New NICE Guidelines for ECT Are Dangerously Inadequate, Say 50 Patients and Professionals
An open letter from patients, psychiatrists, and professors calls on NICE to rewrite the new ECT guidelines to avoid putting patients’ safety at risk.
When It Comes to Mental Health Problems, The Disability Framework Fails: A Response to...
A response to the thought-provoking comments and concerns on the previous blog, furthering the discussion about disability and mental disorder.
“Mental Health” Is a Euphemism for Policing Social Deviance
"Mental health" discourse conceals the fact that mental illness is still treated as a social deviance by the authoritarian institution of psychiatry.
Can Anything Good Come Out of Therapy?
I used to think therapy could be beneficial if only you went through the trials of finding a good therapist. What I didn’t ever question was the process itself or if I really needed to do it at all.
Addressing the Social Determinants of Mental Health—or Perhaps Not
An article by the APA president merely pays lip service to the psychosocial causes of mental health problems.
When Tapering Antidepressants, is Going Slow Always the Best Strategy?
Do we take enough account of total drug exposure time when devising antidepressant tapering strategies?
The Psychiatric Hospital Is an Institution of Social Control
Psychiatry is an institution of control. It is easier to keep society in check when unwanted behavioral traits can be considered pathology.
Getting A Diagnosis Meant That My Sister Never Had the Chance to Resolve Her...
My sister was told if she took medications everything would be fine. But everything was not fine, and the medications sent her down a path of no return.
Mental Health Care Must Support Consent and Basic Human Rights
Despite the UN’s strong stance against involuntary treatment, many countries continue to uphold legislation that encourages it.
When It Comes to Mental Health Problems, The Disability Framework Fails
Treating those struggling with emotional distress and troublesome behaviors as mentally disabled is a barrier to arriving at humane and dignified ways of assisting them.
Institutionalized 18 Years Ago, I May Never Be Released
Bill Sutherland took a plea deal for a crime he says he didn't commit. Almost two decades later, he was still being held in a psych unit.
Book Review: “Opening Up: The Parenting Journey”
This is a book about stories, urging families to recognize their own strengths and create new narratives on the path ahead.
Psychotherapy Has an Enduring Effect on Depression—in Contrast to Depression Pills
A meta-analysis published last month showed that psychotherapy has an enduring effect on depression—in contrast to depression pills.
ADHD as Cargo Cult Science
Barkley’s theory on ADHD was akin to what Richard Feynman called “Cargo Cult Science,” only more misleading and dangerous. In contrast, there is no evidence of brain abnormality in ADHD. The airplanes have not landed, nor are they likely to.
Tower of Babel: The Meaning and Purpose of Voicehearing and Psychosis
A bottomless well of ideas and stories and seeming fantasies emerges from the mouths of voicehearers, psychotics, and schizophrenics. Is anyone taking the time to actually listen?
The DSM Files: Investigating the Incoherence of Psychiatry’s Bible
A critical view of the way the DSM categorizes internal suffering and makes sense (or sometimes nonsense) of it—full of inconsistencies and bad logic.
Emotional Contagion Spreads Madness—What Can We Do About It?
In my opinion, emotional contagion is the strongest power known to humankind. Emotions move and flow among people and groups. We absorb others’ emotions.
“For Life”: New Opera Tells the Stories of Those Harmed by Psychiatric Drugs
Dawn Sonntag and Kermit Cole have collaborated on a new opera, "For Life," that tells the stories of those harmed by psychiatric drugs.
What Is Climate Distress—And What Can Therapists Do About It?
Therapists who encounter climate distress should reject the false burden borne by individuals and embrace a spirit of shared vulnerability, solidarity, collective action, and demands for justice.
Reason and Madness: How Psychiatry Marginalizes Those Who Contradict Western Norms
Psychiatry can be used as a tool by those in power as an arbiter of normality, but it also reflects the dominant attitudes, values, and beliefs of society.
“Make Psychiatry Healthy”: Analysis of a Leaflet From the Danish Psychiatric Association
The Danish Psychiatric Association has a leaflet on its website entitled “Make Psychiatry Healthy.” I found that the suggestions would make psychiatry sicker than it already is.
Why Not Seek Treatment Through the Mental Health System?
When I was emotionally stuck, I didn’t feel the current understanding of psychiatric problems and treatment would help. In fact, I felt it would be a hindrance to recovery.
The New York Times Confidently Misinterprets a New ECT Study
The New York Times article paints a rosy picture of ECT, but it’s based on a misleading study and dismisses the plentiful research on ECT’s harms.
#FreeBritney Takes the Capitol: Rallygoers Seek Momentum for Guardianship Reform
Members and supporters of Free Britney America staged their third demonstration so far this year in Washington, DC, in support of ending conservatorships.
How and Why Neurotypicals Misunderstand and Mistreat Autistic People
Commonly used autism interventions, such as ABA, have been found to be both ineffective and abusive, inflicting trauma on those subjected to them.
