Winding Back the Clock: What If the STAR*D Investigators Had Told the Truth?
The STAR*D Study has been cited as real-world evidence of the efficacy of antidepressants. In truth, it told of a failed paradigm of care.
De-privatizing Our Relationships
I’m glad we’re chipping away at the cracks in psychiatry and psychology and de-privatizing our lives.
Much of U.S. Healthcare Is Broken: How to Fix It (Chapter 2, Part 2)
Les Ruthven addresses the scientific literature on antidepressant efficacy and FDA approval.
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.
Self Stolen: How ECT Fried My Brain
Extreme ECT memory loss is like having Alzheimer’s, and being fully cognizant of it. It takes away who you are as a person: your self-identity.
Dr. Gordon Warme: The Curious Case of an Unconventional Psychiatrist
Dr. Warme bucked convention, examining the cultural role that shamans, witch doctors, and placebo cures played in medicine.
Conservatorship: The Racket That Ruined My Father’s Last Years
I have watched as my father’s pursuit of happiness was swept away by the court system in his senior years.
Trying to Fly Above—An Example of Sequencity
I consider synchronicity and sequencity connections to be gifts. The meaning involved is often much deeper and more personal than other people will recognize.
Antidepressant Exposure In Utero May Negatively Impact Motor Skills in 2-Year-Old Children
A new study in Frontiers of Pharmacology finds that antidepressant use during pregnancy is linked to reduced motor skills in children at 2 years...
Much of U.S. Healthcare Is Broken: How to Fix It (Chapter 2, Part 1)
Beginning the discussion on depression and antidepressant drugs. Are they as effective and safe as psychiatry claims?
Placebo Effect—Not Antidepressants—Responsible for Depression Improvement
In adolescent depression treatment, those who received a placebo but thought they received Prozac improved more than those who received the drug and knew it.
Not Just a Dream: Finding the Mental Health Community I’d Been Longing For
I dreamed of a place where healers weren’t afraid of intense states like madness. They embraced it; maybe they’d been through it themselves.
The Words That Stick Forever
I often think about how the situation could have played out, had that nurse and the doctor chosen kindness rather than aggression and impatience.
Therapy by Script Undermines Healing; Connection Is the Key
Healing from our deepest wounds comes through being in connection with people who cherish us and take us seriously.
Robert Whitaker Answers Reader Questions on Pharma Marketing and Psychiatric Drugs
In Part 2 of our reader Q&A podcast, MIA founder Robert Whitaker answers questions on pharmaceutical marketing and issues with psychiatric treatments including psychiatric drugs and electroconvulsive therapy.
Reimagining Crisis Support: A Conversation with Tina Minkowitz
The mental health system is always trying to get more resources for itself, insinuate itself into every aspect of life, subsuming every aspect of the fulfillment of human rights.
Much of U.S. Healthcare Is Broken: How to Fix It (Chapter 1, Part 3)
About healthcare's focus on back end treatment rather than front end treatment: treating the symptoms rather than the causes of the health condition.
Antipsychotics Lead to Worse Outcomes in First-Episode Psychosis
Those who did not get antipsychotics in the first month were almost twice as likely to be in recovery after five years.
How the Medical Model Corrupted Mennonite Values
How to square the violent restraint and isolation of a vulnerable patient with the empowering, pacifist values of the hospital's founders?
“It Is What It Is” — Learning From the Past Without Getting Stuck in...
My first mental-ward stay would not be the last. At last count... I lost count. Fortunately for me, I've learned much from my experience and vicariously from my peers.
The Power Dynamics of Psychedelic Therapy
I want people who have gone through psychedelic therapy to not feel alone if they felt silenced, controlled, or interpersonally hurt.
Robert Whitaker Answers Reader Questions on Mad in America, the Biopsychosocial Model, and Psychiatric...
On the Mad in America podcast this week we have Robert Whitaker with us to answer questions sent in by readers and listeners.
Q&A: What Is Executive Function, and How Can Parents and Teachers Help Kids Focus?
Ask anyone who’s ever taught kids, and they’ll tell you a story about one student who sticks in their memory.
Much of U.S. Healthcare Is Broken: How to Fix It (Chapter 1, Part 2)
Les Ruthven addresses off-label prescribing as well as physicians’ anti-science pushback against the use of well-conducted clinical trials.
Stop Using Antidepressants Except for “the Most Severe Depression,” Experts Say
Experts advocate limiting antidepressant use to only the most severe cases of depression, emphasizing the need for social and psychological interventions.
