PharmedOut Webinar: Institutional Corruption and Clinical Practice Guidelines
From PharmedOUT: Clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) are systematically developed statements to assist practitioners and patient decisions, but they are not immune to industry influence.
The Rebirth of People and Planet in a Time of Global Emergency: An Open...
From Medium: As humanity faces the existential threat of the climate emergency, the spiritual emergence/emergency community is uniting in a collaborative effort, as individuals who understand the process of awakening through crisis.
Painful Questions: What Happens When Doctors Uncover ACEs?
From The Imprint: Screening for adverse childhood experiences has been met with growing concern among health researchers and child welfare experts, but the California surgeon general says it’s critical not to wait.
Out of the Abyss (with a Little Help from My Friends)
An ER doctor told me I was experiencing venlafaxine withdrawal, then told me to go home and take care of myself. Unbeknownst to me, I was about to enter pure hell.
Police Shoot 13-Year-Old Autistic Boy After Mother Calls for Help
From Slate: Two officers went through the front door of the home and in less than five minutes were yelling 'get down on the ground' before firing several shots, the mother said.
Stop Saying This, Part Four: Does Time Heal All Wounds?
In part four of this series, Megan Wildhood takes on the tropes of "That's not about you," "The outer world is a reflection of your inner world," "I didn't mean to," and "Time heals all wounds."
CAUTION: Spin Ahead! There is No Evidence That Psychostimulants Reduce the Risk for Infection...
Debunking a recent study on ADHD and COVID-19: It suffers from a series of manipulations and spins that are inappropriate in scientific research that aspires to objectivity and that aims to reveal truths.
Tapering Strips Help People Stop Using Antidepressants, Study Finds
A new study by Peter Groot and Jim van Os investigated whether tapering strips can help people stop using antidepressants.
Hearing Voices: Let the Community Lead
A collective knowledge of lived experience is a straightforward answer for improving millions of lives, but it has become clear that it will take an organized community of voice-hearers and their allies to take back credibility and authorship on the narrative of our own lives.
The Zyprexa Papers: A Legal System for Drug Companies and Lawyers…Not the Public
From CounterPunch: We can see in both the Prozac and Zyprexa cases how the incentives of money and expediency are pushing towards keeping vital truth secret.
D. J. Jaffe Was No Friend to Those of Us With Mental Health Concerns
From the Pete Earley blog: Jaffe’s agenda, at its very core, was built upon disdain for those of us who have struggled in life.
Seeds of Hope: A Journey Toward Truth about Psych Drugs
I believed I needed the drugs to keep me going, because every time I tried to get off, I couldn’t function. Years later, I learned the truth: The meds had only been masking the festering sores beneath the surface of my stability.
Oregon Could Become First State to Decriminalize Drugs in November
From The Appeal: Known as Measure 110, the citizen-led ballot initiative would swap arrests and criminal penalties for a noncriminal $100 citation and fund more treatment services.
A Positive Change for Mad in America Continuing Education
We are going to organize webinar events, starting this fall, that will be easier to register for (sign-up on Zoom), free (donations will be accepted), and often feature two or more speakers (or a panel), with more time devoted to an interaction with the audience.
An Obituary for My Colonizer: Reflections on the Legacy of DJ Jaffe
When I heard this morning that DJ Jaffe was dead my face went through its own mutation; a moment of surprise and wonderment followed by swift elation, and then, very quickly and now for so many hours afterward, an enraged, frustrated, quick-breathed grimace.
Can We Allow Suffering?
After 9/11, no psychiatrist, nurse, or social worker asked me what it felt like to watch as nearly 3000 souls left this planet in flames; what it felt like to be so afraid. There was a strange silence around it, as if this horrible event was unrelated to my mental state.
Why Are Dementia Patients Getting Risky Psychiatric Drugs?
From HealthDay: "It's not a great thing to be exposing their brain to these drugs when the brain is already having trouble dealing with the changes going on from the dementia,' said geriatric psychiatrist Dr. Donovan Maust.
How to Embrace the Effects of Psychedelics Without the Drugs
From Elemental: Developed by Drs. Stan and Christina Grof, holotropic breathwork can induce a fully hallucinogenic state in which emotional and psychological healing can occur.
UN Special Rapporteur Dainius Pūras: Biomedical Approach “Still Has an Important Role to Play”
In Pūras' new UN report, his use of biomedical language seems at odds with his message to move beyond the medicalization of distress.
Dear “Psychology Today”: Believe Incest Survivors
Incest survivors are the neglected heroes of the #MeToo movement. Yet when it comes to entrenched narratives that silence incest survivors, mainstream media continues to propagate these harmful myths unchecked.
Born Addicted to Valium: Understanding a Lifetime of Symptoms
Withdrawal felt like: evil feeding on my soul, my spirit being tortured, not being able to feel love, constantly feeling like I was falling in a dark tunnel, and wanting to get out of my body.
Deep Sleep “Therapy” in Australia in the 1960s & ’70s: Could Something Like This...
Psychiatry has a history of continuing to perform harmful, even deadly procedures. But does it still happen? Medication-induced akathisia filled two and a half pages of the DSM-IV. Why was it written out of the DSM 5?
Inequities in Mental Health Services: It’s Time for a Reckoning and Rectification
Clinical education must include more training in macro skills that help build the supports, policies, and community infrastructures under-served clients need.
Beliefs Have a Social Purpose. Does This Explain Delusions?
From Psyche: Rather than delusions being "irrational," in many cases they are a direct response to sustained threat in a person’s environment.
SSRI Withdrawal’s Elephant in the Room: Tardive Akathisia
Slower tapering of antidepressant dose is generally more comfortable. However, success or failure after stopping completely mostly relates to whether tardive akathisia occurs.
