“Dad, You Were Right”: I Got Better When I Stopped Treatment
Through all the years that I was a mental patient, my parents were excellent advocates who constantly questioned what the docs were doing, even though my own faith in psychiatry was unwavering.... Amazingly, what cured me was not some type of “treatment,” but getting away from drugs and therapy.
Lee Coleman – The Insanity Defence, Storytelling on the Witness Stand
An interview with Doctor Lee Coleman, in which we focus on psychiatry in the courtroom and why the psychiatric expert witness role may be failing both the individual on trial and society at large.
Psychiatrists View Drug-Free Programs for Psychosis as “Unscientific,” Study Finds
A new study provides an insider’s look into how psychiatrists view the establishment of drug-free programs in Norway.
The Effects of Antidepressant Exposure Across Generations: An Interview with Dr. Vance Trudeau
Dr. Vance Trudeau discusses his study's finding that antidepressants may have far-reaching, adverse effects that last up to three generations.
Introducing Multi-Lens Therapy
How can we restore something as essential to the healing and helping process as knowing what is going on? If your client has an actual biological problem, he needs one sort of help. If he hates his job, he needs another sort of help. It is absurd (and not okay) that a helper would look only at putative “symptoms” and not at what’s going on.
Lee Coleman – The Reign of Error
An interview with Doctor Lee Coleman, psychiatrist and author of the 1984 book Reign of Error. Now retired, Lee devotes his time to public education that exposes the individual and public harms from today’s “mental health” industry.
Recovery Porn: Tell Me Your Story, I’ll Tell You Your Value
There is little denying the power of story… until our own stories get taken from us, positioned against us, and used to determine our value as some sort of human commodity. We deserve to have our stories heard and to hear the stories of others, but on our own terms, without being fetishized or controlled, and without competition for paltry awards and recognition.
Dangers of Antidepressants: My Personal Struggle with Conventional Medicine
I believed my doctor knew best about my health. I trusted that he knew it would be safe to switch me from an anti-anxiety drug that I had been taking for several years and put me on this new drug. It was only during the horror I went through afterward that I found out everything about this evil drug all on my own. To this day, I still get brain zaps in my sleep.
Kick Big Pharma Out of the Classroom
School-based strategies such as the “talk to your doctor” campaign about any childhood problem have been extremely effective in helping the pharmaceutical industry to marginalize traditional child-rearing practices and replace them with advice from mental health “experts” and the use of dangerous drugs. These campaigns are reminiscent of now-illegal vintage tobacco ads in which doctors endorsed cigarette smoking.
Researchers Make the Case to Rename Schizophrenia
The authors outline reasons for renaming schizophrenia and the way a change can reform practice.
Youth-Nominated Social Support Reduces Mortality for Suicidal Adolescents
The Youth-Nominated Support Team intervention invites adolescents to select adults in their life to receive training on how to support them.
New Book Deconstructs Ideology of Cognitive Therapy
CBT forwards a hyper-rational perspective of human suffering that complements a managerialist culture of efficiency and institutionalization in the Western world.
Alita Taylor – Open Dialogue: Making Meaning
An interview with psychotherapist, trainer and facilitator Alita Taylor who shares her passion for Open Dialogue, explaining why Open Dialogue 'cannot be taught, but needs a teacher'.
Racial Discrimination a Clear Contributor to Youth Mental Health Disparities
Greater perceptions of discrimination during adolescence are linked to more depressive and internalizing symptoms.
Technology Not a Strong Factor in Adolescent Well-being, New Study Claims
A new study suggests digital media use among adolescents has a smaller negative effect on well-being than bullying or smoking marijuana.
Early Intervention Can Change the Trajectory of Foster Care Children
Study highlights the importance of early interventions for institutionalized children.
Integrating Indigenous Healing Practices and Psychotherapy for Global Mental Health
As the Global Mental Health Movement attempts to address cross-cultural mental health disparities, a new article encourages integrating traditional healing practices with psychotherapy.
Mental Health Service Users’ Perspectives on Family-Focused Recovery
Study explores a multifaceted approach to promote family-focused recovery practice.
Heroes of Science: Survival of a Whistleblower
I am just the messenger, the symbol that healthcare is in many ways absurd and harmful because the drug industry is too powerful. The Cochrane Collaboration is in deep crisis because it is too close to industry, practices scientific censorship and has a business model that focuses on “brand” and “our product” rather than getting the science right.
Are Depression Guidelines Missing the Evidence for Exercise?
A recent review suggests that depression guidelines do not incorporate evidence for exercise within a stepped-care approach and may be over-reliant on pharmacological treatments.
Global Mental Health – The Hypocrisy of Mental Health in The Age of Austerity
Dr. China Mills shares her reactions to recent events focused on Global Mental Health, elaborating on deeper issues with the framing of mental health as a “burden” and the underlying implications of coloniality, technology, and medicalization.
55 Steps to Informed Consent
55 Steps is a new film based on a true story that centers around two women: Collette, a lawyer with a tendency to work long hours, and Eleanor, who has spent far too much time incarcerated in hospitals. Over the course of five years, Collette fights for Eleanor’s right to choose whether or not she takes psychiatric drugs. This film is imperfect, but its importance can’t be ignored.
Community-Driven Healthcare for the Homeless Reduces Hospital Costs
Direct access to care in safe locations is key in reducing healthcare costs and increasing quality of life for homeless populations.
Healthy Planet/Healthy Mind with Zach Bush, MD
Business as usual — big farming, big pharma and conventional healthcare — is threatening our planet and our very ability to survive as a species. Planetary and human health are at a tipping point. Solutions informed by the science of environmental health, epigenetics and the microbiome, are elegantly simple, but their impact is profound.
What’s Blocking Progress in Behavioral Healthcare?
It's time to stop blocking progress and give peer-run organizations the same access to the funding streams used by Community Mental Health Centers. There is no reason to give more money to the people who have had all the money all along and can't solve the problems. Open up the competition, and then see what kind of amazing developments occur.
