Mad in America is a webzine devoted to rethinking psychiatry’s current “disease model” for diagnosing and treating psychiatric disorders. This Family Resources section is designed to provide information and resources for parents and other family members who wish to explore alternatives to conventional, drug-based psychiatric care for their relatives, especially children of all ages.
What's New
The Surgeon General’s New Mission: Adolescent Mental Health
In a Q&A with The New York Times, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy discusses the “devastating effects” of mental health challenges for teens and the online culture that exacerbates them, saying:
"It’s not just about greater...
Blogs & Personal Stories
What’s Missing from NAMI and Pro-Psychiatry: Lived Experience
Since many psych patients become forced consumers, their advocates have a duty to be educated and concerned with adverse reactions.
Beyond Labels and Meds—Closer Look: Isabella Castillo
At times I tend to feel invisible. Sometimes I don’t feel like I fit in with everyone else; I feel like an outsider.
Beyond Psychiatry: A Trauma-Centric View of Mental Health
Internal family systems therapy is a non-pathologizing method of working toward healing from trauma, a journey of returning to wholeness by reconnecting with ourselves.
Around the Web: Family
Featured Articles
Mad/Cripistemologies of Pandemic Parenting: Insights for Our “Post-COVID-19” Present
Respondents described the grief and rage associated with being socially isolated while healing from childbirth and caring for a newborn, in some cases, entirely on their own.
Screening for Perinatal Depression: An Effective Intervention, or One That Does More Harm Than Good?
Why does the U.S. describe perinatal screening as providing a proven benefit, while the task forces in the U.K. and Canada see no evidence of such benefit?
Problem-Solving Through Skills-Building: Motivating Kids to Change
Children can overcome all sorts of difficulties by learning specific behavioural or emotional skills with the help and support of their social network.
"Mad in the Family" Podcast
Archives: Popular Posts from the Past
Editor's Corner
Social media’s impact on youth
In a rash of lawsuits filed against social media companies over the last few months, school districts are pointing to big tech’s significant role in the youth mental health crisis.Â
The latest complaint, filed last week by the board of education and superintendent in San Mateo County, Calif., allege that Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube use artificial intelligence to knowingly rope in young people, causing dramatic, unparalleled plunges in youth mental health. It cites a February data summary from the Centers for Disease Control showing dramatic increases in violence, suicidal thoughts and behaviors, and other mental-health challenges.Â
If you’re a parent, how would you describe the effects on your children? Is this an issue you grapple with as a family? If you’re open to talking about it, please email me ([email protected]), as I’m planning to write a story on the topic.
Family Newsletter
Support Groups
MIA offers moderated, online peer-support groups for parents of both minor and adult children. The U.S./Canada group meets each Tuesday on a drop-in basis. The Europe group meets on the second Thursday of each month. Â Learn more and sign up here.
For info on other online and in-person support groups, including those for parents and families, click here. To suggest more for the list, please email [email protected].
How Can I Best Support My Child’s Withdrawal from Psychiatric Drugs? Carina Hakasson, PhD and Nicole Lamberson, PA answer an important parenting question. Have a question of your own? Submit it for an online reply.
Psychiatric Drug Info
Did you know:
- That longer-term studies of children given a diagnostic label of ADHD have found worse outcomes for medicated youth?
- In a large NIMH study, researchers concluded that few youth “benefit long-term” from antipsychotics (neuroleptic drugs)?
- That use of marijuana, stimulants, and antidepressants increase the risk that a youth will receive a diagnostic label of bipolar disorder?
Research on psychiatric drug 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 moreÂ
Research on non-drug 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.
