Blogs

I envision a world where there is no need for a mental health field/system because communities are strong and we have a holistic understanding...

Bob-- Today, I saw a bright, athletic lacrosse player who is a high school sophomore. She was seeing me to follow up on a mild...

Bob-- I had an interesting case today. A friendly, 24 year old, very slender and slightly distracted Vietnamese woman who has a 18 month-old...

Bob-- A couple of very positive patient encounters yesterday: • First, I saw a fit, vibrant 45 year old woman who presented for the first time...

Volunteers for Psychotherapy, which is located in Hartford, Connecticut, and has for years run an innovative program that gets clients involved in community programs,...

Every year around this time, millions of people make their New Year’s resolutions. In many ways, our resolutions mirror the willful approach that is needed to overcome psychological conditions, even those of a severe nature. We must be cautious about agents which serve to dull us to our particular circumstances and state of mind, whether it be medications or otherwise.

Dear Bob-- I saw a very nurturing woman a few months ago, quite obese, for the symptoms of chest pain and fatigue. She had been admitted...

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.

Bob-- Very interesting case today, a forty-six year-old woman, new patient, overweight, and very pleasant. She is someone who, at first glance, I never would...

Your next move will be an amendment to another measure. Do not attempt. You've pulled bogus crap with this since the beginning. You've lied about task force recommendations. You've pulled suprise buttsex scheduling, when proponents somehow got the message, and opponents were left scrambling to get there. Twice. You basically filibustered us on Wednesday, which was also scheduled without notice.

Bob-- I'm going to share with you a case from today that did not involve psychotropics, but I think it illustrates an important point about...

Shortly after Mad In America launched at the beginning of the year I was invited to take over the site’s web development and to...

Bob-- Today, I saw a healthy, strapping young man, 28 years old and an avid recreational softball player. He is a former college athlete and...

Editor’s note: This is part two of a two-part essay. The first part described Jessica’s personal experiences with involuntary commitment, the psychiatric system, and...

Bob-- This is the twentieth letter that I'll be posting on your website. I thought I'd use the occasion to reflect on what I've observed...

Senator Charles Grassley is upping the ante on the controversy surrounding the Vertex pharmaceutical executives who cashed in on overstated clinical trial data --...

Dear Bob-- I want to share an email I received from a physician friend, who practices in a hospital-based specialty. He is highly intelligent, naturally...

It is more helpful to focus on what clients do well than what they are lacking. These are simple things, but it takes a lot of discipline for professionals to stay focused, stay simple, respect clients as the expert on their life and listen intensely for their strengths and resources.

Bob-- I saw a thirty-four year old woman today for a follow-up visit regarding post-partum depression. She delivered her second child two months ago, and...

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

This post is a bit different from my typical system sausage making pieces in that I would like to reflect on the Mad in...

Bob-- Today, I saw a very friendly, highly intelligent (she has a PhD in economics) and overweight 34 year old woman for a refill of...

This two-part piece outlines our struggle to build a mad community, Madwomen in the Attic, across locations, across differences, across challenges.

Bob- I saw a sixteen-year old girl for a sports physical today. She plays softball for the local high school and also is on the...

Three weeks have passed since Mad in America’s International Film Festival took place at the Regent Theatre in Arlington, Massachusetts, USA. I’ve been spending a lot of time in solitude, reflecting and processing the whole thing, for in the Festival’s wake, I was taken over by a powerful, albeit interesting mix of great physical and mental fatigue and even greater emotional energy. Most importantly, what the Festival has set off in me is a resurgence of hope—hope for Mad in America’s future as an organization and an ever-growing space for people to come together in community, hope for this mission we’re on to transform the way the world makes sense of the experiences that get called “mental illness”, and hope in our collective human capacity for personal and collective transformation.