A Neuroscientist Evaluates the Standard Biological Model of Depression
Current evidence does not support a biological hypothesis of depression. It is far better predicted by levels of childhood trauma, life stress, and lack of social supports.
Psychiatry’s Cycle of Ignorance and Reinvention: An Interview with Owen Whooley
Ayurdhi Dhar interviews sociologist Owen Whooley about psychiatry's stubborn perseverance in the face of recent DSM embarrassments and the failures of the biomedical model.
Trusting People as Experts of Themselves: Sera Davidow on the Wildflower Peer Support Line
Sera Davidow is a filmmaker, activist, advocate, author, and mother of two very busy kids. As a survivor of physical, sexual, and emotional abuse...
Causality in Mental Disturbance: A Review of the Neuroscience
Psychiatry's medicalization of social and psychological suffering is not justified by the currently known biology.
“Holy Shit!” Psychiatryâs Cognitive Dissonance on Display
Even those who would seek to reform the profession of psychiatry cannot confront the reality that exists in the research literature
Inside a Forensic Psychiatry Unit: Here’s How to Survive
Sean Gunderson, who was detained by the criminal justice system for 17 years after receiving an NGRI verdict, documents the life of a forensic psychiatry inmate.
Crisis on Campus: Mental Health Counselors Are Feeling the Crush
A dramatic rise in demand for college mental health services has led to counselors feeling burned out. Counseling center directors are looking for solutions.
Chemicals Have ConsequencesâAntidepressants and Pregnancy: An Interview With Adam Urato, MD
Adam joins us to discuss what we do and donât know about the effects of antidepressants on babies and mothers and the importance of counselling in order to aid families in making important decisions about pharmaceutical drug use.
The Medicalization of Women’s Suffering: An Interview with Dana Becker
MIAâs Ayurdhi Dhar interviews Dana Becker about how therapeutic culture fails to adequately address womenâs suffering.
ADHD Diagnosis Leads to Worse Quality of Life, Increased Self-Harm in Kids
When comparing kids with the same symptoms who were either diagnosed with ADHD or not, those who received the diagnosis had worse outcomes.
Point/Counterpoint: What Is the Importance of Nassir Ghaemiâs Conclusion that Psychiatric Drugs Do Not...
A dialogue between Jim Phelps and Robert Whitaker about Nassir Ghaemi's latest article, which concluded that psychiatric drugs, except for lithium, do not provide a long-term benefit.
Combatting Structural Racism and Classism in Psychiatry: An Interview with Helena Hansen
MIA interviews psychiatrist and anthropologist Helena Hansen about bringing structural competency to psychiatry while rebuilding communities.
Pathologized Since Eve: Jessica Taylor on Women, Trauma, and “Sexy but Psycho”
Our guest today is Jessica Taylor, author of Sexy But Psycho: How the Patriarchy Uses Womenâs Trauma Against Them, which was published in March...
Responsibility Without Blame in Therapeutic Communities: Interview with Philosopher Hanna Pickard
Hanna Pickard on the elusive middle ground between personal responsibility and systemic factors in our understandings of addiction.
Threatened for Telling the Truth: Polish Journalist Speaks Out
Now Iâm under attack, with threats of violence flung at me alongside threats of lawsuits. And all because I shared the large body of peer-reviewed research that contradicts the mainstream assumptions of psychiatry.
Mania or Marijuana?
Is marijuana to blame for my mental health issues? Strange things started happening in my mind once I started using the medical-grade weed.
White Paper Presents Case Against Forced Treatment
"I see the white paper as the culmination of my 40+ years of advocacy for people subjected to psychiatric incarceration and forced drugging."
How Western Psychology Can Rip Indigenous Families Apart: An Interview with Elisa Lacerda-Vandenborn
An interview with Elisa Lacerda-Vandenborn about the consequences \psychology and mental health treatment can have for indigenous children.
When Homosexuality Was a “Disease”: My Story of Abuse
The horrors I was forced to undergo to âtreatâ my homosexuality are now unthinkable, but continue to raise questions about psychiatryâs ethics.
“Never Look on the Dark Side”: The Science of Positivity from Early Eugenics to...
The "science" of happiness has always been inextricably linked to eugenics. Modern positive psychology, with its focus on genetics and willpower, is no different.
How Should Psychedelic Medicine Handle “Flashbacks”?
Hallucinogen Persisting Perception Disorder (HPPD) is one of the after-effects neglected amid the rapid march of the psychedelic renaissance. But is the impulse to pathologise these perceptual changes helpful?
In Andrewâs Honor: Attorney Elizabeth Richâs Fight Against Unjust Commitments
Anyone detained and then formally committed under Wisconsinâs civil mental health laws can initially be held and forcibly drugged for six long months. Yet, for years, not a single person has been able to appeal the six-month commitments in court.
How to Explain Top Psychiatristsâ âDr. Strangelove Exuberanceâ Unchecked by Reality
Leading psychiatrists appear unfazed that their theories and treatments are repeatedly proven to be scientifically invalid and discarded.
Exploring the Fault Lines in Mental Health Discourse: An Interview with Psychologist Justin Karter
Justin Karter discusses his journey to Mad in America, competing models of mental health, and how we navigate these stories in psychotherapy.
Behaviorists Must Confront Psychiatryâs Pseudoscience
Despite the well-documented greater effectiveness of behavior therapy, psychiatry's choice of treatment for mental disorder heavily favors drugs.
