Reframing Antipsychotic Discontinuation: A Psychiatristâs Personal and Professional Call for Epistemic Justice
A psychiatrist with lived experience advocates for a more humane, collaborative approach to antipsychotic discontinuation that respects diverse ways of knowing.
Peer Support and Resistance: Becky Brasfieldâs Vision for Mental Health Justice
In this interview with Ayurdhi Dhar, Becky Brasfield calls for radical truth-telling in the mental health system.
Summing up the STAR*D Scandal: The Public was Betrayed, Millions were Harmed, and the...
American psychiatry, the NIMH, the larger medical community, and mainstream media have betrayed the American public by failing to make this scandal known.
My Involuntary Metamorphosis
After day treatment, I went once a week to a âcontinuing careâ group. What was âcontinuedâ was the lesson that you had a fault that was shameful, volatile and dangerous.
From Auctions to Moral Treatment
In less than 25 years Oregon moved from auctioning off the âcareâ of the "insane" to the lowest bidder to creating a safe place focused on recovery.
Mad in Americaâs 10 Most Popular Articles in 2024
A roundup of Mad in America's most read blogs and personal stories of 2024 as chosen by our readers.
Modern Psychology and Its Colonial Legacy
I question the modern rhetoric of âprimitiveâ cultures not having enough âknowledgeâ about mental health and needing to be âeducatedâ.
Who Can Consent to Researchâand What Does That Mean for Forced Treatment?
What the doctors are not seeing is the health in peopleâexcept when itâs convenient for them and their research projects.
The Fallacy of Modern Psychiatry: Treating Symptoms, Ignoring Causes
To truly understand a personâs actions and behaviors, one must ask:Â What was this person exposed to? What did they experience?
Mental Illness Prophesies Societyâs Spiritual Sickness
The rising prevalence of mental illness in the west is a warning to society to take a good, hard look at itself.
Set, Setting, Forgetting: Silence on Abuse in Psychedelic Therapy Histories
The failure to address therapist abuse in MDMA-AT perpetuates a dangerous silence that distorts the field's history and compromises future practice.
Exile: My Cure for Psychosis
Psychiatry infantilizes the patient. Living in exile allows formerly psychotic people to achieve mature, healthy independence.Â
Rights, Responsibilities and ResourcesâPeer Support in Mental Health Services
Service users and peer support experts should be taking inspiration from the Recovery movement and the defense of rights.
The Schizophrenic and the Dreamer
If delusions contain symbolic content, like dreams, then the language of the schizophrenic may be intelligible after all.
Mad Sisters: An Interview With Susan Grundy
Susan Grundy on her lifelong caregiving journey for an older sister diagnosed with schizophrenia at the age of 13.
What Are Waking Dreams, and Why Should You Care?
Indigenous cultures around the world recognize and intentionally cultivate waking dreams for both personal and community well-being.
Benzodiazepines Linked to Suicide, Study Finds
A new study finds that benzodiazepinesâalprazolam (Xanax), lorazepam (Ativan), and diazepam (Valium)âare associated with an increased risk of suicidal events.
The Consciousness of Voices and Visions
Alan Robinson reviews a 30-year journey working with his voices and visions in directing actors and creative writing.
The Two Earliest Stories of Recovery in Oregon
In the early 19th century, frontiersmen Pelton and Day experienced recovery from "mental illness" after traumatic experiences.
Seriously Misleading Testimony by Psychiatry Professor in Oslo District Court About the Effect of...
Lawsuits are a means to obtain changes in an inhumane psychiatry.
Smoke ‘Em if You Got ‘Em: Rethinking Smoking as a Trauma Response
For people with trauma-impacted brains, smoking is a tool to quiet an ever-present storm.
Psych Drugs May Increase Likelihood of Death in Schizophrenia
The drugs, especially benzos and high doses of antipsychotics, led to an increased risk of death within five years. Antidepressants also did not reduce mortality.
Beyond the Chemical Imbalance: Looking to the Past to Understand the Mental Health Crisis
Our bodies and minds evolved to thrive in an environment that is vastly different from the one in which a majority of us now live.
Ward 362: On Meeting People in Sorrow
There is no understanding that we have the need for comfort and support. Our feelings are not allowed; they are reduced to medical symptoms.
A Bicultural MÄori/European Vision for a Truly Healing Hospital
Our therapies need to treat the root causes of mental distressâespecially trauma and environmentâand not just numb the pain.
