Itâs the Coercion, Stupid!
Both Michel Foucault and Thomas Szasz dated the beginnings of a distinct Western institutional response to madness to the late 1500s-early 1600s. But while for Foucault it started in France with the creation of the public âhĂŽpital gĂ©nĂ©ralâ for the poor insane, for Szasz it began in England with the appearance of for-profit madhouses where upper class families shut away inconvenient relatives. Regardless of their different ideas on the beginnings of anything resembling a mental health system, both authors agree that it was characterized by the coercive incarceration of a specially labeled group.
The Need to Address Suicide in Prisons
Rates of suicide in prison are significantly higher than in the general population.
A Diluted Murphy Bill Clears the House and Goes to the Senate
Organized psychiatry, committed irrevocably and wholeheartedly to drug pushing and to their corrupt and corrupting relationship with pharma, simply will not countenance the fact that their primary product is fundamentally flawed and destructive. So they hire a PR company; they fund and lobby politicians; they parrot slogans; and they encourage one another to ever-increasing heights of self-congratulation. But they will not commission a definitive study to clarify and assess the scale of this problem once and for all. And the reason for this inaction is because they know that it would be bad for business. It would "cause a lot of people to stop taking their medications."
âMaking a Choice: APA Reform or Business as Usual?â
Former president of Psychologists for Social Responsibility (PsySR), Roy Eidelson discusses efforts to undermine the Hoffman report which revealed the American Psychologica Associationâs collusion in torture. "First, from a familiar playbook, we have the obligatory attack on the patriotism of Hoffman and those who have criticized psychologistsâ participation in abusive detention and interrogation operations,â he writes. âThe most outrageous example comes from two retired military officers, David Bolgiano and John Taylor. In a recent piece they described the Hoffman Report as a âclassic attack of cowardsâ and also stated, âBy the publication and release of this report, the APA becomes a willing co-conspirator to the likes of al Qaeda and ISIS.ââ
The Silence: The Legacy of Childhood Trauma
In this piece for The New Yorker, Junot Diaz reflects on the impact of his experience of childhood sexual abuse and the ways that therapy...
Mental Health, Inc.
From Kirkus Reviews: In his new book Mental Health, Inc., Art Levine reports on the dire state of the U.S. mental health system.
"The author delivers the...
Our World: My Child, ECT and Me
A new episode of BBC's Our World investigates the increased usage of electroconvulsive therapy on children in America.
For-Profit Medicine Incentivizes Overmedicating Our Elderly
From NBC: According to human rights investigators, anti-psychotic drugs are often administered to nursing home residents to address behavioral issues. Our nation's lack of funding...
âMaybe Oregon Shooting and Others Arenât About Mental Illnessâ
Matthew Cooper, writing for Newsweek, reports that despite the preponderance of political rhetoric about âmental illnessâ after mass shootings, a review of the research suggests that the connection between mental health and gun violence is dubious.
âAll for the Best of the Patientâ
For psychiatric âhelpâ to happen by force is a paradox and makes absolutely no sense. It can destroy people's personality and self-confidence. It can lead, in the long run, to physical and psychological disability. My dear daughter Luise got caught in this âhelping systemâ by mistake, but she didn't make it out alive. I'm sad to say I later discovered that the way Luise was treated was more the rule than the exception.
Leah Harris and Tim Murphy Talk “Mental Illness and the Law”
Today on Radio Times, U.S. Representative Tim Murphy (R-PA), Mark Salzer, professor and chair of the Department of Rehabilitation Sciences at Temple University, and Leah...
Closing the Asylums
In this piece for Jacobin, John Foot describes the Italian psychiatrist Franco Basaglia's efforts to revolutionize the mental health system in Italy. Basaglia sparked a...