A Win for Science, with Profound Implications for Industry: FDA Rejects MDMA
Concerns, from functional unblinding to sexual assault in the clinical trials, led this week to a full repudiation of Lykos' MDMA-assisted therapy.
Remembering Jay Mahler
“I’ve spent 58 years in the public mental health system—10 years surviving it and 48 trying to change it.” That’s how Jay Mahler—psychiatric survivor, activist, leader—described his experiences.
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.
The Fight Against Involuntary Commitment: Are Protection & Advocacy Organizations Fulfilling Their Mission?
Protection and Advocacy organizations were designed as ground-breaking tools for fighting involuntary commitment and protecting patients’ rights. Are they fulfilling their promise? And will they survive Trump?
“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.
Faith Healing in India: An Ancient Way of Tending to Madness
In contrast to the colonial legacy of medical psychiatry in India, indigenous and faith healing methods emphasize the interconnectedness of the mind, body, and spirit, using rituals, storytelling, and communal support to create a holistic healing environment.
“Confidential” 988 Conversation Records Shared with Corporations
Recordings of 988 callers’ voice, text, and chat conversations are being shared with researchers, AI developers, and corporations without consent.
For Life: Opera on Psychiatry and Its Drugs
An interview with composer Dawn Sonntag and librettist Kermit Cole about their new opera about the harms that can come from psychiatric drugs.
The TikTokification of Mental Health on Campus
Many people view their social media feeds as reflections of their identities—and when posts center on a specific diagnosis, it can feel like the platform is diagnosing them.
Everything About Us Without Us
Between 1883-1955, there was little attention given to the value and contributions of those who were “patients” at the Oregon State Insane Asylum.
Psychiatry Is the Cause, Not the Solution
I have found that trauma is frequently at the root of many eventual psychological and medical issues. Medications often only worsen the disconnection caused by trauma.
Remembering Darby Penney — A Fierce Advocate for Justice and Human Rights
Celia Brown, Ron Bassman, and Peter Stastny mourn the loss of Darby Penney, who fought to transform the mental health system in New York.
Psychiatrogenesis (Whither Psychiatry or Reform)
Preying on the privatisation of distress comes the medical-industrial complex perverting the mental health landscape.
When Homosexuality Was a “Disease”: My Story of Abuse
The horrors I was forced to undergo to “treat” my homosexuality are now unthinkable, but continue to raise questions about psychiatry’s ethics.
SSRIs, Lindsay Clancy, and Me
Sharing the similarities between Lindsay Clancy's homicidal episode and my own will hopefully help prevent rare SSRI-induced suicides and homicides, including mass shootings.
Branding Diseases—How Drug Companies Market Psychiatric Conditions: An Interview with Ray Moynihan
MIA’s Ayurdhi Dhar interviews Ray Moynihan about the marketing of disorders, broadening of diagnoses, and harmful treatments.
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.
Inside a Forensic Psychiatry Unit: Earning the Right to Sleep on the Floor
Life in the DC was far too complicated for me to be able to just listen to my body and sleep on a thick yoga mat placed on the floor to alleviate my severe back pain.
Toxic Marketing: The Business of Selling TMS
Ads pushing transcranial magnetic stimulation are everywhere. As someone harmed by the treatment, I believe they are misleading and unethical.
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?
Point/Counterpoint: What Is the Importance of Nassir Ghaemi’s 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.
Lead Exposure in Childhood Impacts Personality and Mental Health
A study of over 1.5 million people in Europe and the US links the development of less adaptive personalities with childhood lead exposure.
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.
David Healy – 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.
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.
