I Set Up a Suicide Crisis Centre to Provide the Opposite of What I...
Our approach is to openly care about our clients and empower them as much as possible. It's vital that clients know we care about their survival.
Manufacturer of Tardive Dyskinesia (TD) Drugs Finds TD Emotionally Devastating
“Patients expressed feeling unaccepted by society or uncomfortable in their own skin… A few indicated that they would rather be dead than have tardive dyskinesia.”
In a PBS documentary, ECT Is Bad for “Curing” Homosexuality, but Great for Depression!
A new documentary about gay activists' defeat of the APA ends with a disclaimer that ECT is "effective" for severe depression. Bruce Levine spoke with the filmmakers.
Reversing My Diagnosis
I was fine until traumatic events collided and pushed me to a state of emotional crisis. Yet I emerged this time as a different person, and knew I had to exit the mainstream mental health system.
Antipsychotics Linked to Increased Breast Cancer Risk
Long-term exposure to prolactin-increasing antipsychotics increases the odds of developing breast cancer.
Why Some Experts and Patients Want to Rename Schizophrenia: Interview with Raquelle Mesholam-Gately and...
MIA interviews Matcheri Keshavan and Raquelle Mesholam-Gately on their research with service users and consumers on renaming schizophrenia.
What Happens When A Peer Is Accused of Relapsing?
Once my colleague started spreading her conviction that I was relapsing, the whole agency began scrutinizing my behavior. As a peer, you’re under constant suspicion.
New Rating Tool for Tapering Antidepressants and Antipsychotics
Researchers developed a rating scale to better assess service users’ experiences tapering antidepressant and/or antipsychotic medication.
NGRI: The Gilligan’s Island of the Criminal Justice System
I approached the NGRI system with the belief that my commitment would be short and sweet and that in less than one year I would be back to living in the community. That year turned into nearly two decades.
Mad Activists: The Language We Use Reflects Our Desire for Change
There is not one movement but many, and the language people use reflects how accepting they are of the psychiatric explanation of their experiences.
The Importance of Empathic Listening for Making Meaning of Distress
Psychiatrists would gain more understanding if they listened to their patients and worked with them to make meaning of their distress.
Antipsychotics Increase Risk of Dementia; New Research Illuminates Why
In JAMA psychiatry, researchers outline new theories connecting antipsychotic use in people with schizophrenia and increased dementia risk.
Honoring Jane Whittington: 1950-2021
It’s with great sadness that I am writing of the sudden and unexpected passing of my former husband and best friend Jane.
The Cochrane Tapes Reveal a Horrendous Show Trial Against a Critic of Psychiatry
Why did Cochrane expel one of its best known scientists, who had helped get Cochrane started and bolstered its reputation? What happened that day?
Breaking with Disorder: The Invisible Flames of Mental Illness Labels
These labels left me docile to a broken mental health system—a carceral system that viewed me interchangeably as a patient or an object, but never a person.
What We Have Always Known but Psychiatry Forgot
When I came off my last medication, my psychiatrist said to me, “You will get sick again.” Psychiatry has always been sure that I would never recover from bipolar disorder.
What Can We Learn from Alcohol? A Paradigm Shift in How We View Distress
The effects of alcohol—both positive and negative—have a lot to teach us about the biomedical view of psychiatric diagnoses and the drugs prescribed to treat them.
Review: “(Mis)Diagnosed: How Bias Distorts Our Perception of Mental Health”
Psychiatric diagnoses can be shaped by prejudice, reflecting biases that ignore trauma, diminish populations, and invalidate humanity and experience.
Newborn Babies Go Through Antidepressant Withdrawal
A new study finds that newborn babies experience antidepressant withdrawal after birth if their mothers take SSRIs when pregnant.
Inner Fire: Where Seekers Have a Choice
A Vermont residential community program helps people taper or stay off medications with holistic care embedded in a pastoral setting.
Remembering Don Weitz, 1930-2021
My hero, mentor, and very dear friend Don Weitz died comfortably, in his home, on the afternoon of September 1, attended by his loving twin children, Lisa and Mark.
Truth-Telling and Consequences
It’s at that point of asking for help from someone in authority, someone we should be able to trust, that many have their story stolen from them.
Psychiatric Drugs may Reduce Social and Emotional Capacities
Research finds that social cognition and emotional processing abilities can be disrupted by psychiatric drugs.
Psychedelics—The New Psychiatric Craze
Psychedelics have become popular through the potent mixture of financial interests and desperation. Evidence for their beneficial effects is lacking.
Tapered Antipsychotic Withdrawal Mitigates Risk of Psychotic Symptoms
Research suggests that slowly tapering off an antipsychotic reduces the risk of withdrawal psychosis compared to abrupt discontinuation.
