Critical Psychiatry Textbook, Chapter 2: Are Psychiatric Disorders Mainly Genetic or Environmental? (Part Two)
In this chapter, Peter Gøtzsche discusses the problems with observational studies and other flaws in ADHD research.
Fernando de Freitas: A “Dear Friend” Who Was a Warrior for Radical Change
Fernando de Freitas, co-founder of Mad in Brasil, passed away January 30. He had devoted his professional life to seeking to transform psychiatric care in Brazil and beyond.
We Must Not Remove Legal Protections for People at Risk of Forced ECT
Written testimony submitted to the Connecticut State Legislature in opposition to a bill removing legal protections for those at risk of receiving ECT against their will.
Critical Psychiatry Textbook, Chapter 2: Are Psychiatric Disorders Mainly Genetic or Environmental? (Part One)
Textbooks portray ADHD and schizophrenia as genetic disorders, despite the much stronger evidence for environmental factors.
“Hidden Valley Road” and Schizophrenia: Do Genes Tell the Story?
The “genetics of mental disorders” story told in Kolker's "Hidden Valley Road" involves omission and misrepresentation of genetic research.
Critical Psychiatry Textbook, Chapter 1: Why a Critical Textbook of Psychiatry?
The discrepancy between opinion and science is prevalent in psychiatric textbooks. The coming generations of healthcare professionals will learn a lot during their studies that is incorrect.
New York’s Mayor: We’re out of Ideas, so It’s “Back to the Cuckoo’s Nest”...
A psychiatrist obsessed with violence among the mentally ill, Torrey is dedicated to promoting involuntary hospitalization.
Seriously Misleading Network Meta-analysis in Lancet of Acceptability of Depression Pills
It is a futile exercise to rank depression pills based on flawed trial reports and—most importantly—when the patients prefer to be treated with a placebo.
Problem-Solving Through Skills-Building: Motivating Kids to Change
Children can overcome all sorts of difficulties by learning specific behavioural or emotional skills with the help and support of their social network.
Mad in America’s 10 Most Popular Articles in 2022
A roundup of Mad in America's most read blogs and personal stories of 2022 as chosen by our readers.
Ghosts Popping out Everywhere: The Shifting Times We Live in and the Process of...
We are living in challenging times. Every day we hear or read or hear stories of racism, sexism, inequalities, oppression. Emerging, there are experiences...
When Violence Hits Home, Can We Keep Growing?
We want to share conversation we had coming out of these events in the hopes it might help others explore how to keep growing emotionally in an uncertain and sometimes violent world.
A Brain for Our Emancipation
In times of crisis, we are required to adapt to conditions of suffering to safeguard capitalist production. We are asked to adapt our flexible brains to a hostile environment, and the possibility of transforming that environment is suppressed.
Consumer Advisory Board Chair: NYC Mayor Adams Did Not Consult With Us on New...
I chair the Consumer Advisory Board for the NYC Department of Mental Hygiene (DOMH). And I can tell you firsthand: We were not consulted before this plan came to fruition.
Psychotherapy: Less Expensive and Better Than Pills, It’s What the Patients Want but Don’t...
Studies with long-term follow-up show that psychotherapy has an enduring effect that outperforms pharmacotherapy. Psychiatry does not deliver what the customers want.
Dubious Science: Downplaying the Risks of Antidepressants in Pregnancy
When popular websites, such as Johns Hopkins and the Mayo Clinic, downplay the possible risks of antidepressant use in pregnancy, they are ignoring the evidence.
Data on Your Mind: Good Public Health or Mental Health Surveillance?
The ethics of data harvesting are murky and echo global concerns around the ways in which profiling technologies can be used to perpetuate discrimination.
Celia Brown, R.I.P.: Psychiatric Survivor, Pioneer, and Global Activist for Change
Celia Brown, a psychiatric survivor and activist who was revered — even beloved — for her foundational and ongoing efforts in mental health advocacy and the peer movement, has died after a battle with cancer.
Tardive Dyskinesia, Chronic Lyme Disease, and Infection
The Bartonella bacteria, which is almost always associated with chronic Lyme disease, can cause dyskinesia too and it looks and is experienced the same as “tardive” dyskinesia.
Number Needed to Treat with a Psychiatric Drug to Benefit One Patient Is an...
The number needed to treat with a psychiatric drug to benefit one patient is largely an illusion, because more patients are harmed than receive a benefit.
The Schizophrenia Genetics Illusion—A Century of Failure and Hype
This is the schizophrenia game. It has been played for over a century, and it’s time to stop.
On the Brink of Psychosis
Most available narratives are sad stories centred around the aspect of a disease, or terrifying tales about psychiatric treatment. But what if there is also something in between?
Interview: The Need for Trauma-Informed Schools
CTIPP Executive Director Jesse Kohler answers our questions about the organization's new report and what the findings mean for families and communities.
The Mental Health Industry Speaks Volumes About Our Society’s Priorities
An educated public has a much better chance of advocating from the grassroots for safe and effective treatments in the face of a pharmaceutical industry more interested in profits than people.
Shedding the Limits of “Severe Mental Illness” Labels
When people seeking help are relegated to “the Other,” how can they ever form a “therapeutic alliance”? Without collaboration, treatment devolves into coercion and oppression. We must change our language and relationships so new narratives can be born.
