Shedding the Limits of “Severe Mental Illness” Labels
When people seeking help are relegated to “the Other,” how can they ever form a “therapeutic alliance”? Without collaboration, treatment devolves into coercion and oppression. We must change our language and relationships so new narratives can be born.
Books Under Review: Fall 2022
Reviews of three recent books reflecting various perspectives on the mental health system.
Negatively Charged: ECT and the Truth I Could Never Forget
I live with the changes every day, even now, four years later. It often feels as though the shocks have rendered me one-handed, only ever capable of dealing with one thing at a time.
Art and Transformation: Creating Justice in Mental Health
An upcoming conference focuses on the perspective of artists and activists in answering what it means to have a just mental health care system: Who decides who is labelled as mad?
New App Aims to Predict Whether People with Psychosis Are Worth Hiring
“Unfortunately, the ethical considerations of incorporating these tools are rarely acknowledged in published prediction articles,” the researchers write.
Denmark Is the Only European Country Where the Usage of Depression Pills Has Dropped
Between 2010 and 2020, the consumption of depression pills increased by 37% in 24 European countries. Denmark was the only country where usage dropped (a 4% drop).
Feel Hopeless About Reforming a Broken System? Incremental Change Is Still Change
Despite all our efforts, it seems that a radical transformation of the system has not yet occurred. However, incremental changes can directly improve the lives of thousands.
Inadequately Trained Therapists Pose a Risk to Childhood Trauma Survivors
Mental health professionals must be trained in the dynamics of addiction and abuse if they are to help survivors of childhood trauma.
Improving Therapy Outcomes: The Case for Deliberate Practice
With Deliberate Practice, I doubled the number of sessions I had with my clients, cut the amount of unplanned dropouts in half, and improved the number who experienced clinical change.
David Healy – Polluting Our Internal Environments: The Perils of Polypharmacy
On the MIA Podcast, Dr David Healy discusses World Tapering Day, antidepressant treatment and sensory neuropathy and the difficulties that can be encountered when trying to deprescribe.
Growing Good Mental Health with Choice Theory
On those days when I’m experiencing discomfort, anger or frustration, I ask myself: Which need is not being adequately met and which is driving my discontent?
Lithium Use Leads to Chronic Kidney Disease
New evidence suggests that lithium, commonly prescribed for bipolar disorder, can increase the risk of chronic kidney disease.
The Nurtured Heart Approach Goes Mainstream: Research and Experience Support “Celebrating Greatness in Every...
The Nurtured Heart Approach represents a massive shift in thinking—about schooling, about children and how to raise them, about how we regard those with intensity, and about the medical model pathologizing them.
A Troubled Teen With a Pocket Full of Lithium and Nowhere to Go
Despite the full awareness of Congress and hundreds of deaths in these facilities, little has been done to enact standards in private pay facilities that house troubled teens.
6 Good Things That Happened When I Stopped Believing in ‘Mental Health’
The pursuit of mental health had made me mad. After 12 years, I quit Prozac and found a new psychoanalytic therapist. Life changed, almost overnight.
Breaking Academia’s Silence on Inpatient Psychiatry: An Interview with Researcher Morgan Shields
Morgan Shields discussed her experiences in inpatient psychiatry and her efforts to bring patient-centered care to this oft-neglected field.
Are We Witnessing the Emergence of a New Paradigm?
Increasing numbers of people are finding the perspective that sees mental distress as an isolated, static category, fixed within a biological predisposition or malfunction, to be insufficient.
The Serotonin Zombie: Authors of New Study Try to Breathe New Life into the...
Despite new claims that their study provides "clear evidence" linking serotonin and depression, their data actually supports the opposite conclusion: serotonin levels did not correlate with depression.
Anders Sørensen – Tackling Psychiatric Drug Withdrawal Through Research and in Practice
Anders Sørenson is a Danish clinical psychologist with a special interest in psychiatric drug withdrawal. He has undertaken research which assesses the state of guidance on psychiatric drug withdrawal and paid close attention to tapering methods with the aim of identifying approaches which might make withdrawal more tolerable for people.
Healing From Transgenerational Trauma: My Mum, My Daughter, & Me
Emotional trauma is the type of wound that, if not processed and integrated, can become a void that expands to swallow not just the traumatized person but also their children and grandchildren.
Why Detox Facilities and Psych Wards Are Not the Place to Come Off Psychiatric...
In online communities, patients learn their strange symptoms may be due to the medications they are taking, and are offered solutions that provide hope.
The “S” Word: How the Culture of Fear Has Failed Youth in Crises
I learned at a young age that my suicidal thoughts and feelings would be met with panic and punishment from adults.
From the Health Minister Down, Nobody Is Seriously Interested in the Quality Control of...
The ultimate metric is whether psychological treatment makes a real-world difference to client’s lives. But the data cannot answer this key question.
The Problem of High Functioning Anxiety
We have accepted that the busier we keep ourselves, the happier we can expect our lives to be. "Acceptable behavior" is defined by increased productivity across all aspects of life.
Antidepressant Withdrawal Linked to Suicide Attempt in Case Study
Researchers suggest that antidepressant withdrawal can be a possible precipitant of suicide.
