The BBC, Harrow, and a Public Left in the Dark
The recent report by the BBC on medication-free treatment in Norway, when viewed in conjunction with the media silence on Martin Harrow's latest publication, reveals why the public remains misinformed about the long-term effects of antipsychotics.
The Darker Story Just Outside the Lens of ‘Framing Britney Spears’
From The New Republic: The documentary and #FreeBritney movement treat the pop star’s conservatorship as strange and exceptional. The truth is much more troubling.
Uncomfortable Truths in Survivor Narratives: An Interview with Helen Spandler
MIA’s Ayurdhi Dhar interviews Helen Spandler about how psychiatric survivors challenge and change our thinking about mental health.
Book Review: “Prescription for Sorrow” by Patrick D. Hahn
There are quite a few books published about the lack of benefit and harm caused by so-called "antidepressants." Prescription for Sorrow, by Patrick Hahn, is simply the best one I have read.
In Brattleboro, a New Kind of Police Patrol Offers Addiction Treatment, Not Jail
From SentinelSource.com: Looking for alternatives to arrest, police departments in Brattleboro and elsewhere are using their 24/7 presence and regular contact with drug users to refer them to treatment and other resources.
More Parents Seek ADHD Diagnosis and Drugs for Kids to Manage Remote Learning
From NBC News: "I'm watching kids who used to love school become unenthused and unmotivated," said one Michigan-based pediatrician.
In Memoriam: Birgitta Alakare
On February 19, 2021, the world lost Birgitta Alakare, the former chief psychiatrist at Keropudas Hospital in Tornio, Finland and a pioneer in the development of Open Dialogue.
Insane Medicine: Epilogue
I wanted to interrogate the assumptions that pervade theory, research, and practice in mental health. You can see the emptiness of the empirical and philosophical paradigms in circulation.
Recovery Rate Six Times Higher For Those Who Stop Antipsychotics Within Two Years
People with "serious mental illness" who stop taking antipsychotics are more likely to recover, even when accounting for baseline severity.
Online Experts on Withdrawal
Online communities are stepping in to help people facing withdrawal effects amass information and receive support for their withdrawal experiences.
How Norway is Offering Drug-Free Treatment to People With Psychosis
From the BBC: In Norway, the government has taken decisive action to try and improve the lives of people with psychosis by giving them more power over their lives.
The Great Slowdown: Why Breaking Down Is Waking Up
Who is really more ill? A person who responds in a natural way to trauma? Or the indifferent society that locates so-called ‘disorders’ within the people that it harms, rather than itself?
The Role of Love in Mental Health
The one core ingredient on which any recovery from emotional distress depends is the one that never makes an appearance in any medical handbook or psychiatric diagnostic manual—that is, love.
Welcome to Planet Psychiatry
With the leadership of industry and their cosseted, lapdog doctors, psychiatric medications are prescribed indiscriminately to nearly anyone entering a physician’s office with a psychological complaint.
Creativity and COVID: Art-Making During the Pandemic
The pandemic lockdown last year afforded me a precious gift of time to explore my creative spirit, and that, in turn, gave me a powerful way to cope.
Insane Medicine, Chapter 10: The Paradigm Shift Is Inevitable
We must advocate for policies that create environments that are more nurturing for us all in a society that helps provide people with meaning, a sense of community, and a sense of civic duty.
Madness, Disability, and Abolition: A Call for Movement Solidarity
From It's Going Down: When we consider the horrors of the mental health industry, we should ask ourselves the same questions we ask of prisons and police. Can the system be “reformed,” or is it rotten to the core?
Researchers Document Protracted Withdrawal from Antidepressants
Protracted Withdrawal Syndrome characterized by long-term adverse experiences after coming off of antidepressants.
The Lessons of Music: Nurturing Mental Health in Cultures Around the Globe
Music is an ancient and omnipresent tool for wellness, a carrier of peace for individuals, and a bonding agent for communities throughout history and the world.
Jill Nickens – The Akathisia Alliance for Education and Research
This week on the Mad in America podcast we turn our attention to prescription-drug-induced akathisia and joining me to discuss this is Jill Nickens. Jill is the president and founder of the Akathisia Alliance for Education and Research, a nonprofit organization formed by people who have personal experience of akathisia.
Kendra’s Law Must Be a Beginning, Not an End
I believe that, as things are right now, forced treatment can be justifiable. But we need to move studies and research forward, move mental health treatment forward into an era where forced treatment is obsolete.
Denver Program That Replaces Cops With Counselors Is Reducing Arrests
From Denverite: The Support Team Assisted Response (STAR) program represents a more empathetic approach to policing that keeps people out of an often-cyclical criminal justice system.
Trauma and Mental Health in Social Movements: An Interview with Janice Haaken
MIA's Emaline Friedman interviews psychologist and filmmaker Janice Haaken about how mental health discourse impacts social movements.
Left-Wing Behavioral Genetics? A Closer Look at the Genetic Evidence in “The Cult of...
Behavioral genetic “discoveries” are a mirage, a house of cards that ignores contradictory evidence from countless real-world examples and research findings from other fields, that collapses under serious critical analysis.
A 9-Year-Old Was Pepper-Sprayed by Police. Here’s What Should Have Happened Instead
From USA TODAY: To expect a child to be able to overcome a biological stress response for the sake of compliance demonstrates a lack of understanding, said child advocate Deb Rosen.
