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).

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.
A questionnaire reads "Eating disorder: Are you at risk?" The options are checkboxes for "Yes" and "No."

The New DSM Is Coming and That Isn’t Good News

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Binge Eating Disorder is one of many invalid diagnoses we’ll continue to receive as a result of the APA’s failure to correct the mistakes of past versions of the DSM.
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Psychiatry is akin to the outdated and unhelpful way that industry used to understand the assembly line.

Usorum: A Peer Led Collective Wisdom Project

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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.
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

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The Situational Approach provides an alternative to the poor outcomes seen with the medicalisation of distress.

Do Psychiatrists Harm their Patients out of Stupidity?

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I think it is fair to say that many psychiatrists display an enormous lack of good sense and judgment. Psychiatrists are in the firm grip of a collective force field of an almost fundamentalist belief system that blinds them to the harm they unwittingly do and the human rights abuses they commit.
empathy or compassion

Having Empathy Doesn’t Mean That You Also Have Compassion!

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There’s a very common, pop-psychology, new-age misconception that conflates being empathic with being caring and compassionate. But some of the most highly empathic people I’ve ever known have been con artists, grifters, unrepentant thieves, cynically manipulative fearmongering politicians, and heartless predators of every kind.

Psychiatry’s 12-Step Program for Producing Heroin Addicts

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I believe that today’s heroin addicts are a new breed — the seeds of their creation were sown back in 1990, when doctors’ lies about normal childhood immaturity being a genetic “brain illness” became accepted. Here are some statistics that support my argument that psychiatry is the root cause of our heroin epidemic.
child looking at smartphone

“Virtual Autism” May Explain Explosive Rise in ASD Diagnoses

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New clinical case studies have found that many young children who spend too much screen time—on TV’s, video games, tablets and computers—have symptoms labeled as “autism.” When parents take away the screens for a few months the child’s symptoms disappear.
Illustration of a head showing brain and cogs in the background

Psychiatry, Capitalism, and the Industrial Machine

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

No, There is no Such Thing as ADHD

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Somewhere along the line we have lost the understanding that kids come in all shapes and sizes. Some kids are active, some are quiet; some kids are dreamers, others are daring; some kids are dramatic, others are observers; some impulsive, others reserved; some leaders, others followers; some athletic, others thinkers. Where did we ever get the notion that kids should all be one way?
Pills spilling out of an outstretched hand

Suicides Increase After National Suicide Prevention Introduced

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Researchers have consistently found increasing psychiatric services associated with higher suicide rates.
Colorful drawing of protesters

Mad Activists: The Language We Use Reflects Our Desire for Change

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There is not one movement but many, and the language people use reflects how accepting they are of the psychiatric explanation of their experiences.

Comments by Shock Survivors and Their Loved Ones

The #FDAStopTheShockDevice petition has received over 2,200 signatures and 800+ comments. A more thorough analysis of those comments is forthcoming, however, we wanted to offer a glimpse of what people shared. The sixth, seventh, and eighth most common words used in the comments submitted through the petition were "damage," "barbaric" and "torture." We must continue the fight to make sure that the FDA hears the people who will be adversely affected by the proposed rule if it becomes an order. There is still a small window of time for you to sign the petition and leave a comment to the FDA.

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

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High levels of childhood adversity interact with violent crime, poverty, and lack of access to education.
just say no to stimulants sketch

The Next Deadly Epidemic: Adult ADHD and Stimulants?

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I refuse to be one of the doctors that contribute to the next deadly epidemic. I see too many similarities between stimulants and opiates — they’re both strongly addictive, stimulate our pleasure centers, and have long-term dangerous mental and physical effects. And they both “work” in the short term without actually fixing anything.

My Story and My Fight Against Antidepressants

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I’d like to share a bit about what happened to me after being placed on these medications, and how I successfully got off. Until recently, I was embarrassed to talk about my personal experiences publicly, as I’m a professional who specializes in anxiety and depression. Today, medication free, I feel better than ever before, and I am now on a mission to help my current clients get off medications, and to inform others through my writing about the dangers and pitfalls of starting antidepressants.
neurofeedback

Neurofeedback is Not For Everyone: The Dangers of Neurology

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One thing I noticed, from the moment that I stepped out of my psychiatrist’s office, was how strangely blank and yet clear my mind was. I felt surprisingly calm and relaxed, and I decided to go back for another treatment the next week. What I couldn’t have known then was that after that next “treatment,” life would be completely destroyed for me.

Psychiatric Hegemony: A Marxist Theory of Mental Illness

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In Psychiatric Hegemony: A Marxist Theory of Mental Illness, Bruce Cohen explains the expanding power and influence of psychiatry in terms of its usefulness to the capitalist system — the more useful it is, the more power it is given, and the greater its power, the more useful it becomes.

Saving Lives or Cementing Stigma? A Review of “Just Like You…”

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In my experience, episodes of anxiety and depression dwindle in the face of hope and empowerment, while broken-brain narratives lead to deeper despair.
Illustration of diverse people

Part 1: Neurodiversity–What Exactly Does It Mean?

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The fuzzy concept of neurodivergence has expanded to include almost every human experience, plus its opposite.

Playing the Odds: Antidepressant ‘Withdrawal’ and the Problem of Informed Consent

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If I thought that it was possible, I would have opened a string of clinics all over the country to help get people off of antidepressants.  Unfortunately, the problems that sometimes occur when people try to stop an SSRI antidepressant are much more severe and long-lasting than the medical profession acknowledges, and there is no antidote to these problems. The truth is, giving people information about taking antidepressants is like giving information to people who are enroute to a casino; they go because they hear that some people win (at least for a time), but the losers are the ones who ultimately pay for it all — and the odds are not in their favor.

Exploring How Muslim Therapists Work With Jinn Possession

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How do Western-trained Muslim therapists work with clients that believe they are possessed? How do they balance their belief in Jinn with their knowledge of psychological/sociological theory? How do they formulate and work with a client in the British context?
A drawing of a human head, brain visible in profile, being burned

Upcoming ECT Legislation Needs to Be Revised

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Testimony submitted to the Connecticut state legislature in opposition to a bill expanding forced ECT.
three identical strangers

“Three Identical Strangers” and the Nature-Nurture Debate

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Three Identical Strangers is a riveting film describing the story of identical triplets separated at six months of age and reunited in early adulthood. Their story provides no evidence in support of the genetic side of the nature-nurture debate, but it does supply some evidence in favor of the environment.