Mad in America

Neil Nallan Chakravartulla questions the shortcoming of diagnosis as it separates the person from their world and detaches their pain from their circumstances. He reflects on the troubling consequences of this in South Asia.

Standing in front of the mirror, i wonder, “what outfit should i wear for scanning my psychiatric records at the local library?” the choice is obvious. i reach for my Sinead O’Connor t-shirt. a sense of pride and gratitude washes over me.

Heredity explains only a small part of mental illness.

When inner needs aren't adequately addressed with listening, empathy, and appropriate professional help, but states of suffering are stifled with psychotropic drugs, further suffering and chronic symptoms result.

In a culture that deifies adaptability and rewards mental resilience as a moral virtue, the public admission of despair functions as an erasure. Anyone who deviates from the script of legitimate sadness – the one that passes, that “has a cause,” that ultimately yields something – is canceled out as a threat to the cultural economy of meaning.

It seems pretty clear that prescribers are not as informed as they should be. Being adequately educated about psychiatric drugs means knowing enough about what they’re prescribing to give patients the opportunity to provide informed consent to treatment.

A medical-philosophical reflection on psychiatric treatment, its justification and its problems

In families where a parent has autism (even if it's unnoticed), there's often an invisible tension. A tension that's barely seen, yet deeply felt. I call it "emotional poverty": a lack of genuine connection that deeply affects the lives of Co-drivers—the children and loved ones of someone with autism. This is my invitation to recognize this dynamic and find a language that makes it a topic of discussion.

In Swedish psychiatry, the blame for failures in care is often placed on the patients themselves - not on the system's own shortcomings. Diagnoses such as borderline are used to explain away abuse, neglect and violations in the name of care. In this opinion piece, psychiatric survivor Cat W highlights the need for a real shift in perspective: from symptoms of illness to an understanding of society and trauma. See the article here:

Both divergent and everyone else may need help understanding human play and life, writes Mad in Norway's book reviews. She praises Jonas Vennike Ditlevsen (pictured) for providing insight into the unspoken patterns of social interaction and communication.

"Affective disorders are captured forms of discontent that must be externalized and addressed to their real cause: capital."

This is what unprocessed emotions can look like. Often relating to trauma. But what is trauma? When someone hurts you? When society hurts you? When you feel “wrong,” excluded? When you are not taught how to love yourself (by being loved)? When you lack the tools to live with, because you never learned any life skills?

With these subtle topics, I feel that my language skills are not enough to explain. Madness means crossing the limits of normal and limited life, and includes breaking chains, but also includes risks and dangers, of course.

We have seen the immense influence of social networks both in the vast production of content based on nomenclatures from psychiatric vocabulary and the exhaustive exploration of certain psychiatric categories that broaden the reach of publications. Not all, just some.

A documentary by Ulises Rosell that shows what daily life is like for actress Valentina Bassi as the mother of Lisandro, a young neurodivergent man with a disability and in need of constant support.

In this myth-busting article, MISA writer Ayushi Jolly writes about the limitations of self-care, how it can lead to additional pressure and guilt, and how both ideas of ‘self’ and ‘care’ are different in many parts of the world.

These critiques rock the foundation of how most of the western world view and treat mental illness currently. If they are accepted, and indeed they are scientifically robust analyses, it raises a shocking spectre for the profession of psychiatry, which, with the law on its side, engages in treating people – whether forcibly or not, with highly questionable methods. Perhaps this is not surprising, given the history of psychiatry.

"I have seen how psychiatric staff have escalated situations to justify the use of coercion and restraint. I have also seen how a misunderstanding has come close to leading to restraint. "

"It came up again, this time in Helsingin Sanomat. An article about the significance of a psychiatric diagnosis for a person. I can no longer read this type of article without being provoked, just skimming through it, but that sentence was found as such: “ The autism diagnosis was a relief and brought an explanation for everything . ” I already wrote feedback to the newspaper in question about the previous similar article, I don’t feel like doing it anymore. "

From shouting and threats to interventions without consent, obstetric violence is a form of gender violence that profoundly impacts postpartum mental health. Dr. Keila Castro proposes ways to heal.