MIA Today

Headlines of Today's Posts

Man with conceptual spiritual body art

Modern Psychiatry and the Human Soul and Spirit: Is Our Freedom at Stake?

66
The medications are there to disconnect us from our divine, creative Self, but the human being is remarkable and incredibly resilient.

A Polyvagal Understanding of Being Human

10
At the core of trauma is the alienation from ourselves, our bodies and our emotions caused by our modern lifestyle.
An airplane icon flies over a pattern of blue and red pills

Flying While Depressed? The FAA’s Troubling New Antidepressant Standards

The FAA should reconsider the policy on drugs that are ineffective for depression and increase the risk of suicidality and violence.

Descriptive Labels Are Not Causes, No Matter How Hard You Try: A Response to...

1
From Psychiatric Times: If circular claims are presented together with unfounded claims about purported brain mechanisms, they may further bias people towards falsely assuming that biological causes and mechanisms have been identified for psychiatric problems.

Multiplicity and Mad Studies: An Interview with Jazmine Russell

25
In this interview, Jazmine Russell describes her journey through psychosis and mental health advocacy to embracing a multiplicity of frameworks in Mad Studies.
Young adult man with word Psychology on his face in the dark

Mishiguene

15
From my grandmother I learned about mishiguene, which means crazy in that ironic and funny tone that Yiddish can have in some families.

Psychiatric Diagnoses Don’t Explain ‘Why’—Only ‘How’

3
From Psychology Today/Denise Winn: Finnish researchers found that the most influential health organizations "used language that inaccurately described depression as a causal explanation to depressive symptoms."

To Young People of Color with Lived Experience: Pay it Forward; Become a Peer

3
A Peer Support Specialist tells her story and issues a callout to the BIPOC LatinX community, advocating for change.

Giving Caregivers a Platform: Leigh, Mother of Melissa

2
This is the story of a young woman who suffered through the agony of "kindling" and other drug-related harm, eventually dying by suicide. This is also the story of her mother’s path ahead.
Miniature photography. A man's legs are visible under a pile of paperwork on a blue background.

The Co-Opting of the Peer Movement in Mental Health

Bureaucratic red tape often overshadows the quality of therapeutic engagement. Protocols often trump empathy, and paperwork overshadows personalized care.
A photo of David Taylor on the left and Mark Horowitz on the right

The Maudsley Deprescribing Guidelines: An Interview with David Taylor and Mark Horowitz

38
Tapering should be tailored and adjusted to the patient, slowed and more hyperbolic in people who have severe and longstanding reactions.
Vector of a sick man with painkiller addiction chained to the bottle of pills

When It Comes to Post-Surgical Opioid Tapering, You’re on Your Own!

23
I firmly believe that the people who give patients drugs have a responsibility to help people get off the drugs.

Neoliberalism and the Global Export of Psychiatry: Interview with Justin Karter

0
From Depth Work: A Holistic Mental Health Podcast: Neoliberal values have led to a great deal of institutional corruption and also have been exported beyond the Western world across the globe.

The Birth of The “Just Stop It” Movement: A Family’s Journey Through Mental Health...

6
Will was plunged into an extreme state following exposure to a synthetic street drug, which led to repeat hospitalizations and psych drugs.

In Defense of the Long, Painful Grind of Therapy

26
From GQ: It is difficult to calculate, though easy to imagine, the uplift it could have on society if more people had a chance to work seriously on their mental wellbeing.
A colorful pattern made up of tiny MDMA tablets with various designs

A Win for Science, with Profound Implications for Industry: FDA Rejects MDMA

17
Concerns, from functional unblinding to sexual assault in the clinical trials, led this week to a full repudiation of Lykos' MDMA-assisted therapy.

Violence Caused by Antidepressants Ignored Once Again by Psychiatrists

28
Based on RCTs, antidepressants double the risk of harms related to suicidality and violence. Why do psychiatrists ignore this data?

My Story of Surviving Psychiatry

6
This belief that there was something fundamentally wrong with me reinforced the damage done by repeated experiences of abuse, rejection, and discrimination.
Stock photo of male therapist looking annoyed. Female client on couch

How to Know if You Have an Abusive Therapist

64
Your therapist is, first and foremost, a regular person. No matter how many degrees, years of training, or fancy certificates, they are still human.

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

22
MIA’s Ayurdhi Dhar interviews Carl Elliott about scandals in psychiatry and the challenges faced by whistleblowers.

Tuskegee Syphilis Study Whistleblower Peter Buxtun Has Died at Age 86

0
From AP: Buxtun is revered as a hero to public health scholars and ethicists for his role in bringing to light the most notorious medical research scandal in U.S. history.

The Ethics of Antipsychotic Dose Reduction and Patient Rights

0
New research highlights the ethical responsibilities of clinicians in supporting patients who choose to reduce or discontinue antipsychotic medication.
Illustration of diverse people

Part 4: Neurodiversity: New Paradigm, or Trojan Horse?

50
Promoters of "neurodiversity" replace existing forms of oppression with new "neuro" versions that still decontextualise our struggles.

Mount Sinai Aggressively Sought to Stifle Debate Over Its Controversial Brain Research

3
From STAT: Leading neurologist Michael Okun at the University of Florida Health said the revelations about Mount Sinai's brain research should “set off the alarm bells."
Stock photo. Wooden circles with simple faces. One smiling is picked up by fingers.

The Clinical, Social, and Cultural Harm of an Iatrogenic Psychiatry

170
Normal reactions transformed into illnesses, emotions stripped of meaning, & people deprived of their autonomous coping skills and supports.