Responding to Claims that the Benefits of Antipsychotics Outweigh the Risks
For my doctorate research, I talked with 144 people who take or have taken antipsychotics and a third reported overall positive experiences. Another third said quite the opposite, and I can hear them yelling at me to share their side of the story.
Unusual Beliefs and Behaviors vs. Objective Realities and Truths
As a parent, and a child psychologist, and just as a person, I believe that acquiescing to the idea that we should simply help people “cope more effectively with things as they perceive them” falls short of the most effective and even most loving response.
Childhood Adversity May Increase Risk of Suicide
Swedish study suggests experiencing adversity in childhood is linked to dying by suicide as an adolescent or young adult.
Training Nursing Home Staff in Understanding Needs Can Reduce Antipsychotic Use
A new study published in JAMA Internal Medicine, the largest study of its kind, has shown it is possible to reduce the use of antipsychotics in nursing homes, by engaging their staff in a training program designed to target residents’ strengths and their unmet needs.
Wendy Dolin Takes on GlaxoSmithKline And Wins — For Now at Least
In July of 2010, Stewart Dolin, a partner at the mega law firm Reed Smith, jumped in front of a subway train in Chicago, apparently suffering from akathisia caused by paroxetine. His widow sued, and the jury found GSK negligent in not informing doctors of the suicide risk
New Review Highlights Dangers of Electroconvulsive Therapy
Data shows that over a third of users experience permanent memory loss and that approximately half report not receiving adequate information about the risks from their doctors.
Anticonvulsant Implicated in Birth Defects in up to 4,100 Children, French Study Finds
Between 2,150 and 4,100 children suffered from severe malformations connected to valproate prescription.
The Poison Isn’t the Medicine: Antipsychotics, Mania and Sleep
To test the theory that a lack of sleep would trigger mania and resumption of sleep would restore health, I conducted what I thought would be a straightforward experiment: while still on lithium and a low dose of antipsychotics, I suppressed sleep for a few days.
“Let’s Talk Withdrawal” Podcast
Being in antidepressant withdrawal, I had come to feel very isolated and alone. What I needed was to hear real experiences of people who, like me, have struggled with the very drugs that they believed were going to help them. It was time to create a podcast.
Public Petition: Support for People Affected by Prescribed Drug Dependence
People from any country can sign our petition until May 10th, then it will be lodged for consideration and further action by the Scottish Parliament Petitions Committee. This promises to be an interesting process — one which we hope will have a much wider impact.
Trump Appoints Leader who Campaigned for Involuntary Outpatient Drugging
This appointee criticizes our social change movement, especially our dedication to empowering peer support and our concerns about psychiatric drugs and labeling. It is important for everyone who supports human rights to speak up and oppose this approach. Please phone your Senators to block this confirmation.
Our Letter to Lancet Psychiatry
This is the cover letter that Mad in America Foundation sent to Niall Boyce, editor of Lancet Psychiatry, requesting that the journal retract Martine Hoogman's study of "subcortical brain volumes" in those diagnosed with ADHD.
Providing Trauma Informed Brief Counseling to College Students
Recommendations on how to provide trauma-informed, short-term counseling to college students who have experienced sexual assault and interpersonal violence.
The Unforeseen Relationship: Psychiatric Medication and Spirituality
In 2015 I completed a qualitative research study exploring the interrelationship between psychiatric medication and spirituality. The key finding was that people were engaging spiritually with their prescriptions in ways that significantly impacted the course and outcome of recovery.
Researchers Fail to Predict Criminal Intent with Brain Scans
A new study in the journal PNAS explores whether brain scans are ineffective at identifying criminal intent in carefully designed situations.
‘Enough is Enough’ Series: LSD Reconsidered
Biochemical psychiatry is now moving in an unfortunate, potentially dangerous, yet predictable direction. It has run out of new drugs to try, so it's turning to psychedelic drugs, suggesting that they hold promise in the treatment of substance use 'disorders.'
Opening a Dialogue about Early Psychosis Programs in the US
It is very encouraging to observe the spread of early psychosis programs to many states and communities throughout the United States. I hope that someday there are programs in all 50 states, not just 34, and that there are literally thousands of these programs not a hundred.
Study Explores Cognitive Effects of Antipsychotics
Reduced usage of antipsychotics in first-episode psychosis was associated with improved executive functioning.
What if the Folly is in Us, Too?
Faced with behavior different from our own or from our expectations, all of us feel that urge to “do something”—an act that is one of the beginnings of prejudice, a malignant virus that all of us have trouble shaking free of. We doctors, especially, want to do something: It’s what we’ve been trained to do.
Could ‘Treatment Resistance’ be an Effect of Antidepressants?
Previously taking antidepressants could make individuals less likely to respond to treatment for bipolar II depression.
Anti-Authoritarian Options for Suicidal Anti-Authoritarians
Many teenagers and young adults (the group for whom suicide is the second leading cause of death) are anti-authoritarians. For them, the idea that they're experiencing a crisis of self rather than a mental illness can reduce their pain, increase their hope and open them up for dialogue.
Veterans with both PTSD and Dementia More Likely to be Prescribed Antipsychotics
Researchers found that veterans with both conditions had higher odds of being prescribed second-generation antipsychotics than those presenting with just PTSD.
The Downfall of Peer Support: MHA & National Certification
Mental Health America (MHA) has finally unveiled its new National Peer Specialist Certification over much protest. It is dangerous to what we call ‘peer support’ for MHA to have done this. Even if they did it well. Which, as best as I can tell, they did not.
New Findings Suggest Masculinity is a Risk Factor for Suicidal Thinking
Men who report being self-reliant may be at greater risk of suicidal thinking.
Would You Want Your Therapist to be Honest?
If a therapist is honest about their triggers, they risk equalizing the power imbalance. They risk being on the same plane as their client. If the therapist has triggers too, they may end up being as “bad” as the client’s, and then what? Then who is the healer?
