Catherine’s Story: A Child Lost to Psychiatry 

144
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.

The Mental Health Crisis of Today’s Youth—The Hidden Culprit Every Parent and Therapist Should...

19
A therapist argues that achievement culture hurts youth mental health, and parents should focus on their children's inner wisdom.

Childhood Trauma Is Not a Mental Illness

25
My childhood was stolen by systems focused on labeling and medicating me instead of healing the effects of abuse and neglect.

Arrested Development: Britney Spears’ Memoir Is a Survivor’s Tale of Generational Trauma, Psychiatric Abuse,...

74
Miranda Spencer discusses Britney Spears' new memoir and the harms of conservatorship.
geriatric depression

The Year I Lost Everything, Psychiatry Offered Nothing

89
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.
babydoll quadruplets

Hereditary Madness? The Genain Sisters’ Tragic Story

14
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.

Boy, Interrupted: A Story of Akathisia

55
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.

Escaping The Shackles of Psychiatry: What I’ve Seen and Survived, as Both Doctor and...

100
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing,” said Edmund Burke. This is as true on...

The Real Myth of the Schizophrenogenic Mother

53
Acknowledging the role of trauma inflicted by a given individual’s mother is not the same as laying all blame for “mental illness” at the feet of motherhood. Meanwhile, a mountain of evidence has accumulated linking schizophrenia to sexual, physical, and emotional abuse and many other categories of adverse childhood experiences.

How to Advocate Effectively for Loved Ones Harmed by Psychiatric Drugs

48
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.

ADHD Diagnosis Leads to Worse Quality of Life, Increased Self-Harm in Kids

38
When comparing kids with the same symptoms who were either diagnosed with ADHD or not, those who received the diagnosis had worse outcomes.

Medicating Preschoolers for ADHD: How “Evidence-Based” Psychiatry Has Led to a Tragic End

64
The prescribing of stimulants to preschoolers diagnosed with ADHD is on the rise, which is said to be an "evidence-based" practice. A review of that "evidence base" reveals that claims that ADHD is characterized by genetic and brain abnormalities are belied by the data, and that the NIMH trial of methylphenidate in this age group told of long-term harm.

Inadequately Trained Therapists Pose a Risk to Childhood Trauma Survivors

11
Mental health professionals must be trained in the dynamics of addiction and abuse if they are to help survivors of childhood trauma.
A boy is holding a head. He is unhappy and upset.

The Faulty Reasoning That Turned ADHD Into a Disease

13
Leading ADHD researchers outline four mistakes that turned ADHD from a description of behavior into a medical disease.
trapped in mental health services

Mental Health Services Turned My Daughter’s Crisis into a Way of Life

18
My world turned upside down when my daughter nearly died from a serious suicide attempt. After several years as her caretaker I began to wonder: What can we do to change the way our mental health services are organized so they won't turn a crisis into a way of life for already distressed and vulnerable people?

A Troubled Teen With a Pocket Full of Lithium and Nowhere to Go

33
Despite the full awareness of Congress and hundreds of deaths in these facilities, little has been done to enact standards in private pay facilities that house troubled teens.

What’s Missing from NAMI and Pro-Psychiatry: Lived Experience

22
Since many psych patients become forced consumers, their advocates have a duty to be educated and concerned with adverse reactions.

Child Abuse and Psychosis: My Healing Journey

40
Hospitalized for "grandiose delusions," I began to wonder: Was my dis-orientation really just a sickness? Or in "treating" it, was I missing a powerful re-orientation toward healing old wounds?

Nutrition and Mental Health: An Interview with Julia Rucklidge, Ph.D.

25
Dr. Rucklidge talks about the emerging field of Nutritional Psychiatry, which looks at the relationship between nutrition and brain health and how it may affect children’s moods and behavior.
Scowling teenage boy holding up pills sealed in blister packs in his hand as he leans on a wooden table with an intense stare

Risk of Depression Spikes When Kids Take Ritalin

2
Risk of depression increased when children were taking methylphenidate for ADHD, but once they stopped taking the drug, depression risk dropped to normal levels.

Rethinking Suicide Prevention: An Interview on Critical Suicide Studies with Jennifer White

7
MIA’s Samantha Lilly interviews critical youth suicidologist Jennifer White about what suicide prevention could look like outside of the medical model.

Newborn Babies Go Through Antidepressant Withdrawal

2
A new study finds that newborn babies experience antidepressant withdrawal after birth if their mothers take SSRIs when pregnant.

William James’s Letter to His Depressed Daughter

12
If you discover that your child has been experiencing a bout with depression, what wise words might you share? Brilliant psychologist William James was forced to address this issue himself when his 13-year-old daughter, Peg, began to struggle with melancholy. I present his long, thoughtful reply for your consideration.

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

30
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.

Q&A: What Is Executive Function, and How Can Parents and Teachers Help Kids Focus?

10
Ask anyone who’s ever taught kids, and they’ll tell you a story about one student who sticks in their memory.