COVID-19 Crisis: People Living in Institutions Must Not Be Written Off
From Deinstitutionalisation: Public authorities struggle to protect the well-being of people in need of care and support those living in residential institutions.
Worried About a Coronavirus Summer Slump? Boost Kids’ Brainpower With Nature
From National Geographic: Time spent outdoors has been linked with improved attention spans, better memory, and enhanced executive function.
How to Deal With Your Teenager’s Depression
From The Telegraph: Classic signs of teen depression can be tricky to spot now that pyjamas are acceptable daywear and many of our routines have vanished.
NCMHR Calls for Ending Police Role in Mental Health Crises
From National Coalition for Mental Health Recovery: NCMHR calls for using the increased mental health funding to expand voluntary, trauma-informed, community-based care.
An Open Letter to National Association of Social Workers on Law Enforcement
From Medium: Rather than immediately endorsing President Trump’s executive order, we need to examine our existing relationships with law enforcement
The Secret History of “Criminally Insane”
From Aeon: Until the 20th century, little was known about mental illness. Judging whether a person was deranged – seriously mentally ill and irrational – was seen as a matter for common knowledge.
Amid COVID, People Involuntarily Confined in Psych Hospitals Must Be Released
From Truthout Holding people in congregate environments dramatically increases risk of coronavirus-related illness up to and including death.
Chinese Philosophy Has Long Known That Mental Health Is Communal
From Psyche: Often overlooked are the ways in which social norms, cultural beliefs and communal attitudes contribute to mental illness.
Health Minister Orders Review After Study Links Antidepressants and Youth Suicide
From The Sydney Morning Herald: Health Minister Greg Hunt has asked his department to review a study linking the increase in youth suicide with a rise in antidepressants
ECT Depression Therapy Should Be Suspended, Study Suggests
From The BBC: The study's joint author, Prof Irving Kirsch, said "The failure to find any meaningful benefits in long-term benefits compared to placebo groups are particularly distressing."
The “Mentally Ill” Are LESS Dangerous
From Daniel Kriegman: Releasees who had been identified as having a mental illness but lacked a history of substance abuse had the lowest rate of recidivism.
I Lost Direction, Forgot the Way Home – Fighting ECT
From Israel Hayom: Just as they do not know how the treatment mechanism works, they also do not know how to predict damages or prevent them.
D.C.’s Mayor Fights for Control of Her City at Trump’s Front Door
From The New York Times: Kenneth T. Kucinelli of the Department of Homeland Security compared Mayor Bowser's requests with the mentally ill wanting less medication.
Donald Trump’s Assault on Mental Health
From CNN: Chris Cillizza explains how Trump has a pattern of using mental health and mental illness to mock and denigrate his enemies
George Floyd’s Autopsy and the Structural Gaslighting of America
From Scientific American: As physicians, we will not be complicit in the ongoing manipulation of medical expertise to erase government-sanctioned violence.
Birgitta Alakare Nominated for Geneva Prize
From the JAEC Foundation: Dr. Alakare was always mindful of how to be the psychiatrist, and at the same time an equal team member, even knowing that she had more power.
12 Black Mental Health and Wellness Resources to Follow on Instagram
From Vogue: For us to be able to do this work constantly, we have to take care of ourselves, and that is so hinged on us having access and tools
14 Organizations and People Working to Support BIPOC Mental Health During the Coronavirus Crisis
From SELF: We have compiled a list of organizations and people working to support BIPOC’s mental health during the new coronavirus crisis
We Don’t Need Cops to Become Social Workers: We Need Peer Support
From Medium: Can social workers do good work? Sure. But this is not about bad apples. This is about unrelenting systemic racism, ableism, and classism
How to Cope With Race-Based Trauma
From Teen Vogue: When a video of Ahmaud Arbery’s last moments on earth started circulating widely on the internet, as a Black man, I was stunned. As a therapist, I was immediately concerned.
Against Psychiatry
From IAI TV: Psychiatry has spent the last 100 years asking what's wrong with people, but might it be more informative to ask what's happened to them?
Weaving Conceptual and Empirical Work in Psychiatry
From Psychiatric Times: Having a crisp set of criteria for what constitutes a psychiatric dysfunction is impossible. There are too many social and conceptual nuances
How Antidepressants Destroyed My Life
From Marc Reinsdorffer: How I went from working as a frontend software developer in a exciting city to living in my parents basement for the last 1.5 years.
Weaving Beauty Into the Tapestry of the Pandemic
From Psychiatry Today: We want to be sure that just as when we treat psychiatric illness with medications or psychotherapy, there are no unintended consequences
Coronavirus Has Worsened the Mental Health Crisis. Medicare for All Can Help
From Jacobin: Even before the pandemic, our expensive, byzantine insurance system was failing to heal the emotional wounds of living in a capitalist society.
