Instrument of the Machine No More
Early in my social work career, I truly believed that medication and forced confinement helped heal “mental illness.” Then an abrupt awakening completely altered my worldview.
Is It Time to Rethink Mental Illness in Light of the Pandemic?
Now that so many are experiencing distress because of the coronavirus, can we not appreciate that many who have been labeled mentally ill have long experienced these kinds of hardships?
Defunding the Police: Replacing Guns With Prescription Pads Is Not the Answer
Mental health workers responding to emergency calls and crises results in coercion, labelling and othering, paternalism, force, and, yes, even violence, all under the guise of “for your own good.”
Study Finds SSRIs Associated with Increased Risk for Violent Crime
Study finds an apparent connection between SSRIs, the most commonly prescribed type of antidepressant, and increased risk of violent crime.
JAMA Psychiatry Retracts Antidepressant Study
Once an appropriate statistical method was used, the study findings were “no longer valid,” according to the editors of JAMA and JAMA Psychiatry.
Does Stranger Mean Danger?
Are those diagnosed with “mental illness” more dangerous than other people? Or have we evolved to sense danger from anything that we believe to be different or "strange"?
Stop Saying This: Phrases That Sound Helpful, But Are Actually Gaslighting, Part 1
Therapists seem to have a reference book where they go to find phrases that sound really helpful but are actually gaslighting and self-serving.
John Read and Irving Kirsch – Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) Does the Evidence From Clinical...
An interview with John Read and Irving Kirsch to discuss their paper which calls to prohibit ECT. This is because the negative effects of ECT are so strong, the evidence supporting it is so weak (especially in the long-term and beyond the improvement due to placebo) and there are other means of addressing the difficulties that the person is struggling with.
Black Suicidality and Mental Health #BlackLivesMatter
Suicides in Black communities can be understood to be caused by an institutionalized inequality that requires Black folks to negotiate their quality of life with life itself.
End Police “Wellness Checks.” Now.
If you are a mental health worker or advocate, there's a way to help dismantle police brutality and systemic racism in the U.S.
Exercise for Youth Mental Health in the Lockdown: Interview with Psychologist Scott Greenspan
School Psychologist Scott Greenspan discusses how to promote exercise and mental wellbeing for adolescents stuck indoors during the pandemic.
We Must Not Be Silent On George Floyd & Systemic Racism.
Dear Mad in America community: How much have we grown? Can we join together in working toward our liberation, bound together as activists?
Withdrawing Kids from Psych Drugs: Why, How, and When
Here are methods for reducing or eliminating a child's psychiatric medications that I have seen work well over years of supporting families through this process.
Recovery: Stressing the Social Basis of the Process
Recovery involves engaging in new material and social contexts and in open dialogues where new ways of understanding and handling the situation are created.
Canadian Mental Health Legislation and the CRPD
Psychiatric survivors in Canada tell the UN that Canada is not complying with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).
Supporting Children and Parents to Withdraw from Psychiatric Medication
The main problem with prescribing psychiatric drugs to children is that it hasn’t been very effective.
Drugs? Thank You, I’ll Pass
If I ever lose my mind again, I hope that psychiatrists in charge of my care will grant me but one wish. Please do not force me to take drugs that fill me full of fear.
Review Documents Severe Withdrawal Effects of Psychiatric Drugs
Researchers find that most psychiatric drugs cause severe withdrawal despite attempt s to gradually decrease the dosage.
“We Are All Mad!” A Call for the Development of an International Network Among...
I can imagine all the “MAD” affiliates working together regarding specific initiatives or projects.
New Analysis: Antidepressants Still Linked to Suicide
“This is remarkable for drugs that are used to treat depressive symptoms,” write the researchers.
Jinxed: The Persecution of Evan Durst Kreeger
I am very concerned that Evan is about to be devoured by psychiatry's maw. Things could be different if Evan were able to hire an attorney or attorneys to deal with all of these different legal actions coming at him and otherwise protect his interests such as sue the trustees for their unconscionable actions, but as I have indicated, his trustees have cut off his money so he can't hire such an attorney or attorneys.
Chasing that Elusive Insight
The psychiatric concept of insight rests on the assumption that the psychiatrist, designated sane, knows what’s best. But if we question that assumption and consider that the medical model of mental illness may be incorrect, then the question of which party actually possesses insight becomes less clear.
Three Recent Genetics Books and Twin Studies’ Indefensible “Equal Environment Assumption”
Although Mitchell and Murray cited twin studies as the main source of evidence in support of their claims, these studies are based on a long-controversial assumption which they were unable to defend in their books, or on Twitter.
12 Essential Facts About Psychiatry
With these twelve facts, you are equipped to defend against the misinformation propagated by academic psychiatry, Big Pharma, and the laypeople they target. You are encouraged to use this knowledge to (firmly but respectfully) challenge statements you hear in passing or from loved-ones such as “He is mentally ill,” “I have a chemical imbalance and these drugs help correct it,” or any other commonly accepted falsehoods that the above facts expose.
Bringing Human Rights to Mental Health Care: An Interview with UN Envoy Dainius Pūras
MIA's Ana Florence interviews United Nations Special Rapporteur Dainius Pūras about his own journey as a psychiatrist and the future of rights-based approaches to mental health.
