Non-drug Approaches

-Danica Cotov discusses her many and varied efforts to deal with selective mutism throughout her childhood and teen years.

For too long we have considered mental well-being to be about the five, ten, fifteen, or twenty percent of us that gets a psychiatric label each year. But really, if you look around at out world for a moment, you can easily see that to be alive, to be human, to exist, one must have support and healing. Festivals like this one give a glimpse of what the world can be like and I recommend this experience for envisioning a future mental health system or any futuristic vision of change.

-Neuroskeptic wonders why neuroscience has apparently never had any "big ideas" or schools of thought.

-Time magazine looks at the effects of a number of relaxation techniques on depression and anxiety in elderly people.

Psychiatrists are giving drugs to most people with emotionally unstable personality disorders outside of the best-practice clinical guidelines, and an accompanying editorial stated that the reason is because "therapy takes time."

-Adding irrelevant information about neuroscience made psychological theories seem much more convincing to psychology students.

-A commentary suggests that the evidence to support the use of cognitive behavioral therapy for psychosis is tenuous, in part because CBT itself is so variable.

Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy worked as well -- and as poorly -- as antidepressants for preventing relapses in depressed people. Though the mindfulness participants may have been in acute withdrawal.

-Alan Cassels reviews news stories that fawn over the "magical" positive (and negative) psychological and physical health benefits of having cats as pets.

-Elisabeth Svanholmer explores the meaning and nature of "hearing, seeing and sensing things that others don’t."

-Does prominent Canadian child psychiatrist Stanley Kutcher have different standards for evidence depending on whether he's evaluating psychotherapy or psychotropics?

-When we "re-narrate" our own stories and identities, it may be an opportunity for either liberation or re-oppression.

-Amy Johnson writes about how neuroscientific perspectives on her psychological struggles have helped her feel more agency in her growth as a person.

-The Atlantic reports on the growth of "autism-friendly" movie theaters, sports arenas and now live theaters.

-Psychiatry Advisor reviews the scientific evidence about using video games and virtual reality tools in psychiatric treatment.

-University College London researchers review the primary physiological mechanisms by which gut microbes can influence the human brain.

-Counselor Tori Rodriguez discusses how biofeedback works, and what the research has shown about its efficacy.

-Eamon Armstrong describes the Zendo Project, and his own experience providing support for people taking psychedelic drugs.

Much of what we term “madness” is, in fact, the awakening of the "Self" to its own Wholeness/Divinity. We are born totally pure. Throughout our lives we are subject to projections, flung at us from a multitude of directions: from Mom and Dad, from schools, religious institutions, the media, and the medical model. We are all buried, to some degree, under projections, and interesting symptoms emerge: nightmares, stress and anxiety, fear, flashbacks, and so on. These are not "Madness," but symptoms of health; of a "Self" attempting to break free from lies.

-Two Harvard University psychologists discuss how to be a more "mindful" clinician.

Many people now using psychiatric drugs have been convinced or forced to use them while being treated in the mental health system. A good number of people are eager to stop using these drugs, but are often discouraged by others from doing so. Many psychiatric survivors believe that they can never stop using these drugs because they were told they would need to use them the rest of their lives. We hope the Sunrise Center will become a catalyst for a movement of people creating places for people who want to stop using psychiatric drugs.

It took surviving all of the symptoms of benzodiazepine withdrawal, including derealization, gastritis, auditory hallucinations, wasting, dementia, panic attacks and profound depression, for me to come to understand that not only had I really been a cool person before all that shit, but also that nothing was wrong with me. I was smart and a little neurotic at times, but that was it. Drugs caused me to be mentally ill where I had not been before.

-A peer-to-peer application that trains people to consult with each other reportedly produced positive results for reducing stress, depression and anxiety.

-MIA Blogger Monica Cassani discusses a video from psychiatrist Russell Razzaque exploring what he learns about the human psyche from practicing meditation.

The Western Mass Recovery Learning Community (along with the five other RLCs across the state of Massachusetts) remains in jeopardy of a 50% slash to our budget that would go into effect July 1, 2015 should it come to pass. As noted in my previous post (Peer Supports Under Siege), the proposed reduction was introduced by Governor Charlie Baker in early March. However, there are many hoops to jump through and so we’ll remain in budget limbo for some time to come while the House and Senate draw up their own recommendations and then everyone comes together to make a final call.