“Impairment: Says Who?”: The Fundamental Question of Mental Health Treatment
The criterion of "impairment" is defined not by the person seeking treatment, but by other people: parents, clinicians, courts, employers, and so on.
Much of U.S. Healthcare Is Broken: How to Fix It (Chapter 2, Part 5)
Les Ruthven addresses increases in suicide and homicide caused by antidepressant drugs.
Searching for the “Psychiatric Yeti”: Schizophrenia Is Not Genetic
After decades of study, billions of dollars spent, and thousands of studies conducted, the failure to identify any genes for schizophrenia should definitively put to rest the notion that schizophrenia is a genetic disorder, according to E. Fuller Torrey.
Workplace Wellness Programs Have Little Benefit, Study Finds
From The New York Times: An Oxford researcher measured the effect of popular workplace mental health interventions, and discovered little to none.
Toxic Interactions: Social Circumstances and Well-Being
Social circumstances are indisputably connected to psychological well-being, but this has gained no traction in policy and service provision.
Scientific Misconduct and Fraud: The Final Nail in Psychiatry’s Antidepressant Coffin
From CounterPunch: A recent reanalysis of previously undisclosed data reveals that STAR*D may go down in US medical history as one of its most harmful scandals.
What It Was Like to Be a Black Patient in a Jim Crow Asylum
From Mother Jones: "You see a society that was comfortable discarding people," says author Antonia Hylton. "I think a lot of families are still allowing loved ones who are suffering to slowly disappear."
The Psychological Humanities Manifesto: An Interview with Mark Freeman
Justin Karter interviews narrative and philosophical psychologist Mark Freeman about his vision for the future of psychology.
Accounting for Mental Disorder: Time for a Paradigm Shift
Many people continue to be victimized by psychiatry’s adherence to a model that exists to satisfy guild interests, not science.
The Longest Journey – or, What Can We Expect from Psychotherapy? | Alice Miller
From Alice Miller: Child Abuse and Mistreatment: The longest journey of my life was the journey to my own self. Successful therapy should shorten this long journey.
Attitudes Towards and Patterns of Medication Use Among Persons With ‘SMI’
From Mifrasim Institute for Psychotherapy Research and Teaching: A recent conference in Israel explored how attitudes and patterns of medication use are related to different aspects of the identity and domains of recovery.
Much of U.S. Healthcare Is Broken: How to Fix It (Chapter 2, Part 4)
Les Ruthven addresses a ghostwritten study claiming effectiveness of antidepressants for children and adolescents.
Arrested Development: Britney Spears’ Memoir Is a Survivor’s Tale of Generational Trauma, Psychiatric Abuse,...
Miranda Spencer discusses Britney Spears' new memoir and the harms of conservatorship.
Giving Caregivers a Platform: Sherita, Mother of Tony
This is the story of Sherita and her son Tony, and her efforts to help him following years of psychiatric drugs and hospitalizations.
Financial Conflicts of Interest Persist in DSM-5-TR Panel Members
From the BMJ: Lisa Cosgrove and colleagues report that 60% of the panel and task-force members of the DSM-5-TR received payments from industry. Collectively,...
What Helped—and What Didn’t Help—My Recovery
In order to recover, it was necessary to give up the psychiatric treatment system, and the idea that I need something from that system, that I belong there.
It’s Health’s Illusions I Recall, I Really Don’t Know Health at All
There is a core concept shaping the ‘market’ in health, the concept of an assay, that few doctors or patients understand.
Why We Need More Soteria Houses
From Compassionate Mental Health: "Strong feelings are often at the bottom of psychosis – we need to be able to power down the emotions with interpersonal and physical environments where emotional relaxation is possible," says psychiatrist Luc Ciompi.
Much of U.S. Healthcare Is Broken: How to Fix It (Chapter 2, Part 3)
Les Ruthven addresses the lack of evidence for antidepressants being better than placebo, as well as a note about ECT.
Improving Outcomes for Psychosis: Psychiatric Survivor and Critical Psychiatry Perspectives
"If I and the people around me could have been helped to see that there was some significance in what I was proclaiming, that I could actually do something meaningful in the world, something with impact, something with power to affect change -- was that so crazy? Or did it come true?" ~ Dina Tyler
Therapy by App: A Clinical Psychologist Tries BetterHelp
Revealing concerns about BetterHelp’s ability to provide quality, secure treatment—and the unresolved tensions in the science of psychotherapy that services like BetterHelp exploit.
The Influence of Paid Opinion Leaders on Antidepressant Prescribing in the UK
From Hole Ousia: Paid opinion leaders who generally control the narrative in relation to psychiatric drug prescribing continue to be very much a thing of the present.
A Psychotic Experience can Help to Process Difficult Memories
The patient is talking, if sometimes more or less metaphorically, about real experiences. Hallucinations and delusions are not meaningless.
Deep Flaws in FDA Oversight of Medical Devices, and Patient Harm, Exposed in Lawsuits
From KFF Health News: A yearlong investigation by KFF Health News revealed that a series of FDA-cleared products have been suspected of contributing to thousands of injuries and patient deaths.
The Power of Distress in an Unhealthy World
From Psychology Today/Joanna Cheek MD: Diagnoses take on a life of their own, when we try to treat "the depression" instead of addressing the problem it’s signaling.
