Catherineâs Story: A Child Lost to PsychiatryÂ
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.
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.
ADHD Drugs Linked to Psychosis and Mania
In one analysis, those on a high dose of prescription amphetamines were more than 13 times more likely to develop psychosis/mania.
Study: Teens Who View Parents as Loving and Supportive Less Likely to Be Cyberbullies
From the Daily Mail (UK): Teenagers who see their mum and dad as loving caregivers are less likely to be cyberbullies than children with...
1 in 3 UK Teens Given Antidepressants, Despite Official Guidelines
From inews.co.uk: Family doctors say a lack of access to effective psychological therapies on the NHS is leading them to over-prescribe medication.
The Note
Iâve helped dozens of my students through tough times and suicidal thoughts. But my own child? How do I handle THIS?
Childhood Bipolar Disorder, Deconstructed
Diagnosing children with juvenile or pediatric bipolar disorder is largely an American phenomenon. Do we actually have more âbipolarâ children in the United Statesâor are we simply labeling more of them as such? If it is ever fair to call a child âmanic,â isnât the childâs environment the direction in which we should look?
Escaping The Shackles of Psychiatry: What Iâve Seen and Survived, as Both Doctor and...
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing,â said Edmund Burke. This is as true on...
Did Something Happen?! The Power of Poetry in Telling My Sonâs Story
It's hard, if not impossible, to impose on my sonâs story any kind of literary âsense.â As a writer and a mother both, this has been my challenge.Â
Adverse Childhood Experiences: When Will the Lessons of the ACE Study Inform Societal Care?
The ACE study tells of how adverse childhood experiences increase the risk of psychological and physical problems in adulthood. When will we start incorporating these findings into public health policy and medical care?
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 wouldnât fall apart after surviving a childhood like theirs? The doctors attributed their problems to menstrual difficulties or excessive masturbation â anything except abuse.
Q&A: What Is Executive Function, and How Can Parents and Teachers Help Kids Focus?
Ask anyone whoâs ever taught kids, and theyâll tell you a story about one student who sticks in their memory.
Q&A: How Can I Motivate My “Deadbeat” Teenager?
My 19-year-old son has been diagnosed with ADHD, depression, and ODD. He refuses to go to school or get a job; instead, he just hangs around and plays video games. He has prescriptions but refuses to take them. Frankly, he contributes nothing to the household but stress and is a bad role model for his siblings. How can I make him take his meds and shape up?
Mo Hannah: Changing the Teaching of the Biological Model
Maureen Hannah, a Professor of Psychology at Siena College, New York, tells of experiences with the psychiatric system, both personally and professionally, and how poor care in the mental health system led to an unexpected and devastating family loss.
Q&A: How Can We See ADHD From Another Angle, and What Can We Do...
We all want to help our kids or our students, and sometimes finding the right key to unlock a childâs gifts is a matter of time, patience, trial, and error.
School Phone Bans and âMental Healthâ
Banning school phones is not an answer to improving mental health.
‘A Playground for Predatorsâ: Diane Dimond on The Abuses of Guardianship
Our guest today is Diane Dimond, a longtime, award-winning investigative journalist specializing in crime and justice issues. As a freelance journalist, syndicated columnist, and...
Suicides Are Increasing â And So Are Antidepressant Prescriptions
Disturbingly, our study and others reveal that the black box warning is now ignored in many countries, since antidepressant prescriptions for children are on the rise again. Despite increasing certainty that antidepressants are ineffective and likely cause suicidal behavior in young people, psychiatry continues to claim that they reduce suicide risk.
Helping Children to Overcome OCD: 6 Creative Strategies for Parents
Here, Dr. Ben Furman offers a creative approach to helping children who struggle with OCD. Explaining why behaviors like reasoning, reassuring, and superstitious rituals donât work, he suggests engaging alternatives that teach kids how to manage their âworry monsterâ and make sense of their distressing experience.
“Please Be Normal!” My Experience Working for NAMI
At my job with a NAMI affiliate, I heard daily from people who looked at family members with âmental illnessâ as non-people, non-human, the âother.â In the office, it was no different. If NAMI had a tagline, it would be âPlease be normal like us.â
New Yearâs Resolution: Address Grief and Trauma in Healthy Ways
From Darcia Narvaez, PhD: Everyone needs to learn to grieve losses and deal with shock. Here are practices that build resilience in children (and everyone).
The FDA Warned an Asthma Drug Could Induce Despair. Many Were Never Told.
From The New York Times: Singulair, now a generic, is still used by millions of Americans even after thousands of patients and dozens of studies have described harm. Children face the greatest risks of the drug's ill effects.
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 âcutting-edge facilityâ and the âtreatmentsâ I received there â social isolation, pills and shots, ice bath and ECT.
Q&A: What Is Informed Consent, and What Should I Know to Help My Child?
My experience caused me to look into the origin of including the patient in decision-making about treatment and informed consent.
Helping Children With Angry Outbursts
Finnish psychiatrist Ben Furman reviews various non-drug therapies for children with aggressive outbursts of anger, including the Kids' Skills approach that he and social psychologist Tapani Ahola developed. These approaches focus on helping children come up with their own ideas for overcoming their problems with the help of family and friends.
