Jun. 9 Event: Stories of Reducing Antipsychotics: Withdrawal Effects or Relapse?
From UCL Beacon Bursary fund: This event aims to explore the lived-experience perspective when attempting to distinguish withdrawal effects from relapse.
Mental Health Survival Kit, Chapter 4: Withdrawing from Psychiatric Drugs (Part 2)
Peter Gøtzsche: The MIND organization in Denmark and the psychiatric guild suppressed information regarding the discontinuation of psychiatric drugs.
Antidepressant Withdrawal Symptoms Shouldn’t Be Mistaken for Return of ‘Illness’
From The Guardian: Such symptoms occur in half of patients, and the correct response is to taper off their medication more slowly, says Dr Mark Horowitz.
Shining a Light on Numbers Needed to Treat (NNT)
With an NNT of 7, one out of every seven people given an SSRI would benefit from the treatment, while the other six would be needlessly exposed to the adverse effects.
The ERNI Declaration: Making Sense of Distress Without “Disease”
The ERNI (Emotions aRe Not Illnesses) declaration is based on the idea that distress does not equate to disease, dysfunction, dysregulation, or chemical imbalance.
Remembering Jay Mahler
“I’ve spent 58 years in the public mental health system—10 years surviving it and 48 trying to change it.” That’s how Jay Mahler—psychiatric survivor, activist, leader—described his experiences.
Mental Health System: Open Letter to the Media
"We, a group of people with first-hand experience of the mental health system...saw how abuse, corruption, and exploitation were covered up, while victims and critics of the system were silenced and marginalized."
The Undervalued Potential of Living Without Psychiatric Drugs
Compared to the last six years, compared to how intense the drugs are and how grueling the side-effects, my first psychosis at 17, I admit, was honestly not that bad.
Madness Is a Strategy
From Jody Chan/Midnight Sun: "our bodies know things about freedom that our language cannot articulate . . ."
Allen Frances Takes on the Over-Prescription of Antidepressants
The prominent psychiatrist explores why antidepressants remain highly overprescribed and offers solutions to the problem.
Mental Health Survival Kit, Chapter 4: Withdrawing from Psychiatric Drugs (Part 1)
Very few doctors know anything about withdrawal and make horrible mistakes. If they taper at all, they do it far too quickly because the few guidelines that exist recommend far too quick tapering.
Welcome to Mad in America’s Family Resources Section!
This week, you’ll notice a new name and a new look on this page. The Parent Resources section of Mad in America’s website is now officially the Family Resources section.
Anticholinergic Medications Linked to Cognitive Impairment in Schizophrenia
Researchers have found further evidence that the anticholinergic effect of psychiatric drugs can lead to cognitive impairments.
The Invisible Asylum
From City Journal: In slaying the old monster of the state asylums, we created a new monster in its shadow: one that consists of the street, the jail, and the emergency room.
Current Anti-Stigma Campaigns Hinder Withdrawal from Psychotropic Medication
Anti-stigma campaigns reinforce a belief that people with mental health issues must have treatment and thus, push discussion of withdrawal and negative aspects of psychiatric drugs into anonymous spaces.
Foster Kids Sent Out of State to Mental Health Facilities Faced Abuse, Neglect
From ProPublica: An investigation found repeated breakdowns in oversight as states failed to protect young people in need of specialized care.
Drowning in Doubts: Why I Think About Leaving Psychiatry
Going into psychiatry as a naïve 25-year-old, I had no idea what I would discover. If I knew then what I know now, I wouldn’t have chosen this field.
Radical Acts of Community Healing and Self-Love
Self-love became a radical and revolutionary act of activism against this system. At its foundation was the rejection of “disease” as a label to define the uniqueness of my mind.
Addiction Treatment Providers in Pa. Face Little State Scrutiny Despite Harm to Clients
From KHN: This leaves Pennsylvanians — who suffer one of the highest drug overdose death rates in the nation — in the dark about which treatment facilities have troubling track records.
Psychedelics, Transformative Experiences and Healing: An Interview with Katrina Michelle
Richard Sears interviews transpersonal psychologist Katrina Michelle about harm reduction practices with psychedelics in therapy.
Earth Needs Shamans
From Sacredphrenia: We have pathologized our original priests, the expert men and women who provided much of our “second sight,” and the result, ironically, is planetary psychopathology.
Ethical Issues Raised Over FDA Collaboration with Biogen on Failed Drug
The FDA collaborated with Biogen to conduct repeated re-analyses of aducanumab for Alzheimer's and FDA committee members are raising concerns.
Chris Cornell’s Family Settles Lawsuit With Doctor Over Rocker’s Death
From Fox News: The Cornell family alleged that prescribed medication, especially lorazepam (Ativan), led to erratic behavior from the Soundgarden frontman before his death by suicide.
Mental Health Survival Kit, Chapter 3: Psychotherapy: The Human Approach to Emotional Pain
Through the process of healing—whether assisted by psychotherapy or not—we learn something important that can be useful if we get in trouble again.
Gabor Maté, MD: The Power of Connection: Finding Wisdom in Our Trauma
From Wholehearted.org: A one-hour introduction to Dr. Maté’s perspective on the absolute necessity of connection to healthy existence, and how deficits in connection early in life influence everything from our bodies, to politics, to society.
