From Wounds to Labels to “Mental Illness”
We don’t need to understand someone’s entire past to exercise a little emotional humility—to see behavior as adaptation, not brokenness.
A Relationship Imbalance, Not A Chemical Imbalance
With DSM-III, everything we knew about relationship dynamics was buried under the tidal wave of the pharmaceutical industrial complex.
Screen Time for Children Under Three: A Trigger for Virtual Autism?
"A Stone Unturned" weaves together the research and stories of autism symptoms reversed by removing screens and adding more parent engagement.
As a Psychologist, I’ve Seen Many Children Misdiagnosed as Autistic—It’s a Clinical Catastrophe
The ASD diagnosis glosses over the many developmental specifics that might underlie a child’s challenges related to social communication.
Arrested Development: Britney Spears’ Memoir Is a Survivor’s Tale of Generational Trauma, Psychiatric Abuse,...
Miranda Spencer discusses Britney Spears' new memoir and the harms of conservatorship.
Family Traditions and the Inheritance of “Madness”
Families are not merely a source of comfort and support but also a breeding ground for dysfunction, unhealed trauma, and emotional neglect.
How the Troubled Teen Industry Turns Pain Into Profit
These programs, though marketed as "therapeutic," are nothing more than profit-driven enterprises that exploit families at their most desperate.
We Can’t Help People With Trauma If We Can’t Say Trauma
Although the medical care Cary received was excellent, no one mentioned “trauma” or counseled us on how it might manifest emotionally.
Fighting Forced Treatment in Court: A Victory to Be Celebrated
It is very difficult to get off a mental health commitment. The counties fight tooth and nail to keep people in the system.
State Hospital Memories: More of My Story
The Detroit Free Press did an excellent job in bringing to light the conditions at Pontiac, its loss of accreditation, and closing. Still, they didn't quite grasp the severity of violence there.
Catherine’s Story: A Child Lost to Psychiatry
A year ago today, our youngest child died, thanks to the adversarial actions and toxic treatments foisted on her by medical-model psychiatry. By telling her story, we hope to promote systemic change.
Reflections on the Silicon Valley Teen Suicides-by-Train: Fifteen Years Later
A psychiatrist and mom reflects on teen suicide clusters in Palo Alto and discusses alternative ways to address adolescent mental health.
“Get Over It”? A Response to Empower Parents to Repair Instead of Victim Blame
An epidemic of children blaming their parents in therapy? In my 20 years as a psychologist, I've seen the opposite.
Usage of Depression Pills in Children and Young People Must Stop
Our citizens would be far better off if we removed all the psychotropic drugs from the market, as doctors are unable to handle them.
Impacting Parenting from a Place of Strength: Looking Back to Move Forward
You may forget what people did for you, but you will never forget how they made you feel.
Survivors and Families Working Together For Change: A New Project
Based on his lived experience, Ron Bassman describes his efforts to create an educational and support program that links families with survivors.
Memories of a Childhood in a Mental Hospital
My stay at the hospital had no impact on the problem that led to my admission. But it did exacerbate other problems and change me in fundamental ways. I am a deformed product of that ‘cutting-edge facility’ and the ‘treatments’ I received there — social isolation, pills and shots, ice bath and ECT.
Boy, Interrupted: A Story of Akathisia
I watched my son’s life change almost overnight. He developed akathisia from antidepressants, taken as prescribed for just a few weeks for garden-variety anxiety.
Hereditary Madness? The Genain Sisters’ Tragic Story
The story of the Genain quadruplets has long been cited as evidence proving something about the supposed hereditary nature of schizophrenia. But who wouldn’t fall apart after surviving a childhood like theirs? The doctors attributed their problems to menstrual difficulties or excessive masturbation — anything except abuse.
Guardianship Destroyed My Family
People who can’t take care of themselves need support and protection, but guardianship provides neither. I know: I've lived it.
Conservatorship: The Racket That Ruined My Father’s Last Years
I have watched as my father’s pursuit of happiness was swept away by the court system in his senior years.
Psychiatric Butchery: What I’ve Seen at a Homeless Shelter for Women with Children
Children are being given psychiatric drugs, “treated” for the abuse they receive in the harsh world of the homeless.
Childhood Bipolar Disorder, Deconstructed
Diagnosing children with juvenile or pediatric bipolar disorder is largely an American phenomenon. Do we actually have more “bipolar” children in the United States—or are we simply labeling more of them as such? If it is ever fair to call a child “manic,” isn’t the child’s environment the direction in which we should look?
Stealing My Mother From Me: The Horrors of Conservatorship
My beloved mother was mistreated, cheated, abused mentally, and alienated from her family by her conservator and the courts.
Escaping The Shackles of Psychiatry: What I’ve Seen and Survived, as Both Doctor and...
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing,” said Edmund Burke. This is as true on...
