Insane Medicine, Chapter 4: The Manufacture of Autism Spectrum Disorders (Part 1)
Because the “scientists” who study, categorise, and establish guidelines for autism can’t find anything definitive, they resort to scientism. Over time, it becomes part of our cultural “common sense.”
Journal Flags — but Does Not Retract — Decades-Old Paper on “Correcting” Gender Identity
From Retraction Watch: A psychology journal has expressed concern about a 46-year-old paper which described attempts to correct 'deviant' gender identity in a 5-year-old boy using physical violence.
‘How Did We Not Know?’ Gun Owners Confront a Suicide Epidemic
From The New York Times: The concern about suicides has led to an unusual alliance between suicide-prevention advocates and gun-rights proponents.
Does the NASW Code of Ethics Prohibit Peer Work?
An analysis of the National Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics’ regulations on dual relationships: Indications for self-disclosure and problematic consequences for peers entering the social work workforce.
Could Calif.’s Psych Hospitals Be Ordered to Admit Inmates With COVID?
From CalMatters: The Department of State Hospitals is facing pressure in federal court to speed up admissions of 'mentally ill' inmates from the COVID-riddled state prison system.
Immigration Detention: The Mental Health Impacts
Solitary confinement is not a substitute for medical isolation and its conditions are not conducive to care or recovery, but rather a tool to manage and silence those struggling with trauma exacerbated by conditions they are trapped in indefinitely.
It’s Always Stage 4 in Locked Mental Health Wards
From Right Now: Human Rights in Australia: "I have a terror of seeking help from any health practitioner, for fear I may end up subjected to these practices again... mental health services did enormous long-lasting harm." ~ Indigo Daya
Stop Saying This, Part 6: It Takes Two, Life’s Not Fair, and More
It’s common that both people are contributing to the issue in one way or another. However, there is at least one instance that renders “it takes two” unavailable for blanket-statement use, and that is abuse.
Increasing Numbers of Children Prescribed Multiple Psychiatric Medications
According to researchers, children are being increasingly prescribed multiple different psychiatric medications.
Insane Medicine, Chapter 3: The Manufacture of ADHD (Part 2)
Sami Timimi discusses the lack of findings for a genetic or neurobiological basis for ADHD, and explores the short- and long-term effects of stimulant drugs.
Stopping Antidepressants: Exploring the Patient’s Experience
From the Royal College of Psychiatrists: Professor Wendy Burn of the Royal College of Psychiatrists and expert-by-experience James Moore discuss the challenges of stopping antidepressants and what more is needed to better support patients.
For George Floyd and Black Men in Recovery, ‘Everything Piles Up’
From The Washington Post: Finding a way to live has never been a sure thing for Black men in America, who are taught from an early age that any misstep could lead to a prison cell or a coffin.
How Culture Influences Voice Hearing: An Interview with Stanford Anthropologist Tanya Luhrmann
Ayurdhi Dhar interviews Tanya Luhrmann about cultural differences in voice-hearing, diagnosis and damaged identities, and conflicts in psychiatry.
Understanding Mental Illnesses, and Ourselves
I trained in psychiatry in the 1950s. I saw psychiatry switch from trying to help patients to understand themselves better to trying to find a drug that would relieve their symptoms.
Podcast of the Ottawa Institute of CBT Interviews Robert Whitaker
From the Ottawa Insitute of CBT: The Thoughts on Record podcast speaks with Whitaker about the core themes of his book Anatomy of an Epidemic: Magic Bullets, Psychiatric Drugs, and the Astonishing Rise of Mental Illness in America.
Charity: Hundreds of Thousands With Mental Health Conditions Being Chained
From The Guardian: “Shackling people with mental health conditions is a widespread, brutal practice that is an open secret in many communities,” said Kriti Sharma of Human Rights Watch.
Teenage Hockey Player Working to Destigmatize ‘Mental Health Issues’
From ESPN: "No one with mental health issues should be called a burden," said Morgan Urso. "And that is the stigma I am trying to end."
Insane Medicine, Chapter 3: The Manufacture of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) (Part 1)
Both the idea that there are some characteristic brain-based abnormalities for those diagnosed with ADHD, and that the medications used have specific properties that target a disease process—like a chemical imbalance—are false.
Promising Preliminary Results from a Small Study of Psilocybin-Assisted Therapy
A new study offers promising results for psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy for depression.
Who’s to Blame for the Lost Soul of Psychiatry?
An interview between Drs. Aftab and Pies reveals a deep mistrust of patients' reports of their own experiences, and devolves into a game of semantics in an attempt to prove psychiatry's relevance.
‘Mental Health’, Extreme States and Shamans
From holisticelephants: The extreme ‘symptoms’ in our modern age are trying to tell us about problems we need to solve as a community before society blows up like a volcano.
Researchers: Antidepressant Use in Children Increases Suicide, No Evidence of Benefit
Noted antidepressant researcher, Michael Hengartner, summarizes the latest research on the use of antidepressants in children and adolescents.
Stepping Into One’s Inner Radiant Space
It is hard to step out of the space of diagnoses because of the power it holds. The “doctor” who inflicted on you the awful label of “schizophrenia” or “bipolar” damages you because of the power he holds.
Insane Medicine, Chapter 2: The Scientism of Psychiatry (Part 2)
Paying attention to the science tells us that we need to look beyond formal services. People need connection and meaning as well as basics such as safety, housing, and work.
Would More Social Justice Make You Happier?
From Greater Good Magazine: A new study finds that, after social capital, a country’s level of social justice is the second strongest predictor of people's life satisfaction.
