Withdrawal Psychosis and the Aftermath of Tragedy
I wake to what has happened every day, and must filter my every action through the memories and the fallout of what I did when I was psychotic as a twenty-four-year-old kid.
The Revolt Against Psychiatry: A Book Review
The focus of Bonnie Burstow’s new book, The Revolt Against Psychiatry, “is not the problems that psychiatry presents but the attempt to counter them.” Burstow asks, “What pressures might we bring to bear to loosen the grip of psychiatry? We habitually seem to be losing the battle; so how do we turn the situation around?”
While Psychiatry Slept
You might ask, “But why are dreams so crucial to psychiatry?” I would tell you that they are the forgotten language of the psyche, composed of metaphor and symbol, simile and synecdoche. All who enter the world of non-consensus reality long for a physician trained to hear the patois of image.
A Healing Journey: Leaving Psychiatry Behind
The world calls what was "wrong" with me "bipolar." I prefer the notion that I went through a birth process to become the healer that I am today. I can't be silent because I know there are people like I was who are trapped and may not realize it yet. When they begin to see the prison bars that surround them, I want to be there for them as others were for me.
Antidepressant-Induced Serotonin Syndrome a Danger for the Elderly
Researchers found that 25% of elderly patients taking antidepressants had serotonin syndrome, which is potentially life-threatening.
Study Explores Connections Between Diet and ‘Serious Mental Illnesses’
Study finds that individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and depression have diets that are more inflammatory and higher in calories.
Burnout: How Mental Health Systems Fail Neurodivergent Professionals
Many neurodivergent professionals are burning out quietly in a field that prides itself on empathy while treating its providers like machines.
Research Explores the Experience of Benzodiazepine Withdrawal
A new study reveals many benzodiazepine users are misinformed about the risks of withdrawal and experience devastating consequences.
Opening A Dialogue In Mental Health
I have sometimes stopped en route to work, unsure how much longer I can continue. There is a sense of betrayal to my father and grandmother by working in a profession that failed them and is the only medical specialty to have its own survivor movement, not from the illnesses it hopes to treat, but from the ministrations of the profession itself.
The Observation Room
Class war between the haves and have nots is nowhere more evident than in a psychiatric ward. Dissidence becomes both a disease and a crime where cure is indistinguishable from punishment.
Fighting for the Freedom to Hear Voices
We were caught in a tug of war. They wanted my voices gone. I was not going to let go of my voices, my confidants and protectors, regardless of what they did to me. We have the right to hear voices and no longer be hidden away in the attic of taboo and misunderstood experiences. The freedom to hear voices is truly a fundamental human right.
First-Person Accounts of Madness and Global Mental Health: An Interview with Dr. Gail Hornstein
Dr. Gail Hornstein, author of Agnes’s Jacket: A Psychologist’s Search for the Meanings of Madness, discusses the importance of personal narratives and service-user activism in the context of the global mental health movement.
How to Promote Community Inclusion in Mental Health Practice
Practitioners and public leaders identify methods and barriers for integrating those diagnosed with mental health issues into community life.
Have You Ever Wondered Why Labels on Supplements are so Vague?
If it wasn’t evident before, these newer regulations make it crystal clear that prescription drugs have a monopoly over the terms “medicine” and “therapeutic benefit,” and that it is very difficult for anything that isn’t a Big Pharma drug to make a therapeutic claim.
Suicide Warning on Antidepressant Label is Justified, Researchers Say
Researchers confirm that the suicide warning for antidepressants is justified by the evidence and that claims that the warning is harmful lack support.
Why World Benzodiazepine Awareness Day?
I am participating in World Benzodiazepine Awareness Day today, and you should too, because you know somebody right now who is taking a benzodiazepine and that person might just be dealing with chronic health problems, unaware that they are result of taking the medication as prescribed.
Dr. Jennifer Bahr: Treating the Whole Person
An interview with Dr. Jennifer Bahr, who is a passionate advocate for naturopathic approaches to health and wellbeing. She is the founder of Resilience Naturopathic, which was founded with a mission to provide an alternative to those who struggle with their mental health.
Ten Years of Rocking the Boat: Reflecting on Mad in America’s Mission and Work
Continuing our 200th podcast, staff members join us to discuss reinvigorating MIA continuing education, science writing and blogs, personal stories, community commenting and family resources.
A Therapist Tried to Explain CBT When I Was 11 Years Old, Ineffectively
As a therapist, I feel that CBT is offered best on a voluntary basis. The therapist must move away from CBT-like interventions when it is not helpful.
Suicidal Tendencies, Part II: The Real ‘Stigma’ of Suicide
The true ‘stigma’ happens when someone is unable to confess the magnitude of their pain without facing the consequence of involuntary incarceration (aka hospitalization) — when someone wants to die because of how powerless and trapped they feel in this world, and the system’s response is to hastily grab their last remaining drops of power away.
Bob Fiddaman: Taking on the Pharmaceutical Regulators and the Seroxat Scandal
Today on the MIA podcast we talk to Bobby Fiddaman about his experiences of the mental health system, his research and campaigning over the years and his relationships with the UK and US pharmaceutical regulatory bodies.
The Quiet Crisis in Mental Health: The Medicalization and Deskilling of Psychotherapy
The focus on the "worried well" and the exclusion of the "mad" serves to legitimize psychiatric control and surveillance.
Farewell Mickey Nardo, 1 (not very) Boring Old Man
Mickey studied how the intimacy between leading academic psychiatrists and the pharmaceutical companies had impacted our profession. His blog was a treasure trove of analysis and information. Mickey did some heavy lifting, and for that we are all indebted.
Kids Are Not the Problem: An Interview With Gretchen LeFever Watson
In this interview, Brooke Siem, who is the author of a memoir on antidepressant withdrawal, May Cause Side Effects, interviews Gretchen LeFever Watson, PhD.
Gretchen...
Researchers Highlight Pitfalls of Cognitive Assessment in Schools
Historical, current, and potential future complexities of cognitive assessment; a longstanding, controversial fixture in schools throughout the United States.
