‘Hijacked by Anxiety’: How Climate Dread Is Hindering Climate Action
From The Guardian: "A measure of mental health is having the capacity to accurately emotionally respond to the reality in our world. So it’s not delusional to feel anxious or depressed. It’s mentally healthy."
Four Children
I went to the children’s ward, to work with the kids. I remembered to tell all of them that I had been locked up my whole childhood on psych wards, and this always made them trust me.
My Beautiful Psychosis: A Soul Process
To say a person is out of touch with reality is to ignore the validity of the reality that they are in touch with. This is not only disempowering, but also fails to celebrate the journey that the person is on.
We Are the 100%: World Mad Pride, Disability, & Revolution
This year, I finally got that first major speaking invitation: One of the four keynoters in the largest gathering each year for mental health consumers and psychiatric survivors, Peerpocalypse.
How Many Times Must the “PTSD” Label’s Harm Be Exposed?
A recent Wall Street Journal (WSJ) article and a recent American Psychiatric Association (APA) press release reveal the power the APA has wielded through its various DSM editions in pathologizing the effects of trauma.
Psychiatry’s Top Experts Acknowledge Lasting Harms of Antidepressant Withdrawal
Royal College of Psychiatrists’ former president demands support for patients coming off antidepressants.
How Little We Really Know About Psychiatric Drugs
Joanna Moncrieff reflects on what has and has not changed in the field of psychiatric drug treatment in the years between the first and newly published second edition of the Straight Talking Introduction to Psychiatric Drugs.
Is ADHD Diagnosis Flawed? Younger Classmates More Likely to Be Diagnosed
From Sociology Lens: If ADHD is a genetically determined neurobiological disorder, a child’s birthdate, gender and other factors should have no bearing on their chances of ‘having’ it.
Further Results Confirm Antidepressants Increase Risk of Violent Crime By 26%
Taking an SSRI antidepressant was associated with a 26% increased risk of violent crime conviction.
New Official Guidance: People Should Come Off Antidepressants Slowly
From MetroUK: The guidance from RCPsych is catching up to what many patients have been saying for years: antidepressant tapering should take much longer than a few weeks.
The First Studies of Antidepressant Withdrawal
The history of antidepressant withdrawal dates to the first articles on imipramine in the late 1950s. It is useful to compare discussion of both generations of psychiatric drugs and focus on shared efforts to deny and minimize their withdrawal syndromes.
How Psilocybin-Assisted Therapy Changed My Life
I don’t drink or smoke. I’ve never taken any drugs till four years ago. Yet today, my life revolves around psychedelic medicines—heavily stigmatized substances still illegal in this country and most others across the world. How did this happen?
A Letter to the American Psychiatrist Who Labeled Me
The bipolar label and the drugs you prescribed after talking with me for half an hour robbed me of my humanity. What did they not do? Prevent any of the psychotic episodes I had after the first one.
You’ve Got to Be Crazy to Go to a Psychiatrist
To those who say that major scientific/medical advances since 1975 have made going to a biological psychiatrist a rational choice, I say: What advances?
45 years have passed: Is any psychiatric “diagnosis” now verified by lab test, x-ray, or physical exam finding?
Chemical Restraints ‘May Be Abuse’
From 7 News Australia: Consultant pharmacist Manya Angley told a royal commission that unless such drugs were prescribed as a last resort, then the person had been denied their right to proper intervention and care.
Addiction Treatment: How Many Meds Does It Take to Get Sober?
I started to wonder, “How many medications does it take to get sober?” In fact, the biggest correlation I’ve noticed with relapse and overdose is the amount of psychiatric medications being prescribed.
Unblinding in Antidepressant Trials Biases Results
Studies that compare the effectiveness of different antidepressant drugs are unreliable, according to new research in BMC Psychiatry.
Obituary: Ethel “Effie” Smith, Founder of Consumer Action Network (CAN)
From The Washington Post: Effie's tireless effort to improve service quality and to promote new opportunities for empowerment and recovery have left an indelible mark on DC.
How Mindful Awareness Can Reduce Suffering
Suffering can be altered when people learn how to respond differently to their pain. This is the principle behind mindfulness-based stress reduction, which was designed to incorporate Buddhist practices into chronic pain treatment.
Overheated, then Overtreated: My 10-Day Involuntary Hold
Had the hospital simply treated me for heatstroke, they would have made next to nothing. But 11 days in the hospital (10 on a locked ward) and a battery of tests and psych drugs? Well, I’ll let you do the math.
FDA Requiring Boxed Warning Update for Benzodiazepine Drug Class
From the U.S. Food & Drug Administration: The FDA is requiring the update for all benzodiazepines "to address the serious risks of abuse, addiction, physical dependence, and withdrawal reactions."
Suicidal Thoughts, Psychiatric Diagnosis, and What Really Helps: Part Two
This piece is the second of a two-part essay about suicide, diagnosis, what doesn't help, and what does help. This part is about barriers to seeking help and about the ways we actually can be of help to people who are considering suicide.
Suicidal Thoughts, Psychiatric Diagnosis, and What Really Helps: Part One
This piece is the first of a two-part essay about suicide, diagnosis, what doesn't help, and what does help. This part is about suicide, diagnosis, and some of what fails to help.
Psychiatry’s Intellectual Crisis: Giovanni Fava, MD
From Psychiatric Times/Conversations in Critical Psychiatry: "Psychiatry is going through an intellectual crisis [that] is shared by other areas of clinical medicine and stems from a narrow concept of science."
Leading Psychology in Existential Times: An Interview with Kirk Schneider
MIA’s Justin Karter interviews humanistic-existential psychologist Kirk Schneider about how psychology can play a role in confronting the political, social, and climate crises facing humankind.
