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...
Words from My Heart to ‘My Heart’: What Might Have Helped My Late Friend?
More than two and a half years later, I’m still processing my grief, still picturing our happiness and innocence as kids, and still acknowledging our struggles and pain.
Reality According to Whom? Listening to My Wife—and The Problems with ‘Psychosis’
Sam Ruck shares an excerpt from his book "Healing Companions," which describes his life with, and love for, his wife and her “alters.”
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.
Medication Overload, Part II: The Explosion of Drugs for Kids
An analysis of the huge increase in drugs for children, the role of Big Pharma, and a look at the impact on families and communities.
The Mental Health Crisis of Today’s Youth—The Hidden Culprit Every Parent and Therapist Should...
A therapist argues that achievement culture hurts youth mental health, and parents should focus on their children's inner wisdom.
Students Don’t Need Spying, They Need Trust
Surveillance exacerbates anxiety, destroys trust in relationships, and diverts money away from effective treatment.
Giving Caregivers a Platform: Chandra, Mother of Sophia
This is the story of Chandra and her daughter Sophia (not their real names), who has been in the mental health system since the age of 10.
Medication Overload, Part I: A Mountain of Drugs in America’s Cabinets
The 25th National Prescription Drug Take Back Day takes place on Saturday, October 28—and this time around, I’ll be there.
The upcoming event will provide...
Good Damage: How Community-Led Healing Challenges the Campus Mental Health System
Being re-grounded in my community reminds me that mourning and love are inseparable, and that “nothing about us, is for us, without us.”
Critical Psychiatry Textbook, Chapter 9: ADHD (Part Three)
ADHD is a disaster area, in terms of the diagnosis, clinical research, and the harms inflicted on hundreds of millions of healthy people.
Healing From Psychiatric Drug Harm, Part 1: First Steps
I needed to teach my nervous system, via different types of neuromuscular reeducation, that it was safe to move again. Before I could walk, I had to crawl, literally.
Critical Psychiatry Textbook, Chapter 9: ADHD (Part Two)
Peter Gøtzsche discusses the results of the MTA study on ADHD drugs and the misleading statements textbooks make about ADHD treatment.
How to Advocate Effectively for Loved Ones Harmed by Psychiatric Drugs
An advocate in the psychiatric realm is a key witness for the patient and his or her experience, and carries a weight that the doctor cannot easily ignore.
Critical Psychiatry Textbook, Chapter 9: ADHD (Part One)
Peter Gøtzsche discusses the broadening of ADHD diagnostic criteria and the misleading and biased stimulant drug trials.
Giving Caregivers a Platform: Sam, Husband of Ka’ryn Marie
For many caregivers who assist their loved ones, the journey involves navigating the medical system and its many challenges. This time, the journey takes...
My Sister Lucy’s Death and Life: Picturing an Alternate Timeline of Recovery
I’ll never forget standing beside my sister Lucy as she was strapped to a gurney during a midnight admission to an E.R. in Cambridge, Mass.
‘The Invisible Cage Called Freedom’: My Work, My Kids, My Mental Health
I
see my 3-year-old’s innocent smile as she plays and rides her tricycle, and I can’t help but feel sad and worried about my daughters’...
Critical Psychiatry Textbook, Chapter 8: Depression and Mania (Affective Disorders) (Part Eight)
Researchers have again and again demonstrated that depression pills double suicides both in children and adults.
Children Are Vulnerable Cogs in the Psychiatric Machine
My guardian decided to seek out “professional” advice about how to diminish my “outbursts.” I was perceived as a problem that needed to be extinguished into a compliant state.
Changing Brains, Changing Minds: Psychiatric Drug Withdrawal and the Marital Relationship
As family support people for those caught in the mental health system, our job is to mitigate as much of the trauma as we can.
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.
The Medicalization of the American Mind
One cause of fragility? Pathologizing our children with psychiatric diagnoses and focusing on a medical solution to life's problems.
Listen to the Victims: Senate Holds Hearing on Guardianship
I have seen the exploitation wreaked by court-appointed guardians. It is up to us to use our voices for those who cannot speak out.
To Promote Mental Health, We Must Teach It
When we are quick to pathologize suffering, yet do not provide the fundamentals for healthy living, it is inhumanity of the highest order.
