A ‘Blueprint’ for Genetic Determinism
Robert Plomin's Blueprint: How DNA Makes Us Who We Are was seen as a "declaration of victory of nature over nurture." Plomin has a 40-year track record of unfulfilled gene discovery claims and predictions, and there is every reason to believe that his new polygenic score claims and predictions are merely a continuation of this trend.
Effective Therapists’ Skills May be Rooted in Personal Histories
Systematic review differentiates the qualities of effective therapists from those that are less effective and finds that successful therapists’ professional skills are connected to their personal lives.
How Do We Test the Effects of Long-Term Exposure to Antipsychotics?
A new attempt to study the neurological effects of long-term exposure to antipsychotics uses healthy volunteers on minimal doses for 15 days.
How Healthcare Foundations Destroy Grassroots Advocates
We advocates are often told we're the key to progress in mental healthcare. Yet foundations continue to minimize our role and to damage us and our organizations every day. Here is how they do it, and what they need to do if we are ever to make real progress.
School-Based Mindfulness Leads to Stress Reduction, Study Finds
Researchers find improvements in stress-related outcomes among middle school students exposed to a school-based mindfulness training program.
System Change Webinars: Promoting Radical Change
Starting on September 17, Mad in America will be offering a series of monthly webinars how to make changes in real-world programs that reflect the progressive reform agendas that embody a "green" revolution in mental health care. Enroll now!
Explaining Depression Biologically Increases Prognostic Pessimism
Psychoeducation that explains depression in biological terms increases prognostic pessimism, perceived stability of depression, and openness to psychiatric medication.
Recovery Is Resiliency
Recovery is not a bridge we cross and never return to. Rather, it is more like crossing a stream we ford by side-stepping on different stones. Not all of the stones are as sturdy as some of the others. Yes, we slip at times, only to regain our footing and forge ahead.
Psychiatrist Offers Ecological Model for Psychotherapy
Insights from phenomenological philosophy can assist in understanding psychotherapy and psychopathology as ecological rather than individualistic.
Psychiatric Drug Withdrawal in Spain
My study, in which I slowly withdrew people from prescribed antipsychotics and antidepressants, found that it is possible to decrease both spending on psychiatric drugs and patients' chronic exposure to them. In general, the drug-reduction process was well-tolerated and well-accepted among those treated.
Experiences of Bullying May Explain “Paranoia” in Sexual Minorities
Bullying leads to a feeling that people plan to harm you, which can be misconstrued as “paranoia” and considered a “psychotic symptom.”
The Many Battles of a Benzo Injury: Jean’s Story
Jean was never warned about Librium's potential to cause physical dependence or the subsequent withdrawal effects that can result from its long-term use, nor was she counseled on an exit plan. So when she decided to taper off the drug, her withdrawal symptoms were so severe that her life and health quickly spiraled out of control.
Researchers Propose Mindfulness for Treatment of Bipolar Disorder
Researchers from Hong Kong test mindfulness interventions for people diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder.
The Problem Lies in the Term ‘Mental Illness’
Shouting out “I am mentally ill and I am not dangerous” creates the same incomprehension as blaming ‘mental illness’ in the first place. This would be a perfect opportunity for all those people diagnosed with ‘mental illness’ to stand up and say loud and clear: “It isn’t mental and it isn’t an illness.”
Lithium Toxicity and an Almost-Human Hospital
Lithium is a notoriously toxic substance, and if it isn’t managed carefully enough, can have some very nasty effects. I discovered this the hard way. It got to the point where I could barely eat or drink or walk around. Yet lithium never made a dent — not for a single moment — in what was going on in my head.
Poverty: The Newest Medically Treatable Brain Disease
If your hunger/worries are so severe and persistent that they lead to abnormal, dysfunctional behaviors, then you have clinical poverty. Like any illness, you can’t just snap out of it on your own. You need help, and it’s now here — ask your doctor about exciting new treatments for poverty today!
How Exercise Can Help With First Episode Psychosis
New study examines the experiences of people utilizing an exercise program following a first-episode psychosis.
Broken Is Not All I’ll Ever Be: Military Veterans and Psychiatric Drugs
I had been an excellent combat medic — I had deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan totaling over 28 months of combat in Infantry and Cavalry units. Yet, after over six years on these psychiatric drugs, I felt reduced to a helpless being who would require assistance for the simplest of menial tasks.
Risk of Depressive Relapse Three Times Higher After Previous Antidepressant Use
A new study found that having been prescribed an antidepressant previously was associated with an increased risk of depressive relapse.
Psychosocial Approaches to Schizophrenia with Limited Antipsychotic Use
Researchers review nine previously studied psychosocial approaches and call for more high-quality trials treating schizophrenia with minimal to no antipsychotics.
Creating Our Mental Health
We wanted to challenge the conventional assumption that mental health is a static condition or attribute by suggesting that it’s more useful to think of it as an activity that people do together, rather than a thing that individuals have or don’t have. This distinction matters because we can change what we do — what we are, not so much.
The Mystic of Ireland: An Homage to Ivor Browne
Ivor Browne fearlessly challenged what he saw as a dehumanizing system, liberating many from institutional care and pioneering new experimental therapies. He developed innovative community models and most of his groundbreaking work took place outside of, and in spite of, orthodox thinking.
Collaborative Strategies for Re-Visioning the Public Mental Health System
The beauty of sticking around for a while is that we’re living to see some of our “outsider” ideas beginning to challenge modern psychiatric doctrine in the public arena, and our “radical” mental health stance is slowly re-visioning important conversations and practices.
Disability and Decolonial Studies Disrupt the Medical Model
Critical disability studies and decolonial analyses take on structural oppression and challenge concepts of normality, mental health, and ability.
In Defense of Anger
The therapy industry has aided and abetted the rejection of anger our society is hell-bent on, and made it astoundingly difficult to know what healthy anger looks like. I clawed myself apart trying to “heal” from all this anger, which compounded with every failure to dispel the anger until I was basically a human-shaped sack of rage.
