Mainstream Mental Health Services Are a Disaster
From Uncancelled: Mental health services have become the mouthpieces of an industry of decontextualising and individualising hurt, fear, sadness, and anger.
Moving Beyond Psychiatric Diagnosis: Lucy Johnstone, PsyD
From Psychiatric Times/Conversations in Critical Psychiatry: "We are dealing with people with problems, not patients with illnesses, and the whole paradigm—the 'DSM mindset'—needs to change."
Psychiatry and the Selves We Might Become: An Interview with Sociologist Nikolas Rose
MIA’s Ayurdhi Dhar interviews the well-known sociologist of medicine, Nikolas Rose, about the role psychiatry plays in shaping how we manage ourselves and our world.
An American History of Drugs and Addiction, Part Two: Immigrating to a Temperance Culture
As Prohibition was taking hold on the East Coast in response to European immigrants, equal efforts for Prohibition were occurring on the West Coast, fueled by racist caricatures of Chinese immigrants.
Covid-19 Is Amplifying the Toxic Effects of Modern Life
From Elemental: The combination of social isolation and dependence on technology leaves us alone and trapped in our own minds.
Antipsychotics Associated with Severe COVID-19 and Fatal Outcomes
A new study has found a strong association between antipsychotic drugs and higher rates of severe cases of COVID-19.
A Ketamine-Like Spray Is Approved to Treat Suicidal Behavior
From The Cut: While ketamine is a somewhat controversial drug, the nasal spray’s approval comes at a time when doctors are concerned about increased suicide rates amid a seemingly never-ending pandemic.
CDC: One Quarter of Young Adults Contemplated Suicide During Pandemic
From Politico: The toll is falling heaviest on young adults, caregivers, essential workers and minorities.
Who Is a Danger to Others: The “Mentally Ill” or the Powerful?
If the cultural and socioeconomic structures of society had, from the beginning, allowed me to function, and even thrive, I undoubtedly never would have felt a need for antidepressants and “therapy.”
Researchers Doubt That Certain Mental Disorders Are Disorders at All
From Forbes: In a new paper, biological anthropologists call on the scientific community to rethink mental illness as a response to adversity rather than a chemical imbalance.
NICE Recommends Antidepressants Not Painkillers for Chronic Pain
From BBC News: The advisory body's draft guidance recommends antidepressants, acupuncture or psychological therapy for chronic pain not caused by an injury or other medical condition.
Ecotherapy/Nature Therapy/Green Therapy
Do you love hiking, backpacking, gardening or taking walks in beautiful places? Ecotherapy explores how our relationship with nature is an essential and therapeutic part of our humanity.
Abolition Must Include Psychiatry
From the Disability Visibility Project: Those of us who have survived psychiatric incarceration know that not only did the asylum never die — it is, and always was, another prison.
Why Black Psychology Matters
From Psychology Today: Black psychologists such as Joseph White articulated the principles of a positive and strengths-based psychology prior to the formation of positive psychology.
Behavioural Geneticist Robert Plomin: “There Are No Disorders, There Are Just Quantitative Dimensions”
It is encouraging to hear leading scientists such as Plomin acknowledge that psychiatric diagnoses are fundamentally arbitrary and that the idea of a “cure” does not make sense with regards to psychological issues.
Some Conflicts of Interest in Medicine Cannot Be Managed, Should Be Banned
From The BMJ Opinion: While greater transparency about the nature of financial interests is important, on its own, such a move is unlikely to mitigate the risks to patient safety and may make matters worse.
A Tale of Two Paradigms
Two recent mental health reports from Oregon are steeped in the medical model, written by "experts" without lived experience and sponsored by the pharmaceutical industry.
Stop Saying This, Part Three: “Everything in Moderation” and More
Let’s start only accepting real relational offerings that do not make us contort, disavow comfort, strong-arm ourselves into appearing strong, or shoulder responsibility that is not ours.
We Know Enough About the Problems in Research to Demand Solutions
FromThe BMJ Opinion: To challenge the status quo, we need to offer clear solutions and convince patients, the public, and policymakers to support change.
Identity, Oppression, and the Culture of “The Mentally Ill”
A "mental illness culture" means that full time work is seen as impossible and discouraged, and your social world only consists of other mental health "consumers" and mental health workers.
‘NHS Sends Too Many MH Patients to Hospital for Expensive, Ineffective Care’
From The Bristol Cable: People are being sent away to private mental health providers for specialist treatment, but this often means poorer outcomes at higher costs, says occupational therapist Keir Harding.
IFS: The Revolutionary Treatment That Could Change Psychotherapy Forever
From Elemental: "If it is true that these things we think of as our inner enemies are really heroes stuck in time, that allows people to relate inside with a lot more compassion and love."
Dozens of ECT Patients Sue NHS Over Brain Damage Claims
From The Daily Mail: They say they were never informed that ECT could cause permanent memory loss as well as trouble with basic tasks like facial recognition, walking, and reading.
Kicking Over a Straw Woman
The Galvin family is the quintessential example of "genetic" schizophrenia. But their history of sexual abuse, violence, and trauma provides a clearer and simpler explanation.
A Recovery Movement Jedi Master, Bill Anthony, Died Recently
The first time I met Bill was in 1991. I was just a couple years out of residency, and he was already the legendary “father of psychiatric rehabilitation.”
