Put Psyche Back Into Psychiatry and Add Psychological Intimacy

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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

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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.
A questionnaire reads "Eating disorder: Are you at risk?" The options are checkboxes for "Yes" and "No."

The New DSM Is Coming and That Isn’t Good News

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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.
Depression related documents and drugs

Shifting Away from ECT and Antidepressants for Depression

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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

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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

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Antidepressant trials with negative results are still more likely than not to either be misleadingly spun as positive or unpublished.
Two photos. On the left, a woman cries while holding a phone to her ear. On the right, two police officers peer into the glass door of a home.

Roll-out of 988 Threatens Anonymity of Crisis Hotlines

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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.
Photo: selective focus on the word "psychiatry" in a dictionary

Why Is Psychiatry So Defensive About Criticism?

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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.
Photo of a boy sitting against a brick wall with his hands covering his face

Why Is Child Sexual Abuse So Common in Institutions?

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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

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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.
Photo shows back view of woman sitting holding a tea with a laptop computer with a young Asian man smiling on the screen

Home Alone: Finding Connection During the Pandemic

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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

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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

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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.
Elia Abi-Jaoude

Understanding the Youth Mental Health Crisis: An Interview with Elia Abi-Jaoude

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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

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An open letter from patients, psychiatrists, and professors calls on NICE to rewrite the new ECT guidelines to avoid putting patients’ safety at risk.
A collage depicting women using cell phones and hallucinogenic mushrooms, against a psychedelic purple background

Fireside Project: Peer Support for Psychedelic Experiences

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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...

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A response to the thought-provoking comments and concerns on the previous blog, furthering the discussion about disability and mental disorder.

“Mental Health” Is a Euphemism for Policing Social Deviance

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"Mental health" discourse conceals the fact that mental illness is still treated as a social deviance by the authoritarian institution of psychiatry.

Critical Psychology for a Better Society: An Interview with Sebastienne Grant

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Micah Ingle interviews Sebastienne Grant about her work developing a critical psychology program to reimagine and restructure social systems.

The Other Side of the Cage

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My doctor estimates that I have less than a year to live. I do not want my life to end as it began, with trauma, pain and dehumanization. I would like dignity and compassion in my final days.
Wooden pawn-like figures surrounding a gavel

Guardianship Destroyed My Family

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People who can’t take care of themselves need support and protection, but guardianship provides neither. I know: I've lived it.
Doctor attentively examines the MRI scan of the patient.

SSRI Antidepressants Do Not Improve Depression After a Stroke

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A study in JAMA Neurology finds that antidepressants do not reduce depression symptoms more than placebo in patients recovering from a stroke.

Can Anything Good Come Out of Therapy?

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I used to think therapy could be beneficial if only you went through the trials of finding a good therapist. What I didn’t ever question was the process itself or if I really needed to do it at all.

Interview: Abuse and Neglect at Private “Troubled Teen” Centers

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Parents, beware: Disability rights lawyer Diane Smith Howard shares disturbing findings on conditions at youth residential treatment facilities.
Illustration of a tiny doctor opening up a cartoon brain to reveal a pill inside

Addressing the Social Determinants of Mental Health—or Perhaps Not

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An article by the APA president merely pays lip service to the psychosocial causes of mental health problems.