UberTherapy and the Enshittification of our Relational Lives: Part 2 of our Interview with...
Elizabeth Cotton traces how digital therapy can block the very thing people come for: a stable, human relationship that can hold fear, dependency, and ambivalence.
The FDA Allows Ineffective Devices to Come to Market
“The main take-home message is that regulatory approval doesn't mean a device works. It means it's safe,” according to Katya Rubia, PhD.
When the Government Becomes the Source of Trauma for Children
Decades of research on attachment and developmental trauma tells us what happens when we separate children from their caregivers under terrifying and uncertain conditions.
Patriarchy Leads To Insanity
I am hopeful that for me and others, DSM-driven diagnoses like “bipolar” can be seen as more transient states, as part of a greater journey of the soul.
UberTherapy and the Enshittification of our Relational Lives: Part 1 of our Interview with...
With UberTherapy, Elizabeth Cotton follows the gig-economy playbook into psychotherapy, where platforms lower costs by depressing wages and standardizing treatment.
What 776 ECT Recipients Want You to Know
What stands out is the consistency between individuals’ experiences. Most of the costs were lasting, life-altering consequences.
Visual Snow Syndrome: Can SSRIs Literally Change How You See the World?
SSRI antidepressants have been linked to a number of adverse effects. A recent study presents evidence that a new condition may need to be...
What Do Psych Survivors Want Instead of Psychiatric Coercion?
One does not simply forget the dehumanization of coercion in psychiatric practices. It is traumatic. How is adding another distressing experience to an individual’s life therapeutic?
Weekly Research Digest: Psych Drugs Linked to Poor Heart Health and Gastrointestinal Bleeding
This week Mad in America examines studies related to adverse events associated with antipsychotics and antidepressants, including two studies that found increased risk of...
Winning Mad Liberation with a New Strategy: Solidarity
The mad movement must build connections with everyone challenging the roots of our cruel gangster capitalism imperialist system.
None of the 22 FDA Approvals for Psychiatric Drugs in the Last Decade Were...
Established drugs were repurposed, “me-too” drugs were approved, and even the few new biological approaches lacked clinical utility.
Psychobabble of the Month: ECT Hailed as Method to Gain Consent for Forced Drug...
Refusal to take clozapine was considered evidence of mental illness, and forced ECT changed her mind; the researchers call this "consent."
A Mother’s Story of Love, Loss, and a Fight Born from Tragedy
My daughter, London, was only 12 years old when she tragically died from an overdose of pills, shortly after being prescribed an SSRI.
Food First, Pharma Last: Part Two of our Interview with Chris Masterjohn
Chris Masterjohn joins us to discuss the biochemistry of our stress response and the potential benefits of balanced nutrition for those in psychiatric drug withdrawal.
Groupthink in Mainstream and Critical Psychiatry
Critical psychiatry should continue to point out where mainstream psychiatry falls short, but mainstream psychiatry must correct itself.
AI Undermines Medical Education—Trainee Doctors May Never Learn Vital Skills
Medical trainees using chatbots to do their homework and write their papers will not develop the skills needed to be a successful doctor.
Harm for Profit: Are Nursing Homes Drugging Residents to Avoid Paying for Adequate Staffing?
Long-term care facilities commonly prescribe antipsychotic drugs to elderly service users, often to treat behavioral issues associated with dementia. Despite a lack of evidence...
Weekly Research Digest: Bullying, Social Media, and SSRI’s Link to Suicide
This week, Mad in America examines research around increased suicide risk in children and adolescents related to bullying in high-school and the use of...
My Escape From the Disabling Power of Disability Benefits
I am now almost completely released from the traditional mental health system, but as a paid peer worker I come back in five days a week to remind those still within the system that there is a way out.
Mitochondria and Energetic Failures: A New Understanding of Antidepressant Withdrawal? An Interview With Chris...
Chris Masterjohn joins us to discuss the importance of our mitochondria, the role of serotonin in our body and whether a new understanding of antidepressant withdrawal is urgently needed.
Did the FDA Black Warning Cause Suicides? Reply to Soumerai and Lu
The idea that the FDA black box warning led to increased suicide is just as easily refuted by the data now as when it was first proposed.
Doing Harm: The Human Cost of Turning Mourning Into a Disorder
Grief has long been understood as a normal and healthy response to loss. However, over the past decade, American psychiatry has rebranded that time...
Weekly Research Digest: Bad Research, Unsupported Beliefs, and Sleep Apnea
This week, Mad in America examines recent antidepressant research questioning withdrawal severity, a study of unsupported biological beliefs about mental "illness," and research linking...
Leaving Psychiatry: Two Weeks In, 10 Years to Exit
With time, my body is healing, and I’m slowly learning how to feel my emotions. I was only hospitalized for two weeks, but it took me over 10 years to exit.
Why Critical Mental Health Knowledge Is Essential for Ethical Practice: An Interview with Jan...
In this conversation, Jan DeFehr argues that ethical practice requires access to what the field itself disputes, including the risks people rarely hear about.
