Shocking Rise of NHS Abuse of Mental Health Patients
From The Sun: Reports of abuse against NHS mental health patients hit a record high last year. In 2016, almost 200 cases related to the...
The Risk That Survives a Psych Ward Stay
From OZY: The suicide rate for former psychiatric inpatients is 44 times higher than that of the general population. According to Australian psychiatrist and professor Christopher Ryan,...
Mental Health Patients Wait Over Three Years to be Discharged
From The Telegraph: Mental health patients across the UK are waiting for years to be discharged from psychiatric units. At least 91 patients have waited...
A Glimpse Inside US Mental Health Detention Centre
From The Sun: New York photographer Lili Holzer-Glier was recently allowed inside the Cook County Department of Corrections in Chicago, where 35 percent of inmates...
Mental Health, Inc.
From Kirkus Reviews: In his new book Mental Health, Inc., Art Levine reports on the dire state of the U.S. mental health system.
"The author delivers the...
Death of Psychiatric Patient at Florida Facility Leads to Lawsuit
From the Hartford Courant: In 2011, Melinda Jakobowski, a psychiatric patient at the Florida Institute of Neurologic Rehabilitation, died from a sudden heart failure after...
The FBI and Defense Department are Investigating UHS Hospitals
From BuzzFeed News: America's largest chain of psychiatric hospitals, United Health Services, is currently under investigation by at least three federal agencies including the FBI...
Psychiatrist Arrested for Death of Patient
From The Times of India: A psychiatrist from the Uma Nalini Mary Clinic and Research Institute was recently arrested on charges of homicide of a middle-aged patient....
A Dribbling, Suicidal Mess – Until I Kicked the Pills
In this piece for The Sunday Times, Oliver Thring tells the story of Katinka Blackford Newman, a woman who became psychotic after taking antidepressants and...
Use of Electroconvulsive Therapy Without Patient’s Consent Rises
From The Irish News: Although the use of ECT has been steadily decreasing internationally, the use of ECT in Northern Ireland has significantly increased over...
Letter Endorsing the Recent UN Report on Mental Health
Mental Health Europe and the British Psychological Society are looking for signatories to a letter endorsing the recent United Nations Special Rapporteur's report on...
Drugs for Bad Behavior Cause Alarming Weight Gain in Kids
From National Post: Antipsychotic drugs are increasingly being prescribed to children as young as two for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, aggression and behavior problems. A...
Reform of Mental Health Law Should Focus on Patient’s Voice
From The Irish Times: The Mental Health (Amendment) Bill 2017, which is currently making its way through the Irish legislature, would enact key policies and...
Is There Institutional Racism in Mental Health Care?
From BBC News: Black people are overrepresented in the UK's mental health system and are at an increased risk of being forcibly committed, diagnosed with...
New Zealand Man Died After Being Restrained in Japan
From The Guardian: Kelly Savage, a 27-year-old New Zealand man working abroad as an English teacher in Japan, was admitted to a Japanese psychiatric hospital...
More and More States Are Outlawing Gay-Conversion Therapy
From The Atlantic: States are increasingly moving to ban gay conversion therapy, restricting licensed mental-health practitioners including psychiatrists, psychologists, and social workers from practicing any...
Do Voice Hearers Have the Right to Refuse Psychiatric Drugs?
In this piece for STAT, Shirley S. Wang discusses the Hearing Voices Network and its non-pathologizing, rights-affirming approach to hearing voices and alternative realities.
"Many recovered...
Dementia Patients at Risk of Injury or Death Due to Antipsychotics
From The Independent: Thousands of people with Lewy Body Dementia are being prescribed antipsychotic drugs, increasing their risk of death fourfold.
"These medicines, prescribed to around...
Irish Teen Seeking Abortion Put In Mental Hospital (The Onion)
From The Onion: “Thank God that in America our mental health facilities are too poorly funded for something like this to happen.”
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When Calling the Police Results in Harm, Not Help
From Slate: The death of Charleena Lyles, who was shot by the police after she called them to report a burglary, serves as a reminder...
Psych Ward Reviews: A Yelp for Psychiatric Facilities
From Undark Magazine: A new app, Psych Ward Reviews, gathers anonymous reviews of patients' experiences with inpatient treatment at public and private psychiatric and general...
Families Sue Health Insurers to Cover Wilderness Therapy
From The Boston Globe: An increasing number of families are filing lawsuits against insurance companies that refuse to cover wilderness therapy for their children's mental...
Women are Flocking to Wellness due to Sexism in Healthcare
From Quartz: Seeking healthcare in the medical system can be a dehumanizing experience for women: doctors often dismiss women's pain as psychological rather than physiological, and...
Quality of Inpatient Psychiatric Care and Consumers’ Trust
From Psychiatric Services: A recent study found that consumers who experienced low quality inpatient psychiatric care were less likely to trust the mental health system. Consumers...
Missouri Sued for Over-Drugging Foster Children
From Reuters: Two youth legal advocacy groups have filed a lawsuit against Missouri for over-exposing foster children to psychotropic drugs. The lawsuit seeks a court...
