempts by Self-Poisoning in Youth
Researchers shed light on hike in attempted suicide by self-poisoning in young adults between 2011 and 2018.
Red Flags for College Applicants With Mental Health Issues
From Inside Higher Ed: If an applicant writes an essay about psychological challenges, the admissions staff at a college in Florida have been flagging them for additional review.
