The Problems with the DSM Mask a Dark Reality We’re All Complicit In
It would be comforting to conclude that the people in charge of such projects as the DSM are perhaps a little sociopathic or deviously immoral. Unfortunately, it is not that simple. We are all inextricably bound to, and complicit in, the problem we are attacking.
“Please Be Normal!” My Experience Working for NAMI
At my job with a NAMI affiliate, I heard daily from people who looked at family members with “mental illness” as non-people, non-human, the “other.” In the office, it was no different. If NAMI had a tagline, it would be “Please be normal like us.”
Economic Deprivation and Social Fragmentation Drive Suicide Rates in US
Major study finds that economic deprivation and a lack of social capital are driving increasing rates of suicide in the U.S.
Why I’m Glad I Did Not Complete the Mental Health Counselor Education Program
One needs no psychiatric or counseling degree to have the common sense of displaying some good manners in a profession that claims to be all about helping people. I’m glad I did not get further involved within a field that seems to be so hypocritical and moody.
How to Involve Youth in Their Own Mental Health Care
Clinicians play a key role in empowering adolescents and their parents to make decisions about their mental health treatment.
Antidepressant Use Associated With More Violent Suicide Attempts
A new study found that taking an antidepressant medication was associated with a heightened risk of suicide using violent means.
10 Reasons Why Psychiatry Lives On—Obvious, Dark, and Darkest
No matter how clearly the scientific case is made that psychiatry is a pseudoscientific institution, it continues to retain power. When we recognize that scientific truths alone are not setting society free, we begin to shift our energy to different strategies.
Antidepressant Use Does Not Prevent Suicide, Study Finds
A new study has found that antidepressants are ineffective for reducing suicide attempts. Researchers report that the risk of suicide is particularly high in the first month after starting an antidepressant.
Therapy Gets More Effective Over Time While Antidepressants Decrease in Effectiveness
New review of long-term depression data finds psychotherapy more effective over time whereas antidepressants decrease in effectiveness.
Is Remaking Psychiatric Care Possible?
The failures of our current drug-based paradigm of psychiatric care tell of a pressing need for systemic changes in psychiatry. But as we discovered when marketing our new continuing education course on this topic, it's always difficult to promote radical change.
Ben Furman – Understanding and Dealing With Adolescent Rage
A podcast interview with Finnish psychiatrist Ben Furman in which he discusses adolescent rage and how parents can come to understand and deal with teenagers and young adults who are angry and explosive.
Lingering Side Effects of Quitting Antidepressants
Nobody told me what it would be like when I first stopped taking antidepressants. The worst is definitely over, but I’m still experiencing some lingering side effects. When the hyper-arousal to sights and sounds kicks in and my head starts buzzing, I’ve learned some ways to cope.
Scaling Up Psychiatric Interventions Globally May Impede UN Goals
Peter Lehmann argues that administering psychiatric drugs in low-and-middle-income countries works at cross purposes with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Psychiatrist Describes Role in Open Dialogue Model of Care
Psychiatrist outlines varying roles in Open Dialogue model, fostering service-user and family agency through meaningful conversations with a team of providers.
Trump and Cuomo: Red Flags Are Red Herrings
Curtailing the rights of people with psychiatric histories is nothing more than a red herring, a ploy to maintain social control. We need to disarm the “re-institutionalization” movement by holding it accountable to the actual science of modern psychiatry and the history of institutions.
How Does the Soteria House Heal?
The alternative treatment model of Soteria helps individuals suffering from schizophrenia without relying on medication or coercion.
How Psychological Injuries Cause Physical Illness—And How Therapy Can Heal It
How does experiencing physical abuse as an 8 year old shorten one's lifespan? How do insulting words turn into diabetes? Or sexual abuse trigger a heart attack 50 years in the future? Emotional wounds can damage DNA and produce a huge web of destructive effects, but therapy can turn the process around.
Guidelines Recommending Antidepressants “in Contradiction with the Current Evidence”
Researchers critique the German S3 guidelines for depression promoting antidepressants.
Connectedness at School Related to Students’ Emotional Health
New research highlights differences in levels of school connectedness among students diagnosed with emotional and behavioral disorders,
Informed Consent, or Lack Thereof in My Psychiatric Experience
After telling my psychotherapist about my medication-fueled suicidal ideation, he said, “You have two options. We can do this either voluntarily or involuntarily.” Aghast and shaken, but assuming everyone in the medical system had my best interests at heart, I reluctantly agreed to go to the hospital without any protest.
Dan Hurd – One Pedal at a Time
An interview with U.S. Navy Veteran Dan Hurd, founder of Ride With Dan USA and The One Pedal at a Time Movement. After surviving his third suicide attempt, Dan became inspired to bicycle to all 48 States in the continental U.S. to help raise awareness and make connections.
William James’s Letter to His Depressed Daughter
If you discover that your child has been experiencing a bout with depression, what wise words might you share? Brilliant psychologist William James was forced to address this issue himself when his 13-year-old daughter, Peg, began to struggle with melancholy. I present his long, thoughtful reply for your consideration.
Belgian Guidelines Recommend “DSM Categories Not be at the Centre of Care Planning”
The Superior Health Council of Belgium documents numerous problems with the evidence base in the manuals used to diagnose “mental illness” and cautions against their use.
Pies’ Polemic and the Question of Theories in Psychiatry, Again
If the "Chemical Imbalance Theory of Mental Disorder" is a mirage, if not a frank deception, then what theory are psychiatrists using to justify prescribing their drugs? What is the current accepted theory or model of mental disorder by which psychiatry justifies not just its extensive and unequalled powers, but its very existence?
Service-Users Who Found CBT Unhelpful Offer Their Perspectives
Counseling clients in the UK who found CBT unhelpful were interviewed about their experiences.
