How Providers Can Support Psychiatric Drug Discontinuation
Supportive patient-practitioner relationships are crucial to the successful discontinuation of psychiatric medication.
Mad in Norway
"People are getting some faith back. People are getting some hope, and they are finding each other, and we are building this community of people who want a change."
Susan Inman Is at It Again
Veterans of our mental health system know that seeking voluntary care is dangerous. We will organize and find our voice. People like Ms. Inman need to get out of our way.
The Danger of Marginalizing People
Instead of increasing understanding of our differences, the mental health system contributes to the marginalization of people it classifies as mentally ill.
Why Is Psychiatry So Defensive About Criticism? Part 2
The definition of "mental illness" is not elusive. The "philosophical difficulties" in the notion of "mental illness" are obfuscations by psychiatrists.
Consternation of the Bees
How do we get back to the place where bees know how to hive, where unstressed mothers teach each other to breast feed, stop and rock and to discipline gently? Where artists are heard?
Mad in Brasil
As is true of all Mad in America affiliates, Mad in Brasil want to see a transformation of the current drug-based paradigm of care, says Fernando de Freitas, psychologist and co-creator of the site.
Inside a Forensic Psychiatry Unit: Earning the Right to Sleep on the Floor
Life in the DC was far too complicated for me to be able to just listen to my body and sleep on a thick yoga mat placed on the floor to alleviate my severe back pain.
Put Psyche Back Into Psychiatry and Add Psychological Intimacy
Dr. Jones spoke to me in a way no doctor ever had. His affect, his demeanor, his presence, lit an ember in the darkness within my soul.
Michael Hengartner – Evidence-biased Antidepressant Prescription
We talk with Dr. Michael Hengartner about his new book which addresses the overprescribing of antidepressant drugs and critically examines the scientific evidence on their efficacy and safety.
The New DSM Is Coming and That Isn’t Good News
Binge Eating Disorder is one of many invalid diagnoses we’ll continue to receive as a result of the APA’s failure to correct the mistakes of past versions of the DSM.
Shifting Away from ECT and Antidepressants for Depression
Researchers argue that we need a paradigm shift away from the biomedical model of mental illness to one informed by political action and common sense.
Evidence Distortion in Medicine Explained in One Single Chart
15 positive and 15 negative studies of antidepressants were reported to the FDA. But while all 15 positive trials were published, only 7 negative trials were.
Negative Antidepressant Trials Still Unlikely to Be Published
Antidepressant trials with negative results are still more likely than not to either be misleadingly spun as positive or unpublished.
Roll-out of 988 Threatens Anonymity of Crisis Hotlines
Even after their own advisory committee criticized call tracing, leaders of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline have been lobbying government for cutting-edge mass surveillance and tracking technology. Privacy experts are raising concerns.
Why Is Psychiatry So Defensive About Criticism?
Although I disagree with much of Dr. Aftab's article, it is, nevertheless, a courageous piece of writing. He calls out many of psychiatry's contradictions and errors.
Why Is Child Sexual Abuse So Common in Institutions?
Where ableism and adultism allows disabled children to be seen as unreliable narrators of their own experience, sexual violence in institutions will continue to be pervasive.
Johann Hari: Stolen Focus – Why You Can’t Pay Attention
Johann Hari joins us to talk about his latest book Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention, in which he examines the reasons behind our inability to focus and seeks to understand how this crisis affects our wellbeing and society.
Home Alone: Finding Connection During the Pandemic
This wave of emotional distress is a perfectly reasonable human response to living our lives in an increasingly isolated and uncertain world.
August 20, 1985: The Day My Psychotic Episodes Ended
I didn’t know that I had never fully experienced my emotional pain until I was thrown into an altered state. With “psychosis” I plowed through layers and layers of pain, alone in the night.
Grief: A Shamanic Perspective
From a shamanic perspective, the biggest mechanism for soul retrieval is not anything mystical at all. It is something with which any adult is familiar. It is grief.
Understanding the Youth Mental Health Crisis: An Interview with Elia Abi-Jaoude
The child psychiatrist talks about the importance of seeing the big picture and why parents shouldn't "be afraid if their kid is in distress."
New NICE Guidelines for ECT Are Dangerously Inadequate, Say 50 Patients and Professionals
An open letter from patients, psychiatrists, and professors calls on NICE to rewrite the new ECT guidelines to avoid putting patients’ safety at risk.
Fireside Project: Peer Support for Psychedelic Experiences
A new nonprofit support line takes a harm-reduction approach and helps people process their psychedelic experiences.
When It Comes to Mental Health Problems, The Disability Framework Fails: A Response to...
A response to the thought-provoking comments and concerns on the previous blog, furthering the discussion about disability and mental disorder.
