It’s Not Just Britney: Those Deemed ‘Mentally Ill’ Can Easily Lose Basic Rights
From The Cut: For every Britney Spears, there are an untold number of exceedingly less-famous Britneys trapped in their own private hells, ignored by our legal system, medical system, and the public.
Mental Health Survival Kit, Chapter 5: Survival Kit for Young Psychiatrists in a Sick...
Peter Gøtzsche describes trying to join the psychiatric establishment to bring attention to critical issues from the inside.
Psychiatric Drugs “Help” By Causing Brain Dysfunction
There are currently ten classes of prescription medications that impair brain function, including both psychiatric and non-psychiatric drugs. A number of non-drug “treatments” do the same.
Suicidality: When Your Feelings Are Too Dangerous
After finding a cop at my door, I learned it wasn’t safe to talk about my feelings of wanting to die. As a result, I spent the better part of the next decade not telling anyone when I was suicidal.
U.S. Supreme Court Rejects J&J Appeal Over Risperdal Drug
From Reuters: The Court rejected a bid to overturn a $70 million jury verdict against the company for its failure to warn of the risk of breast enlargement in children.
In Memoriam: Paula Joan Caplan
Paula Caplan, known for her fierce criticism of psychiatry and its diagnostic manual, died Wednesday at age 74.
Time to Assume That Health Research Is Fraudulent Until Proven Otherwise?
From The BMJ: We are realising that the problem of research fraud is huge, the system encourages fraud, and we have no adequate way to respond.
Antipsychotic Adherence Research Overlooks Key Information
Researchers argue for a shift away from a focus on antipsychotic adherence toward understanding service users’ diverse patterns of use.
Singer Camila Cabello & CA Surgeon General Discuss ‘Public Health Crisis’ of Childhood Trauma
From Billboard: Cabello's conversation with Dr. Nadine Burke Harris is part of a national campaign to raise awareness about the negative effects of traumatic childhood experiences.
Mental Health Survival Kit, Chapter 5: Survival Kit for Young Psychiatrists in a Sick...
Peter Gøtzsche explains how psychiatry has reacted when confronted with evidence and stories of lived experience, and how this has corrupted journalism.
New Study: The Clinical High Risk for Psychosis (CHR-P) Model Is Flawed
The CHR-P model focuses on “attenuated psychosis” to predict “transition” to schizophrenia and ignores other factors. But new research shows that the model is a poor predictor.
‘It Was Devastating’: What Happens When Therapy Makes Things Worse?
From The Guardian: There is very little mainstream discussion about transgressive and abusive therapists, and even less about well-meaning therapists who are inadvertently damaging.
Unheard Voices: Carlton Brown
In the first installment of MIA's Unheard Voices series, Carlton Brown talks about his life, living on the streets, the psychiatric system, and survival.
‘Scotland’s Mengele’: The Truth About Dr. Ewen Cameron
From The National: Dr. Ewen Cameron's horrific CIA-funded experiments at a Canadian psychiatric hospital in the 1950s and '60s informed brutal torture techniques now used around the world.
Psychiatric Drugs Increase Suicide. CAMPP’s Film “Prescripticide” Exposes the Harms
“Prescripticide”: The purpose of this informational video is to raise public awareness of this association between psychiatric drugs and violence/suicide.
Researchers Propose Study to Test Whether Antidepressants Impede Recovery
Evolutionary theorists suggest that antidepressants interfere with the adaptive function of depression and propose a test of this theory.
Abuse Allegations Against Britney Spears’ Former Psychiatrist Unlikely to End Conservatorship, Experts Say
From NBC News: Spears told the court that her previous psychiatrist was abusive, but the allegation is neither uncommon in conservatorships nor likely to help her case.
Meds vs. No Meds? My Search for Freedom of Mind
I have stayed on the same daily, 10 mg dosage of Abilify for the last few years. Although I am compliant, I am not satisfied: I do not feel whole. I do not feel authentic.
Allen Frances, MD: Save Trieste’s Mental Health System
From The Lancet: For people who have never seen the Trieste model in action, it might sound too good to be true. Dr. Allen Frances was once among the profound skeptics.
When Two Punk Bands Came to a Psychiatric Hospital, Beautiful Chaos Ensued
From Aeon: The short documentary 'We Were There to Be There' recalls how the unique gig came together in 1978 and touches on the negative impact of the ensuing privatization of U.S. mental healthcare over the next several decades.
Discomfort Is the New Comfort Zone
The adage that one must step outside their comfort zone if one wants to achieve success is troubling, and it’s time to stop letting it go unquestioned.
Cindi Fisher on Hunger Strike: Free My Sidd
Cindi Fisher has gone on a hunger strike to demand that her adult child, Siddharta, be freed from Western State Hospital after being suddenly removed from the discharge list without explanation.
Mental Health Survival Kit, Chapter 5: Survival Kit for Young Psychiatrists in a Sick...
Peter Gøtzsche explains how newspapers and film festivals censor the work of journalists and filmmakers in order to appease the pharmaceutical industry.
JRC Wins Court Battle to Use Electric Shock on Disabled Students
From NBC News: Disability rights activists, former residents and the state of Massachusetts have for decades pushed to stop the use of the shock device or shut down the school altogether.
How Do We Know When a Treatment Works? A Primer on the Scientific Method
Discussing informed consent, risk/benefit ratios, and the many sources of bias in clinical trials for drugs, in order to help the layperson better understand the research.
