MIA Today

Headlines of Today's Posts

Loss, Grief, and Betrayal: Psychiatric Survivors Reflect on the Impact of New Serotonin Study

51
Loss, grief, and betrayal are felt deeply by many who have been affected by the myth of the chemical imbalance, especially now that it has been debunked.

The Anxiety Industry: At the Limits of Anxious Consumerism

0
From Public Seminar: Anxiety – that chronic, widespread uncertainty proliferating out of the insecurities that exemplify modern life – has become the lodestone of 21st century consumer capitalism.

Decades of Alzheimer’s Research Allegedly Based on Fabricated Data

0
From Futurism: Billions of dollars have been invested in pursuing treatments based on the "toxic oligomer" hypothesis, which is now called into question.
A man, silhouetted, seen from the back, standing in a dark city street overpass

Inside A Forensic Psychiatry Unit: Where I’ve Come From and Where I’m Going

9
I will begin with a story of my youth. Then I will explore what my life has looked like since my release from custody. Finally, I will offer my own perspective on the country’s problems with gun violence, articulated from my unique positionality.

By Naming ‘Pennhurst,’ Stranger Things Uses Disability Trauma for Entertainment. Dark Tourism & Asylum...

0
From The Conversation: Pennhurst is one of many “haunted” tourist attractions worldwide inspired by the traumatised lives of people with disability.

Eight in Ten Sexual Violence Victims Seeking Support Diagnosed With Psychiatric Disorder

0
From Victim Focus and the Independent: "It shifts the focus from the sexual trauma to being mentally ill," said psychologist Jessica Taylor. "It shifts the focus from the perpetrator to the victim."
Close up of fingers putting a pill into a mouth. Colored lights all around

The Powerful Allure of Psychedelics in Today’s Disenchanted World

14
As a psychiatrist and psychedelic researcher in Melbourne, I’ve reached the conclusion that we are in for a wild ride with psychedelics over the next few years.

The Fight for Pharma Accountability and Psychiatric Rights: Jim Gottstein, Esq.

0
From Psychiatric Times/Awais Aftab, MD: Gottstein's book The Zyprexa Papers left me with a renewed sense of moral disgust at pharmaceutical corruption and alarm at their pervasive influence and lack of meaningful public accountability.

How Grief Became a Disorder and What This Means About Us: An Interview with...

37
MIA’s Zenobia Morrill interviews psychologist Kaori Wada about what the creation of Prolonged Grief Disorder reveals about our culture and the current status of psychology.
Close-up photo of two textbooks, open, one on top of the other

Psychiatry Textbooks Are Filled with Errors and Propaganda

43
The coming generations of healthcare professionals are being taught information that is incorrect, to the detriment of their patients.

GSK Discontinues Production of Liquid Paroxetine (Seroxat)

12
From The Pharmaceutical Journal: The oral suspension is being discontinued even though liquid formulations of antidepressants are essential for successfully tapering patients.

Depression May Not Stem From a “Chemical Imbalance” After All – Suggesting the Problem...

5
From Salon: Scholars have argued for decades that depression has a social and political cause. A new study reinforces that view.

Books Under Review: Summer 2022

2
Reviews of five recent books reflecting various perspectives on the mental health system.

The U.K. Advises Coming off Antidepressants Very, Very Slowly

8
From Undark: Mounting evidence suggests that withdrawal effects may be both more common and more severe than previously thought.

Catherine’s Story: A Child Lost to Psychiatry 

146
A year ago today, our youngest child died, thanks to the adversarial actions and toxic treatments foisted on her by medical-model psychiatry. By telling her story, we hope to promote systemic change.
An illustration of a doctor falling headfirst into a door in a giant brain, his feet kicking outside

Response to Criticism of Our Serotonin Paper

Criticisms of the paper were contradictory. Some psychiatrists said that no one ever really believed the serotonin theory. Yet the public does believe it, and are very surprised to learn that it is a myth.

Am I Normal?: The 200-Year Search for Normal People (and Why They Don’t Exist)

0
From The Guardian: A new book by Sarah Chaney is an examination of the 200-year-old history of the notion of "normal" and its power to alienate and oppress.

What Is ‘Schizophrenia’? Common Myths and Misconceptions

2
From The Mirror: Even though one in 100 adults in England lives with a 'schizophrenia diagnosis,' the condition continues to be surrounded by myths and misconceptions.

Psychiatry’s Failure Crisis: Are You Moderately or Radically Enlightened?

43
The moderately enlightened acknowledge some of psychiatry’s failures but, in common with the unenlightened, desperately attempt to preserve the institution of psychiatry.

New WHO QualityRights e-training: Advancing Mental Health, Eliminating Stigma, and Promoting Inclusion

3
QualityRights is WHO’s global initiative to improve the quality of care and promote the rights of people with mental health conditions or psychosocial disabilities.

Why I Won’t (Yet) Recommend 988 as a Crisis and Suicide Prevention Resource

0
From Medium/Vic Welle: Simply put, 988 is not trauma-informed, and the current rollout is carrying over the same harmful protocols and practices of the Lifeline it is replacing.

How to Take the News That Depression Has Not Been Shown to Be Caused...

3
From Joanna Moncrieff: So maybe thinking about depression as a brain disease is the wrong way to think about it. Maybe we need a different sort of framework.
Illustration of prison bars made of prescription drugs with hands holding them

Are Antidepressant Drugs Being Prescribed Too Widely? A Review of “Evidence-biased Antidepressant Prescription”

3
Depression was considered a condition that most spontaneously recovered from, until drug companies changed that narrative.

We’re Historians of Disability. What We Just Found on eBay Horrified Us.

1
From Slate: We were disturbed to come across a slew of listings for private, highly personal, and revealing medical records from now-closed New York state psychiatric institutions.

A Decisive Blow to the Serotonin Hypothesis of Depression

3
From Psychology Today: An exhaustive new review debunks the “chemical imbalance” theory of depression, despite its persistence among physicians and the public.