Mad in America is a webzine devoted to rethinking psychiatry’s current “disease model” for diagnosing and treating psychiatric disorders. This Parent Resources section is designed to provide information and resources for parents who wish to explore alternatives to conventional, drug-based psychiatric care for children and youth.
Moving Toward a Preventative Approach to Youth Mental Health
Responsive intervention is currently prioritized over prevention in mental health care. How can the field move toward prevention?
Now I See a Person: A New Model for Breaking Free of Mental Health Labels
NISAPI helps people achieve recovery by pairing the normalcy of a ranch and the nurturance of horses with a philosophy of postmodern collaborative practice.
To the Young Person Who Doesn’t Identify with Their Disability Diagnosis Anymore
Your diagnosis should serve YOU. Not your parents, your doctors, your teachers, or the next door neighbor. We should be fighting for a future where the person being labeled has the ultimate say over how doctors and therapists view them.
Insane Medicine Chapter 5: The Manufacture of Childhood Depression (Part 2)
The promotion of SSRI use in children began with the pharmaceutical industry and occurs despite evidence that these drugs are harmful.
Withdrawing Kids from Psych Drugs: Why, How, and When
Here are methods for reducing or eliminating a child's psychiatric medications that I have seen work well over years of supporting families through this process.
Supporting Children and Parents to Withdraw from Psychiatric Medication
The main problem with prescribing psychiatric drugs to children is that it hasn’t been very effective.
A Parent/Caregiving Guide to Helping Families Cope with the Corona Virus
Try these suggestions to help ease anxiety and build resilience during the coronavirus pandemic, courtesy of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network.
Policy News
Support Groups
MIA offers moderated, online peer-support groups for parents. U.S./Canada groups meet twice monthly on alternating Tuesdays. There is one group for parents of children 18 and under and another for parents of adult children. The European group (children of all ages) meets on the second Thursday of each month. Learn more and sign up here.
Q&A
My child is self-harming. How can I help? Steve McCrea, MS, answers a parenting question. Have a question of your own? Submit it for an online reply from one of our experts.
Psychiatric Drug Info
Did you know:
- That longer-term studies of children given a diagnostic label of ADHD have found worseoutcomes for medicated youth?
- In a large NIMH study, researchers concluded that few youth “benefit long-term” from antipsychotics (neuroleptic drugs)?
- That marijuana, stimulants, and antidepressants increase the risk that a youth will receive a diagnostic label of bipolar disorder?
Research on psychotropic use in children and adolescents
- Stimulants for children with a diagnostic label of ADHD
- Antidepressants for children with a diagnostic label of depression/anxiety
- Antipsychotics (neuroleptics) for children with a diagnostic label of psychosis, bipolar disorder, and more
Research on non-pharmacological treatments
- Non-drug approaches for ADHD
- Non-drug approaches for depression
- Non-drug approaches for psychosis, bipolar disorder, and more
Resources
Information on withdrawal from psychiatric drugs.
Directory of therapists/providers who support drug withdrawal.
Mad in America, the Council for Evidence-Based Psychiatry, and the International Institute for Psychiatric Drug Withdrawal are pleased to announce a series of live, online Town Hall discussions focusing on issues related to psychiatric drug withdrawal.
View the video of our first Town Hall on psychiatric drug withdrawal from Friday, January 15, 2021. The video includes a panel discussion and audience questions.
