How Mindfulness Privatised a Social Problem
From New Statesman: Mindfulness has become the perfect coping mechanism for neoliberal capitalism: it privatises stress and tells people to locate the root of mental ailments in their own work ethic.
A Psychiatric Diagnosis Is Not a Disease
From Psychology Today: Here is the circular logic: How do we know a patient has depression? Because they have the symptoms. Why are they having symptoms? Because they have depression.
Does Psychology Have a Conflict-of-Interest Problem?
From Nature: Speaking fees for "celebrity" psychologists "begin at $10,000 and can go as high as $100,000," says American motivational speaker Dave Sheffield.
55 Steps: A Battle Cry Against Forced ‘Treatment’ for Us All
From Rachel Waddingham - Behind the Labels: We should work together to resurrect this hard-hitting film from 2018, starring Helena Bonham Carter and Hilary Swank, that has been effectively buried.
Why the Mainstream Media Has Failed to Tell Truths About Psychiatry
From Truthout: Several factors have combined to prime the mainstream media to embrace the conventional narrative and to discount research and critiques that challenged it.
FDA Approval of First Digital Pill Based on ‘Weak Evidence’
From Medscape: Investigators found that the data submitted to the FDA were limited to trials that only assessed whether patients could use the product as intended.
Why I Am Not a Psychiatrist
From the International Institute for Psychiatric Drug Withdrawal: Scott Waterman, Professor of Psychiatry Emeritus at the University of Vermont, writes about his personal journey through psychiatry over the past several decades.
Dr. Gabor Maté on Alienation, Inner Resilience, and Our True Nature
From Bioneers: We have the capacity to heal both ourselves and the planet by reconnecting with our true nature as empathic, nurturing, social beings.
Could Stress Turn Our Gut Bacteria Against Us?
From Psychology Today: New animal research shows that social stress alters both the composition and behavior of gut bacteria, leading to self-destructive changes in the immune system.
NC Jail Staff Accused of Beating ‘Mentally Ill’ Veteran to Death
From The Appeal: Officers responded to the man's anger by repeatedly pepper spraying him, kicking him, stomping on him, punching him, and shocking him.
Going Off Antidepressants – Take Time to Quit
From Radio New Zealand: "It’s only when you go down into much smaller doses that...the withdrawal symptoms really start to become more evident and more severe."
The Trauma Floor: The Secret Lives of Facebook Moderators in America
From The Verge: “I don’t think it’s possible to do the job and not come out of it with some acute stress disorder or PTSD.”
What Separation From Parents Does to Children: ‘The Effect Is Catastrophic’
From The Washington Post: The reason child-parent separation has such devastating effects is because it attacks one of the most fundamental and critical bonds in human biology.
Young People Are Using Musical Theater to Heal Their Trauma
From NationSwell: Chicago's Storycatchers Theatre helps justice-involved youth find their voices and resolve old traumas by making them the stars of the show.
‘Freedom Is Therapeutic’: Trieste’s Mental Health ‘Revolution’
From the BBC/People Fixing the World: In 1978, Trieste led a ‘revolution’ in Italian mental health care by closing its asylums and ending the restraint of patients. Today the city is recognized by the WHO for its pioneering work.
When Researchers Listen to People Who Hear Voices
From Yale Medicine Magazine: The line between 'mental illness' and genius has long been known to be razor-thin. Clairaudients, or psychics who hear voices, are helping clarify the connection.
Is Medicine Overrated?
From Scientific American: Given medicine’s poor record, physicians should prescribe and patients consume far fewer medications, a new book argues.
FDA Enforcement Actions Plummet Under Trump
From Science: 'Warning letters'—a key tool for keeping dangerous or ineffective drugs, devices and tainted foods off the market—have fallen by a third since Trump took office.
Why We Need an Empathy Revolution
From Mindful: By understanding how empathy works and can be augmented in ourselves and our children, we have one of the key tools to cultural transformation.
Fake Scottish Psychiatrist May Have Prescribed ECT
From The Scotsman: Zholia Alemi worked in the NHS for 22 years despite having no qualifications. Some of her patients were sectioned or 'groomed' to gain access to their finances.
Psych Survivor Mel Starkman Turned His Experiences Into Poetry, Activism
From The Globe and Mail: Until his death, Mel fought against harsh psychiatric treatments. In many ways he saw the cracks in our midst, especially the ones right in front of us.
Musician Feared Antidepressant Was ‘Poisoning’ Him, Inquest Told
From Belfast Telegraph: "He said: 'This drug is poisoning me. It's giving me problems I never had before.' He's handing them the diagnosis on a plate, and the system is not listening," said Professor David Healey.
Understanding Behavioral Challenges as Survival Instincts
From Mona Delahooke, PhD: The popular strategy of simply trying to alter behaviors fails to acknowledge the importance of loving engagement with adults as the foundation of treatment.
Multnomah Co. to Create Alternative to Jail, ERs for ‘Mentally Ill’ Homeless
From The Oregonian/OregonLive: "If you’re at a point where you don’t know where to turn, don’t have a place to go, experiencing mental health issues, you’re living on the street, where right now can you go?"
Time for Mental Health Professionals to Speak Truth to Power
From Dr. Terry Lynch/Mental Health Academy: It is no longer acceptable for mental health professionals to do nothing in the face of a mental health paradigm that is built upon misinformation and false claims.
