Boy with wings in the field in the afternoon against the blue sky

Trying to Fly Above—An Example of Sequencity

2
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

1
A new study in Frontiers of Pharmacology finds that antidepressant use during pregnancy is linked to reduced motor skills in children at 2 years...
White pills bounce out of clear bottle on blue background

Much of U.S. Healthcare Is Broken: How to Fix It (Chapter 2, Part 1)

5
Beginning the discussion on depression and antidepressant drugs. Are they as effective and safe as psychiatry claims?
3D render of placebo pills isolated over wood background

Placebo Effect—Not Antidepressants—Responsible for Depression Improvement

16
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

32
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

38
I often think about how the situation could have played out, had that nurse and the doctor chosen kindness rather than aggression and impatience.
Cloud Shadow With Red Diffusion Light During the Disturbance Period. (Midday) — Jena, April 24th 1884.

Therapy by Script Undermines Healing; Connection Is the Key

20
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

9
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.
Wooden little men holding hands on natural sunlight background. Symbol of friendship, love and teamwork

Reimagining Crisis Support: A Conversation with Tina Minkowitz

1
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.
Man's Hand Arrow Sign Wooden Block On White Table Against Blue Backdrop

Much of U.S. Healthcare Is Broken: How to Fix It (Chapter 1, Part 3)

10
About healthcare's focus on back end treatment rather than front end treatment: treating the symptoms rather than the causes of the health condition.
Young man refusing to take prescribed pills in clinic

Antipsychotics Lead to Worse Outcomes in First-Episode Psychosis

23
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

18
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...

4
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

35
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...

32
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?

10
Ask anyone who’s ever taught kids, and they’ll tell you a story about one student who sticks in their memory.
Closeup portrait, doctor woman, giving thumbs down gesture looking with negative expression, disapproval. Unhappy female health care professional. Emotion facial expression.

Much of U.S. Healthcare Is Broken: How to Fix It (Chapter 1, Part 2)

3
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

14
Experts advocate limiting antidepressant use to only the most severe cases of depression, emphasizing the need for social and psychological interventions.
Plenty of capsules and pills laying on a flag of Great Britain. Concept of medicine and heath care in the UK.

Beyond Pills: UK Parliament Must Support Social and Psychological Services Instead

14
Davies calls on the UK Parliament to support the Beyond Pills initiative, and follow the evidence to put social and psychological help first.

The Great Grey Beast

21
I am not the only child to have been devoured by the great grey beast that is the American psychiatric system. You're eaten away little by little, every single day, until what's left is barely a person.
Illustration: Lonely and sad stands a suffering man in a crowd of people walking by

Mental Disorder Has Roots in Trauma and Inequality, Not Biology

291
The scientific evidence is of social/psychological, not biological, causation: negative environmental conditions, not disease.

After MIA Calls for Retraction of STAR*D Article, Study Authors Double Down on the...

24
In their letter to the editor, Rush et al. have doubled-down on the fraud they committed in their 2006 summary report of STAR*D outcomes.
Bed with restraints. Orange colored photograph

A Remarkable Feat: A Psychiatric Patient Changed the Law on Restraints

33
The case of Silas Dam obliged the Danish government to increase rights for psychiatric patients subjected to belt restraints.

ADHD Drugs Linked to Cardiovascular Disease

27
Service users taking drugs to treat ADHD may be at increased risk for hypertension and arterial disease
Image of male doctor pulling question sign with rope

Much of U.S. Healthcare Is Broken: How to Fix It (Chapter 1, Part 1)

15
On the difference between basing a medical system on clinical belief versus one based on scientific evidence.