MIA Reports

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

Inside A Forensic Psychiatry Unit: Rolled Ankles, RATs, and Invisible Abuse—The Final Obstacles Toward...

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Sexual abuse is inevitable, an unspoken and largely invisible tragedy that affects most, if not all, inmates who enter into any detention center, especially a so-called “mental hospital.”

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.

Books Under Review: Fall 2022

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Reviews of three recent books reflecting various perspectives on the mental health system.
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).

Inside a Forensic Psychiatry Unit: Suppressive Action as an Important Tool to Control Information

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You had better be able to back up what you say with enough force to overcome any opposition; this rule applies to both inmates and staff.

Capitol Hill Briefings Debunk Myth Linking Gun Violence to Mental Illness

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The public is regularly led to believe that mass shootings are committed by people diagnosed with a serious mental illness. Researchers explain that is just plain wrong, and prevents our society addressing the most common causal factors.
covid in a psychiatric hospital

Reporting the COVID Crisis at Psychiatric Hospitals: A Missed Opportunity

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In its coverage of the impact of COVID on psychiatric hospitals, the media missed opportunities to challenge stereotypes and interrogate problems with current carceral approaches to mental health treatment.
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...