Saturday, March 25, 2023
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Comments by Rosalee

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  • Tina, your incredible work and involvement with the CRPD and CHRUSP and tackling these issues is really amazing and very much needed. It boggles the mind that trying to protect vulnerable people’s rights and liberties is always such an uphill battle. Bravo for all you have done and continue to do!

    Re staying connected, since March 20 I am no longer receiving notifications of any new comments posted to MIA blogs I have subscribed to and wondering if anyone else is having this same issue?

  • “They understand that many experiences labeled as ‘disorders’ are understandable reactions to life experiences rather than evidence of dysfunctions within the people having them
”

    And thankfully there are a few good psychiatrists out there with compassion, insight and integrity!
    Thanks Dr. Steingard.

  • Anthony, so sorry to hear of your circumstances. This is another very dark element of psychiatry that is unknown by the general public – that psychiatrists can write and publish to your records whatever false narrative they choose. I was sent a psychiatrist during cancer treatments for “help” with chemo drug-induced insomnia. I was stunned when I later read the multiple false statements and labels she had published in my electronic records. Anything I had explained to her about my challenging situation with cancer treatments (including falling and sustaining a serious head injury) she twisted into something very different in order to use against me. People need to be aware of how easily a psychiatrist twists the truth, lies and defames someone’s character with impunity. Thank you for helping to expose this egregious element of psychiatry.

  • Registeredforthissite, unfortunately in Canada there is no option to opt out of electronic medical records. Worse is even with a ton of indisputable evidence (some obtained thru legal action) that proves statements and labels a psychiatrist published to EMR are outright lies and totally erroneous, you can never get your EMR records corrected. No one can make a psychiatrist correct an erroneous label or false statements they have published. It amounts to widespread character defamation with impunity.

  • “Those who practice evil love darkness.”

    Exactly, Rachel. Anyone who could inflict such demoralizing, punitive and damaging “help” on people who are suffering is not due to stupidity – it’s dark and evil. Would anyone with supposedly good intentions proceed to kick the **** out of someone when they are down. No, it’s evil.

  • Thanks for this piece Vesper (and Sera, Shayn and Khalil)

    ”Psychiatry has power and influence over every system and institution with which we interact—education, criminal justice, employment, housing, healthcare, and more.”

    And once psychiatry puts fraudulent labels on someone you are stuck carrying those labels for life. (very problematic if the labels get published on widespread electronic records which is always accessed by every health care worker when healthcare is required for any physical illnesses)
    Psychiatry certainly has “granted its practitioners an almost king-like power”.
    The totally subjective, biased ‘opinion’ of a psychiatrist is given far more validity than any other medical doctor, psychologist etc. A psychiatrist’s “opinion” can never be challenged by the person with the label or by a person’s family doctor or even another psychiatrist. A psychiatrist’s opinion is akin to the word of God.

    The general public has no idea what goes on. Psychiatry gets to feed the media harmful lies and it is deplorable the media spreads the harmful misinformation, serving corporate needs rather than protecting innocent people’s lives. Shame on the Boston Globe.

  • Thank you Dr. Noel for your voice of compassion and wisdom.

    “If you’re trapped by the past, you’re very likely to be trapped, literally, in the present.”

    Yes, very true, and the sordid thing is how some psychiatrists do everything in their power to keep people trapped in the past. It’s not possible for any ethical, well-meaning professional in the MH system not to see their practices are not working and in fact are doing far more harm than good.
    Hopefully one day people will be able to receive “help” that actually helps and comes from a place of compassion and understanding instead of power and control as it is now. Thanks Dr. Noel for another inspiring and excellent article.

  • Dr. Hall, acknowledging it’s harmful to label people with a “mental disease” is a good start, better than the majority of psychiatrists out there and I commend you for that. I was dealt a double whammy – first the fraud of a contrived cancer diagnosis and then the fraud of psych labels to force me to undergo what was unneeded cancer treatments. I was shocked to discover a person doesn’t even need to report or present ANY so-called “symptoms” to get labels; simply having issues with insomnia from the chemo and steroids is enough to get you 4 psych labels and prescribed multiple psych drugs. Even if you are a rational, responsible person who simply wishes to make their own well thought out decisions about cancer treatments, they easily lie and make up whatever psych “symptoms” they choose in order to slap DSM labels on you to strip you of your autonomy.

    “When patients make such pointed observations, they are often told their opinion is delusional.”

    Yes, and this is particularly disturbing because it’s often the psychiatrist who is delusional about the person’s reality and the causation of any problems or distress. I learned psychiatrists easily chart lies and that psychiatric labels are used as weapons against you if you dare try make your own decisions on cancer treatment (decisions fully supported by your GP) Given there is SO much dishonesty, control, arrogance and rigid, black and white thinking within psychiatry I don’t know they could make, or would even want to make, a paradigm shift as outlined here but I appreciate your thoughts and efforts in that regard.

  • Thank you Dr Breggin for this frank and honest assessment of the perils of seeing a psychiatrist.
    As you said so well in your excellent Radio/TV show February 19, people think they are going to see “a high priest of human knowledge” when in fact many psychiatrists are “just about the stupidest people on earth”. God yes! The sheer stupidity of a young female psychiatrist I saw for insomnia during cancer treatment was astounding.

    “Instead of wisdom and understanding they rely on cookie-cutter diagnoses and drugs”.

    Yes, “cookie-cutter” labels, and everyone gets a label and toxic drugs without any consideration as to causation or context for how a person is feeling. When most people see a psychiatrist they do so during a vulnerable time in their life with the belief and trust they will receive “help”. Instead they are severely betrayed. Psychiatry is so intent on maintaining its façade, power and control that they do not care they put trusting people on the road to ruin. Not only are they stupid but also deeply cruel in how they view and treat people who are suffering due to many understandable and legitimate reasons.

    Thank you for being a psychiatrist with integrity, understanding and compassion. God bless you for continually speaking out against the damage psychiatry is doing. You’re a beautiful soul, a gift to mankind.

  • Very well stated Sam!
    “No system that “helps”, is going to leave a person worse off than when they came in”.

    And I agree with Steve:
    “It’s probably the first and easiest place to attack psychiatry, without even getting into the DSM idiocy.”

    Exactly! Many do not find psychiatry helped them and even more end up severely harmed.
    Hmmm, something wrong with that picture!?

  • Maria, I am so sorry your sibling endured this dreadful nightmare. I can only imagine the anguish bearing witness to this and not being able to stop it.

    “Finding an attorney who will assist in a case involving psychiatry is near impossible”.
    Yes that’s the pathetic truth and an additional plight of those harmed by psychiatry is that no lawyer wants to get involved. By not doing so lawyers are complicit with the harm.

    “One is how easy it is to be slapped with a psychiatric diagnosis that can lead to grievous bodily harm”.

    Yes this resonates for me and many who make the mistake of seeking “help” or getting forced into the destructive “help”. Psychiatry managed to put themselves up on a pedestal, and to quote Dr. Breggin, many people (and court systems too) mistakenly think a psychiatrist is a “high priest of human knowledge”. After my experience with a psychiatrist for insomnia during cancer treatment I wondered “how could a psychiatrist be SO stupid”. My spouse said “It’s not possible for ANYONE to be that stupid, it was intentional”. I agreed. It’s more than obvious psychiatry is about power, control, ego and money – and patient be damned. It’s critical to keep speaking out to try stop this carnage. Thank you for adding your voice Maria and for continually advocating for your sibling.

  • Thank you Miranda for researching and reporting on this critically important issue. To stop the destructive effects that psychiatry is inflicting on people’s lives we really need investigative reporters with a conscience and who are willing – and encouraged – to look at the whole picture, the real picture – not the one spit out by system that is doing far more serious harm than good. So many people’s lives, including innocent children’s lives, are at stake. We cannot continue to have “Docile journalism” – that means ‘don’t rock psychiatry’s boat’ journalism and allows the danger and harm to continue.

    “As Rosalynn Carter put it in a 2016 Center webcast, the idea is to [refute] “myths and misconceptions” to “encourage people to seek support and treatment when they are in need.”

    I believe/hope Rosalynn Carter has the best of intentions but she has unfortunately been misled by the damaging propaganda of psychiatry. What Rosalynn doesn’t realize is that psychiatry is the epitome of “myths and misconceptions” – they literally wrote the DSM book on that!

    To read how focused the goal of Carter Center is to “make it more likely people in need will seek help” is very disturbing. I had my life ruined because I got “help” for insomnia during cancer treatment. I was naĂŻve about psychiatry at that time and had no clue I was walking into a lion’s den. For the Center to put forth such erroneous information as “treatment is effective” is also very alarming. My brother’s “treatment” for depression after his marriage break-up was not effective – unless an intelligent, physically fit man dying at 40 is somehow considered effective.

    As the Carter Center will be updating this guide and said it is “an evolving document” what steps can be taken to ensure the truth and the voice of millions harmed can be heard and validated by the Center? Could we start a petition and present it to them?

  • Melissa this piece is both heart-warming and heart breaking. I commend you for your kind spirit in reaching out to Joey and others even though you struggle yourself. Being kind and supportive to each other is at the heart of promoting human welfare. The facade of psychiatry is that people in need of support or compassion realize it’s better to cover up their real feelings or what happened to them because psychiatry will only use it against them. This so-called “help” from psychiatric services could not be more deceitful and pathetic. When families are the reason behind a person’s trauma it’s even worse and I feel very badly for Joey having no safe place to go.

  • Survivingthesystem, so sorry to read of these horrible experiences you endured. The more stories I hear the more it seems many psychiatrists and these so-called ED specialists are sadistic. What kind of a human says anyone’s “suicidality is HALF ASSED”. I am glad you survived and escaped the abuse that is falsely promoted as “help”. Best wishes to you.

  • Joanna, yes I think Sam was talking about being shamed by psychiatrists and how that shame can follow you. I agree we should all reject whatever label(s) has been pinned on us – which I absolutely do – but when it’s in electronic medical records that are widely available to ALL health care workers it’s impossible. I’ve paid a huge price for a number of years now because of what a psychiatrist I saw “for help with sleep meds” while in cancer treatment put in my medical records. It was proven she had a predetermined agenda and I’ve have been battling years to get my records corrected, engaged lawyers, spent thousands obtaining indisputable legal evidence, and was provided with strong letters of evidence/support from doctors who know me well. But all to no avail because the psychiatrist is the only one who can correct her report and she has the right to refuse. In spite of all the evidence she repeatedly refused, claiming it was her “opinion” and “just because another psychiatrist has a different opinion does NOT make mine wrong”. In Canada doctors are provided with lawyers for free. Their lawyers fees are paid on the backs of taxpayers so they can fight endlessly, money is no problem for them.

  • Joanna, I hear and totally agree with what you are saying in terms of not worrying what peers may say or think about you. But it is a very different beast when a psychiatrist gets to put stigmatizing labels and write false and damaging statements about you in your medical records. In Canada anytime you need medical care they first pull up your records and your treatment is determined or even denied based on the psych labels and the indisputable “opinion” of a psychiatrist who knows very little about you or your life, but is somehow allowed to “opine” in stone who you are as a person. There really is no way to free yourself from that fear or rejection because it is bolted onto your records to follow you for life.

  • Sam, you know I love your comments, you need to publish a book, ‘Sam’s analysis of psychiatry’. I had to laugh at the fitting comparison of someone going to a plastic surgeon with an issue that bothers them only to have the surgeon deem them hopelessly “ugly” and then bolt it into their records just how hopelessly “ugly” they are. Yes this is what psychiatry does under the corrupt guise of “help”.

  • I am so glad psmama to hear that as validation is what we really need after enduring lies, abuse and gaslighting. I hear you as I too was frozen in shock for sometime after, not even able to begin to process what had all happened. (there is unfortunately much more to story) Yes it is very scary to realize how much vileness and corruption there is in the medical field in general and in addition to realize the ‘field’ of psychiatry that claims to “help” those who are suffering is a total scam and all about power, ego, control and coercion. This is why I am so grateful to MIA as the personal stories and very informative blogs by many professionals provide great validation to rebuke the gaslighting. MIA gives voice to the voiceless who were harmed and helps people realize they are not alone in enduring the nightmare of psychiatry. (kind of like someone blowing on your dying embers and bringing the fire back to life) Stay strong and thank you so much for your validation too!

  • It is gut wrenching to read of the horror story you endured Psmama. Years ago I used to think psychiatrists went into the field because they genuinely wanted to “help” people. But now they obviously see how much harm they are doing yet steadfastly cling to their labels and “treatments” so it is clear that not the case. In my situation I acquired a lot of legal evidence that proves my psychiatric nightmare was all about lies, collusion, spite, and punishment because I tried to make decisions that were logical and in my best interests after given a supposedly terminal ‘cancer’ diagnosis. An arrogant oncologist told me even I if took the standard 3 drug chemo cocktail I would not survive this supposedly raging cancer so he expected me to sign on to a clinical trial to add a 4th drug with ‘side’ effects of heart attack, stroke, intestinal tearing and vision loss. He would have been named as an ‘associate doctor’ on the trial and got paid very well for this. But when I read the info and declined the trial drug he blew up in anger and stormed out of the room. I never took the trial drug and it turned out the trial was halted early as there was too many fatal ‘side’ effects. Due to damaging effects of the standard cocktail I insisted on reducing the dosages and then quit it altogether. But unfortunately developing issues with insomnia was how they managed to lure me into the lion’s den of a cold-hearted psychiatrist to dog pile more lies and abuse on me.

  • Thank you for this important piece Dr. Caplan and Jo Watson. Yes, the label of “ED” should be tossed along with all the other DSM labels. Labelling someone with a ‘Eating Disorder” does what all other DSM labels do – places blame and finds fault with the person instead of their environment or adverse life events.

    “The Power Threat Meaning Framework can be used as a way of helping people to create more hopeful narratives or stories about their lives and the difficulties they have faced or are still facing, instead of seeing themselves as blameworthy, weak, deficient or ‘mentally ill’.”

    Yes, it is long overdue to stop the harm and cruelty of labelling people as broken, defective or somehow to blame because they endured or are still enduring difficult life circumstances beyond their control. Thank you for all your work and efforts in exposing the devastating impact of the invented DSM labels.

  • Thank you for this interesting piece Dr. Levine. These surely were strong and fearless women.
    “she gained wisdom that authoritarians relish violence to justify their authoritarianism”.

    Wisdom and strategy are always going to work best but I admire anyone willing to take a stand in any way for the oppressed. The sheer nonsense of how psychiatry operates is astounding but the one thing psychiatry seems to be capable of understanding is that oppressive, spirit crushing tactics will provoke people to be anti-authoritarian – even if they weren’t to begin with. The natural human response to psychological or physical torment and powerlessness is to fight back. And thus they get to provoke the very thing that they want to condemn, control and punish someone for.

  • If you say it’s true they don’t care about what trauma or abuse someone endured and they willingly ignore it or worse yet punish you for it, I think that goes way beyond being clueless. And if they are that clueless, cold hearted and ignorant they should not be in a profession that claims to “help”.

    I won’t say all psychiatrists are punitive, dishonest or coercive but there certainly is a large segment that is. This is clearly demonstrated by the multitude of personal horror stories, reports, blogs etc here on MIA and elsewhere.

  • Dr. Hickey you never cease to amaze with your wisdom and vigorously effective essays that expose the fiasco of psychiatry. As per what Dr. Kendler himself writes, psychiatry is ALL about “what WE most want as a FIELD” and to heck with what any person hoping to get “help” might need. Many psychiatrists have put themselves up on a pedestal as ‘superior’ (and as people who somehow never have any reaction to life’s adverse events, lol) but with their alleged ‘superior’ knowledge they resort to such simplistic means to “diagnose” people it resembles child’s play – like ‘spin the wheel’ to see what label it lands on. Because yes it’s all about “clinching the diagnosis”. If you have some type of “symptoms” they surely have an “illness” and label for you. Even if you don’t have any “symptoms” to fit with any label, well that’s no problem for them either as they will label you anyway as punishment for resisting their toxic drugs or being non-compliant or disagreeing in any way with their power and ‘superiority’.

    When faced with the proof of their falsities and the harm they inflict on so many they keep taking this “exculpatory stance” and keep trying to justify their corrupt and gross failings. Makes one wonder what malady compels people to lie, distort, deny, deflect, coerce, harm etc, and never have an ounce of guilt or remorse?? Maybe greed, or narcissism, or likely both.

    Thanks again Dr. Hickey for this excellent piece and all your work to put it together so precisely.

  • Thank you Justin for this informative interview/report. This is outstanding work on the part of Professor Peter Kinderman and Dr. Sarah Kamens. Forming the Task Force for Diagnostic Alternatives (TFDA) and putting out another open letter gives hope to those labelled by the absurd, discriminatory labels of the DSM and hopefully can prevent others from suffering the same fate in the future.

    Even before my experience with a psychiatrist in cancer treatment I wondered how psychiatry possibly helps anyone facing traumatic or difficult life circumstances when the extent of their “help” consisted of a 15 minute appt once a month and prescriptions for toxic drugs that didn’t help. Instead these drugs caused harm to the brain in a multitude of ways, reduced the person’s ability to think and created a horrifying dependence on the drugs.

    What makes the practice of psychiatry SO bizarre and revolting is that context does not matter – at all, every societal problem or oppressive injustice in the world is deemed to be a “disorder” within the person. Psychiatry is a corrupted, ruthless system that somehow managed to place themselves above all other medical or mental health professionals and in doing so has been allowed to harm far too many. This needs to be stopped and I wholeheartedly thank you for your much needed integrity and perseverance in tackling this critical issue. I am wondering if professionals in Canada can also sign the open letter?

  • psmama, thank you so much for your validation! When people tell me my situation with psychiatry during cancer treatment “can show the fraud of this industry” it drives me to do whatever I can to spread the word. There is much more to the sordid, twisted tale of lies/betrayal etc, but in a nutshell it was arranged to have psych labels put on me to strip me of my right to be informed and to give consent. After 4 labels were slapped on me without my knowledge (when my only “symptom” was insomnia and trying to decline an unnecessary surgery which my family Dr FULLY agreed and supported) I ended up forcibly surgically assaulted – for what was a contrived cancer diagnosis – due to these fabricated psych labels. Very similar to the fraud and corruption of people being forcibly injected and damaged with neuroleptics.

    I found the MIA site August 2018 and hadn’t seen your comments prior to that but just read them now. Omg, psmama I am horrified and so sorry to read of what you endured. Your story also shows how corrupt and brutal psychiatry is!! They don’t care about what trauma or abuse, or anything at all that happened to someone – instead they are hell bent on punishing someone for having endured trauma or difficult circumstances. They re-victimize and re-traumatize someone who is already suffering. It is SO crazy and corrupt! Psychiatry IS a sadistic beast and you stated it well in a prior comment “Most people are completely unaware of the underbelly of the beast”.

    You also state it well in this comment “Once my medical files stated I had a mental illness, I was never treated the same”. Yes, this is something every labelled person knows all too well. Thanks for speaking out. Your voice is very important. Be good to yourself and I send you my best wishes.

  • The self-serving obstacles and shenanigans carried out by the Cochrane Collaboration is beyond disgusting. The reviewers comments were not just counter-productive they were deceitful and arrogant as they repeatedly tried to have you add statements that were favorable to AD’s and downplayed the issues of withdrawal. It’s certainly clear they have NO interest whatsoever in helping suffering patients – and to add insult to injury they actually “blame the patient” for believing in a chemical imbalance! Thank you so much Dr. Gotzsche for your integrity and meaningful efforts and commitment to help people get off these toxic drugs and try reclaim their lives.

  • Laura, thank you for sharing what you have endured with psychiatry. It’s important these experiences are told as it continues to expose how dangerous and harmful psychiatry is. Forced treatment is inhumane and barbaric. I am so sorry you had to endure this and it is awful this happened to you simply because you had trouble to sleep. I can relate to that aspect as while in cancer treatment 3 chemo drugs, pain killers and steroids made it difficult to sleep and cancer docs sent me to a psychiatrist under the guise it was for “help with sleep meds”. I was quickly given 4 psych labels and prescribed Seroquel, clonazepam, Ativan and amitriptyline even though I was already in very rough shape from all the other toxic chemo drugs.

    You have done very well with forging ahead with your life and I admire your determination. I hope you can continue to do well and be free from psychiatry and their toxic drugs. Best of wishes to you.

  • A great piece Dr. Maisel.
    “A movement in the direction of liberation, mental health, and renewed purpose can occur even while psychiatry remains entrenched”.
    Yes, ultimately the harm of psychiatry must continue to be exposed but to survive psychiatry and to thrive we must move towards liberation in our thoughts, actions and with renewed purpose.
    Thank you, there are many words of wisdom in your blog to implement.

  • Thank you Robert for speaking out on this.
    Yes, what started out to be a respectable obituary in the NY Times for Dr. Bonnie Burstow certainly took a shocking and disgusting turn. It is cowardly, opportunistic and unethical to defame a colleague who is dead – especially with such vile and outrageous accusations. The NY Times should remove Edward Shorter’s defamatory accusations from Dr. Burstow’s obituary AND issue some type of apology and retraction.

    Cruelty, coercion and lots of corruption is at the core of psychiatry and Edward Shorter must know this:

    “Never try to destroy someone else’s reputation with lies when yours can be destroyed with the truth”.

  • Thanks Zenobia for this report.

    “This thought experiment helps trainees overcome the unwarranted reification of DSM constructs”.

    “Development of conceptual humility in psychiatric training might usefully be coupled with the training program requirement in the history of the discipline, which reveals its many conceptual turns, blind alleys, and outright failures.”

    This is at least a step in the right direction by Dr. Awais Aftab in acknowledging the “outright failures” and therefore harm caused by psychiatry using rigid, narrow minded thinking to quickly apply judgemental labels – with no context or causation.

    It’s all well and good to incorporate this, especially “Conceptual Humility” for new trainees but what of the old rigid thinkers or those already in practice. How does a leopard change it spots
 When I was sent to see a young psychiatrist for “help” with insomnia during cancer treatment she had ZERO “Conceptual competence” and ZERO humility period. Her arrogance and utter lack of insight and delusional thinking was so over the top I don’t see how there is hope for these type of psychiatrists to ever be reformed. Humility is simply NOT in their DNA.

    The other matter is how any classification/labelling of “disorders/illnesses” can be legitimate or believable in the first place when different “disorders” receive the same “treatment” – OR the same “disorder” receives different “treatments”.

  • Thanks Dr. Caplan for this informative review of Jim Gottstein’s new book, The Zyprexa Papers. I’ve read some eye opening books this past year including They Say You’re Crazy and Anatomy of an Epidemic and ordered this book today. Truth and knowledge is desperately needed for all who have been so severely harmed by psychiatry as the ‘powers that be’ are so intent on blaming and dismissing victims of psychiatry. I recently heard of the Anti-Corruption Award 2020. Persons of incredible integrity who take on huge risks to speak out and act to protect victims of psychiatry such as Mr. Jim Gottstein, Mr. Robert Whitaker, yourself Dr. Caplan (walking away from the DSM task force and speaking out/writing about that fiasco) and other professional writers here on MIA are definitely worthy of such an award!

  • Yes, I agree it’s really too bad when someone with a large platform praises psych drugs. I take it you saw the Lady Gaga & Oprah interview. It was difficult to watch. I feel for her because she’s dealing with past trauma and chronic pain and likely not made aware of the harm that awaits her from the cocktail of toxic psych “medicines” she said she is taking. (tried to get a message to her via twitter and tell her to read Anatomy of an Epidemic)

  • First these two psychiatrists attack the Special Rapporteur’s reports, ignoring he is a psychiatrist and epidemiologist and qualified to conduct this enquiry. Then they attack your defence of the Special Rapporteur as: “biased 
 extremist 
 (holding) anti-psychiatry views 
 dangerous” and a pawn of psychiatry’s bogey-man, Scientology.”

    Well, as usual these self-serving psychiatrists show their true colors and motives. They know with every passing day more people are waking up to the invalidity of psych labels and the coercive, destructive harm inflicted by psychiatry. More people both inside and outside of psychiatry are speaking out and more people who were harmed are coming forward with their stories. So psychiatry keeps digging their heels in trying desperately to protect their power, privilege and egos.

    Thank you Dr. McLaren for this blog, for your voice and integrity, and for speaking out in defense of the Special Rapporteur.

  • Alex, your first comment (to me) on this blog certainly tied giving, receiving and “forgiveness” altogether. Yes “cast no one aside” is “a powerful truth” and no one should be shamed or silenced for their “truth” or their support for Robert and MIA. (or have a comment to defend their position reported) Too much negative energy has gone on here and that is a real shame as energy should be used for the good of everyone – which is what MIA is all about. Yes I am moving on. I wish you well and will not respond any further.

  • Hi Nancy, So glad that you have found the same help and validation I did on this site. There was so much on here, including the blogs, personal stories and other commenters that helped me to process my ordeal. I was struggling with the trauma and resulting nightmare of seeing a psychiatrist for help with insomnia. (sent to the psychiatrist by docs administering cancer treatments) I believed/trusted a psychiatrist was in the profession for the purpose of helping and supporting people in difficult circumstances and could not wrap my brain around what was done to me by a cold and very dishonest psychiatrist. I thought I was alone and my story would be too hard for anyone to believe – until the day in mid 2018 when I found the MIA site. It was SO validating and really a lifesaver to realize I was not alone and there was a battle raging against the damaging façade psychiatry is. I will always be immensely grateful to Robert Whitaker for his incredible work, integrity and perseverance in educating people, exposing the harm and saving lives.

  • Thank you Robert for your ongoing vigilance to investigate and report on drug studies that are clearly skewed, or as you put it well in Anatomy of an Epidemic “biased by design”. (an incredibly informative book) The JAMA article states this drug approval is “potentially exciting” – yes exciting for those who stand to make big profits from having a new drug with a patent as opposed to older generic drugs. Only those deemed to respond well were selected and – 70% of the people in the study were prescribed lorazepam – when adding another drug that combats agitation, anxiety and symptoms of debilitating EPS certainly skews the results. Everything about this study smells bigtime. Thank you for this excellent investigative report, and the MIA website and all you do to educate people and help save lives.

  • Sam, so many of your comments are spot on!
    “An uncanny ability to see pain, but not let it affect, nor do anything about it”.
    That certainly describes the psychiatrist I saw for insomnia while in cancer treatment! I sat there pale, emaciated, dizzy and bald from chemo and she sat with perfectly coiffed hair, dressed to the nines, matching shoes and purse and with a stone-cold face, totally uninterested and oblivious to my challenging situation. She had been in practice less than a year, her father and sister are lawyers and I would bet she had not suffered a day in her life so was totally clueless to any suffering of any kind.

  • Sarah, I appreciate the candor and authenticity in your writing. The harmful façade of psychiatry is still such a shocking realization for me because of my long held belief (brainwashing) that psychiatry was about “helping” people get through difficult life circumstances. I used to be a positive, hopeful person but learning the truth about psychiatry and of how many have been harmed and devastated by it, has been very demoralizing.

    “The problem of the modern world for me is not so much the stress of having a present threat to survival. It is a continual uncertainty about future survival given the conditions of life as I have come to know and experience them.”

    Yes I can relate as that is how I have felt since my encounter with a psychiatrist.
    Thanks again for this truth-speaking unvarnished essay. I look forward to your upcoming blogs.

  • A great piece as always Sera! I thought the woman who tried to take back everyone else’s apology was pretty bad until I read how the fellow was “unable to talk openly about suicide to the Suicide Prevention Coalition because it “triggered” them too much.”

    Wow, that takes the cake! How do you spell H.Y.P.O.C.R.I.S.Y. !

    It’s appalling “people purportedly so invested in “helping” professions would respond with withdrawal and denial when people are saying they were hurt” (as per the standard operating mode for psychiatry)
    And you put it well in that
. “The absence of ‘sorry’ is epidemic”.
    And never saying sorry lets someone carry on with their image/façade of perfection or always being right. Ugh!!

    As for “Love Means Never Having To Say You are Sorry”, my interpretation is if you follow the golden rule of “Do onto to others as you wish done onto you” you probably won’t need to apologize very often.

    Thanks and Happy New Year Sera!

  • Good points Sam…”Is psychiatry saying they NEVER suffer?” Yes I often wonder about that, are they somehow impervious to traumas and adversities??

    To quote Dr. Breggin’s wisdom and benevolence ““In therapy, I often share my personal experiences to make clear that we are all much alike in both misery and recovery.”

    But unfortunately most psychiatrists are NOT interested in understanding or helping but instead are intent on passing judgement on someone for feeling/acting the same way they would if they faced similar circumstances.

  • Thanks Dr. Breggin for your words of wisdom, kindness and genuine advocacy for those who must deal with adversities.

    “In therapy, I often share my personal experiences to make clear that we are all much alike in both misery and recovery.”

    Yes, so very true, and unfortunately that truth, insight and humility is severely lacking in psychiatry and is at the core of why psychiatry ends up being so harmful.

    Thanks for everything you do. Wishing you and Ginger good health and much happiness in 2020!

  • Rachel, it was a blog by Robert Whitaker. It involved a couple threads and got stressful having to defend my suggestion to donate to MIA. I would give links to the comments but it’s best not to stir that pot again.

  • I was very shocked and sad to hear of Dr. Bonnie Burstow’s sudden passing. What a huge loss for all who face oppression and all who are fighting the oppressive, harmful establishment of psychiatry. Thank you Don for this beautiful memorial essay and for detailing the enormous amount of tireless work Dr. Burstow accomplished even while coping with her multiple physical illnesses.

    What makes this crusade for justice so difficult is exactly as you stated Don, “Mainstream reporters and editors have been co-opted by the psychiatric establishment and its shock doctors”.
    Surely there must be reporters and editors out there with enough integrity and courage to step up and bring these dire matters into the mainstream and honour Dr. Burstow’s selfless work.

    Thank you Dr. Burstow for everything you have done. Bravo for fighting such a valiant battle on behalf of humanity. RIP Dr. Burstow, your legacy will live on.

  • Thank you Dr. Gotzsche and Sandra Toft for sharing this inspiring story of recovery from the clutches of toxic psych drugs. So glad Sandra persevered through withdrawal and is now living a meaningful life and is passionate about helping others survive psychiatry’s labels and toxic drugs.

    Thanks for all you do Dr. Gotzche in exposing the devastating harm being done to so many by psychiatry. Best wishes on setting up the Institute for Scientific Freedom – your integrity and voice is desperately needed in this world!

  • “Alex, This blog was about trying to do something helpful and positive, i.e. giving, but unfortunately Melissa was criticized by some for it and that struck a nerve with me. I wanted to support Melissa and let her know I relate to how it feels to try be positive/helpful but get criticized. I wanted to explain we can’t always know what is behind someone’s criticism and not to take it personal.

    Yes I believe in forgiveness but it is easier if a correction IS actually made.”

    Regards,

    Rosalee

  • Hi Melissa, who would have thought a gesture of good will would end up so misconstrued. Isn’t there an old saying
 “No good deed goes unpunished”. Seriously I am glad you are staying positive as your heart is in the right place and this world needs more kind people like you! Sometimes we are not always privy to ‘all’ the reasons/details of why someone holds a different viewpoint. I can relate as a while ago when I realized how helpful MIA is to so many I encouraged people to pass the link and donate whatever they can to keep the site going, but my encouragement to support MIA was criticized by another commenter and actually linked to “social abuse”.
    
    Let’s all strive to see the damaging reign of psychiatry toppled. Thanks for getting involved! There is strength in numbers and also the power of one. Best wishes to you.

  • Thank you for writing this blog Dr. Caplan to highlight the dire situation of struggling families and children who end up in foster care. I hope the amendments are approved and more financial help is made available to give these children a fighting chance at life. Thanks for the links to the series in the Kansas City Star.

  • Thank you Miranda for this compelling interview. Wow, this craziness is staggering! It was bad enough there are 5 main adverse events reported but the additional ones Dr. Cornwall noted are very scary, such as “rapid heartbeat”. I just finished reading Anatomy of an Epidemic and realize what a courageous man Dr. Breggin is to have bravely gone against mainstream psychiatry.

    A HUGE thanks to Dr. Breggin and Dr. Cornwall for continually investigating and speaking out to protect people and especially young children from these alarming practices so carelessly foisted upon children. Please keep up the excellent work and God bless you both!!

  • I agree Kindredspirit, I witnessed something similar play out in my mothers death. Rather than investigate what appeared to be an intestinal blockage (in an otherwise very healthy elderly woman) the doctors (along with a deviously inclined family member) decided – unbeknownst to me – it was “time for her to go”. She was a strong, resilient woman and had told me she didn’t want to die. But they stopped all nourishment and soon began to heavily sedate her. After 2 1/2 weeks it was obvious she was fighting to stay alive so one morning they pulled her hydration line apparently to speed things up. I had arrived to sit at her bedside again that night and could not get a straight answer why she no longer had a hydration line. As I sat next to her bed she began to make horrible gasping sounds at 10 pm. I called for a nurse and when she came she told me to tell my mom “it was okay to go”. Knowing how feisty she was and that she wanted to live made it very traumatic to watch her die a very painful death being so dehydrated her tongue hung out like a dog that died in the desert.

    MAID (medical assistance in dying) has a double standard. It seems to be more about what is best for the professionals (or devious family members) rather than for the patient.

  • Thank you Robert for sharing and honoring Zel’s tragic story with so much respect and compassion. Zel’s story is yet another tragic example of how degrading and dehumanizing psychiatry is for so many. As Zel said “I didn’t want to die but based on how I feel physically . . . I can’t live”. After my encounter with psychiatry I can totally relate to that, not wanting to die but needing the suffering and torment to end. In reality Zel didn’t end his life – psychiatry did.

    Thank you for all the exhausting and astounding work you have done and continue to do on behalf of the millions who have been harmed and damaged and have no voice. May Zel find the comfort and peace he deserves in the next phase of life. RIP Zel.

  • Thank you Dr. Read and your colleagues for speaking out as too many professionals stay quiet and go along with all the corruption out of self serving “interests”. A psychiatrist I was sent to when I developed insomnia from chemo (and who had been practicing < 1 year) thoroughly mocked me in electronic records for having "side effects" to her psych drugs (including Seroquel, mirtazapine, clonazepam duloxetine, temazepam, etc) Now that it is known just how harmful these psych drugs are her Bio states she now "has an interest in use of ketamine for treatment resistant depression (TRD)" and "has supervised resident research on use of intravenous and intranasal ketamine for TRD." And she now "sits on the University of Alberta Psychiatry Residency Program Committee and is actively involved in clinical teaching to residents and medical students."

    How scary is that!?

  • Thanks Sarah for another good article.
    As humans we all deal with two common denominators you noted:
    “The normal stressors that everyone has to deal with”.
    “The normal stress response that everyone is born with”.

    I remember thinking how ridiculous the popular song/slogan “Don’t worry, Be happy” was 30 years ago. Can there be anyone walking around these days without at least a moderate degree of stress/anxiety about the planet, natural disasters, wars, poverty, crime and overwhelming corruption – especially the insidious corruption carried out by so-called health care professionals.

  • “These lists in medical terminology are described as symptoms. In reality, all of the symptoms are also experienced by people who are not described as mentally ill and for whom the impact on their lives may be temporary or unproblematic.”

    “A lot of diagnoses are in fact moral judgements reflecting changes to societal values and preoccupations rather than scientific progress.“

    Yes this guide speaks to the totally harmful nonsense of psychiatry and their devious labels. How much longer can these unethical quacks get to spew their nonsense!?

  • Kudos Birgit! I greatly appreciate every professional who speaks out against the current harmful medical model of psychiatry and I thank you for all your work in setting up Mad in Norway.

    “We need a clear change in the law that acknowledges a humanistic approach to mental health problems, that is not based on diagnoses.”
    Yes, this is SO important because the root of all harm starts with a psych label.

    “No professional group should have power over others to define people’s struggles and what constitutes good help”.
    How crazy that a psychiatrist gets to define someone’s reality when the psychiatrist don’t know anything about them or what has happened to them, etc. – and worse DOESN’T even want to know.

    Thank you and best of wishes going forward with Mad in Norway.

  • This is an outstanding report Derek driving home how deadly the medical model of drugs and labels are to veterans and the general population. As always in psychiatry the real causes of a person’s difficulties or distress etc are ignored and instead drugs and labels are pushed as happened to you with the label of “ADHD” and later the effects of the drug “finasteride”.

    As you say, your story is not the exception, it is the rule and “The VA is a reflection of the “best practices” in the private sector.”

    Yes, we all unfortunately trusted doctors, the system and government and found out the hard way how misplaced that trust was. It is stomach-turning to hear the media and other sources encouraging people to seek “help” in the mental health system when it is that very “help” that breaks people and drives them further into despair.

    I commend you for your diligence, commitment and all your work and involvement in the ongoing fight to stop this harm and help save lives. Keep up the good work!

  • Yes I remain hopeful Dr. T. N. will be an ally.
    Btw, Anomie thanks for the link to the NY times article “The Largest Health Disparity” on how doctors dismiss physical health problems of those with psych labels and that this form of discrimination has actually been given the name of “diagnostic overshadowing”.

  • Thanks Dr. McLaren speaking out with such honesty and candor! The façade of psychiatry is desperately trying to conceal their rotten and crumbling core. Much gratitude for your work and your voice. Your submission is very thorough. This is some of what stood out for me:

    “My experience over nearly half a century is that reminding psychiatrists of their error provokes the most bitter hostility. They go to quite extreme lengths to prevent any criticism becoming public.”

    

And this deletion is VERY telling (would have loved to read it!)

    “ (e) Corruption in psychiatry. “
    “Deleted on legal advice, specifically “risk of action for defamation”.

  • Dr T. N.,
    The problem is they are not “medications” they are toxic drugs. Any relief they might give is VERY short lived. The harm and physical addiction lasts a very long time and is often permanent. My brother died on psych drugs and other people I know find it impossible to get off these drugs even though the drugs quit helping them long ago. It is not ethical to sacrifice the majority for what appears to be a small minority who may actually want these toxic drugs.

    Further, putting stigmatizing psych labels on someone experiencing expected or understandable distress from some trauma or adverse life events is psychiatry’s ‘calling card’ and as Dr. Paula Caplan states – “Psychiatric Diagnosis is the First Cause of Everything Bad in the Mental Health System”.

    I don’t know how anyone could deny the evidence presented so clearly in Anatomy of an Epidemic and also Dr. Breggin and his vast knowledge (and very many other professionals) :

    https://breggin.com/alert-128-psychiatric-drugs-neurotoxins-that-do-more-harm-than-good/

  • Fiachra, wow, I did not know that psych drugs can cause eye damage too!

    As if not disgusting enough that psychiatry puts spurious, unfounded labels on people but they also leave out any truth or facts and resort to writing lies. The shrink I saw during cancer treatment did not make one note about what I explained to her was going on with treatments and side effects etc.

  • Thanks Leah for a great report.
    That last copy/paste tweet says it all…. “Bad mental health policy is, regrettably, a bipartisan enterprise”.

    Reminds me of an illustration I recently saw of cattle being herded into two chutes, one marked for the “Left” and one for the “Right”. But then all the cattle from both chutes were herded into the same doorway marked “Slaughterhouse”.

  • Thanks Susan Rogers and Torpid for the links to Julie’s work. After listening to Julie on Dr. Breggin I went to her new website and clicked on her U tube videos. Wow, Julie had great enthusiasm and a real gift to make her presentation and information interesting and compelling. (In this video I love her humour about the man she visited in the United Kingdom).

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U98xCn0UwNI
    Very sad there will be no more charismatic Julie videos.

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