Blogs
Critical Psychiatry Textbook, Chapter 2: Are Psychiatric Disorders Mainly Genetic or Environmental? (Part One)
Textbooks portray ADHD and schizophrenia as genetic disorders, despite the much stronger evidence for environmental factors in causing these experiences.
“Hidden Valley Road” and Schizophrenia: Do Genes Tell the Story?
The âgenetics of mental disordersâ story told in Kolker's "Hidden Valley Road" involves omission and misrepresentation of genetic research.
Critical Psychiatry Textbook, Chapter 1: Why a Critical Textbook of Psychiatry?
The discrepancy between opinion and science is prevalent in psychiatric textbooks. The coming generations of healthcare professionals will learn a lot during their studies that is incorrect.
Hindsight is 20/20
During my 2003 episode I received a series of ten shocks and at first they seemed to âmagicallyâ cure me. However, it only took a month for me to go back to feeling depressed and suicidal â again.
New York’s Mayor: Weâre out of Ideas, so Itâs âBack to the Cuckooâs Nestâ for You!
A psychiatrist obsessed with violence among the mentally ill, Torrey is dedicated to promoting involuntary hospitalization.
I Can Barely Breathe
The psychiatrists broke my body and my brain and now they are washing their hands of me. When I think about what has been done to me and what has been taken from me, I can barely breathe.
The Power of Light and Dark
It is possible to prevent and alleviate both depression and mania by managing the timing and intensity of exposure to light (and dark). I wasnât sure these measures would work for me, but they did.
Seriously Misleading Network Meta-analysis in Lancet of Acceptability of Depression Pills
It is a futile exercise to rank depression pills based on flawed trial reports andâmost importantlyâwhen the patients prefer to be treated with a placebo.
Problem-Solving Through Skills-Building: Motivating Kids to Change
Children can overcome all sorts of difficulties by learning specific behavioural or emotional skills with the help and support of their social network.
Mad in America’s 10 Most Popular Articles in 2022
A roundup of Mad in America's most read blogs and personal stories of 2022 as chosen by our readers.
From âMadnessâ to Self-Mastery: Overcoming a Life of Disconnection
You are trained to trust a system, to trust a professional⌠But I was always following my intuitive self telling me that there was a way out of the madness and the labels.
Ghosts Popping out Everywhere: The Shifting Times We Live in and the Process of Psychological Growth
We are living in challenging times. Every day we hear or read or hear stories...
When Violence Hits Home, Can We Keep Growing?
We want to share conversation we had coming out of these events in the hopes it might help others explore how to keep growing emotionally in an uncertain and sometimes violent world.
A Brain for Our Emancipation
In times of crisis, we are required to adapt to conditions of suffering to safeguard capitalist production. We are asked to adapt our flexible brains to a hostile environment, and the possibility of transforming that environment is suppressed.
Consumer Advisory Board Chair: NYC Mayor Adams Did Not Consult With Us on New Mental Health Policy
I chair the Consumer Advisory Board for the NYC Department of Mental Hygiene (DOMH). And I can tell you firsthand: We were not consulted before this plan came to fruition.
The Bipolar Rollercoaster: Looking Beyond the Labels
Removing assumptions evoked by my family memberâs diagnoses has transformed my understanding of their experience and increased my ability to arrive at solutions applicable to their expressed needs.
Psychotherapy: Less Expensive and Better Than Pills, It’s What the Patients Want but Donât Get
Studies with long-term follow-up show that psychotherapy has an enduring effect that outperforms pharmacotherapy. Psychiatry does not deliver what the customers want.
Dubious Science: Downplaying the Risks of Antidepressants in Pregnancy
When popular websites, such as Johns Hopkins and the Mayo Clinic, downplay the possible risks of antidepressant use in pregnancy, they are ignoring the evidence.
Data on Your Mind: Good Public Health or Mental Health Surveillance?
The ethics of data harvesting are murky and echo global concerns around the ways in which profiling technologies can be used to perpetuate discrimination.
Celia Brown, R.I.P.: Psychiatric Survivor, Pioneer, and Global Activist for Change
Celia Brown, a psychiatric survivor and activist who was revered â even beloved â for her foundational and ongoing efforts in mental health advocacy and the peer movement, has died after a battle with cancer.
Tardive Dyskinesia, Chronic Lyme Disease, and Infection
The Bartonella bacteria, which is almost always associated with chronic Lyme disease, can cause dyskinesia too and it looks and is experienced the same as âtardiveâ dyskinesia.
Number Needed to Treat with a Psychiatric Drug to Benefit One Patient Is an Illusion
The number needed to treat with a psychiatric drug to benefit one patient is largely an illusion, because more patients are harmed than receive a benefit.
The Schizophrenia Genetics IllusionâA Century of Failure and Hype
This is the schizophrenia game. It has been played for over a century, and itâs time to stop.
What Psychiatry Has Done for Me
The stigma and discrimination I have had to endure due to my âdiagnosisâ crushed my spirit and the dreams I had for my life. But the most devastating part of all is how it altered my relationship with my two sons.
On the Brink of Psychosis
Most available narratives are sad stories centred around the aspect of a disease, or terrifying tales about psychiatric treatment. But what if there is also something in between?