Blogs

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

Part 2: The Values and Ethics of WRAP

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In Part 2: The Values and ethics of WRAP, I describe the Values and eThics that have evolved around the Wellness Recovery Action Plan.

Part 1: The Development of WRAP

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I am deeply concerned that so many people reach out for help with mental health challenges and end up getting harsh treatment that is less than helpful and often harmful. I wish more of them knew about WRAP. And I wish that WRAP was a starting place for people on the journey to wellness, something they would be introduced to when they first reach out for help, rather than something they discover after they have experienced a lot of hardship and pain. In this article I have described the development process that we used to develop the Wellness Recovery Action Plan. In Part 2 I will describe the Values and eThics that have evolved around WRAP.

What a new role for psychiatrists might look like

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People have been wondering on this site lately if there is still a role for psychiatrists. The short answer is maybe, if they can...

Discipline, Not Drugs

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This is how a child gets into the mental health system. At age 3 he pitches a fit in the grocery store because he...

Doctors Need Support

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An old friend suggested to me that doctors need support after hearing the messages in Robert Whitaker’s book, ā€œAnatomy of an Epidemicā€. I agree....

The Mouse That Roared: CIAD & Friends vs. the State of New York

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If you log onto the website of the New York State Office of Mental Health at www.omh.ny.gov, you’ll find out that less than three...

How entrepreneurial thinking can improve mental health advocacy

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I've been working on starting a business that can use market forces to create benefit for our communities.Ā This is called social entrepreneurship. Different models...

The Rotted Fruit

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In the law if one falsehood is uncovered in sworn testimony, all of the statements made and the actions that follow are suspect. If...

An Opportunity to Walk the Talk — Occupy the American Psychiatric Association May 5th...

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On May 5, 2012, Ā MindFreedom InternationalĀ is holding itsĀ Occupy the American Psychiatric Association protestĀ at the APA's annual convention in Philadelphia. Ā Momentum is building for the...

Madness Radio: Toby Watson on Ethical Psychotherapy

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It was a long haul from being a psychiatric patient in 1992 to graduating with a masters in counseling in 2011. I flunked out...

Chapter Twenty-Six: Reaching the End, and Making a Start

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A deep blue blanketing of 1AM sky envelops my car as I sit in my parents’ driveway in February 2010, pondering my next, last...

How the ā€œBrain Defectā€ Theory of Depression Stigmatizes Depression Sufferers

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Viewing depression as a ā€œbrain defectā€ rather than a ā€œcharacter defectā€ is supposed to reduce the stigma of depression, according to the American Psychiatric...

How drug companies continue to hide the true story of Tamiflu and other drugs...

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I’ve been reading Dr. David Healy’s new book, Pharmageddon, and while some of it may seem like old news, I was struck by his...

When university attorneys play hardball with patients

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Everyone knows that some attorneys have a reputation for playing hardball.Ā  In fact, many of us even seek out attorneys who play hardball. But...

Should Children Have Consent Rights For Psychosurgery, ECT and Sterilization?

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"Madness!" was the vehement one word response from my friendĀ whenĀ IĀ told herĀ that the Mental Health Minister of Western AustraliaĀ hasĀ proposed legislation to allow childrenĀ as young as...

Letters from the Front Lines

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Dear Bob-- Here's a story of stark contrasts. I saw a man for a physical recently, mid-50's.Ā  He was the picture of health, on no medications...

New Study on a Non-Toxic Intervention for Those at High Risk of Psychosis

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A new multi-centered study was released about using cognitive therapy for young people who were seen as being at high risk of psychosis. The article reporting the study is on the British Medical Journal website, available in full – http://www.bmj.com/content/344/bmj.e2233. It’s curious to see how it is being reported in the press.

Why We Should Be Customers and Not Charity Cases

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Recently I posted about mental health social entrepreneurship, where we can use market based principles to solve our problems accessing effective care. Some people...

Working the assembly line at the human experimentation factory

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If the past decade had an emblematic moment for clinical research, it was probably November 12, 2005, the day when Bloomberg Markets published its...

You Are What You Eat

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Food is the most important thing any of us ingests and it seems foolish to not pay careful attention to the foods we choose to eat.

Hope

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Hope is the emotional state, the opposite of which is despair, which promotes the belief in a positive outcome related to events and circumstances...

Why We Need Mental Health Social Entrepreneurship

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A mental health social entrepreneurship is a business that uses market principles to maximize benefit instead of maximizing profit. For instance, my business, Wellness...

“Social Workers’ Malaise: What’s Our Mission?”

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Just a few final words on this issue. One of the readers of the blog I posted on March 27 on madinamerica.com identified himself as...

Playing Hide-and-Seek with Psychiatric Drug Studies

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If I were in charge of distributing NIH grant money, I’d be sending a lot of it to researchers like Erick Turner, a psychiatrist...

Does It Matter if We Believe in Mental Illness?

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It's clear that different people relate to the idea of "mental illness" and labeling differently. Many people find the experience of being diagnosed with...