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).

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

87
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

11
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

18
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.
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.
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

39
During my confinement, I became convinced that the forced repression of my homosexuality was the true etiology of my schizophrenia.
Engraving-style art of a person looking out the door of an asylum room

From Auctions to Moral Treatment

5
In less than 25 years Oregon moved from auctioning off the “care” of the "insane" to the lowest bidder to creating a safe place focused on recovery.

Mad in America’s 10 Most Popular Articles in 2024

3
A roundup of Mad in America's most read blogs and personal stories of 2024 as chosen by our readers.
Medical Students In Lecture Hall 6th March 2022 Hyderabad India — Photo by rajastills

Modern Psychology and Its Colonial Legacy

23
I question the modern rhetoric of ‘primitive’ cultures not having enough ‘knowledge’ about mental health and needing to be ‘educated’.
Close up of document titled "Informed Consent" being held

Who Can Consent to Research—and What Does That Mean for Forced Treatment?

16
What the doctors are not seeing is the health in people—except when it’s convenient for them and their research projects.
Person sitting in the distance, yellow light corridor

The Fallacy of Modern Psychiatry: Treating Symptoms, Ignoring Causes

105
To truly understand a person’s actions and behaviors, one must ask: What was this person exposed to? What did they experience?
Stock image of a person holding a warning sign in front of their face.

Mental Illness Prophesies Society’s Spiritual Sickness

26
The rising prevalence of mental illness in the west is a warning to society to take a good, hard look at itself.
comic book style see, hear, speak no evil, psychedelic background

Set, Setting, Forgetting: Silence on Abuse in Psychedelic Therapy Histories

14
The failure to address therapist abuse in MDMA-AT perpetuates a dangerous silence that distorts the field's history and compromises future practice.
Train Station in Sopot, Poland, Europe. Attractive man waiting at the train station. Thinking about trip, with backpack. Travel photography. tourist with backpack stand on railway station platform.

Exile: My Cure for Psychosis

31
Psychiatry infantilizes the patient. Living in exile allows formerly psychotic people to achieve mature, healthy independence. 

Rights, Responsibilities and Resources–Peer Support in Mental Health Services

2
Service users and peer support experts should be taking inspiration from the Recovery movement and the defense of rights.
Aliens in a cornfield

The Schizophrenic and the Dreamer

16
If delusions contain symbolic content, like dreams, then the language of the schizophrenic may be intelligible after all.
watercolor portrait of a sleeping woman

What Are Waking Dreams, and Why Should You Care?

11
Indigenous cultures around the world recognize and intentionally cultivate waking dreams for both personal and community well-being.

The Consciousness of Voices and Visions

4
Alan Robinson reviews a 30-year journey working with his voices and visions in directing actors and creative writing.
Photo of a dramatic tree-lined wilderness

The Two Earliest Stories of Recovery in Oregon

10
In the early 19th century, frontiersmen Pelton and Day experienced recovery from "mental illness" after traumatic experiences.