Psychiatric Patients Denied Period Products ‘For Safety Reasons’
From BBC: A former patient has conducted a study, backed by the National Survivor User Network, into patients' experiences after a "humiliating" stay in a psychiatric ward.
Americans Are Paying Billions to Take Drugs That Don’t Work
From Bloomberg: Companies are increasingly using fast-track approval processes to get unproven treatments to patients.
Why You Don’t Want a ‘Diagnosis’ of ‘Borderline Personality Disorder’
From Beam Consultancy: There was a time that I thought the diagnosis was useful and people just needed to understand it better; now I’m convinced that it does more harm than good.
FDA Sued for Not Acting on Petition About Antidepressant Harms
From Maryanne Demasi Reports: It has been six years since the FDA was petitioned to update antidepressant labels to warn of the risk of PSSD, but so far the agency has failed to act.
The STAR*D Scandal: More on the Fraud
IPAK science webinars hosts a science webinar with Robert Whitaker on the "STAR*D Scandal: Fraud in the Largest Antidepressant Trial."
On Your Mind podcast, hosted...
Psychiatric Drugs Unmasked
Mad in America founder Robert Whitaker talks to psychiatrist Hannah Spier on her podcast "Psychobabble."
Most NYC Public Hospitals Deny Psych Patients Time Outside, Lawyers Say
From Gothamist: The lawyers from Mental Hygiene Legal Services and Disability Rights Advocates argue existing laws are sufficient to make the practice of denying New York patients outdoor time illegal.
Doctors Can Be Socialized to Cooperate in “Unthinkable Practices,” Says Bioethicist
From BioEdge: "Academic medicine does not easily tolerate ethical dissent," says bioethicist Carl Elliot. "I doubt the medical profession can be trusted to reform itself."
‘I Felt Kidnapped.’ Another Patient Comes Forward After Investigation Into MI Doc
From WXYZ: "I no longer trust medical professionals to have my well-being at heart," says Sarah Guarino, after she was held against her will by Michigan psychiatrist Nagy Kheir.
We All Want to Cut Out the ‘Bad Parts’ of Ourselves. It Won’t Work,...
From The Guardian: Better mental health is about repairing internal connections, not cutting them.
America’s Drug Safety System is Broken
A webinar presentation byKim Witczak, who serves as the consumer representation on the FDA's psychopharmacologic advisory committee. In her talk, she tells of systemic...
‘The Occasional Human Sacrifice’ Details the Dangers of Whistleblowing and Medical Research Abuse
From Star Tribune: Speaking with fellow whistleblowers, bioethicist Carl Elliott writes about how calling attention to wrongdoing can often mean stepping into trouble you can't imagine.
Why We’re Turning Psychiatric Labels Into Identities
From The New Yorker: So you’re on the spectrum, or you’ve got borderline personality disorder, or you’re a sociopath: once you’re sure that’s who you are, you’ve got a personal stake in a very creaky diagnostic system.
Whoopi Goldberg’s Mom Forgot Her Children After Undergoing Electroshock
From Page Six: “Yeah, I had no idea who you were," Goldberg's mother, Emma Harris, had told her. "I just knew I never wanted to go back to that hospital. So I had to do everything I could. If they said the sky was green... I’d say, 'Yes, the sky is green.' ‘Cause I never wanted it again.”
People Detained Under UK’s Mental Health Act Dying at Three Times Rate of Those...
From The Independent: The findings come after separate figures were revealed showing 15,000 people died while under the care of community mental health services in just one year.
Shield Alert: Stop David Russell From Being Force Electroshocked
From Mindfreedom International: David is currently a psychiatric prisoner at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, where there is a hearing scheduled for this Monday, May 6th, to get a court order to electroshock him against his will.
Petition: The Question About Medication that Can Save Lives
Katinka Blackford Newman, who runs the website antidepressantrisks.org, has put up a petition on change.org urging suicide prevention hotlines "to ask callers if they...
The Danger of Relying on Anti-Anxiety Drugs
From The Wall Street Journal: Medications like Klonopin and Xanax can instantly bring physical calm, but freedom from anxiety requires facing your fears rather than masking them.
NY Times Prints Fraudulent STAR*D Result Yet Again
In an article titled "What You Really Need to Know About Antidepressants," the New York Times repeats, yet again, the fraudulent results from the...
David Egilman, Doctor Who Took On Drug Companies, Dies at 71
From The New York Times: His testimony as an expert witness in some 600 trials helped plaintiffs win billions of dollars in cases involving malfeasance by pharmaceutical makers.
The Wild and Recent History of ‘Schizophrenia’ and Family Therapy
From Underground Transmissions: The family therapy movement has had a lot of success in different mental health contexts, but in the realm of “serious mental illness” and “schizophrenia” it’s nearly impossible to find anyone who publicly talks about the importance of working with complicated family dynamics.
We Don’t Know If Most Medical Treatments Work, and We Know Even Less About...
From The Conversation: Only one in 20 medical treatments have high-quality evidence to support their benefits, and treatment harms are measured only a third as often as benefits.
Committed: An Interview With Suzanne Scanlon
FromPsychology Today: Scanlon's Committed: On Meaning and Madwomen—A Memoir concerns the treatment of prolonged grief in a major psychiatric hospital.
I Was the Poster Girl for OCD. Then I Began to Question Everything I’d...
From The Guardian: When I sought help for crippling invasive thoughts, I was told I had a disease like any other. But I wasn’t able to recover until I understood the fallacy at the heart of mental healthcare.
Bad Science, With Robert Whitaker | Where Is My Mind? Podcast
From Where Is My Mind?: Niall Breslin and Robert Whitaker discuss the paradigm shift needed in mental health to ensure people have informed consent and a true understanding of their distress.
