Certain Antihypertensive Drugs Linked to Mood Disorders
A new study suggests that some antihypertensive drugs are associated with increased risk of bipolar disorder and depression, while other antihypertensive drugs are actually associated with decreased risk.
A Mother’s Very, Very Worst Nightmare
I was Marci’s former psychotherapist. When I heard what had happened, I immediately informed the detectives that I suspected that the homicide and suicide attempt were related to psychiatric drugs.
Increase in ED Visits Due to Drug Related Adverse Events
A recently published article in the Journal of the American Medical Association highlights an increase in emergency department (ED) visits due to drug-related adverse or negative events.
INTAR India 2016: Community Development and Human Liberation
We are here to challenge how this thing called madness and mental health is in fact a reflection and a relationship, to redefine how society responds, and to insist that in the definition of madness we also see a reflection of the society looking at it.
Post-Election Considerations for Users and Survivors of Psychiatry
A variety of scenarios of social and economic collapse have gone through many of our minds since Election Day. Insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies want to keep people on drugs, but what if there was no government subsidy for those who can’t pay?
Collaborative Network Approach
A group of dedicated clinicians in Vermont have developed a training program that incorporates the values and principles of need adapted approaches including Open Dialogue and reflecting therapies. They are hoping this will allow them to embed these practices into the community mental health system in their state.
INTAR 2016: A Global Call for a New Paradigm In Psychiatry
“We need a new paradigm,” said Alberto Vasquez, research coordinator of the office of the special rapporteur to the United Nations on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. “People are clamoring for change. We want to see something else.”
Study Finds Sexist Attitudes Linked to Poor Mental Health in Men
Adherence to stereotypically sexist masculine beliefs such as self-reliance, power over women, and playboy behavior were linked to poor mental health outcomes
“Navigating” Recovery: Difficult When the Map is a Psychiatric Fraud!
I was recently asked to contrast my views on psychosis and recovery with those offered by NAVIGATE, a US government (NIMH) sponsored program aiming to guide early intervention programs for psychosis. This inspired me to inquire into what NAVIGATE does tell people and families about psychosis and recovery. What I found, unfortunately, was quite disturbing.
What is Holistic Psychiatry?
Holistic psychiatry teaches that within each and every one of us there are great and latent powers, which are beyond the ordinary life. Daily progress in self-development is not the result of accident or chance, rather it comes from a steady practice of working on yourself.
A Racist Movement Cannot Move
Our movement is just as racist (and sexist, and classist, and transphobic, etc.) as any other. There are many reasons why this remains so, yet all of it co-exists alongside the fact that people of color are substantially more likely to be given what are seen as the harshest psychiatric labels, subjected to force, and injured or killed.
The Effects of Practicing Psychotherapy on Therapists’ Personal Lives
A new study, published in Psychotherapy Research, explores how having a career in psychotherapy affects therapists’ personal lives.
Warning: A Psychiatric tsuNAMI is Upon U.S.
Call your legislators to VOTE NO on H.R. 34! Among the most problematic issues this bill presents are multiple provisions for forced psychiatry. H.R. 34 also includes: SAMHSA reorganization, condoning of HIPPAA violations, and a host of other potential human rights violations.
I Want Change
Only two hours after we got home, Dan fearlessly told me of the suicide plan that he'd devised while in the hospital. He had all that time to think about it while nobody was listening. He'd lost his dignity, his identity and his place in society. He had lost the will to live.
Is the Mental Health System Yet Another Form of Institutional Racism?
With the political tide shifting across the United States and reports of hate crimes increasing daily, examining the systems that promote social control and act as tools of racism is paramount. Is it possible that the mental institution is just another venue for imprisoning Blacks unjustly?
Safety Analysis Weighs Harms and Benefits of Antipsychotic Drugs
The researchers find that the drug effects for reducing psychosis are small and that treatment failure and severe side effects are common.
Have You Ever Wondered Why Labels on Supplements are so Vague?
If it wasn’t evident before, these newer regulations make it crystal clear that prescription drugs have a monopoly over the terms “medicine” and “therapeutic benefit,” and that it is very difficult for anything that isn’t a Big Pharma drug to make a therapeutic claim.
My Baby, Psychosis & Me: A lesson in how not to make a documentary...
The issue of how women in crisis are supported after a birth is personally relevant. One day I hope to have a child. As someone whose distress sometimes takes the form of psychosis, I was eager to connect with the stories of women who had trodden this path before me.
How the Technologically-Immersive Culture is Wrecking Our Youth’s Health & Well-Being
The devices that have been left to our kids are not “child’s play,” and should not be treated as such. At any given time, our youth can run up thousands of dollars in bills, view graphic and disturbing sexual images, be awoken with frightening messages, reach anyone, anywhere, at any time, and live an otherwise distracted, detached life.
Kids Diagnosed with Autism More Likely to Get Psychotropic Drugs
Children diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are much more likely to be prescribed a psychotropic medication.
Treating Depression with Exercise and an Internet-Based Intervention
A new study compares exercise, Internet-based cognitive-behavioral therapy (ICBT) and usual care for treating individuals with depression.
A Best Kept Secret
After working in the field, I have found that the majority of people in the mental health system are not getting adequate care like I received during my first psychotic episode. I was lucky enough to have a doctor who took a nontraditional approach to schizophrenia and worked with me on coming off of medications.
The ACE Survey is Unusable Data
Do the effects of trauma matter more, or a person's ACE score? I think this is unusable data that harms people when you gather it. Here's why.
Study Finds No Benefit for Testosterone Treatments
Researchers find no benefits for testosterone as a treatment for improving mood, psychological well-being, and cognitive function.
Troubled by Individual and Collective Psychosis? Maybe Compassion and Dialogue Could Help!
We need to learn to listen and respond in a caring way to the disturbed and disturbing voices within the population—to really engage with them, while also not believing any lies or distortions or letting destructive forces take over.
