Shedding the Limits of “Severe Mental Illness” Labels

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When people seeking help are relegated to “the Other,” how can they ever form a “therapeutic alliance”? Without collaboration, treatment devolves into coercion and oppression. We must change our language and relationships so new narratives can be born.
scientism of childhood depression

The Scientism of Childhood and Adolescent Depression

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When I was training to be a child psychiatrist in the mid-1990s, childhood depression was considered to be rare, related to adversity, and generally unresponsive to pharmaceutical treatment. Since then much has changed. The psychiatrization of the pain and struggles involved in growing up has caused considerably more harm to young people than good. I believe the science is on my side in this conclusion.
teen boy playing video game intensely

What Video Games Can Teach Us About Effective Parenting

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There is a secret to the programming of these games that seems to stir children to a level of greatness. Fortunately, that magic is completely transposable to our interactions with them.

Reality According to Whom? Listening to My Wife—and The Problems with ‘Psychosis’

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Sam Ruck shares an excerpt from his book "Healing Companions," which describes his life with, and love for, his wife and her “alters.” 
geriatric depression

The Year I Lost Everything, Psychiatry Offered Nothing

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After a failed suicide attempt following my son's death, New York State incarcerated me in a mental institution for 21 days. The environment was degrading, stultifying, and downright depressing.

Why I Fight for Trauma-Informed Systems

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I am not sure what was worse: being abused growing up while my community documented—then ignored—my torment, or being attacked for going public with my story.
the real attention deficit disorder

The Real Attention Deficit Disorder

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The fact that we shame people for acting like they need attention (and for actually needing attention) is self-defeating and maddening, not to mention absurd. Living in a society that punishes people for having fundamental needs like attention is probably one of the reasons people have developed behaviors “just” to “get attention.”
Red and white pills have spilled from a crystal dish along with red liquid

Critical Psychiatry Textbook, Chapter 8: Depression and Mania (Affective Disorders) (Part Eight)

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Researchers have again and again demonstrated that depression pills double suicides both in children and adults.
couple reconciling

 Just Like Viruses, Emotions are Contagious

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Now is not the time for family members to be nursing old hurts or believe the all-too-common delusion we all periodically fall prey to—you can get, without giving, when it comes to goodwill.  Gestures of decency, gratitude and appreciation will need to prevail.
Silhouette of man and woman's handsin form of heart

Engaging “Madness”: A Guide for Significant Others and Families

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Using personal stories from my own family, my new booklet Engaging 'Madness' paints a clear picture of what an alternative healing journey outside the biomedical paradigm can look like.
ritalin use in france

Countervailing Forces Against Ritalin Use in France

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A new study in the journal Social Science and Medicine explores why French children take stimulants far less than children in the United States. The study looks at how particular forces in society, in concert with government agencies, became an effective check on stimulant marketing for kids in France.
woman walking away, footprints in the sand

To the Young Person Who Doesn’t Identify with Their Disability Diagnosis Anymore

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Your diagnosis should serve YOU. Not your parents, your doctors, your teachers, or the next door neighbor. We should be fighting for a future where the person being labeled has the ultimate say over how doctors and therapists view them.

Cindi Fisher on Hunger Strike: Free My Sidd

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Cindi Fisher has gone on a hunger strike to demand that her adult child, Siddharta, be freed from Western State Hospital after being suddenly removed from the discharge list without explanation.

Mental Health & Our Schools, Part 2

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Schools are rolling out programs and services intended to safeguard students’ emotional well-being. They are full of potential—and pitfalls.
Photo of a boy sitting against a brick wall with his hands covering his face

Why Is Child Sexual Abuse So Common in Institutions?

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Where ableism and adultism allows disabled children to be seen as unreliable narrators of their own experience, sexual violence in institutions will continue to be pervasive.
trauma wars adverse childhood experiences

U.S. Politicians Now “Trauma Informed”—Should We Be Hopeful?

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It is good that the general public is finally hearing about the ACE Study, but I do not count on U.S. politicians to address the core implications of the ACE findings—the need to re-make U.S. society so as to (1) prevent preventable adverse childhood experiences, and (2) create a society in which healing from trauma can more easily occur.

From Horse Ranch to Home Ground: Healing Families via Telehealth

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Since COVID, NISAPI has transitioned our collaborative therapy setting from barns and fields to kitchens and living rooms. Our clients report similar positive outcomes with telehealth as in person.
love hope psychiatric harm families

Where Can Families Turn for Help?

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Watching my son be subjected to continuous harm by the drugs, how can I pretend that it's okay to maintain this abusive system of care? Who will push for accountability? As a mother, I want to share a meaningful connection with my son. I want to witness him happy, healthy and living the life he chooses.

To Young People of Color with Lived Experience: Pay it Forward; Become a Peer

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A Peer Support Specialist tells her story and issues a callout to the BIPOC LatinX community, advocating for change.
power threat meaning

Fatherland Dreamland Motherland Hinterland

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I grew up in Rhodesia, a British colony in southern Africa. Until the age of 16, I lived on the grounds of Ingutsheni Mental Hospital where my father worked. As a psychiatrist, he had enormous power.
"A Grasp at Knowledge" by HoJin Kwak

Beyond Labels and Meds—Closer Look: HoJin Kwak

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This is the first of 4 spotlight interviews with some of the talented youth behind the pieces in MIA's art exhibition. HoJin states: "The original idea for my drawing started with the brain. The complexity of its sudden twists and curves fascinates me."

A Nurse’s Nightmare: Child Nearly Dies from ADHD Drug

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My hope and prayer is that this dramatic look at a negative effect of this class of drugs will help you understand that, in my professional assessment, their risks outweigh their benefits.

My Lived Experience Helps Others Heal: Working with Families on the Path to Recovery

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If one person is struggling, everyone in the family is struggling. Families need support.

Engaging Voices, Part 2: Working Our Way Toward Connection

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Sam Ruck shares his fourth excerpt from his book Healing Companions, which describes his life with, and love for, his wife and her “alters.” 
postpartum depression

“Breakthrough” Treatment for Postpartum Depression: Game Changer or Misguided Magic Bullet?

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Ultimately, the FDA Advisory Committee recommended approval of brexanolone by a 17-1 member vote. I was the only NO vote. I voted NO because as the sole Consumer Representative on the committee I didn’t believe the company had demonstrated that the potential benefits outweighed the potential for harm.