MIA Reports

In-depth reporting on psychiatry and its impact on society.

“Pollution’s Mental Toll”: A Talk with Journalist Kristina Marusic

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The reporter explains how air and water pollution affect our brains, why children are so vulnerable, and what to do about it.

Mad Sisters: An Interview With Susan Grundy

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Susan Grundy on her lifelong caregiving journey for an older sister diagnosed with schizophrenia at the age of 13.

Medication-Free Treatment in Norway: A Private Hospital Takes Center Stage

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At the HurdalsjĂžen Recovery Center in Norway, patients with a long history of psychiatric hospitalizations are tapering from their medications and, in a therapeutic environment that emphasizes a good diet, exercise, and asking patients "what do they want in life," are leaving their old lives as chronic patients behind.

The TikTokification of Mental Health on Campus

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Many people view their social media feeds as reflections of their identities—and when posts center on a specific diagnosis, it can feel like the platform is diagnosing them.

Thomas Jobe: The Legacy of Research He Leaves Behind

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Thomas Jobe was a collaborator in a longitudinal study that upended conventional thinking about antipsychotics. He died March 16.
Illustration of colorful blocks resembling tetriminoes

“Tetris for Trauma” Viral Twitter Thread: A Master Class in Misleading Psych Research

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A TV writer claims that research shows that Tetris is “literally a trauma first aid kit.” Her tweets sound scientific, but the research behind it is unconvincing.
RESPONSE Act

Here We Go Again: RESPONSE Act Pushes Forced Treatment of the “Mentally Ill” As...

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In the name of preventing mass shootings, Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) introduced a bill that calls for "enhanced mental health services," including involuntary treatment and long-acting antipsychotic injections. It also calls for increased collaboration between mental health and law enforcement authorities, and promotes online monitoring of American students.
Wheat field

Heritability Explains Less About Mental Disorders Than You Think

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The focus on diseased brains and genes obscures the significance of social and environmental influences.
A monolithic building rises above a New York City street in the daytime

A New York City Psychiatric Hospital Patient Said Staffers Illegally Restrained and Drugged Her;...

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“No one is watching these hospitals,” Miranda warned. “No one is listening. Our rights are being violated left and right. They can do whatever they want.”

Do Antipsychotics Protect Against Early Death? A Review of the Evidence

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Psychiatry is now claiming that research has shown that antipsychotics reduce mortality among the seriously mentally ill. A critical review of the literature reveals that this claim is best described as the the field's latest "delusion" about the merits of these drugs.

A Therapist Navigating Antidepressant Withdrawal: Nelson Lee on the Power of the Present Moment

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Therapist and coach Nelson Lee joins us on the podcast to discuss how he approaches helping clients while navigating the complexities of antidepressant withdrawal.

Adverse Effects: The Perils of Deep Brain Stimulation for Depression

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Hundreds of people have been given remote control deep brain stimulation implants for psychiatric disorders such as depression, OCD and Tourette’s. Yet DBS specialists still have no clue about its mechanisms of action and research suggests its hefty health and safety risks far outweigh benefits.
Three photos: Saraceno on the left, the statue of Giordano Bruno in the middle, and Oaks on the right.

Allies for Human Rights in Mental Health: Psychiatric Survivor David W. Oaks Interviews WHO...

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"Psychiatric practice is too often violating human rights, too often incapable of understanding the suffering of people, too often unable to provide help to people who need housing, work, money, respect, inclusion and instead are receiving psychotropic drugs, electroshock, physical restraint, isolation."
Stock photo. Man in lab coat appears to scream in anger.

Criticisms That Establishment Psychiatry Can and Cannot Tolerate

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Criticism that uniquely applies to establishment psychiatry but not to medicine in general threatens its existential legitimacy, and is not tolerated.

Our Medical System Protects Wrongdoers and Punishes Whistleblowers: An Interview with Carl Elliott

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MIA’s Ayurdhi Dhar interviews Carl Elliott about scandals in psychiatry and the challenges faced by whistleblowers.

How to Know What We Don’t Know: An Interview with Psychologist and Novelist Jussi...

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MIA's Gavin Crowell-Williamson interviews the neuropsychologist and novelist Jussi Valtonen about how novels can lead us to see the limits of our understanding.

Britney Speaks: Are We Ready to Listen?

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Comparing her circumstances to sex trafficking, Britney Spears told the judge she wished to sue her conservators and be allowed to tell reporters “what they did to me.”

Cured: A Memoir—Sarah Fay on Giving Everyone the Chance to Heal

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Author Sarah Fay joins us to discuss why "cured" is such a seldom-used word in psychiatry.

“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 of books on a table in a prison

Inside a Forensic Psychiatry Unit: Access to the Courts—A Right and Survival Tool

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Being stuck in the custody of a malicious treatment team could mean death. I had to resort to the Mother of All Tactics Hegemony (a lawsuit).

Interview: Researchers Deconstruct Ghostwritten Industry Trial for Antidepressant

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Researchers, Jon Jureidini, Jay Amsterdam and Leemon McHenry, have taken a closer look at the data from a randomized control trial of citalopram (Celexa) that was ghostwritten and then used by the manufacturers to support claims of the drug’s efficacy and safety in the treatment of child and adolescent depression. To get the background on this story, we connected with Dr. Leemon McHenry, an investigator in this study and a lecturer in philosophy at California State University, Northridge.
Shira Collings

New Perspectives on Eating Disorders: An Interview with Shira Collings

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“Eating disorder recovery is about rejecting oppressive values.” Therapist Shira Collings discusses person-centered approaches to dealing with food-related challenges in youth.

Congress Holds Historic Hearing on Childhood Trauma

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On July 11, the House Committee on Oversight and Reform held its first-ever hearing on childhood trauma, featuring emotional testimony from survivor witnesses, as well as a number of prominent public health experts and government officials.

Uncovering Radical Psychiatry and Institutional Psychotherapy in Postwar France: An Interview with Camille Robcis

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MIA's Micah Ingle interviews historian Camile Robcis about radical and liberatory forms of psychiatry and psychotherapy in postwar France.

The Whistleblower and Penn: A Final Accounting of Study 352

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After 18 years, the full story of the scientific corruption in a study of paroxetine for bipolar disorder, and the psychiatrist who blew the whistle.