A Decade of the Rise and Rise of “Functional Neurological Disorder” (FND)
I have now come to think that the diagnosis of FND is essentially a way to dismiss adverse effects and withdrawal symptoms.
Seeing BPD in a Positive Light: An Interview with Dr. Shay Welch
Those diagnosed with borderline personality disorder are told that their very personalities are disordered, pathological or just intolerable.
Winning Norwegian Lawsuits about Forced Drugging with Antipsychotics
I am proud of the four brave Norwegian women who challenged a deeply unjust and inhumane system with tremendous power at its disposal and won.
She Was Here: Finding My Grandmother After Willard
I often mention that I was the only one of Catherine Smoral's grandchildren to see her alive. I was six years old.
The Process: Helen Wesnes Fights for Her Rights
The health care system cost her 15 years, followed by a 12-year legal process. She has already won in court and is ready for the next round.
The Psychotherapist as a Paid “Fantasy-Friend”: The Taboo of Money and Payment in Therapy
Money is positioned as both a cancer and a treasure, and the act of payment as a gesture of both immorality and necessity.
The Fonagy Report: A Missed Opportunity to Challenge the Neurodevelopmental Narrative
The review is riddled with contradictions and confusion and nothing it suggests is likely to make any difference to the current situation.
ADHD, a Unicorn in the Psychiatric (Be)wilderness
I do not dispute that some people suffer from their symptoms, but if you examine ADHD scientifically, the diagnosis falls apart.
The Hidden Psychotherapy Drop-Out Crisis
There is a discrepancy between what most people embarking on psychotherapy seek and what practitioners are trained to provide.
What We Seek in Therapy May be Lost to Time
Progress removes the conditions that made skills, relationships, meaning, and purpose necessary. A part of life ceases to be required.
Let There Be Light: Before Psychiatry Writes Its Next DSM
Very high prevalence raises a more fundamental question: Where exactly does the medical disorder end and ordinary human variation begin?
Mad in the World at the Mad in Norway International Film Festival
Mad in the World Liaison Karin Jervert reflects on the powerful experiences of helping to organize and attending the Mad in Norway International Film Festival in Lillehammer, Norway.
Lillehammer’s “Other” Olympics: The Mad in Norway International Film Festival
This was a weekend of movies, art, conversation, and camaraderie. But more than that, it was an infusion of strength.
Didn’t Anyone Tell You It Is Okay to Be Different?
At the Mad in Norway film festival, it struck me that people agreed that mental health needs to be systematically reformed, with more emphasis on psychosocial interventions.
The New York Times Fails Our Veterans
Yet another New York Times article on psychiatry misses the mark
From Efficacy to Non-Efficacy: Lessons from Pediatric Fluoxetine Trials
Modern studies find that fluoxetine has lost its efficacy for children and can now be considered clinically equivalent to placebo.
The VA’s New Prescribing Safety Reforms Are a Start – Here’s What’s Still Missing
On Monday, September 28, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Doug Collins announced actions the VA will take to address mental health prescribing...
The BMJ Refused to Publish Criticisms in Print of its Highly Misleading Suicide Prevention...
Journal editors should change their practices profoundly. They should welcome academic debate instead of censoring it.
The ODDESSI: Open Dialogue, The Lancet, and a Trojan Horse
DESSI trial results provide a beginning for rethinking psychiatric care
Open Dialogue and ODDESSI: What Have We Learned?
I found Open Dialogue to be a compelling and deeply humane way of working but I also learned how hard it is to implement and sustain.
Clancy’s Lawyer Blew the Chance for Lindsay to Go Free
If there is a second trial for Lindsay, I hope her lawyer puts a psychopharmacologist or neurotoxicologist on the stand.
Open Dialogue Approach Cuts Psychiatric Hospital Use in Major Trial
The ODDESSI trial found that people’s reported recovery, quality of life and satisfaction with services improved with Open Dialogue.
Antidepressants Are Major Drivers of Suicides
For almost 40 years, psychiatric leaders have denied that antidepressants increase suicides despite overwhelming evidence.
A Call for a Paradigm Shift in Schizophrenia Treatment: Reassessing Long-Term Antipsychotic Use and...
The cumulative evidence challenges the assumption that lifelong antipsychotic treatment is necessary or beneficial for most individuals with schizophrenia.
Remembering Dory Previn: An Interview by Peter Sterling in 1974
Dory Previn was an American lyricist, singer-songwriter, and poet whose deeply personal work explored her struggles with mental health, including experiences of psychosis. In October 1974, she met with neuroscientist Peter Sterling for a candid conversation about her psychiatric treatment.
