Shedding the Limits of âSevere Mental Illnessâ Labels
When people seeking help are relegated to âthe Other,â how can they ever form a âtherapeutic allianceâ? Without collaboration, treatment devolves into coercion and oppression. We must change our language and relationships so new narratives can be born.
Books Under Review: Fall 2022
Reviews of three recent books reflecting various perspectives on the mental health system.
David Healy â Polluting Our Internal Environments: The Perils of Polypharmacy
On the MIA Podcast, Dr David Healy discusses World Tapering Day, antidepressant treatment and sensory neuropathy and the difficulties that can be encountered when trying to deprescribe.
The Nurtured Heart Approach Goes Mainstream: Research and Experience Support âCelebrating Greatness in Every...
The Nurtured Heart Approach represents a massive shift in thinkingâabout schooling, about children and how to raise them, about how we regard those with intensity, and about the medical model pathologizing them.
The Serotonin Zombie: Authors of New Study Try to Breathe New Life into the...
Despite new claims that their study provides "clear evidence" linking serotonin and depression, their data actually supports the opposite conclusion: serotonin levels did not correlate with depression.
Anders Sørensen â Tackling Psychiatric Drug Withdrawal Through Research and in Practice
Anders Sørenson is a Danish clinical psychologist with a special interest in psychiatric drug withdrawal. He has undertaken research which assesses the state of guidance on psychiatric drug withdrawal and paid close attention to tapering methods with the aim of identifying approaches which might make withdrawal more tolerable for people.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Psychiatryâs Nightmarish 2022 & Its Hysterical Defense Against Criticism
Psychiatry's defenders are open to criticism of psychiatry as long as it stops short of acknowledging the increasingly well-documented reality that psychiatry lacks any scientific merit.
Long Term Antidepressant Use Associated With Increased Morbidity and Mortality
A study finds that commonly prescribed antidepressants are associated with the development of diabetes, hypertension, and other diseases.
“Don’t Worry, You’ll Be Fine”
I was prescribed a âbaby doseâ of diazepam for pain management. Over the following months, everything got progressively worse.
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.
Thomas Szasz Versus the Mental Health Movement
Unbiased experts must examine the claims and research of psychiatry and issue a report as to whether psychiatry not only has a valid medical basis, but whether this basis justifies the widespread violation of medical ethics and the routine use of imprisonment and torture.
Our RCT Fetish: How the âGold Standardâ for Research Has Led to A Societal...
After Joanna Moncrieff and colleagues published their study debunking the low-serotonin theory of depression, the editor of Mad in Sweden, Lasse Mattila, wrote Swedenâs...
Major Depression: The âChemical Imbalanceâ Pillar Is CrumblingâIs the Genetics Pillar Next?
A more detailed critical evaluation of molecular genetic studies, which have failed to discover genes shown to cause depression.
“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
Psychiatry, Fraud, and the Case for a Class-Action Lawsuit
For decades, psychiatry committed medical fraud when it told the public that antidepressants fixed a chemical imbalance in the brain.
Loss, Grief, and Betrayal: Psychiatric Survivors Reflect on the Impact of New Serotonin Study
Loss, grief, and betrayal are felt deeply by many who have been affected by the myth of the chemical imbalance, especially now that it has been debunked.
Psychiatry Textbooks Are Filled with Errors and Propaganda
The coming generations of healthcare professionals are being taught information that is incorrect, to the detriment of their patients.
Catherineâs Story: A Child Lost to PsychiatryÂ
A year ago today, our youngest child died, thanks to the adversarial actions and toxic treatments foisted on her by medical-model psychiatry. By telling her story, we hope to promote systemic change.
Suicide Hotlines and the Impact of Non-Consensual Interventions
Those struggling with suicidal thoughts may stay silent instead of reaching out to suicide hotlines because they fear non-consensual intervention and the harmful impact of police involvement.
The Parts Within Us: An Interview with Richard Schwartz, Creator of Internal Family Systems
IFS is a different paradigm, which says that rather than being a sign of pathology, itâs the nature of the mind to have âparts." Weâre born that way because they're all valuable.
Andrew ScullâDesperate Remedies: Psychiatryâs Turbulent Quest to Cure Mental Illness
Sociologist and author Andrew Scull discusses the history of psychiatry's "Desperate Remedies," from lobotomy and the asylum to the failures of today's drugs and the fads of ketamine and deep brain stimulation.
