Mad in America’s 10 Most Popular Articles in 2023
A roundup of Mad in America's most read blogs and personal stories of 2023 as chosen by our readers.
So Long, Psych Meds: Escaping the Medication Maze
There was a time when I could think of nothing else but pills and prescriptions, pain and panic. Psychiatry shrank my world.
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.
Books Under Review: Fall 2022
Reviews of three recent books reflecting various perspectives on the mental health system.
Pets More Effective for Grief Support than Humans, Study Finds
A new study explores effective forms of grief support, finding that animals are more effective than humans in providing support.
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.
The Worst Thing: How My Motherâs Death Pushed Me to Overcome OCD
The goal of creating a legacy for my mother required that I go beyond managing my symptoms to confronting my OCD at its roots. I had to fundamentally change my understanding of anxiety.
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.
A New Paradigm for Testing Psychiatric Drugs Is Needed
This paper reviews the problems with the usual double-blind, placebo-controlled trials on which drug approvals are based, and advocates for a stricter form of testing psychiatric drugs with patient-relevant outcomes, real comparators, long-term outcomes, and assessment of harms.
Dorothea Buck’s Memoir Tells of the Horrors of Twentieth Century Psychiatry: A “Hell Amidst...
Sterilized under Nazi law, Dorothea Buck fought throughout her life for psychiatric reform.
Green Star Mother Demands Answers from VA Secretary
If the Veterans Administration is sincere in wanting to reduce veteran suicides, the first place to start is to collect information following these deaths to try to better understand the causes.
Everything About Us Without Us
Between 1883-1955, there was little attention given to the value and contributions of those who were âpatientsâ at the Oregon State Insane Asylum.
Popular Obesity Drugs Monitored for Suicidal Thinking
Concerns rise about the adverse effects and longer-term harms of GLP-1 injections like Ozempic and Wegovy.
Understanding the Youth Mental Health Crisis: An Interview with Elia Abi-Jaoude
The child psychiatrist talks about the importance of seeing the big picture and why parents shouldn't "be afraid if their kid is in distress."
Black Movement Leaders: Lost & Found
As some of us get caught up in lamenting the whiteness of our movement, we are actively losing the stories of Black leaders.
Overuse of Psychiatric Drugs is Worsening Public Mental Health, Doctor Argues
A new research article asserts that the overuse of psychiatric drugs may create neurobiological changes that hamper long-term mental health recovery.
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.
Screening for Perinatal Depression: An Effective Intervention, or One That Does More Harm Than Good?
Why does the U.S. describe perinatal screening as providing a proven benefit, while the task forces in the U.K. and Canada see no evidence of such benefit?
The WHO and the United Nations: Let Freedom Ring for the Mad
This is a call that challenges how psychiatry is practiced today and ultimately challenges its power in society.
Akathisia: Very Nearly the Death of Me
Akathisia is truly an indescribable thingâand has to be one of the most hellish experiences on earth. Itâs like your brain is hijacked. Every day I thought could be my last.
The New York Times Comments Section: A Literary Rorschach Test for the Masses
Bergnerâs piece in The New York Times challenged the illusions of psychiatry. That made some people angry, outraged, or scared. The result is their comments section.
WHO and the Sea Change in Mental Health: Interview with Michelle Funk
MIA's Ana Florence interviews Michelle Funk about her leadership of the new WHO guidelines on rights-based mental health.
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."
Risk of Depression Spikes When Kids Take Ritalin
Risk of depression increased when children were taking methylphenidate for ADHD, but once they stopped taking the drug, depression risk dropped to normal levels.
In a PBS documentary, ECT Is Bad for âCuringâ Homosexuality, but Great for Depression!
A new documentary about gay activists' defeat of the APA ends with a disclaimer that ECT is "effective" for severe depression. Bruce Levine spoke with the filmmakers.
