From Auctions to Moral Treatment
In less than 25 years Oregon moved from auctioning off the “care” of the "insane" to the lowest bidder to creating a safe place focused on recovery.
Human Connection and Mutuality: A New Response to ‘Mental Illness’
From eMHIC: The time for change is upon us. Mental health services should focus on the human-to-human relationship as the primary mechanism of healing.
First NC Peer-Run Respite Opens as Alternative to Mental Health Hospitalization
From NC Health News: Retreat @ the Plaza, opened in Charlotte in early August and run by Promise Resource Network, is the 41st peer respite currently operating in the United States.
How We Started the Bay Area Hearing Voices Network
Voice hearers have created a community. Often, for the first time, they feel safe to talk about their experiences and reach out for support.
New Survey Reveals Class, Age Divide in Mental Health Crisis
From The Hill: We are in absolute crisis across this country, and it's not getting nearly enough attention let alone anyone doing anything about it in DC.
Feel Hopeless About Reforming a Broken System? Incremental Change Is Still Change
Despite all our efforts, it seems that a radical transformation of the system has not yet occurred. However, incremental changes can directly improve the lives of thousands.
Art-Making as an Alternative Philosophy of Care During Emotional Crisis
From National Empowerment Center: MIA Arts Editor Karin Jervert gives a talk on the role of creativity in the healing process as part of the "Compassionate Approaches to Crisis" webinar series.
Exposure to Antidepressants in the Womb Makes for Sad, Scared Adolescents
SSRI exposure in utero “alters the offspring’s brain structure,” causing a hyperactive amygdala and fear circuits, leading to anxiety and depression.
Teen Arts Exhibition: Beyond Labels And Meds: What It Feels Like To Be Me
28 teen artists share the power of their creativity in this collection of profoundly moving, courageous, and beautiful artwork.
You’ve Got to Be Crazy to Go to a Psychiatrist
To those who say that major scientific/medical advances since 1975 have made going to a biological psychiatrist a rational choice, I say: What advances?
45 years have passed: Is any psychiatric “diagnosis” now verified by lab test, x-ray, or physical exam finding?
The Onion: Majority of Psychological Experiments Conducted in 1970s Just Crimes
From The Onion: "Much of the time these researchers didn’t even bother to test a hypothesis or collect data, but instead just tortured student volunteers for amusement."
Antidepressant Withdrawal: A Clinician’s Middle View
In the debate about antidepressant withdrawal, I present a middle ground, where the views of both sides are understood to have origins in wanting to help people.
Psychiatry Textbooks Are Filled with Errors and Propaganda
The coming generations of healthcare professionals are being taught information that is incorrect, to the detriment of their patients.
APA Apologizes for Longstanding Contributions to Systemic Racism & Human Hierarchy
From the American Psychological Association: "The APA failed in its role leading the discipline of psychology, was complicit in contributing to systemic inequities, and hurt many through racism, racial discrimination, and denigration of people of color, thereby falling short on its mission to benefit society and improve lives."
Against Psychiatry
From IAI TV: Psychiatry has spent the last 100 years asking what's wrong with people, but might it be more informative to ask what's happened to them?
What is Open Dialogue Today?
Please join us on Friday, October 23 for OpenExcellence, HOPENDialogue, and Mad in America’s ongoing Town Hall conversation about what Open Dialogue is — and is becoming.
Researchers Document Protracted Withdrawal from Antidepressants
Protracted Withdrawal Syndrome characterized by long-term adverse experiences after coming off of antidepressants.
‘How Did We Not Know?’ Gun Owners Confront a Suicide Epidemic
From The New York Times: The concern about suicides has led to an unusual alliance between suicide-prevention advocates and gun-rights proponents.
Inside a Forensic Psychiatry Unit: Earning the Right to Sleep on the Floor
Life in the DC was far too complicated for me to be able to just listen to my body and sleep on a thick yoga mat placed on the floor to alleviate my severe back pain.
The New York Times Is Now Engulfed in the STAR*D Scandal
The New York Times published yet again the fraudulent result from the STAR*D trial. Will the mainstream media ever tell of this scandal?
Narrow Escape: My Prescribed Nightmare
It has taken me close to three years to be able to live with my memories from the hospital, where I felt completely and utterly alone, despairing that I might never live a normal life or see my family again.
The Undervalued Potential of Living Without Psychiatric Drugs
Compared to the last six years, compared to how intense the drugs are and how grueling the side-effects, my first psychosis at 17, I admit, was honestly not that bad.
A Self-Help Version of EMDR Could Make Healing from Trauma Easier
Se-REM is a self-help version of EMDR that uses sound instead of eye movement for bilateral stimulation. My clients have reported finding it helpful for healing from trauma.
From a Paranoid Schizophrenia Diagnosis to a Peer Researcher in Nigeria
The mental health system needs to adopt the principle of holistic care, promoting fundamental rights and the relevance of family support.
Another Failed Study of “Personalized” Depression Treatment
Due to lackluster antidepressant study results, researchers test if subgroups of depressed patients show greater improvement.
