Forced Treatment Isn’t What Unhoused People Need
From The Nation: People need four things to be in recovery: permanent supportive housing, community, purpose, and health care. This is not what California's new CARE Court provides.
Is “Cry-It-Out” the Tip of a Dangerous Parenting Iceberg?
From Raised Good: Babies who learn early in life that their needs don’t matter are predisposed to experiencing a myriad of negative mental and emotional outcomes.
Dozens of ECT Patients Sue NHS Over Brain Damage Claims
From The Daily Mail: They say they were never informed that ECT could cause permanent memory loss as well as trouble with basic tasks like facial recognition, walking, and reading.
Randomized Controlled Trial Confirms That Antipsychotics Damage the Brain
A new study published in JAMA Psychiatry connects antipsychotics with damage to the brain in multiple areas.
Remembering Darby Penney — A Fierce Advocate for Justice and Human Rights
Celia Brown, Ron Bassman, and Peter Stastny mourn the loss of Darby Penney, who fought to transform the mental health system in New York.
The Money Behind Academic Publishing
From Tidsskrift: The academic publishing industry, which shapes how we undertake medical research, is hugely profitable, with worldwide sales positioning it between the music and film industries and profit margins rivaling that of Microsoft, Google and Coca-Cola.
Context and Care vs. Isolate and Control: An Interview on the Dilemmas of Global...
MIA’s Ayurdhi Dhar explores with Arthur Kleinman how healthcare systems often overlook personal stories, focusing on treating diseases rather than individuals. Discover why this renowned Harvard psychiatrist and medical anthropologist believes in restoring humanity to medicine.
Somewhere for West Virginians to Turn with Covid-Related Stress
From West Virginia MetroNews: There's a big need for the new "emotional strength line" unveiled by First Choice Services, as a 2018 CDC study cited West Virginia as having the worst mental health of any state.
Seeds of Hope: A Journey Toward Truth about Psych Drugs
I believed I needed the drugs to keep me going, because every time I tried to get off, I couldn’t function. Years later, I learned the truth: The meds had only been masking the festering sores beneath the surface of my stability.
“Relapse” in Antidepressant Trials Likely Caused by Sudden Withdrawal
A new study investigates how antidepressant withdrawal effects often get confounded with depression relapse in clinical trials.
To the Young Person Who Doesn’t Identify with Their Disability Diagnosis Anymore
Your diagnosis should serve YOU. Not your parents, your doctors, your teachers, or the next door neighbor. We should be fighting for a future where the person being labeled has the ultimate say over how doctors and therapists view them.
New Guidance on Antidepressant Withdrawal for Doctors in the UK
New guidance for primary care doctors in the UK on antidepressant discontinuation acknowledges severe and long-lasting withdrawal symptoms.
Beyond the Chemical Imbalance: Looking to the Past to Understand the Mental Health Crisis
Our bodies and minds evolved to thrive in an environment that is vastly different from the one in which a majority of us now live.
Paula Caplan, 74, Dies; Feminist Psychologist Took On Her Profession
From The New York Times: Dr. Caplan, the author of 11 books, was perhaps best known for her seven-year battle with the American Psychiatric Association as it planned the fourth edition of its "DSM."
Mental Health & Our Schools, Part 2
Schools are rolling out programs and services intended to safeguard students’ emotional well-being. They are full of potential—and pitfalls.
Nursing Homes Oust Unwanted Patients With Claims of Psychosis
From The New York Times: Across the U.S., nursing homes are looking to get rid of unprofitable patients and pouncing on minor outbursts to justify evicting them to emergency rooms or psychiatric hospitals.
Feds Open Investigation of SC Group Homes for Adults With ‘Mental Illness’
From The Post and Courier: "Most of them, they’re horrible. It’s nowhere that you would ever want your family member to be," said Kimberly Tissot, executive director of Able SC.
It’s Not Just Britney: Those Deemed ‘Mentally Ill’ Can Easily Lose Basic Rights
From The Cut: For every Britney Spears, there are an untold number of exceedingly less-famous Britneys trapped in their own private hells, ignored by our legal system, medical system, and the public.
Shield Alert: Stop David Russell From Being Force Electroshocked
From Mindfreedom International: David is currently a psychiatric prisoner at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, where there is a hearing scheduled for this Monday, May 6th, to get a court order to electroshock him against his will.
To Young People of Color with Lived Experience: Pay it Forward; Become a Peer
A Peer Support Specialist tells her story and issues a callout to the BIPOC LatinX community, advocating for change.
COVID-19: What’s Equity Got to Do With It?
From GW Milken Institute School of Public Health: The virus has exposed long-standing inequities, driven by social policies that created disparities in resource access to resources.
Westchester County Shrink Ruined Family Relationships, Suit Claims
From NY Post: A psychiatrist who treated his friends’ son for 20 years soured the man’s relationship with his parents and ruined his inheritance, a new lawsuit charges.
Insane Medicine: Epilogue
I wanted to interrogate the assumptions that pervade theory, research, and practice in mental health. You can see the emptiness of the empirical and philosophical paradigms in circulation.
How Big Pharma Hijacked Patient Groups
From The Breach: Once a vibrant grassroots social movement, patient groups have become a powerful cluster of corporate-influenced organizations, with leaders whose values, beliefs and ties align more closely with the private sector than the public interest.
I Accuse Psychiatry of Murder
My beloved friend Geoffrey could have contributed so much to the world if psychiatrists had not murdered him.
