School Discipline is Racially Biased and Increases Misbehavior

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School discipline that punishes minor misbehavior may increase adolescents’ misconduct and lead to racial inequalities in school discipline.

Transgender Children Development Consistent with Current Gender, Not Sex Assigned at Birth

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Transgender children show strong identification and preferences stereotypically associated with their current gender identities, not their sex assigned at birth.

Psychology and Poverty: An Interview with APA President Rosie Phillips Davis

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MIA’s Gavin Crowell-Williamson interviews psychologist Rosie Phillips Davis about her presidential initiative to address deep poverty.

How to Change Psychology to Address Racial Health Disparities

Psychology can only deal with racial health disparities effectively by incorporating critical race theory and intervening at a structural level.

To Live and (Almost) Die in L.A.: A Survivor’s Tale

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After 25 years of chronic emergency, 22 mental hospitalizations, a stint at a “community mental health center,” 13 years in a "board & care," repeated withdrawals from addictions to legal drugs, and a 12-year marriage, I plan to live every last breath out as a survivor, an advocate, and an artist.

Opening Doors in the Borderlands: An Interview with Liberation Psychologist Mary Watkins

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MIA’s Micah Ingle interviews Mary Watkins about reorienting psychology toward liberation and social justice.

How Western Psychiatry Harms Alternative Understandings of Mental Health

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An anthropological look at the Global Mental Health (GMH) movement suggests several ethical problems and contradictions in its mission.

How Pain is Treated Depends on Socioeconomic Status

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A new international study reveals how healthcare providers treat patient’s pain may depend on that patient’s socioeconomic status.
Britney Spears

The Media’s New Hashtag: #GuardianshipIsGood for Britney Spears

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Recent press coverage of top star Britney Spears, who remains under a personal and professional guardianship, reflects conventional attitudes about “mental illness” that are both stigmatizing and encourage legislation that promotes forced treatment.

Measuring How Mental Health Professionals See Service Users’ Rights

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A new scale has been developed and validated to examine beliefs held by mental health professionals towards service users’ rights.

How Antidepressants Shape Young Women’s Sense of Self

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Young women’s narratives indicate ways antidepressants have shaped their sense of self.
stoned or schizophrenia

From Stoned to “Schizophrenic”: My Mental Healthcare Journey

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During a period of self-doubt, I chose to see a psychiatrist because I was engulfed in negative thoughts and couldn't find a direction in life. The slightest joys came only when I was high. Though my weed addiction was likely causing all of my symptoms, my psychiatrist’s response was to prescribe antipsychotics.

Involuntary Hospitalization More Likely With Psychosis Diagnoses and Few Resources

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New study links involuntary hospitalization with psychotic diagnosis, previous involuntary hospitalization, and economic deprivation.

Dehumanization Linked to Poorer Mental and Physical Health

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A new review finds that dehumanizing language, including self-dehumanization, is connected to anxiety, depression, and disordered eating.

Refugees and Immigrants Experience Increased Medical Coercion

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Refugees and first-generation immigrants of African descent are at greater risk of experiencing medical coercion when compared to immigrants of other visible minority communities in Canada.

How to Integrate Culture into Mental Health Care

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Researchers explore how culturally responsive services can create greater equity in mental health care.
Berlin Manifesto launch

Berlin Manifesto for Humane Psychiatry Released

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Changing the mental health and psychosocial support system in Germany requires public debate about the ways our society should help and support people in mental crisis and with chronic mental health problems. We believe the driving force behind all help and support should be humanitarianism and respect for inalienable human rights.

Discrimination Leads to Mental Distress for Gender Diverse People

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Researchers seek to identify adaptive coping responses to discrimination for the transgender and gender diverse community.

Non-Gender Affirmative Treatment Detrimental to Mental Health

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Gender identity conversion efforts impact psychological distress and lifetime suicidality in transgender people.

Loneliness Increases Risk of Severe ‘Common Mental Disorders’

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Loneliness was found to both predict and be reinforced by severe common mental disorders.

Time’s Up: Culture of Denial Impacts Mental Health of Sexual Abuse Survivors

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Study finds that not believing sexual abuse survivors often leads to self-blame and mental health issues.

Decontextualized Depression and PTSD Diagnoses Fail Indigenous Communities

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A case analysis of an American Indian woman illustrates how the DSM diagnostic criteria misrepresent the lives of indigenous people.
A black rubber duck stands out among a group of yellow rubber ducks

“Please Be Normal!” My Experience Working for NAMI

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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.”

De-Othering “Schizophrenia” by Placing it in Socio-Historical Context

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Understanding schizophrenia as a non-enigmatic, understandable human experience goes against a history of institutional “othering” that has sustained psychiatric legitimacy and further marginalized service-users.

The Role of Racial Bias in the Overdiagnosis of Schizophrenia

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Researchers detect disparity between white and African American patients diagnosed with schizophrenia when symptoms of a mood disorder are present.