Finding Meaning in Suffering: How Existentialism Can Help
Suffering is a universal human condition. But without making meaning of suffering, it can overwhelm us. Finding meaning in suffering might help to find the will to survive when life is difficult.
Surviving the Bipolar Label
The label bipolar validated that I was suffering, yes, but it was also a bargain that asked me to see my suffering as unreasonable, the result of a deformity within my body.
The Onion: Majority of Psychological Experiments Conducted in 1970s Just Crimes
From The Onion: "Much of the time these researchers didn’t even bother to test a hypothesis or collect data, but instead just tortured student volunteers for amusement."
Insane Medicine, Chapter 5: The Manufacture of Childhood Depression (Part 1)
The medicalisation of our emotional lives has led to a horrific cultural shift in which we, and our children, have become alienated from and suspicious of our emotions, chipping away at our natural resilience.
The Patient Voice: Antidepressant Withdrawal, MUS and FND
From BJGP Life: Diagnoses of MUS (medically unexplained symptoms) or FND (functional neurological disorder) may be covering up serious prescribed drug effects.
Collective Action for Collective Healing – A Q&A With Thomas Hübl
From The Harvard Gazette: "Underneath trauma there’s always healing, which means an ethical restoration and ethical upgrade. Post-traumatic growth is an ethical realignment."
No, Autism Is Not Over-Diagnosed
Autism is an umbrella diagnosis at this point. The broadness of the diagnosis doesn’t tend to be useful to clinicians. But it is very useful to the individuals who live with it.
Exploring Psychiatric Drug Withdrawal: A Town Hall Discussion Series
Our new discussion series aims to explore what we do and don’t know about safe withdrawal from antidepressants, antipsychotics, benzodiazepines and stimulants.
Letters to My Doctors (Part 1)
I struggle as to how to talk to you guys, and there can be no progress without communication. Today, I am attempting to begin a bridge so that you will not be afraid of me and I will not be afraid of you.
The Ups and Downs of Online Therapy
Now that the novelty has worn off and we are able to step back and analyze the situation, what does the switch to teletherapy portend for our profession?
New FDA Study Shows Benzodiazepines Can Cause Long-Term Injury
The FDA has finally acknowledged the adverse effects of benzodiazepines, the dangers of withdrawal, and that the current packaging does not sufficiently warn of these harms.
San Francisco Launches New Police-Alternative Program
From The Mercury News: Under the pilot program, teams of paramedics, behavioral health clinicians and peer specialists will respond to certain non-violent 911 calls in the city, instead of cops.
A Dialogue on Psychosis and Trauma
From Psychiatric Times: Three British experts discuss various ways to respond to and help people who have experienced trauma and psychosis.
I Live
Why is it such a “crime” to explore alternative realities, and look for something beyond our totally medicalized society? In some cultures, one would be revered instead, and not locked away.
Insane Medicine, Chapter 4: The Manufacture of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) (Part 2)
No one has come near to finding a genetic basis or a characteristic neurological abnormality for autism, and as a result there is no biological marker or brain scan used to diagnose ASD.
MadFreedom Interviews Jim Gottstein of PsychRights
From MadFreedom/MadMediaMatters: Attorney Jim Gottstein discusses the challenges and strategies involved in legal advocacy for people imprisoned in psychiatric facilities and drugged against their will.
Suicide Rates Did Not Decrease When Antidepressant Drugs Were Introduced
Researchers investigate the claim that the introduction of antidepressant drugs led to decreases in suicide rates internationally.
Suicide Hotlines Bill Themselves as Confidential—Even as Some Trace Your Call
Every year suicide hotline centers covertly trace tens of thousands of confidential calls, and police come to homes, schools, and workplaces to forcibly take callers to psychiatric hospitals.
Social Adversity, Mental Distress, and the Theatre of the Oppressed
The theatre of the oppressed directly challenges societal problems of oppression. Here the involved learn much from the enactment—concrete possible solutions and possible practices of resistance.
Dual Diagnosis Anonymous: Peer Support for Those Who Need It
What worked for participants is the compassionate, welcoming, inclusive and non-judgmental approach of DDA. It is about peer support, role modelling, hope, building skills… acquiring self-confidence and building a new identity.
Writing Is My Best Medicine
For me, writing is a powerful tool for wellness and healing, whether that involves an escape into science fiction or simply putting my dreams, emotions, memories, and observations on paper.
White House Killed Deal to Pay Mental Health Care of Separated Migrant Families
From NBC News: Sources said the White House counsel's office said no after checking with Trump adviser Stephen Miller. A White House official denied Miller had a role.
Rethinking Suicide Prevention: An Interview on Critical Suicide Studies with Jennifer White
MIA’s Samantha Lilly interviews critical youth suicidologist Jennifer White about what suicide prevention could look like outside of the medical model.
A Psychiatrist Critiques Psychiatry, and Does a Great Job!
Dr. Lieblich's critique of psychiatry is precise, hard-hitting, and uncompromising, a superb and compelling summary of the case against psychiatry.
For Hannah Arendt, Totalitarianism Is Rooted in Loneliness
From Aeon: Organised loneliness, bred from ideology, leads to tyrannical thought, and destroys a person’s ability to distinguish between fact and fiction – to make judgments.
