The Shadow Penal System for Struggling Kids
From The New Yorker: The Christian organization Teen Challenge, made up of more than a thousand centers, claims to reform troubled teens. But is its discipline more like abuse?
Respect Psychiatric Hospitals’ Real-Life Horror Stories
From The Detroit News: This is ground made hallow by the tremendous torment that was endured there. To have the suffering and misery mocked up for the amusement of Halloween thrill-seekers is disrespectful.
New Perspectives on Eating Disorders: An Interview with Shira Collings
“Eating disorder recovery is about rejecting oppressive values.” Therapist Shira Collings discusses person-centered approaches to dealing with food-related challenges in youth.
More Than a Third of English ECT Patients Given Procedure Without Consent, Study Suggests
From The Daily Mail: "Our research shows that there is no effective monitoring or regulation of ECT in England," said Professor John Read, who led the study.
Fate of a Whistleblower: I Spoke Out About Abrupt Med Withdrawal
A rapid withdrawal can be very dangerous and even deadly. You do not solve the problem by firing those who point this out, but that happened to me.
‘You Have to Scream Out’: Being Black and Disabled Is a Constant Struggle
From The Atlantic: "I became an advocate not because I wanted to but because I had to, to survive," said Angel Love Miles. "I was not very outspoken at all. But if you’re trying to get home and the bus keeps passing you up because you’re in a wheelchair, you have to scream out."
Combatting Structural Racism and Classism in Psychiatry: An Interview with Helena Hansen
MIA interviews psychiatrist and anthropologist Helena Hansen about bringing structural competency to psychiatry while rebuilding communities.
A New Liberation Movement, Focused on Relationship
The harm that medical-model practitioners inflicted on me had to be managed and overcome. This delayed my progress resolving my childhood traumas.
Does Capitalism Make Us Crazy? | Susan Rosenthal, MD
From Susan Rosenthal, MD: It’s a huge challenge to trap a highly social species in such a dehumanizing social arrangement.
Trieste’s World-Famous Community Mental Health Program Under Attack
From MindSite News: The appointment of Pierfranco Trincas as director of the Barcola mental health center in Trieste, Italy, has set alarm bells ringing among supporters of this unique system of community mental health.
Books Under Review: Fall 2021
Reviews of four recent books reflecting various perspectives on the mental health system, including explorations of the DSM and Open Dialogue.
‘French Psychiatry Has Gone Downhill in Part Because of American Influence’
From France 24: "Human beings are born with a search for meaning that can’t be suppressed by an injection of antipsychotic drugs or a few anti-depressants," said one Parisian child psychiatrist.
Why the National Survivor User Network Doesn’t Do ‘World Mental Health Day’
From NSUN: Are there still some people who are not 'aware' of 'mental health'? Yes, of course. Maybe World Mental Health Day is for them, but somehow, I’m not so sure.
I Set Up a Suicide Crisis Centre to Provide the Opposite of What I...
Our approach is to openly care about our clients and empower them as much as possible. It's vital that clients know we care about their survival.
Interview: How Does Climate Change Affect Youth Mental Health?
Psychiatric epidemiologist Jennifer Barkin talks about her research on the traumatizing effects of extreme weather events on youth and how caregivers can help them build resilience.
Mass. Locked Up People With ‘Mental Illness’ for Decades. Now Advocates Want Their Stories...
From WBUR: "There is no formal statement of what the state schools and...hospitals were or why they came to be, what they were, how they closed," said Alex Green, who is seeking to establish a commission to reckon with the way patients were treated and the abuses they endured.
Patient Sues Psychiatrist After 35 Years of Treatment for ‘Condition He Never Had’
From Queensland Law Society: The Australian man is seeking damages for personal injury caused by the clinician’s "alleged negligence, breach of contract, battery and misleading or deceptive conduct" over the course of his treatment.
Restoring ‘Respect & Dignity’ to 777 Souls Who Died at Delaware Psych Hospital
From WHYY: "When you see it for the first time, it stuns you, but that’s the way these people were regarded...There’s no names there. Just these little blocks with numbers," said Dennis O'Connell, whose grandmother is buried there.
Manufacturer of Tardive Dyskinesia (TD) Drugs Finds TD Emotionally Devastating
“Patients expressed feeling unaccepted by society or uncomfortable in their own skin… A few indicated that they would rather be dead than have tardive dyskinesia.”
Limbic Revision – Love Heals Your Traumatized Brain
From MindKind Mom: We have to undo the encoding of abusive or poor-quality relationships we suffered as kids in order to heal our mental - and often physical - illnesses.
Newsom Signs #FreeBritney Bill to Help Reform Conservatorship Laws
From Politico: "California’s conservatorship system is failing people from every walk of life...it’s painfully clear that we can and should do better," said the bill's sponsor, Assemblymember Evan Low.
In a PBS documentary, ECT Is Bad for “Curing” Homosexuality, but Great for Depression!
A new documentary about gay activists' defeat of the APA ends with a disclaimer that ECT is "effective" for severe depression. Bruce Levine spoke with the filmmakers.
Reversing My Diagnosis
I was fine until traumatic events collided and pushed me to a state of emotional crisis. Yet I emerged this time as a different person, and knew I had to exit the mainstream mental health system.
Antipsychotics Linked to Increased Breast Cancer Risk
Long-term exposure to prolactin-increasing antipsychotics increases the odds of developing breast cancer.
Richard Bentall: The Man Who Lost His Brother – Then Revolutionised Psychology
From The Guardian: One of Britain’s most influential psychologists explains how his brother's suicide informed his work and led him to question the accepted wisdom regarding mental health.
