Giving Caregivers a Platform: Elianna, Mother of Brandon

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An interview with Elianna, who lives in Colorado with her son, Brandon, 34. His many diagnoses and misdiagnoses include autism and schizophrenia.
A pill bottle on its side spills white tablets out (photo)

Critical Psychiatry Textbook, Chapter 8: Depression and Mania (Affective Disorders) (Part Three)

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On the latest fad, ketamine, and how depression pills cause dependence and withdrawal.

Hyperbolic Tapering off Antidepressants Limits Withdrawal

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New research by Jim van Os and Peter Groot finds that using hyperbolic tapering to discontinue antidepressants reduces withdrawal effects.
Close up of two hands circling a group of wooden figurines on a table

The Medicalization of the American Mind

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One cause of fragility? Pathologizing our children with psychiatric diagnoses and focusing on a medical solution to life's problems.

What I Learned as a Moderator for an Antidepressant Taper Support Group

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Medication support groups are saving lives and brains because doctors do not know how to safely taper off psych meds.

DOOCE: A Case Study on the Failure of Psychiatry

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Heather Armstrong’s life was taken by psychiatry, and our unwillingness to scrutinize their methods of madness.

David Carmichael—The Antidepressant Safety Tour

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Drug safety advocate David Carmichael joins us to discuss his upcoming antidepressant safety tour and the importance of fully informed consent when prescribing SSRI antidepressants.
A woman in a box is glowing while people walk around her

It’s Time for Soteria: An Australian Perspective

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Soteria-style community houses are a proven, viable, cost effective alternative to traditional psychiatric hospitals.
Illustration depicting a card on a clothesline reading "DIAGNOSIS: PLACEBO EFFECT" against a blue background

Critical Psychiatry Textbook, Chapter 8: Depression and Mania (Affective Disorders) (Part Two)

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Peter GĆøtzsche discusses misleading statements about depression pills and dosing.

What Is the Risk of Permanent Sexual Dysfunction from Antidepressants?

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Males taking antidepressants were at 100 times the risk of erectile dysfunction compared with the healthy population and more than three times the risk even after controlling for other variables.
A collage depicting cut-up photographs of David Carmichael and his son Ian, Lindsay Clancy and her children, and a bottle of pills spilling out

SSRIs, Lindsay Clancy, and Me

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Sharing the similarities between Lindsay Clancy's homicidal episode and my own will hopefully help prevent rare SSRI-induced suicides and homicides, including mass shootings.
A bottle of spilled pills on black background.

The Systemic Harms of Psychiatry

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My research into psychiatry began in late 2016 after being admitted to a mental "health" facility. There was nothing healthy about that experience!
lonely man on the bench autumn, winter

Psychiatrogenesis (Whither Psychiatry or Reform)

Preying on the privatisation of distress comes the medical-industrial complex perverting the mental health landscape.
Close up photo depicting a man in a suit pouring two pills into his open palm

Critical Psychiatry Textbook, Chapter 8: Depression and Mania (Affective Disorders) (Part One)

On the drug industry’s influence in defining disorders and the lack of efficacy for depression pills.

Breaking Blind: Antipsychotic Drug Efficacy May Be Overestimated

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Only 4 of 188 antipsychotic trials assessed blinding, and in all 4 cases, the blind was broken, potentially leading to an overestimation of the drug effect.

Campaign Against ECT Gains Traction in UK

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"Across the pond," campaigners’ efforts against electroshock are gaining public notice. Can their approach work in the US?

The State Power Triangle and My Spiritual Awakening

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My will had been broken by work and psychiatry. How could I get my self-power back after so many years and so many brain-damaging meds?
Doctor holding syringe, a patient cringing away in fear out of focus in the background

White Paper Presents Case Against Forced Treatment

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"I see the white paperĀ as the culmination of my 40+ years of advocacy for people subjected to psychiatric incarceration and forced drugging."
Handsome young doctor man holding a clipboard with angry face, negative sign showing dislike with thumbs down, rejection concept

Self-test for Adult Symptom Deficiency Disorder (ASDD)

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In the spirit of the thinking behind the DSM, I have worked out a test for a new disorder for those who don't meet criteria for anything else.
Black and white illustration of a skull with a brain shape visible inside.

Can Listening to Heavy Metal Be Therapeutic?

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Many enthusiasts of heavy metal will say things like "Heavy metal saved my life," and there is a fairly established narrative amongst fans of the wellbeing benefits.
Illustration of a hand erasing part of a person's brain

Critical Psychiatry Textbook, Chapter 7: Psychosis (Part Six)

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Discussing the damage psychosis pills cause to the brain, and how that manifests in many clinical harms, like tardive dyskinesia.

Waking From the Nightmare: Is Recovery From Akathisia Possible?

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I had a chemical brain injury from medications. The only help doctors could offer was more medications: treating the failed treatment with other dangerous treatments.

Q&A: What Is Informed Consent, and What Should I Know to Help My Child?

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My experience caused me to look into the origin of including the patient in decision-making about treatment and informed consent.
Black and white photo of a man looking sad with his fingers clinging to a chain-link fence

The Hidden Injuries of Oppression

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Oppression is the single greatest factor contributing to human suffering. To treat it as an individual problem amounts to blaming the victim.

Listen to the Victims: Senate Holds Hearing on Guardianship

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I have seen the exploitation wreaked by court-appointed guardians. It is up to us to use our voices for those who cannot speak out.