How Western Psychology Can Rip Indigenous Families Apart
An interview with Elisa Lacerda-Vandenborn about the consequences psychology and mental health treatment can have for indigenous children.
“Floss on the Waves”: My Sister’s Journey
It takes a long time to recover from a psychotic episode, I understand now, and I wish someone had found a way, especially during those early years of her troubles, to give Rachel more space and time to find her own path to health.
Adverse Childhood Relationship Experiences: The Most Underestimated Risk Factor for Chronic Illness
From Chronic Illness Trauma Studies: The impact of one of the ACEs (adverse childhood experiences) in particular - emotional neglect - is huge and underrecognized.
The Shadow Penal System for Struggling Kids
From The New Yorker: The Christian organization Teen Challenge, made up of more than a thousand centers, claims to reform troubled teens. But is its discipline more like abuse?
New Perspectives on Eating Disorders: An Interview with Shira Collings
“Eating disorder recovery is about rejecting oppressive values.” Therapist Shira Collings discusses person-centered approaches to dealing with food-related challenges in youth.
Postpartum Anxiety, Psychiatric Drugs and Paternalism
My postpartum anxiety diagnosis became subsumed by an arbitrary diagnosis of depression. And this diagnosis has followed me for 30 years and counting.
Interview: How Does Climate Change Affect Youth Mental Health?
Psychiatric epidemiologist Jennifer Barkin talks about her research on the traumatizing effects of extreme weather events on youth and how caregivers can help them build resilience.
Limbic Revision – Love Heals Your Traumatized Brain
From MindKind Mom: We have to undo the encoding of abusive or poor-quality relationships we suffered as kids in order to heal our mental - and often physical - illnesses.
The Cost of Forced ‘Psychiatric Care’ Like Britney Spears Got Can Be Ruinous
From NPR: While hospitals sometimes absorb the cost, patients can be left with ruined credit, endless collection calls and additional mistrust of the mental health care system.
A Young Black Mother Died During Treatment for Postpartum Depression. Her Family Demands Answers
From The City: Denise Williams's family still doesn't know why the 29-year-old mother of two died after going to New York's Queens Hospital Center last month.
Facebook Documents Show How Toxic Instagram Is for Teens, WSJ Reports
From CNBC: Facebook has repeatedly found that its Instagram app is harmful to a number of young people - the demographic that makes up over 40% of its user base. The company is also working on a version of Instagram for kids.
Phony Diagnoses Hide High Rates of Drugging at Nursing Homes
From The New York Times: The government doesn’t publicly divulge the use of antipsychotics given to residents with a schizophrenia diagnosis, so this label is falsely used as a way to give residents more drugs.
Newborn Babies Go Through Antidepressant Withdrawal
A new study finds that newborn babies experience antidepressant withdrawal after birth if their mothers take SSRIs when pregnant.
Generation Sedated: Why Record Numbers of Our Children Are on Antidepressants
From The Telegraph: "Looking back now, I wanted someone to listen to me," said Sam Taylor, 19. "It was guidance I needed, not a prescription."
Interview: Moving Toward a Human Rights Approach to Student Mental Health
Psychologist Jim Probert of the University of Florida's student counseling center explains why "Our goal is not to take the steering wheel out of the person's hands."
The Sins of Conservatorship: Why Britney Spears Compared It to Slavery
For the last three years of my mother’s life, she was under absolute control of her conservator. If we dared to object to the neglect or abuse, retaliation was certain.
The Benefits and Harms of Antidepressants for Youth Depression and Anxiety
From The Mental Elf: Given their demonstrated harms and the fact there exist a number of alternatives, we should be asking whether antidepressants should be used at all in young people.
Lead Exposure in Childhood Impacts Personality and Mental Health
A study of over 1.5 million people in Europe and the US links the development of less adaptive personalities with childhood lead exposure.
Garbage in, Garbage out: The Newest Cochrane Meta-Analysis of Depression Pills in Children
In May 2021, Cochrane published a network meta-analysis of depression pills for children. The abstract is misleading and reads like drug company marketing.
Why I Fight for Trauma-Informed Systems
I am not sure what was worse: being abused growing up while my community documented—then ignored—my torment, or being attacked for going public with my story.
So Long, Pill Mill: A Letter to My Former Patients and Their Families
I love being a psych nurse practitioner, and I never want to feel that my only role is pushing pills. The private practice I started is my effort to move away from this dysfunctional system.
Suicidality: When Your Feelings Are Too Dangerous
After finding a cop at my door, I learned it wasn’t safe to talk about my feelings of wanting to die. As a result, I spent the better part of the next decade not telling anyone when I was suicidal.
Singer Camila Cabello & CA Surgeon General Discuss ‘Public Health Crisis’ of Childhood Trauma
From Billboard: Cabello's conversation with Dr. Nadine Burke Harris is part of a national campaign to raise awareness about the negative effects of traumatic childhood experiences.
Cindi Fisher on Hunger Strike: Free My Sidd
Cindi Fisher has gone on a hunger strike to demand that her adult child, Siddharta, be freed from Western State Hospital after being suddenly removed from the discharge list without explanation.
JRC Wins Court Battle to Use Electric Shock on Disabled Students
From NBC News: Disability rights activists, former residents and the state of Massachusetts have for decades pushed to stop the use of the shock device or shut down the school altogether.
