Do Voice Hearers Have the Right to Refuse Psychiatric Drugs?
In this piece for STAT, Shirley S. Wang discusses the Hearing Voices Network and its non-pathologizing, rights-affirming approach to hearing voices and alternative realities.
"Many recovered...
Why Are So Many People Dying From Opioid Overdoses?
From The Guardian: In a society where unemployment is prevalent and people feel isolated from friends, family, and community, opioid use has become a coping...
Large Study Confirms Elevated Risk of Diabetes When Prescribed Antipsychotics
A large longitudinal study finds once more that being prescribed antipsychotics significantly increases the risk of diabetes.
Dementia Patients at Risk of Injury or Death Due to Antipsychotics
From The Independent: Thousands of people with Lewy Body Dementia are being prescribed antipsychotic drugs, increasing their risk of death fourfold.
"These medicines, prescribed to around...
Why World Benzodiazepine Awareness Day?
I am participating in World Benzodiazepine Awareness Day today, and you should too, because you know somebody right now who is taking a benzodiazepine and that person might just be dealing with chronic health problems, unaware that they are result of taking the medication as prescribed.
Gabapentin: A New Target for Abuse
From STAT: Gabapentin, a drug that acts as a sedative and is also used to treat conditions including nerve pain, epilepsy, restless leg syndrome, and...
I Took My First Antidepressant, and the Effects Were Frightening
In this opinion piece for The Guardian, Deborah Orr tells of her frightening experience with intense disassociation that occurred after starting an antidepressant.
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People Are Hacking Antidepressant Doses to Avoid Withdrawal
From New Scientist: Some organizations are helping people hack their dosing regimens so they can taper off psychiatric drugs without severe withdrawal effects. One Dutch organization...
Three Suicides: Honoring Lives Lost to Benzodiazepines
I am still trying to reconcile what these chemicals are capable of, how the urge can morph into an action, how we maybe just donât understand suicide all that well. For me, the suffering was so intense it was too painful to stay alive. I understand how my friends felt in their last moments.
Tapering Strips for Benzodiazepines
One size fits all does not work. It is not possible to use the same tapering schedule for all patients who wish to stop with a certain drug. Therefore we had to come up with a flexible solution that was both practical and allowed doctors and patients to make the choice they deemed appropriate.
Going Off My Meds Gave Me Rage Attacks
In this piece for Glamour, Suzannah Weiss tells her story of SSRI withdrawal, which resulted in intense rage attacks for six months after discontinuation and...
Why Disclosure Policies Don’t Discourage Drug Salesmen
From The Chronicle: The practice of pharmaceutical industry payments to academic researchers to help promote their drugs remains widespread. Requiring scientists to disclose their ties...
âBenzo Blueâ: a Song of Protest and a Search for Liberation
In commemoration of World Benzodiazepine Awareness Day coming on July 11th, I am providing an early first time debut at Mad in America of a new song and music video titled âBenzo Blue,â along with a brief commentary on the evolution and significance of this song.
Jerome Adams Nominated as New U.S. Surgeon General
From STAT: President Trump has nominated Indiana's health commissioner, Dr. Jerome Adams, to be the next surgeon general. Adams has played a critical role in...
When Switching Antipsychotics, No Difference Between Immediate and Gradual Discontinuation
Review study compares outcomes of gradual vs. immediate antipsychotic discontinuation when switching from one drug to another.
Over 16,000 Australian Children Prescribed Antipsychotics
From The Sydney Morning Herald: New data from Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme shows that a total of 16,570 Australian toddlers, children, and teens under 17 were...
Psychics Who Hear Voices Could Be on to Something
In this piece for The Atlantic, Joseph Frankel compares and contrasts the voice-hearing experiences of self-described psychics and mediums with the experiences of people diagnosed with...
The Score is Even
From The Hastings Center: Three years ago, a pharmaceutical company created and funded a feminist group called Even the Score to campaign for FDA approval of...
What Are “Hard” and “Soft” Drugs?
From Neuroskeptic: A new paper examines the often arbitrary distinction between "hard" and "soft" drugs, recommending that scientists avoid using these classifications in research publications.
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Half of Opioid Prescriptions Go to People With Mood Disorders
From STAT: A recent study found that 51 percent of all opioid prescriptions in the U.S. are written for people diagnosed with anxiety, depression and other...
Why Isn’t Big Pharma Paying for the Harm it Caused?
From Alternet: The pharmaceutical industry has played a major role in causing the opioid crisis by downplaying the potentially addictive and fatal effects of narcotic pain...
Dissolving the Ego: Transcendence and Ecstasy
From Aeon: Experiencing ecstasy and transcendence has long been pathologized and marginalized by Western culture and the psychiatric model of "mental illness." However, ecstatic experiences, including...
Too Many Opioids After Cesarean Delivery
From The New York Times: A new study shows that doctors may be overprescribing opioid pain medication to women who have had cesarean sections.
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Big Pharma Puts the Squeeze on Cities Battling Opiate Crisis
From RevHub: The city of Baltimore is facing an unprecedented opioid overdose epidemic. Due to skyrocketing drug prices, the city is running out of funds...
Dr. Andrew Weil Says We’re Taking Too Many Medicines
From The New York Times: According to Dr. Andrew Weil, who is best known for popularizing the concept of integrative medicine, the problem of overmedication...
