Non-drug Approaches

Novelist Jenni Fagan writes in the New York Times of being gestated in a psychiatric hospital, told she may have inherited schizophrenia, growing up...

Dear Senator Deeds: Hello from another fellow Virginian. First, I want to extend my deepest condolences for the horrific tragedy that befell your family last year, and for the loss of your precious son Gus. I think I know, at least in part, how agonizing it is when our loved ones cannot access helpful supports, and how it feels to watch in horror as they spiral downward into darkness and despair. We all agree that our mental health systems are broken. Those of us who have been down the hellish road of struggling with our mental health and have found recovery have developed a new vision that will take us forwards, not backwards. Please give us the opportunity to share that new vision with you.

Psychologist Laura Kerr, Ph.D., writes about the role of attachment theory as an antidote to the "emotionally detached, analytic approach to relationship" that has...

Psychiatrist Ira Steinman tells the tale on the ISPS (International Society for Psychological and Social Approaches to Schizophrenia) website of hearing from a former...

A conversation with Thomas Szasz, published on March 28, 2014.  He discusses the question of whether mental illness exists and whether it is possible...

A recent paper argues that prescribing antidepressants shortly after the death of a loved one is problematic . . . and a few days later, a Harvard academic publicly suggests prescribing antidepressants FOR bereavement. Wait, what?

"Incarcerated thieves, drug dealers and murderers may not be the typical group you imagine doing yoga," says Scientific American, "but recent studies show that...

The Atlantic writes "Aerobic activity has shown to be an effective treatment for many forms of depression. So why are so many people still...

Keris Myrick, MIA blogger and President of the NAMI board of directors, writes in Clinical Psychiatry News about community-based solutions that are working, and mentions...

When I started working in the NHS in Britain I pretty much accepted the mainstream view – that psychiatric drugs work, that the categories of mental disorder have been established via solid scientific research, and that we are now on the cusp of understanding the biology of mental illness. I was wrong.

A study published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research finds the strongest association between a history of childhood trauma and the risk of violence...

On March 5, Bruce Levine, PhD, published an interesting article on Mad in America  titled Psychiatry Now Admits It's Been Wrong in Big Ways – But Can It Change? Bruce had interviewed Robert Whitaker, and notes that Robert, in his book Mad in America, had challenged some fundamental tenets of psychiatry, including the validity of its "diagnoses" and the efficacy (especially the long-term efficacy) of its treatments. Bruce reminds us that Robert initially incurred a good deal of psychiatric wrath in this regard, but also points out that some members of the psychiatric establishment are beginning to express a measure of agreement with these deviations from long-held psychiatric orthodoxy.

What is informed consent? Informed consent obviously means if you are being given drugs you should know the common and potential adverse affects, drug interactions, risk of dependency and addiction, and counter-indications with other substances, health conditions or health concerns. This is the baseline of informed consent (which many people don't receive) but there is an incredible amount more that is included in what you deserve to know about any drug you are prescribed or medical system you are advised to subscribe to.

PsychCentral offers a take on noncompliance: "The moment we decide for others why they experience something as they do is the moment at which...

The first time I tried to kill myself, I was 14. I won’t go into the indignity of being involuntarily locked up, time after time, until I satisfactorily convinced the staff that I wouldn’t harm myself or attempt suicide again. (I was lying.) The system taught me to lie, to hide my suicidal feelings in order to escape yet another round of dehumanizing lock-ups and “treatments.”

AlterNet prudently asks: "Does your therapist have a blind spot? Every therapist has to have a theory that guides his or her work. We can’t...

Beyond Meds reminds us, with this presentation by Richard Davidson, that "medicine (by using psych drugs) cannot do the things we can actively choose...

A "systematic review" of all outcome studies of patients with mood disorders, in the March issue of the Australia & New Zealand Journal of...

CBC News reports of the "growing demand" for "Hearing Voices That Are Distressing" workshops in Winnipeg. Article →

In the words of Monica Cassani; "This is so EXCITING. I listened to this with such complete and total delight. This interview with Lisa...

The safety of our children is a sacred obligation we strive to preserve. Anything or anyone that harms them becomes the object of our...

Treatment by lay health workers is more effective than standard facility-based care at reducing disability and psychotic symptoms in people with schizophrenia diagnoses, according...

When Linda Sarage and Jake Powers first approached me about writing a section for the fantastic manual developed by the addictions community — From the Ground Up: How to Build Your own Peer-to-Peer Recovery Center — that would help connect this manual to the mental health community, I envisioned writing a section that would serve as some sort of translation tool that could connect two very different communities toward a common purpose.  After reading the manual, however, I quickly remembered how much the mental health community has in common with the substance abuse community and how little “translation” is actually needed.

There's a growing (and soon to be quickly growing) group of us who are not therapists or psychiatrists but who offer “coaching,” connection and support. We offer this support to those coming off psychiatric drugs, or who would like to, or are opting to not go on in the first place but are facing pressure to. Most of us are psychiatric survivors so a lot of our knowledge and information is from firsthand experience. Others may have never been on psychiatric drugs but know a lot about the ins and outs of withdrawal through close association with those who have.

Through years of turmoil and confusion, Cindi Fisher’s enduring love for her involuntarily committed son gradually changed her from compliant mom to mental health civil rights activist. That’s when authorities banned her from even contacting her son. But could she be a bellwether of a coming nation-wide wave of protestors?