Psychiatric Patients Restrained at Sky-High Rates at This L.A. Hospital
From the L.A. Times: L.A. General’s Hawkins Mental Health Center has reported a restraint rate more than 50 times higher than the national average for inpatient psychiatric facilities.
Grant, Interrupted: An Introduction and Report Back from Oregon
We hope the Oregon Health Authority can overcome its critics and get back on track to doing what it set out to do: creating peer support respites led by grassroots groups.
People Not Professionals
From Aeon: Peer support provides a cathartic space for refuge that transcends the constraints of expert-delivered formal services in favor of a more equitable relationship.
Branding Diseases—How Drug Companies Market Psychiatric Conditions: An Interview with Ray Moynihan
MIA’s Ayurdhi Dhar interviews Ray Moynihan about the marketing of disorders, broadening of diagnoses, and harmful treatments.
Reality According to Whom? Listening to My Wife—and The Problems with ‘Psychosis’
Sam Ruck shares an excerpt from his book "Healing Companions," which describes his life with, and love for, his wife and her “alters.”
In the Name of ‘Modernization,’ Newsom Admin. Wants to Disappear Unhoused and Disabled People...
From Disability Visibility Project: The CARE Act is predicated on a big lie perpetrated by policymakers and marketed to the public: that houselessness is caused by ‘severe and untreated’ mental illness and substance use.
Critical Psychiatry Textbook, Chapter 16: Is There Any Future for Psychiatry? (Part Two)
Peter Gøtzsche discusses how critics of psychiatry are silenced in top medical journals and in the media.
Neuroscientist Argues the Left Side of Our Brains Have Taken Over Our Minds
From CBC: "A way of thinking which is reductive, mechanistic has taken us over," says Iain McGilchrist. "We behave like people who have right hemisphere damage."
The Feeling Child | An Interview With Alice Miller
A good therapy should help the patient evolve from a "silent child" to a feeling and "talking child."
Reflections on the RADAR Study
We still do not have adequate data to guide us on how to best reduce relapse risk; however, I think there are reasons to taper slowly.
Beyond the “Chemical Imbalance” Theory: An Interview With Prof. Joanna Moncrieff
From Psychology Today/Justin Garson PhD: "I was surprised, first of all, by the level of public interest [in my paper debunking the serotonin theory of depression] and then by the defensiveness of the profession," says psychiatrist Joanne Moncrieff.
Survivors and Families Working Together For Change: A New Project
Based on his lived experience, Ron Bassman describes his efforts to create an educational and support program that links families with survivors.
“Functional Disorders”: One of Medicine’s Biggest Failures | Marion Brown
From The BMJ: Is this a cop-out for the medical profession? Surely we need to look at what may be CAUSING the mind/body system to malfunction, and not miss out the important question of ‘could it be the medicine’?
Mental Health Staff Reluctant to Support Service Users in Tapering Antipsychotics, Study Finds
Study reveals schizophrenia patients find little support from mental health staff in reducing side effects-heavy drugs.
How Mad Studies and the Psychological Humanities are Changing Mental Health: An Interview with...
In this interview with MIA's Justin Karter, psychiatrist Bradley Lewis discusses the value of art, the humanities, and mad studies in shaping a richer understanding of psychological experiences.
Medication Overload, Part II: The Explosion of Drugs for Kids
An analysis of the huge increase in drugs for children, the role of Big Pharma, and a look at the impact on families and communities.
Not My Words, Not My Story | Julia Buxton
From Asylum Magazine: One of the first things that struck me when I entered mental health services was how little interest staff took in me describing my experiences or how I felt.
Critical Psychiatry Textbook, Chapter 16: Is There Any Future for Psychiatry? (Part One)
Peter Gøtzsche discusses the myths perpetuated by mainstream psychiatrists and the dishonest way they respond to critics.
What Celebrating Columbus Day Portends for Our Civilization | Jeremy Lent
From Salon: The Columbus mindset is the same one that is driving our global civilization toward environmental (and social) catastrophe.
Not Before Time: Lived Experience Led Justice and Repair
A landmark report has been released exploring possibilities for acknowledging the harms people experience in mental health systems.
Are You Ready for “Brain Transparency” and AI Reading your Mind?
From Igor Chudov: An "exciting" seminar at the annual WEF meeting featured new technology that allows human brains to be scanned via wearable devices and the wearer's state of mind to be instantly interpreted via their brainwaves.
Global Psychiatry’s Attempt to Excommunicate the Former UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to...
The UN reflected a middle-ground position for human rights-based mental health, but the response from psychiatric organisations was hostile.
Childhood Trauma: How We Learn to Lie, Hide, and Be Inauthentic
From PsychCentral/Darius Cikanavicius: Adults often see children's natural honesty as a nuisance, silliness, or even a problem, which leads to a society where dishonesty, fakeness, and inauthenticity are normal.
Ten Years Later: Still Shooting the Odds
Unfortunately, the problems that sometimes occur when people try to stop an SSRI antidepressant are still severe and long-lasting.
Students Don’t Need Spying, They Need Trust
Surveillance exacerbates anxiety, destroys trust in relationships, and diverts money away from effective treatment.
