Can Psychiatry Respond to Mad Activism?

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Psychiatrist Mohammed Abouelleil Rashed explores a way forward for psychiatry in responding to the Mad activism of service users.

To Live and (Almost) Die in L.A.: A Survivor’s Tale

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After 25 years of chronic emergency, 22 mental hospitalizations, a stint at a “community mental health center,” 13 years in a "board & care," repeated withdrawals from addictions to legal drugs, and a 12-year marriage, I plan to live every last breath out as a survivor, an advocate, and an artist.

Making Peer Counseling Radically Accessible

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I imagined a world in which anyone can hit a button on their phone and be connected with a compassionate and empathetic listener, 24/7. So in 2019, I founded Peer Collective. Today, there are 30 peer counselors on the platform offering 30-minute counseling sessions for just $14.

Opening Doors in the Borderlands: An Interview with Liberation Psychologist Mary Watkins

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MIA’s Micah Ingle interviews Mary Watkins about reorienting psychology toward liberation and social justice.

Parachute NYC Peer Support Program Presents Challenges and Opportunities

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Anthropologists study Parachute NYC to identify challenges and opportunities for implementing peer support and Open Dialogue practices.

Hearing Voices Network Launches Family & Friends Support Group

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One of the HVN's fundamental principles is that "the person having these experiences is in the best position to decide or discover what they mean" and thus each person must "not try to speak for" another. The challenge for a family group will likely be for members to move past speaking about our loved ones to find or imagine the space where we ourselves are liberated.

How to Integrate Culture into Mental Health Care

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Researchers explore how culturally responsive services can create greater equity in mental health care.
Berlin Manifesto launch

Berlin Manifesto for Humane Psychiatry Released

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Changing the mental health and psychosocial support system in Germany requires public debate about the ways our society should help and support people in mental crisis and with chronic mental health problems. We believe the driving force behind all help and support should be humanitarianism and respect for inalienable human rights.

Discrimination Leads to Mental Distress for Gender Diverse People

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Researchers seek to identify adaptive coping responses to discrimination for the transgender and gender diverse community.

Loneliness Increases Risk of Severe ‘Common Mental Disorders’

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Loneliness was found to both predict and be reinforced by severe common mental disorders.

Clinical Guidelines for Depression Need Urgent Revision

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A coalition of 35 health organizations expressed serious concerns that the NICE guideline for adult depression may cause clinical harm—they demand “full and proper” revisions.

Therapy Gets More Effective Over Time While Antidepressants Decrease in Effectiveness

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New review of long-term depression data finds psychotherapy more effective over time whereas antidepressants decrease in effectiveness.

The Power Threat Meaning Framework One Year On

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The team that developed the Power Threat Meaning framework as a diagnostic alternative reflects on the response to the framework after one year.

Valuing Posttraumatic Growth in Psychosis

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Individuals who experience psychosis can also experience posttraumatic growth, which can be a central component of the recovery paradigm.

Constructing Alternatives to the DSM: An Interview with Dr. Jonathan Raskin

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Dr. Raskin discusses psychotherapists’ dissatisfaction with current psychiatric diagnostic systems and explores alternatives.

Psychosocially Oriented Psychologists Struggle Against the Medical Model

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Interviews with psychosocially oriented psychologists demonstrate their experiences of discomfort with the hegemony of the medical model in their place of work and the conflicts that arise when they attempt to provide alternatives.

Mental Health Recovery Narratives Play Central Role in Trauma-Informed Care

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New research synthesizes insights from 45 studies to construct a conceptual framework relating different elements of recovery narratives to trauma-informed approaches to care.

First-Person Accounts of Madness and Global Mental Health: An Interview with Dr. Gail Hornstein

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Dr. Gail Hornstein, author of Agnes’s Jacket: A Psychologist’s Search for the Meanings of Madness, discusses the importance of personal narratives and service-user activism in the context of the global mental health movement.

Youth-Nominated Social Support Reduces Mortality for Suicidal Adolescents

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The Youth-Nominated Support Team intervention invites adolescents to select adults in their life to receive training on how to support them.

School-Based Program for Anxiety and Depression Shows Promise

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Researchers evaluate the impact of a school-based prevention program on anxious and depressive symptoms.

Peer Providers of Mental Health Services Use Personal Narratives to Help

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Interviews with peer providers indicate that they strategically use their personal illness and recovery story in order to assist others.
2nd Story respite house

The Never Ending Story: How 2nd Story Respite House Was Saved

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We had built relationships with provider and peer organizations and NAMI. We had learned how to interface with the system and share the peer perspective. Ultimately, our relationships saved us. We had worked to start our own organization with the same providers who now were in position to step forward in our defense.

Psychologists Advise How to Help and Minimize Harm Working With Migrants and Refugees

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While well intentioned, providers and volunteers can do more harm than good at the border. The Global Psychosocial Network issues guidelines on how to work for the benefit of migrants and refugees.

Can Cultural Engagement Protect Against Depression?

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A new study examines the preventative effects of cultural engagement has on depression among older adults.

What is Contributory Injustice in Psychiatry?

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An article on contributory injustice describes the clinical and ethical imperative that clinicians listen to service users experiences.