Tag: President Trump

I have been involved in hundreds of commitment hearings in which psychiatric diagnoses were crucial. In that context, I have never witnessed the presence of all three factors: (1) the transparent (honest) use of diagnostic labels (which includes the acknowledgment of the inherent biases built into the labels as well as their limited validity), (2) allowing full voice to and full acknowledgment of the labeled person’s view of reality, and (3) using the labels in a manner that produced a useful understanding, which in standard mental health practice would require that the understanding be significantly more beneficial to the labeled person rather than the labeler.

For psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, and other therapists to claim that they are essential for warning people that Trump is dangerous is to claim special expertise and insight to which they are not entitled, and it simultaneously demeans the judgment of nonprofessionals and helps strengthen the power of their guilds.

A common refrain from the pro-forced treatment advocates at the summit was that "four walls" are not the solution to the crisis. Dr. Drew slammed such efforts in California during his presentation: "The vast majority have serious mental illness and drug addiction. Four walls are not going to do anything, if they would even go in."

Politics play an important role in the therapeutic relationship and political disclosure now common for psychotherapists.

For many people, the current political situation around the world is intensely frightening and not without cause. Depression and anxiety are on the rise, but we need a social model revolution in order to look at why this is happening. Labels like Trump Anxiety Disorder are merely a way to put people’s concerns in a box and leave them unaddressed.

The American Psychological Association has issued a letter to President Trump to express its strong opposition to the administration's new policy of separating immigrant...

In this piece for the Hartford Courant, Kathleen Flaherty describes why President Trump's assertion that more psychiatric hospitals would prevent mass shootings is inaccurate and...

From U.S. News: The Trump administration is not taking any actions to address the epidemic of waste, i.e. unnecessary tests and treatments, in the medical...

From The New York Times: President Trump has nominated Alex M. Azar II, a former president of the American division of Eli Lilly, to be...

From The Hill: A group of more than 100 psychologists and mental health professionals marched through the streets of New York on Saturday calling for President...

From The New Yorker: In a new book, The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump, a group of mental health experts warn the public of Donald Trump's...

In this interview for AlterNet, Allen Frances describes the various political, social, and psychological factors that led the U.S. to elect President Trump and create the national...

From Alternet: A new book, The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump, written by 27 psychiatrists, psychologists, and mental health experts to warn the public of President Trump's...

By calling Trump 'crazy' for making wildly racist, sexist, and other hateful remarks and out-of-control tweets (among other things), you fail to actually promote an end to such violence and bigotry. Instead, you are simply asking that it be redirected to another group.

Recently the American Psychoanalytic Association reaffirmed its members’ right to pronounce on the mental health of public figures—in particular, the controversial Donald Trump. Like the many objectors to the Goldwater Rule in the APA, our psychoanalysts act as if they’re above such a trivial restriction. They are not.

This new “Mental Health Czar,” as it is popularly known, will preside over a SAMHSA that is supposed to be far more friendly to the mental health industry. The approval ceremony is scheduled for streaming on the US Senate HELP (Health Education Labor Pensions) Committee website this Tuesday at 2:30 pm EST.

From STAT: The American Psychoanalytic Association has given its members permission to ignore the "Goldwater rule" and comment publicly on the mental state of government...

Mental health agencies are mainly asking about her positions regarding “recovery” and “peers,” but here are some tougher questions for President Trump's new "mental health czar": Do you support court-ordered psychiatric drugging? Do you endorse the use of federal money for it? Why aren’t non-drug alternatives offered to Americans?

This “Mental Health Czar” appointment is moving below the radar of many people. The US Senate should be asking some tough questions of Dr. McCance-Katz before deciding on her confirmation. Everyone should contact their Senators, now!