Inside a Forensic Psychiatry Unit: Calling in AIR Strikes
I was not going to earn my release the “traditional” way through unquestioning obedience to the treatment team and ADMIN. I was either going to die in there or find a non-traditional path to my freedom.
Protesters Pretend to Be ‘Drowning Mice’ to Call Attention to Animal Abuse in Antidepressant...
From news.com.au: Also known as the “despair” test, the "forced swim" test is commonly used in pharmaceutical research to measure the supposed effectiveness of antidepressant medications.
Inquiry Investigates Deaths of 1,500 NHS Mental Health Patients in Essex
From The Guardian: The children and adults died in "unexpected, unexplained or self-inflicted" circumstances and after "unacceptable examples of dispassionate behaviours" by staff from 2000 to 2020.
Responding to Daniel Morehead, MD, Psychiatry’s Latest Champion
It is easier to score cheap and invalid points against one's critics than to expend the time and energy necessary to examine their criticisms.
Mental Wellbeing Poorest in English-Speaking Countries of the World
A survey of 233,087 “internet users” in 34 countries that measured “mental wellbeing” found that the percentage of respondents who were “distressed or struggling” was highest in English-speaking regions of the world, where 30% fell into this category.
Deaths of Despair: Why America’s Medical Industry Explains Working-Class Suicides
From The Guardian: The US healthcare system is helping to kill people in staggering numbers and is bleeding the rest of the country of its resources.
Trusting People as Experts of Themselves: Sera Davidow on the Wildflower Peer Support Line
Sera Davidow is a filmmaker, activist, advocate, author, and mother of two very busy kids. As a survivor of physical, sexual, and emotional abuse...
Connecting the Dots: My Toxic Workplace Made Me “Mentally Ill”
In 1996, I suffered my first manic episode. My mother was convinced it had been caused by chemical exposure. But I wouldn’t hear it, and neither would my psychiatrists.
Hannah Arendt On Standing Up to the Banality of Evil
From Philosophy Break: Do we ever take the time to truly challenge the principles we’ve inherited, to ensure they stand up to our own individual scrutiny?
Mad in the UK
Mad in the UK describes its mission as “Fundamentally re-thinking UK mental health practice and promoting positive change.”
Is “Cry-It-Out” the Tip of a Dangerous Parenting Iceberg?
From Raised Good: Babies who learn early in life that their needs don’t matter are predisposed to experiencing a myriad of negative mental and emotional outcomes.
We Have Overwhelmingly Lost Touch With the Human Aspect of Medicine
From KevinMD: We are nurturing an environment of emotional phobia, where people can no longer identify and frankly fear their own emotions and the emotions of others.
The Functions of the Mental Health System Under Capitalism
The mental health system is a system of care and control, legitimated by the concept of mental illness, and playing an important role in capitalist and Neoliberal societies.
Breaking Off My Chemical Romance: Reassessing Antidepressants
From The Nation: Some medical professionals are concluding what until recently felt too heretical to say out loud: Antidepressants may often cause more harm than good.
Pharma Payments to Psychiatrists: The Million Dollar Club
The Institute for Scientific Freedom has published an article by Whitaker and Gotzsche on industry payments to academic psychiatrists, a version of a 2021 MIA Report, Anatomy of an Industry.
Thomas Jobe: The Legacy of Research He Leaves Behind
Thomas Jobe was a collaborator in a longitudinal study that upended conventional thinking about antipsychotics. He died March 16.
The Power of Addiction and the Addiction to Power | Gabor Maté, MD
From TEDx Talks: Which addiction is greater—an individual drug addiction, or the addiction to oil, to consumerism, to acquisition and power over others? Which causes the greater harm?
Former NIMH Director’s New Book: Why, With More Treatment, Have Suicides and Mental Distress...
Psychiatry’s worsening outcomes despite increased treatment should provoke the consideration that a paradigm shift is necessary.
Antipsychotics Often Prescribed Without Informed Consent
New research reveals that patients are often not given fully informed consent before being prescribed antipsychotics.
Engaging “Madness”: A Guide for Significant Others and Families
Using personal stories from my own family, my new booklet Engaging 'Madness' paints a clear picture of what an alternative healing journey outside the biomedical paradigm can look like.
Rhythm Regulates the Brain: The Impact of Music (& More) on Mental Health
From Don't Try This Alone: "Patterned, repetitive, rhythmic somatosensory activity… elicits a sensation of safety" and is key in bringing down the high stress levels of traumatized people, says Dr. Bruce Perry.
Mad in Sweden
Lasse Mattila, founder of Mad in Sweden: "You only ask the question, ‘What’s wrong with you? What symptoms do you have?’ But you don’t ask: ‘What happened to you? What tragedies did you have?’”
Trans-Generational Dynamics and Mental Illness: A Family Constellation
Family constellations are a fascinating, cutting-edge tool for exploring issues within families, groups, and individuals and can lead to a high degree of healing in a short amount of time.
Why Do We Lock People Up?
Every day, people who have not broken any laws have their human rights suspended indefinitely, without a formal judicial hearing, all on unsworn hearsay evidence and with practically no right of appeal.
Parenting Changed My Perspective on “ADHD”
My experience of raising a son who was bright and creative but didn’t fit the mold helped me to approach my restless, impulsive students more compassionately and creatively.
