Giving Caregivers a Platform: Meagan, Mother of Matt

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A mom describes her son's descent into the harms of psychiatry—and his way out. "It was really difficult to watch Matt decline. He had given up hope that he could get well."

“War Cry For Change”: Veterans Launch Campaign for Informed Consent and Safe Deprescribing at...

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Derek Blumke and Timothy Jensen: The Grunt Style Foundation leads a new phase in the movement to combat psychiatric drug harm.
Photo depicting a gavel, scales, and a human skull all on a wooden table against a red background

In the Courts, a Partial Win for Informed Consent and ECT Justice

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Price Hancock views the Thelen verdict as a partial win. "The jury agreed that the manufacturer 'failed to warn.’ That's huge. It's a step in the right direction."

Teen Arts Exhibition: Beyond Labels And Meds: What It Feels Like To Be Me

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28 teen artists share the power of their creativity in this collection of profoundly moving, courageous, and beautiful artwork.

Mad Pride Rises in Mexico

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The Mad Pride movement continues to spread around the world, with a first-ever march in Mexico City.
Members of Rethinking Psychiatry at the 2014 symposium with James Gordon, M.D., who delivered a keynote talk on journeying out of depression.

Grassroots Activism: Rethinking Psychiatry Builds A Community

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In the United States and abroad, a growing number of groups have devoted their mission and mindset to rethinking psychiatry, doing their best to...

Love is Dialogical: The Open Dialogue UK International Conference and Training

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In the past five years, there has been a dramatic explosion of interest in the Open Dialogue Therapy practiced in Tornio, Finland. It is a humanistic “treatment” that has produced five-year outcomes for psychotic patients that are, by far, the best in the developed world, and there are now groups in the United States, Europe and beyond that are seeking to “import” this care. However, the challenges for doing so are many and, last month, Open Dialogue UK - on the occasion of the first-ever fully recognized Open Dialogue training outside of Tornio - organized a conference in London to hold an open dialogue about Open Dialogue.

Screening for Perinatal Depression: An Effective Intervention, or One That Does More Harm Than Good?

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Why does the U.S. describe perinatal screening as providing a proven benefit, while the task forces in the U.K. and Canada see no evidence of such benefit?

Greg Hitchcock: Voices, Visions, and the Power of Creating

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Greg Hitchcock is standing and schmoozing with a cluster of people in the soaring, glass-domed rotunda of what once was a grand old bank...

The Algorithmic Managing of ‘At-risk’ Children

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Part two of a Mad In America investigation into the expansion of psychological screening and electronic surveillance of children and youth. Experts point to mounting evidence that scientifically dubious mental health screening programs are just one part of an international governance shift towards creating all-pervasive surveillance systems for diagnosing 'pre-crime' and managing 'at-risk' children and youth. And not only is this not helping kids, critics argue, it’s demonstrably harming them.
"A Grasp at Knowledge" by HoJin Kwak

Beyond Labels and Meds—Closer Look: HoJin Kwak

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This is the first of 4 spotlight interviews with some of the talented youth behind the pieces in MIA's art exhibition. HoJin states: "The original idea for my drawing started with the brain. The complexity of its sudden twists and curves fascinates me."

Beyond Labels and Meds—Closer Look: Madeline Aliah

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Meet another talented teen behind the pieces in MIA's art exhibition. She writes: "This poem was written in my first year at a queer-positive school and is processing the new forms of guilt and shame I experienced and was exposed to."
Illustration by Aurora Ramos of a girl with dark hair

Beyond Labels and Meds—Closer Look: Aurora Ramos

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Meet another talented teen behind the pieces in MIA's art exhibition, who says: "I think art is underrated sometimes because of its seemingly uselessness, but I highly believe it can cure many minds."
Isabella photo

Beyond Labels and Meds—Closer Look: Isabella Castillo

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At times I tend to feel invisible. Sometimes I don’t feel like I fit in with everyone else; I feel like an outsider.

DRC Will Challenge California’s Outpatient Committal Laws in Court

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Disability Rights California will challenge Los Angeles’ Assisted Outpatient Treatment program in court this fall, DRC attorney Pamela Cohen announced Friday. According to Cohen, California’s AB-1241 or “Laura’s Law” diverts funding from community mental health services and towards police, administrators and courts, doesn’t reach the people it purports to be trying to help, and violates people’s civil rights. “This is an illegal program,” said Cohen.

Where Critical Psychiatry Meets Community Resilience

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The International Society for Ethical Psychology and Psychiatry had the clout to draw a stellar line-up of presenters to its recent conference, including internationally prominent critics like David Healy, Peter Gøtzsche, Robert Whitaker and Allen Frances. There were lots of learnings and even some tense discussions, but one of the most intriguing aspects of the entire conference was the way in which scientific and social issues became deeply intertwined, especially when presenters reached for better pathways forward.

PsychRights Seeking Plaintiffs to Sue Physicians for Off-label Prescribing to Children

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The Law Project for Psychiatric Rights is eager to provide advice or assistance to US citizens who may wish to sue their physicians for prescribing off-label psychiatric drugs to children, said lawyer James Gottstein in an interview with Mad In America.

MindFreedom’s Shield Program: Working to Free People from Psychiatric Incarceration and Forced Treatment

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“We need the MindFreedom Shield to have someone in our corner when we are told that it doesn't matter what we want, that someone else can make a choice about our bodies that we will have to live with for the rest of our lives.”