Overuse of Psychiatric Drugs is Worsening Public Mental Health, Doctor Argues
A new research article asserts that the overuse of psychiatric drugs may create neurobiological changes that hamper long-term mental health recovery.
What Helps Long-Term Users of Benzodiazepines and Z-Drugs Discontinue?
Current long-term users of benzodiazepines and Z-drugs identify barriers and facilitators for discontinuation.
Getting A Diagnosis Meant That My Sister Never Had the Chance to Resolve Her...
My sister was told if she took medications everything would be fine. But everything was not fine, and the medications sent her down a path of no return.
Kenneth Kendler: “Implausible” That Psychiatric Diagnoses Even “Approximately True”
In JAMA Psychiatry, prominent psychiatrist Kenneth Kendler writes that psychiatric diagnoses are “working hypotheses, subject to change.”
Mental Health Care Must Support Consent and Basic Human Rights
Despite the UN’s strong stance against involuntary treatment, many countries continue to uphold legislation that encourages it.
No More Tears: In Memory of Kathleen Fliller
My friend Kathleen Fliller ended her life last month. She had written a chronicle of her struggles with psychiatric drug withdrawal and akathisia, which she asked me to share with Mad In America to be published in hopes that it might help others not feel so alone.
When It Comes to Mental Health Problems, The Disability Framework Fails
Treating those struggling with emotional distress and troublesome behaviors as mentally disabled is a barrier to arriving at humane and dignified ways of assisting them.
Book Review: “Opening Up: The Parenting Journey”
This is a book about stories, urging families to recognize their own strengths and create new narratives on the path ahead.
Lithium No Better Than Placebo for Preventing Suicide Attempts
A trial in veterans who had survived a previous suicide attempt was stopped early because the drug was found to be no better than a placebo.
Inside a Forensic Psychiatry Unit: Here’s How to Survive
Sean Gunderson, who was detained by the criminal justice system for 17 years after receiving an NGRI verdict, documents the life of a forensic psychiatry inmate.
Psychotherapy Has an Enduring Effect on Depression—in Contrast to Depression Pills
A meta-analysis published last month showed that psychotherapy has an enduring effect on depression—in contrast to depression pills.
ADHD as Cargo Cult Science
Barkley’s theory on ADHD was akin to what Richard Feynman called “Cargo Cult Science,” only more misleading and dangerous. In contrast, there is no evidence of brain abnormality in ADHD. The airplanes have not landed, nor are they likely to.
Tower of Babel: The Meaning and Purpose of Voicehearing and Psychosis
A bottomless well of ideas and stories and seeming fantasies emerges from the mouths of voicehearers, psychotics, and schizophrenics. Is anyone taking the time to actually listen?
The DSM Files: Investigating the Incoherence of Psychiatry’s Bible
A critical view of the way the DSM categorizes internal suffering and makes sense (or sometimes nonsense) of it—full of inconsistencies and bad logic.
Emotional Contagion Spreads Madness—What Can We Do About It?
In my opinion, emotional contagion is the strongest power known to humankind. Emotions move and flow among people and groups. We absorb others’ emotions.
“For Life”: New Opera Tells the Stories of Those Harmed by Psychiatric Drugs
Dawn Sonntag and Kermit Cole have collaborated on a new opera, "For Life," that tells the stories of those harmed by psychiatric drugs.
Researchers Push to End Placebo Run-in Periods in Antidepressant Studies
Meta-analysis finds that the placebo run-in methodology reduces the placebo effect and finds antidepressants to be less useful.
Lessons Learned While Sharing About Voice Hearing
I slowly recognized that I wanted to fight every single person who used language based on their learned beliefs about “mental illness.” They didn’t know any better—so why did I feel so angry?
What Is Climate Distress—And What Can Therapists Do About It?
Therapists who encounter climate distress should reject the false burden borne by individuals and embrace a spirit of shared vulnerability, solidarity, collective action, and demands for justice.
Renee Schuls-Jacobson – Psychiatrized: Waking up After a Decade of Bad Medicine
We interview Renee Schuls-Jacobson about her book Psychiatrized: Waking up After a Decade of Bad Medicine which details Renee's experiences being prescribed the benzodiazepine clonazepam (Klonopin) for seven years.
Reason and Madness: How Psychiatry Marginalizes Those Who Contradict Western Norms
Psychiatry can be used as a tool by those in power as an arbiter of normality, but it also reflects the dominant attitudes, values, and beliefs of society.
Withdrawal Symptoms Cloud Findings of Antidepressant “Relapse” Trial
Leading researchers point out that a new antidepressant study in NEJM failed to account for withdrawal symptoms, casting doubt on the results.
“Floss on the Waves”: My Sister’s Journey
It takes a long time to recover from a psychotic episode, I understand now, and I wish someone had found a way, especially during those early years of her troubles, to give Rachel more space and time to find her own path to health.
“Make Psychiatry Healthy”: Analysis of a Leaflet From the Danish Psychiatric Association
The Danish Psychiatric Association has a leaflet on its website entitled “Make Psychiatry Healthy.” I found that the suggestions would make psychiatry sicker than it already is.Â
Giovanni Fava – A Different Psychiatry is Possible
In this podcast, we hear from the renowned clinician and researcher Dr. Giovanni Fava about his latest book entitled “Discontinuing Antidepressant Medications”.
