The Mental Health Act Review: Everything Remains the Same
From Tales from the Madhouse: On May 1st, the Independent Review of the Mental Health Act published a 60-page interim report. The report makes it clear that no...
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...
The $3 Billion Research Breakdown
In this piece for Medscape, Jodi S. Cohen chronicles the research malpractice case of child psychiatrist Mani Pavuluri, who put vulnerable children at serious risk...
UN Meeting on Human Rights in Mental Health: A Response
On May 14 and 15, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights held a meeting on human rights in mental health. The event represented tensions in the United Nations between the promotion of mental health and the promotion of the human rights of people with psychosocial disabilities under the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
Cultural Confusion: The Shifting Line Between Sane and “Unsane”
From STAT: An unprecedented number of Americans have been diagnosed with a mental, behavioral, or emotional disorder. Does this represent an increase in psychological distress...
The Shamanic View of Mental Illness
From UPLIFT: In the shamanic view, emotional distress and psychosis signal a spiritual awakening or emergence, not a pathology. Western cultures can learn a great...
Psych Ward Ramblings
In this piece for Medium, activist and survivor Louisa J. Harvey describes the experience of being locked in a psychiatric institution on an involuntary hold.
"This is not...
The Never-Ending Misuse of Antipsychotics in Nursing Homes
From Health Affairs: Although the problem of antipsychotic misuse in nursing homes has been raised to policymakers numerous times over the past six decades, the...
What Care for the Criminally Insane Can Teach Us
In this piece for The Pew Charitable Trusts, Michael Ollove reports on Oregon's model of intense care and supervision for those found guilty except for insanity.
"Oregon’s model...
Expanding Mental Health Care Beyond Adding More Psychiatrists
From STAT: Although many people believe that we need to train more psychiatrists in order to increase access to mental health care, there is no...
The Unique Way the Dutch Treat Mentally Ill Prisoners
In this piece for BBC, Melissa Hogenboom reports on the way that people who have been convicted of crimes and diagnosed with mental illness are...
APA: Do Not Take a “See No Evil” Approach to Torture
From Psychology Today: The American Psychological Association has previously taken a number of steps to take responsibility for its involvement in torture and make amends to...
Call for Submissions: Smash Paternalism Anthology
A new anthology is seeking essays, short stories, poetry, and visual art on the topic of paternalism, i.e. abuses or human rights violations that are...
Mental Health Act Review: Will We See Meaningful Change?
From Tales from the Madhouse: In fall 2017, the UK government an Independent Review of the Mental Health Act, inciting hope for radical revision of...
Judi Chamberlin and the Fight Against Institutionalizing Women
In this piece for Rooted in Rights, s.e. smith chronicles the life of Judi Chamberlin and discusses the important role she played at the intersection of...
Opioid Bill Includes Involuntary Commitment
From EDS and Chronic Pain News & Info: Recent legislation has proposed measures that permit people to be involuntarily committed on the basis of perceived...
Police Not Told of Sexual Assault Reports by Mental Patients
From The Age: According to a new report, sexual assault claims by mental health patients are not being reported to the police or even the...
Psychiatric Diagnosis Can Lead to Epistemic Injustice, Researchers Claim
A discussion of the role of epistemic injustice in the experiences of patients diagnosed with psychiatric disorders.
The Elephant in the Room
From Discursive of Tunbridge Wells: Psychologist Rufus May speaks about the often overlooked role of racism in the mental health system. People of color are...
Soteria: Reflections on “Being With”
From the Foundation for Excellence in Mental Health Care: Yana Jacobs, LMFT reflects on her experiences providing art therapy at a Soteria House and "being...
Trauma, Memory, and Mental Health
In this episode of ABC Radio National's All In The Mind, Lynne Malcolm interviews three experts about the impact of trauma on our memory and mental health. One guest,...
Mental Health Patients Overlooked in Compulsory Treatment
From The Sydney Morning Herald: A new review found that mental health patients' decision-making capacity is very rarely considered in court rulings on involuntary treatment.
"The...
Three Experts Discuss the Role of Insanity in Our Legal System
Three leading legal scholars speak to Pacific Standard about the nature and history of the insanity defense, as well as its impact on our criminal...
How Would We Know If We Overthrew the Mental Health System?
What would it take to go about abolishing psychiatry? If we truly eliminated all the horrid practices that are currently committed by the mental health system, what would the world look like? What follows are 15 ways our society would need to change before we could be confident that we are free from the tyranny of the mental health system.
How I Know That Psychiatric Hospitals Don’t Cure Gun Violence
In this piece for the Hartford Courant, Kathleen Flaherty describes why President Trump's assertion that more psychiatric hospitals would prevent mass shootings is inaccurate and...
