MIA Today

Headlines of Today's Posts

Antidepressants in Dementia Patients Increase Risk of Death and Fractures

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A large-scale study reveals that antidepressant use is linked to faster cognitive decline in dementia patients, raising concerns about their widespread prescription.

Do Critics of Biological Psychiatry Have an Alternative to a Life of “Whack-A-Mole”?

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Psychiatry has simultaneously offered multiple biological theories of depression and its other disorders, but the theories that stick are those that are effective marketing devices for money-making drugs.
Photo of diverse hands in center of huddle

Mad Camp Europe: My Journey from Ward Violence to Healing and Community

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If we want to advocate for a better mental health system, we have to integrate our own shame. And that is what happened to me at Mad Camp.
A jenga tower of bricks begins to collapse

From Public Service to Private Practice: The Collapse of the Social Work Profession

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Can we resist turning to private practices masked in social justice rhetoric as a substitute for genuine movement building and advocacy?

Doctors Didn’t Warn ‘Deviant Sexual Behaviour’ was Side Effect of Restless Legs Syndrome Drug

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From The Independent. "Patients who were prescribed drugs for restless legs syndrome (RLS) have said doctors did not warn them about significant side effects...

Exploding Myths About Schizophrenia: An Interview with Courtenay Harding

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The Vermont Longitudinal Study, led by Courtenay Harding, belied conventional beliefs about schizophrenia by showing remarkably good outcomes for patients discharged in the 1950s and '60s.
An engraving depicting water being shot at two prisoners; hydrotherapy

Everything About Us Without Us

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Between 1883-1955, there was little attention given to the value and contributions of those who were “patients” at the Oregon State Insane Asylum.

“Dad, Something’s Not Right. I Need Help”: Richard Fee on the Dangers of Adderall

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In appointments that last five to seven minutes, all doctors do is push drugs—psychiatric drugs, ADHD meds, everything.
A hospital bed with restraints. The background is a pride flag with all colors.

Sexual Sanism: Why Anti-Queer Rhetoric Is a Threat to the Mad, Too

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Our response to this moment should be understanding our shared queer/Mad history and solidarity across lines of oppression.

New Study Links Antidepressants to Increased Risk of Diabetes

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Using genetic analysis, a new study finds that antidepressants—not depression—are responsible for a significant rise in type 2 diabetes risk.

Weight Loss Drugs: 82 Deaths Linked to Adverse Reactions, UK Data Show

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From The BMJ. "Data submitted to the UK drugs regulator show a total of 82 deaths related to glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists, the class...

The Number of People With Chronic Conditions is Soaring. Are we Less Healthy Than...

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From The Guardian. "I have been a doctor for more than 30 years and a neurologist for 25 of those. I have recently grown particularly...
Pills falling out of a doctor's gloved hand

The Ethics of Long-Term Psychiatric Drug Use and Why We Need a Better Way

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Many of these so-called “treatment-resistant” conditions aren't underlying illnesses—they're caused by the drugs themselves.

Jo Watson Chats With Rob Wipond About His Work and His Book

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Wipond exposes abuses in mental health systems, including forced treatment, psychiatric detentions, and surveillance.
Vector illustration of businessmen on an assembly line with burned out light bulbs on their heads; one is being picked up by a robotic arm and has a lit lightbulb.

Managing Nonconformity: Lessons from Quality

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Psychiatry is akin to the outdated and unhelpful way that industry used to understand the assembly line.

Antidepressants May Hasten Decline From Dementia, Study Says

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From CNN. Doctors often use antidepressants to manage the depression, anxiety and agitation that accompanies a diagnosis of dementia. Now, a new study suggests the...

Are Antidepressants Weakening Women’s Bones?

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A study spanning two decades finds that antidepressant use is associated with a 44% increase in osteoporosis risk and a 62% higher chance of fractures.

Lithium Doubles Risk of Thyroid and Kidney Dysfunction

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Serum lithium levels lower than those considered therapeutic still conveyed increased risk.
Helping hands

Psychiatric Drug Withdrawal: Harm Reduction, Not Judgment

Good advocacy does not rely on fear or shame. No one can predict the future for any individual.
Pills spilling out of an outstretched hand

Suicides Increase After National Suicide Prevention Introduced

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Researchers have consistently found increasing psychiatric services associated with higher suicide rates.

Psychotherapy and Social Change: Mick Cooper on Counseling, Pluralism, and Progressive Politics

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Javier Rizo interviews Mick Cooper on the intersection of psychotherapy and social transformation, the pluralistic approach to counseling, and the role of psychology in building a more just society.
Depressed student holding a lot of medicine while sitting on her bed

Psychiatric Butchery: What I’ve Seen at a Homeless Shelter for Women with Children

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Children are being given psychiatric drugs, “treated” for the abuse they receive in the harsh world of the homeless.

Mad in Ireland

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Although Jennifer Hough’s older sister, Valerie, was diagnosed with bipolar disorder when she was fifteen, Hough never saw her sister as mentally ill. “To...
A photo of RFK Jr. emerges from a pile of blue pills

RFK Jr. May Be Wrong on Many Medical Issues, But He’s Right About Antidepressants

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Documented cases show a link between SSRIs and school violence, but pharma has suppressed the data that could prove this link.

“All Real Living Is Meeting”: Brent Robbins on Love, Death, and the Possibilities of...

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Psychologist and existential thinker Brent Robbins reflects on a lifetime of work, the limits of psychiatric diagnosis, and what facing mortality has taught him about joy and human connection.