Blogs

Essays by a diverse group of writers, in the United States and abroad, engaged in rethinking psychiatry. (The directory of personal stories can be found here, and initiatives here).

Photo of diverse hands in center of huddle

Mad Camp Europe: My Journey from Ward Violence to Healing and Community

3
If we want to advocate for a better mental health system, we have to integrate our own shame. And that is what happened to me at Mad Camp.
A jenga tower of bricks begins to collapse

From Public Service to Private Practice: The Collapse of the Social Work Profession

29
Can we resist turning to private practices masked in social justice rhetoric as a substitute for genuine movement building and advocacy?
An engraving depicting water being shot at two prisoners; hydrotherapy

Everything About Us Without Us

23
Between 1883-1955, there was little attention given to the value and contributions of those who were “patients” at the Oregon State Insane Asylum.
A hospital bed with restraints. The background is a pride flag with all colors.

Sexual Sanism: Why Anti-Queer Rhetoric Is a Threat to the Mad, Too

5
Our response to this moment should be understanding our shared queer/Mad history and solidarity across lines of oppression.
Pills falling out of a doctor's gloved hand

The Ethics of Long-Term Psychiatric Drug Use and Why We Need a Better Way

27
Many of these so-called “treatment-resistant” conditions aren't underlying illnesses—they're caused by the drugs themselves.

Jo Watson Chats With Rob Wipond About His Work and His Book

4
Wipond exposes abuses in mental health systems, including forced treatment, psychiatric detentions, and surveillance.

Usorum: A Peer Led Collective Wisdom Project

5
I built Usorum around the belief that we can tap into our collective experience and begin building the generational knowledge to improve everyone’s quality of life.
Vector illustration of businessmen on an assembly line with burned out light bulbs on their heads; one is being picked up by a robotic arm and has a lit lightbulb.

Managing Nonconformity: Lessons from Quality

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Psychiatry is akin to the outdated and unhelpful way that industry used to understand the assembly line.
Helping hands

Psychiatric Drug Withdrawal: Harm Reduction, Not Judgment

Good advocacy does not rely on fear or shame. No one can predict the future for any individual.
Pills spilling out of an outstretched hand

Suicides Increase After National Suicide Prevention Introduced

4
Researchers have consistently found increasing psychiatric services associated with higher suicide rates.

Mad in Ireland

1
Although Jennifer Hough’s older sister, Valerie, was diagnosed with bipolar disorder when she was fifteen, Hough never saw her sister as mentally ill. “To...
A photo of RFK Jr. emerges from a pile of blue pills

RFK Jr. May Be Wrong on Many Medical Issues, But He’s Right About Antidepressants

118
Documented cases show a link between SSRIs and school violence, but pharma has suppressed the data that could prove this link.
A drawing of a human head, brain visible in profile, being burned

Upcoming ECT Legislation Needs to Be Revised

12
Testimony submitted to the Connecticut state legislature in opposition to a bill expanding forced ECT.
Two hands holding pills, one with a smiley face, the other with x's for eyes and a frown

Observational Studies Confirm Trial Results That Antidepressants Double Suicides

53
Depression drugs don’t work, and they increase suicide.
Abstract design made of thick canvas paint relevant for human connections with the world's colors and textures

Schizophrenia in Philosophy and Theology

19
From Socrates to Jesus to Nietzsche, all experienced divine Beatific Visions, just as I have.
Illustration of a head showing brain and cogs in the background

Psychiatry, Capitalism, and the Industrial Machine

74
Psychiatry, under the guise of science, tries to identify and manage those who deviate from industrial society's norms.

Mad In South Asia

1
While conducting research in rural Northern India, Ayurdhi Dhar spoke to a woman whose mother had vivid visual hallucinations of Indian wedding processions. When...
Pop art retro style. A female therapist leans over a male client reclining in a suit.

Default Depression—How We Now Interpret Distress as Mental Illness

24
The Situational Approach provides an alternative to the poor outcomes seen with the medicalisation of distress.
wooden box with farm vegetables in the hands of men and women, close-up. vegetarianism, healthy eating, autumn harvest, farming, without nitrates

Kyrie Therapeutic Farm: Distress Understood as Part of the Human Condition

1
KTF aims to combine supportive community, holistic care, and meaningful opportunities for participating in a natural farm setting.
Professional Support. Psychologist comforting depressed female patient during therapy session in office

Beyond Techniques: The Common Factors That Drive Healing

28
Common factors, rather than the intricacies of any single modality, are the real engine of therapeutic transformation.

“There’s No Word for Depression in Zulu”: Inside South Africa’s Mental Health Crisis

18
High levels of childhood adversity interact with violent crime, poverty, and lack of access to education.
Stressed, frustrated girl concept vector. Scene of accusation in life, depression in work. Human hand helps lonely woman. Upset girl with long hair sits and hugs her knees.

Don’t Include Involuntary Commitment as a Treatment Tool in Seattle

15
As someone who has experienced the trauma of involuntary mental health treatment, I am deeply concerned.
A white-coated white male with glasses looks skeptical; an ouija board is the background

The Ouija Board and the Skeptic

80
Skepticism, especially from those with lived experience, is necessary. It forces us to question whether our tools and methods truly help.
The universe inside us, the profile of a young woman and space, the effect of double exposure. scientific concept. The brain and creativity. Elements of this image furnished by NASA.

Guided Dreaming Can Transform Psychosocial Issues: 11 Case Studies

7
Dreaming problem-solves various waking concerns creatively through memory consolidation and emotional processing.
3D illustration of a green tree emerging from an unlocked prison-cell like door shaped like a head

Schizophrenia and Homosexuality: My Experience and Case Studies

40
During my confinement, I became convinced that the forced repression of my homosexuality was the true etiology of my schizophrenia.