Michelle Carter Part IV: Did She Tell Conrad to “Get back in the truck”?
There is no text, transcript or recording that demonstrates that Michelle ever said anything to Conrad about getting back in the truck to die. The DA’s entire case is based upon the “confession” of an irrational girl on antidepressants who has been trying to communicate with her boyfriend in heaven via phone.
Some Thoughts About Conferences
Without judging the motivation of people presenting and speaking at conferences, I’d like to ask the question: can we achieve more with these conferences than generating knowledge and touching people's hearts? Are we preparing the ground for change or are we marking time?
Human Right to Health – More than Economic Justice
Something is lost, a great deal is lost, when we give up an independent advocacy platform about our own bodies and subsume our needs and rights into what medical professionals are motivated to fight for on our behalf.
Call to Action: MA Bill H.3594 for Informed Benzodiazepine Use
This proposed legislation would require practitioners to obtain written informed consent regarding risk of dependency and addiction and risks associated with long-term use. It would also mandate warning labels concerning long-term use.
Our Letter to Lancet Psychiatry
This is the cover letter that Mad in America Foundation sent to Niall Boyce, editor of Lancet Psychiatry, requesting that the journal retract Martine Hoogman's study of "subcortical brain volumes" in those diagnosed with ADHD.
Study Explores Cognitive Effects of Antipsychotics
Reduced usage of antipsychotics in first-episode psychosis was associated with improved executive functioning.
Anti-Authoritarian Options for Suicidal Anti-Authoritarians
Many teenagers and young adults (the group for whom suicide is the second leading cause of death) are anti-authoritarians. For them, the idea that they're experiencing a crisis of self rather than a mental illness can reduce their pain, increase their hope and open them up for dialogue.
Letter to my Classmates on our 40th Reunion
It is hard for me to feel celebratory on the occasion of our 40th reunion. As my career winds down, I feel more disappointment and dismay than the glow of lifelong achievement.
Farewell Mickey Nardo, 1 (not very) Boring Old Man
Mickey studied how the intimacy between leading academic psychiatrists and the pharmaceutical companies had impacted our profession. His blog was a treasure trove of analysis and information. Mickey did some heavy lifting, and for that we are all indebted.
7 Years Off Psych Drugs: A Message to Those Labeled by Psychiatry (video)
Seven years ago, I completed a six-year process of withdrawing from six psychiatric drugs. That process was the impetus to start speaking up about what is happening in psychiatry with far too many of us being gravely harmed.
Sir Robin Murray and Our Collective Mea Culpa
Sir Robin Murray, a distinguished British professor of psychiatry, recently published a paper in Schizophrenia Bulletin titled, “Mistakes I Have Made in My Research Career.” I wonder what leads Robin Murray to acknowledge his mistakes when others seem to hunker down. I also wonder how I can know when I am misled in my assumptions.
Treating Metabolic Conditions May Resolve Some Depressive Symptoms
New research suggests that treatable metabolic abnormalities underlie some treatment-resistant cases of depression—and treating the metabolic condition has the possibility of dramatically reducing depressive symptoms
Pioneering New Zealand Antipsychotic Medication Study Focuses on Patient Experiences
Miriam Larsen-Barr's study is the largest to date on the subjective experiences of antipsychotic withdrawal, and the first to explore how people who have successfully stopped antipsychotics are able to maintain their well-being.
Carrie Fisher, Bipolar Disorder, and the Spread of False Information
As a child of the 80s, I had a childhood dream of growing up to be Princess Leia, and — of course — marrying Han Solo. What I did not dream of was fighting an empire that seems only to grow over time, and with no Harrison Ford by my side to make it all better. The death of Carrie Fisher is heartbreaking; the news coverage of her life and suffering is a tragedy.
Carrie Fisher: Bipolar Meds and Heart Disease
Carrie Fisher recently died of a heart attack at age 60. How likely was it that her heart attack was caused by her psych meds? Or that her psych meds increased her risk of death once the heart attack happened?
Soldiers as Guinea Pigs: the Case of Mefloquine and Tafenoquine
Hundreds of Australian veterans have been diagnosed with serious neurological and psychiatric disorders, often mistaken for post-traumatic stress disorder, as a result of mefloquine, a neurotoxicant able to cause a “lasting or permanent” brain injury, and the experimental drug tafenoquine[.] Many maintain they were compelled to participate in trials of the drugs.
The Real “Mental Illness” Epidemic: Withdrawal from Antidepressants
If the incidence of mental illness has remained the same, but an ever-increasing percentage of the population takes psychiatric medications, then these drugs are being over-prescribed. Now there is an epidemic of people trying to stop SSRI antidepressants, and the effects can be crippling.
“Navigating” Recovery: Difficult When the Map is a Psychiatric Fraud!
I was recently asked to contrast my views on psychosis and recovery with those offered by NAVIGATE, a US government (NIMH) sponsored program aiming to guide early intervention programs for psychosis. This inspired me to inquire into what NAVIGATE does tell people and families about psychosis and recovery. What I found, unfortunately, was quite disturbing.
The ACE Survey is Unusable Data
Do the effects of trauma matter more, or a person's ACE score? I think this is unusable data that harms people when you gather it. Here's why.
Troubled by Individual and Collective Psychosis? Maybe Compassion and Dialogue Could Help!
We need to learn to listen and respond in a caring way to the disturbed and disturbing voices within the population—to really engage with them, while also not believing any lies or distortions or letting destructive forces take over.
Pharma Data Sharing Efforts Off to a Slow Start
Researchers discuss the preliminary results of clinical trial data sharing efforts by pharmaceutical companies and other groups.
Why I Got Locked Up in the Madhouse (Twice)
I have grown a lot through my experiences, and would not have made the changes I have made, nor be the person I am today, had my madness not returned a second time. It returned because I did not pay enough attention to the wake-up call the first time around.
Policies to Reduce Antipsychotic use Among Elderly are Failing
Research reveals that rates of antipsychotic prescribing to the elderly in the UK have not dropped despite national recommendations.
A Phenomenological View of Madness and Medicine
I got to thinking. In my essay “The Reality Is In Our Heads,” I espoused a phenomenological view of the world in which human...
