“A Dangerous Substance”: The Impact of Social Media on Youth Mental Health
This is what social media does, she says. It draws people in. It hurts people. In the worst cases, it kills people.
Grief, Bereavement, Public Health, and Me
In public health, we talk about death. But we don’t talk about grief or bereavement. We don’t study the hole left behind in the family system or social sphere.
Reflections on the Silicon Valley Teen Suicides-by-Train: Fifteen Years Later
A psychiatrist and mom reflects on teen suicide clusters in Palo Alto and discusses alternative ways to address adolescent mental health.
The “Madness” of Inpatient Psychiatry
Inpatient psychiatry is not a place of psychological healing; it is devoid of compassion and full of human rights abuses.
Irish Psychiatry Says Chemical Imbalance Is a Figure of Speech—So, What Now?
Don’t researchers and clinicians have an ethical responsibility to inform the public that the "chemical imbalance" story is false?
Peaceful Reflections on the Past from ‘One Who Got Away’
The pain has gone now, and I am grateful for who it has made me — a happier person than before. Perhaps broken open a bit, but in a good way.
Enlarging the Treatment Lens for Postpartum Depression
Drugs, social support, placenta encapsulation: How can we approach the specter of postpartum depression?
How the Medical Profession Pathologizes Emotions and the Damage to Patients
Doctors’ diagnostic inflexibility and unwillingness to take an integrative approach limits patients’ autonomy in their own treatment.
Despite Safety Risks, Prescribers Receive Little Guidance of Monitoring Antipsychotic Clozapine
A new review finds a lack of available guidance on how to effectively monitor adverse effects of antipsychotic drug clozapine.
I Heard Some Voices and They Were Magnificent
Even though my 'psychoses’ have been beautiful, you also need a safe place to be able to process them.
Much of U.S. Healthcare Is Broken: How to Fix It (Chapter 2, Part 7)
On antidepressants versus CBT, the buzz around ketamine, and drugs for postpartum depression.
Trauma and Resources Within Social Context
What is seen as pathology is a complex web of surviving strategies learned in aversive circumstances that can cause distress later.
The Trauma of Psychosis: My “Bipolar” Journey
Somatic therapy helped me process the trauma of my psychosis: the two days of my brain telling me the world was ending and awful things were being done to my family.
As a Psychologist, I’ve Seen Many Children Misdiagnosed as Autistic—It’s a Clinical Catastrophe
The ASD diagnosis glosses over the many developmental specifics that might underlie a child’s challenges related to social communication.
The Social-Emotional Distress Field, or How I Divorced “Mental Health”
At this crisis point, I realised that resigning from my job was not enough. I needed to divorce from the Mental Health field as a whole.
Are “Trauma/Addiction Experts” and Psychiatrists Misleading Us?
“Experts” refer to an ill-defined concept of “trauma,” but unique traumatic experiences should not be generalized.
Much of U.S. Healthcare Is Broken: How to Fix It (Chapter 2, Part 6)
Les Ruthven addresses the research showing that psychiatric hospitalization increases suicidality.
RADAR and the Dignity of Risk-Taking
The goal may not be to eliminate risk, but to respect the risk that people are willing to take, and to help make tapering as safe as possible.
Oceans of Energy: What Paranoia Reveals About Interconnection
The psychotic and the mystic swim in the same water. But why do some swim, and some drown?
“Get Over It”? A Response to Empower Parents to Repair Instead of Victim Blame
An epidemic of children blaming their parents in therapy? In my 20 years as a psychologist, I've seen the opposite.
Two Out of Three Find Antidepressant Effects Not Worth Burdens
New study reveals: 2 in 3 people need more than the current antidepressant benefits to consider them worthwhile.
The Dangers of Precision Medicine: Mental Health Is Not a Battlefield
Rather than a war to be fought within individuals, we should envision mental health as a garden to be carefully nurtured.
SSRI Withdrawal has Social, Cognitive, and Emotional Consequences
New research finds that the non-physical aspects of withdrawal from SSRIs are often overlooked.
“Impairment: Says Who?”: The Fundamental Question of Mental Health Treatment
The criterion of "impairment" is defined not by the person seeking treatment, but by other people: parents, clinicians, courts, employers, and so on.
Much of U.S. Healthcare Is Broken: How to Fix It (Chapter 2, Part 5)
Les Ruthven addresses increases in suicide and homicide caused by antidepressant drugs.
