APA: Do Not Take a “See No Evil” Approach to Torture
From Psychology Today: The American Psychological Association has previously taken a number of steps to take responsibility for its involvement in torture and make amends to...
Online Communities for Drug Withdrawal: What Can We Learn?
From Psychiatric Times: Patients are increasingly turning to the internet as a source of information and support for antidepressant and benzodiazepine withdrawal due to the psychiatric...
Barbara Ehrenreich: Why I’m Giving Up on Preventative Care
In this piece for Literary Hub, Barbara Ehrenreich critiques the overuse of preventative medicine and describes how our healthcare system's emphasis on screenings and early...
The Breaking Point
How did I become someone who could barely function? I was a high-performing sales executive ranked in the top 2% of an international business communications company. But now, after using powerful psych meds for depression and anxiety for more than a decade, I couldn’t do basic things like go to the grocery store, plan a meal, make dinner, or get together with friends.
ECT Shock Treatment Class Action – Case Update April 2018
In March, 2018, the Court issued an Order denying class certification in the case filed against the manufacturers of ECT shock devices. Attorneys for the ECT victims strongly disagree with the Court's assessment, and have now petitioned the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals for permission to appeal the ruling denying class certification.
Call for Submissions: Smash Paternalism Anthology
A new anthology is seeking essays, short stories, poetry, and visual art on the topic of paternalism, i.e. abuses or human rights violations that are...
Your Pharmacist is Tattling On You!
A CVS pharmacy recently sent me a standardized form by fax with a dire warning about one of my patients. The form was called “MEDICATION NONADHERENCE THERAPY ADVISORY” and it said: “A review of your patient’s retail and mail prescription history indicates that the patient has not obtained his or her first refill.”
The Silence: The Legacy of Childhood Trauma
In this piece for The New Yorker, Junot Diaz reflects on the impact of his experience of childhood sexual abuse and the ways that therapy...
Patient Advocacy Groups Take In Millions From Drugmakers
Kaiser Health News has launched a new database called Pre$scription for Power, which exposes donations pharmaceutical companies have made to patient advocacy groups. The...
The Corruption of Evidence Based Medicine — Killing for Profit
From Medium: According to many prominent physicians, so-called "evidence based medicine" is no longer useful. Much of the evidence base has been corrupted by the...
Mental Health Act Review: Will We See Meaningful Change?
From Tales from the Madhouse: In fall 2017, the UK government an Independent Review of the Mental Health Act, inciting hope for radical revision of...
Judi Chamberlin and the Fight Against Institutionalizing Women
In this piece for Rooted in Rights, s.e. smith chronicles the life of Judi Chamberlin and discusses the important role she played at the intersection of...
Opioid Bill Includes Involuntary Commitment
From EDS and Chronic Pain News & Info: Recent legislation has proposed measures that permit people to be involuntarily committed on the basis of perceived...
The Pharmaceutical Industry in Contemporary Capitalism
In this piece for the Monthly Review, Joel Lexchin details four strategies that the pharmaceutical industry is utilizing in order to maintain its high level...
The Nazi History Behind “Asperger”
From The New York Times: Although the official diagnosis of Asperger's disorder has recently been dropped from the DSM, it is still included in the...
Popular Drug Reveals the Issue of “Off-Label” Use
From The Washington Post: Despite major lawsuits and detailed reports pertaining to severe health risks associated with the antipsychotic Seroquel, the drug remains one of...
Police Not Told of Sexual Assault Reports by Mental Patients
From The Age: According to a new report, sexual assault claims by mental health patients are not being reported to the police or even the...
Older Patients Being Prescribed Risky Anticholinergic Drugs
From MinnPost: A new University of Minnesota study has found that anticholinergic drugs, including antidepressants, continue to be prescribed to millions of older Americans despite...
Psychiatric Diagnosis Can Lead to Epistemic Injustice, Researchers Claim
A discussion of the role of epistemic injustice in the experiences of patients diagnosed with psychiatric disorders.
The Elephant in the Room
From Discursive of Tunbridge Wells: Psychologist Rufus May speaks about the often overlooked role of racism in the mental health system. People of color are...
Most Direct-to-Consumer Drug Advertisements Do Not Adhere to FDA Guidelines
Few DTC drug advertisements fully adhere to FDA guidelines, the overall quality of information provided in DTC advertisements is low, and some advertisements market off-label indications.
National Institute of Mental Health Violates Law on Posting Clinical Trial Results
Last year, over twenty major institutions worldwide jointly committed to posting the results of all their clinical trials within a 12 month time frame. NIMH’s frequent failure to do so is especially concerning because evidence distortion appears to be remarkably widespread in journal articles discussing trials of psychiatric drugs.
Bad Science Puts Innocent People in Jail and Keeps Them There
From The Washington Post: The development of DNA testing in the 1990s has revealed that a great deal of the forensic evidence used to convict...
Soteria: Reflections on “Being With”
From the Foundation for Excellence in Mental Health Care: Yana Jacobs, LMFT reflects on her experiences providing art therapy at a Soteria House and "being...
Trauma, Memory, and Mental Health
In this episode of ABC Radio National's All In The Mind, Lynne Malcolm interviews three experts about the impact of trauma on our memory and mental health. One guest,...
