Simone Biles: World Class Gymnast and Mental Health Advocate
This post was written by Dr....
An Interview with Michael Ungar
Michael Ungar is the founder and director of the Resilience Research Centre at Dalhousie University in Canada. He is also a family therapist and professor of social work....
It’s Not Just Britney: Those Deemed ‘Mentally Ill’ Can Easily Lose Basic Rights
From The Cut: “For every Britney Spears, there are an untold number of exceedingly less-famous Britneys trapped in their own private hells, perhaps being controlled by...
Psychiatric Drugs “Help” By Causing Brain Dysfunction
What do the following have in common: antidepressants, steroids, antipsychotics, opioids, electroshock, lobotomies, leucotomies, power washing and belting for patients in the “insane asylum,” and inducing...
When Your Feelings Are Too Dangerous
“Have you been telling people online you want to die?”
I just stood there, looking at the police officer on my doorstep like a deer in the...
In Memoriam: Paula Joan Caplan
Paula Caplan, a prolific writer, playwright, and social activist, who for decades was one of the most prominent critics of psychiatry and its diagnoses, died on...
Antipsychotic Adherence Research Overlooks Key Information
Pragmatic recommendations were put forward by a team of researchers who delved into the controversies and debates surrounding antipsychotic medications (APM).
David Roe and colleagues wrote a...
Camila Cabello & CA Surgeon General Discuss ‘Public Health Crisis’ of Childhood Trauma
From Billboard: “Cabello took to Instagram on Friday (June 11) to tell fans about the conversation and how she originally found Dr. Burke Harris’ work. ‘A while back,...
Mental Health Survival Kit, Chapter 5: Survival Kit for Young Psychiatrists in a Sick...
Editor’s Note: Over the next several months, Mad in America is publishing a serialized version of Peter Gøtzsche’s book, Mental Health Survival Kit and Withdrawal from Psychiatric...
Unheard Voices: Carlton Brown – Mad In America
Carlton Brown, 66, has spent much of his life without a permanent home, having lived in the streets for long chapters and endured psychiatric hospitalizations in...
Psychiatric Drugs Increase Suicide. CAMPP’s Film “Prescripticide” Exposes the Harms
Media outlets have reported a multitude of violent acts and suicides over the past few decades, especially those of sensational mass shootings and famous celebrities choosing...
Allen Frances, MD: Save Trieste’s Mental Health System
From The Lancet: “For people who have never seen the Trieste model in action, it might sound too good to be true. How can any mental...
Reasonable Goals to Set in July To Complete this Year Billings MT
As we approach the middle of the year, have you taken some time to reconnect with or reassess the goals you set at the beginning of...
Cindi Fisher on Hunger Strike: Free My Sidd
Cindi Fisher on hunger strike at Washington State’s Capitol.July 8, 2021:
It’s 10 pm now on day 4 of my hunger strike (on liquids only) and I’m...
Discomfort Is the New Comfort Zone
“Getting out of your comfort zone” is so in these days. All the cool successful kids are doing it…or at least telling anyone who wants to...
JRC Wins Court Battle to Use Electric Shock on Disabled Students
From NBC News: “A federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., overturned the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s ban on the use of electric shock devices on...
Frequent Alert 217–The Future of the Vaccine War Against Humanity Revealed
A new report in Science led by Ralph Baric’s team from the University of North Carolina defines the tragic future for humanity through the endless vaccine assault. Baric is...
Interview with Patricia Rush, MD
Patricia Rush, M.D., M.B.A. is an internal medicine physician whose scientific focus is complex chronic illness. Her over 40-year career has focused on working with underserved...
Frequent Alert 218–The Dr. Peter Breggin Hour
Miklos Lukacs PhD is a Peruvian philosopher and historian, now living in England. In our interview, he examines transhumanism, the concept of using the latest technology and...
An Interview with Marcela Ot’alora
Marcela Ot’alora works with the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) as the principal investigator for government research into MDMA-assisted psychotherapy. In addition to her role...
A Global Call to Action: Pay Attention to What’s Happening in Trieste Right Now
From Heart Forward LA: “Some of you may have gleaned from social media this past month that changes are in the wind in Trieste and in...
Greg Hitchcock: Voices, Visions, and the Power of Creating
Greg Hitchcock is standing and schmoozing with a cluster of people in the soaring, glass-domed rotunda of what once was a grand old bank — now...
Mental Health Survival Kit, Chapter 5: Survival Kit for Young Psychiatrists in a Sick...
Editor’s Note: Over the next several months, Mad in America is publishing a serialized version of Peter Gøtzsche’s book, Mental Health Survival Kit and Withdrawal from Psychiatric...
“Never Look on the Dark Side”: The Science of Positivity from Early Eugenics to...
In these times of pandemic, dirty politics, and revolutionary unrest, we are confronted by the need to grieve our half-million-and-more dead amidst the press for an...
Britney Speaks: Are We Ready to Listen?
“I just want my life back…the conservatorship should end. I shouldn’t be in a conservatorship if I can work and provide money and work for myself...
Mental Health Survival Kit, Chapter 5: Survival Kit for Young Psychiatrists in a Sick...
Editor’s Note: Over the next several months, Mad in America is publishing a serialized version of Peter Gøtzsche’s book, Mental Health Survival Kit and Withdrawal from Psychiatric...
Will US Agency New Head End Stonewalling About Money for Involuntary Outpatient Mental Health?
The US Senate confirmed President Joe Biden’s nomination for a new leader ofa key federal mental health agency. Miriam Delphin-Rittmon, PhD, an African-American psychologist and former...
When Homosexuality Was a “Disease”: My Story of Abuse
In September 1962, the Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire forced my roommate, Geoffrey, and me to undergo two years of psychiatric treatment to be cured...
How To Break The Vicious Cycle of Failed Medication After Medication Billings MT
It goes therapy, medication, therapy, new medication…for as long as you can remember, you have been caught up in the vicious cycle of one failed medication...
Screening for Bipolar: Have You Ever Been “Unusually Happy” for More than a Week?
In a recent article published in the journal Current Medical Research and Opinion, researchers funded by AbbVie (a pharmaceutical company that sells several medications for depression...
The Politics of Distress: A Discussion With Dr. James Davies on His New Book,...
Dr. James DaviesDr. James Davies graduated from the University of Oxford in 2006 with a DPhil in social and medical anthropology. He is a Reader in...
UN Warns of Rise of Psychological ‘Cybertorture’ to Bypass Physical Ban
From The Guardian: “Psychological torture is being exploited by states to circumvent the more widely understood ban on physically inflicting pain and may open the way...
The Future of the Vaccine War Against Humanity Revealed
Peter R. Breggin MD and Ginger Ross Breggin
A new report in Science led by Ralph Baric’s team from the University of North Carolina defines the...
Britney Spears Speaks Out Against ‘Abusive’ Conservatorship: ‘I Want to Be Heard’
From CNN: “Britney Spears broke her silence in a court hearing on Wednesday regarding her court-ordered conservatorship that has been in place for nearly 13 years.
. . ....
An American History of Drugs and Addiction, Part 7: The Harm Reduction Revolution
HIV and the Disease Model
Ever since Benjamin Rush asked why there were people living in poverty and identified the cause as the consumption of alcohol leading...
Mental Health Survival Kit, Chapter 4: Withdrawing from Psychiatric Drugs (Part 6)
Editor’s Note: Over the next several months, Mad in America is publishing a serialized version of Peter Gøtzsche’s book, Mental Health Survival Kit and Withdrawal from Psychiatric...
EMDR in a Nutshell: Healing from Trauma
What Is EMDR?
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a guided process that supports trauma work by using “bilateral stimulation” (BLS), or stimulating each hemisphere...
The Transformational Qualities of Hearing Voices Groups
Introduction
Although trained as a psychologist, with a lifelong interest in extreme states and distressing experiences, I chose early on not to become a clinician. As a...
The FDA Is Failing the American People
From MedPage Today: “Many observers don’t fully appreciate how the FDA has taken a position that is indefensible. The agency does not guarantee that drugs that...
In Past Two Decades, Dramatic Rise in Elderly Taking Drugs That Can Lead to...
From The Washington Post: “In 2017, an estimated 94 percent of older adults received a prescription for a drug that increased their risk of falling, a...
Psychotherapy Is Safer and Less Expensive Than Drug Treatment
There has been a popular notion that drug treatment of behavioral health problems is less expensive than psychotherapy by behavioral health specialists. But in 1991, I...
Mental Health Survival Kit, Chapter 4: Withdrawing from Psychiatric Drugs (Part 5)
Editor’s Note: Over the next several months, Mad in America will publish a serialized version of Peter Gøtzsche’s book, Mental Health Survival Kit and Withdrawal from Psychiatric...
Boy, Interrupted: A Story of Akathisia
One of the side effects of the Covid epidemic has been a sharp rise in the use of antidepressants and anti-anxiety medication. A Market Watch study...
My Personal and Professional Journey
In early adulthood, I believed that the source of psychological disorders was conflict and trauma. However, that view changed when I became a caseworker at my state’s...
Rejoining the World After Isolation
Source: View Apart/Shutterstock
As the vaccination rate...
The WHO Calls for Radical Change in Global Mental Health
During the past decade, the World Health Organization (WHO) has regularly promoted the goal of improving “global mental health.” While it has often told of the...
An Interview with Critical Psychologist Ilana Mountian
Ilana Mountian is a researcher drawing on psychoanalytic, critical, decolonial, and feminist philosophies. She is the author of Cultural Ecstasies: Drugs, Gender, and the Social Imaginary,...
Does Insurance Cover TMS Therapy? Billings MT
TMS FAQs: Does Insurance Cover TMS Therapy?
Insurance documents and calls can be daunting and complicated. Coverage can be unclear, and policies difficult to read. It triggers...
Global Psychiatry’s Crisis of Values: Dainius Pūras, MD
From Psychiatric Times/Conversations in Critical Psychiatry: Awais Aftab interviews Lithuanian psychiatrist and human rights advocate Dr. Dainius Pūras, who served as the United Nations Special Rapporteur...
The Wisdom of Trauma: Film Premiere June 8–14
From Science & Nonduality: “Announcing the release of the documentary THE WISDOM OF TRAUMA, now four years in the making by directors and producers Maurizio and...
13 Tips for a Great Night’s Sleep
If you find yourself tossing and turning every night or waking up before the birds, you may want to try this list of recommendations for overcoming...
Treatment Providers Have the Power to Make or Break Recovery
I’ve been in treatment for severe mental illness for my entire adult life. One thing I’ve learned first-hand is how much power your treatment team has...
Supplementation with GABA Improves Decision-Making Under Stress
Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is a brain chemical (neurotransmitter) that tends to calm down or inhibit your frazzled, over-excited nerves, literally. This calming down of your “wired”...
Modern Psychiatry’s Allure: It Tells People What They Want to Hear
As a psychiatrist in the 1990s, I witnessed a huge change that seemed to make no sense: People began to eagerly seek out biological psychiatrists. These...
How Diet Affects Mental Health
Are you wondering about simple ways to reduce your feelings of anxiety and depression? If so, you’re not alone. Mental health issues are extremely common in...
Depression is as bad for your heart as obesity and high cholesterol.
Depression is as bad for your heart as obesity and high cholesterol. This news, startling to some, comes from a report by researchers from the Helmholtz...
My Letter to an Advocate for Involuntary Treatment
Mental illness is my calling. I began life as an inconsolable wailing infant, became a suicidal toddler, and a taciturn, morbidly depressed teenager until I was...
A crucial nutrient for health
When we talk about a healthy diet, the first thing that comes to mind is eating vegetables and fruits. Plant-based foods are indeed an integral part...
The Abusive Society: Why Abuse Seems to Reach Into Every Corner of Modern Life
From Medium/Eudaimonia and Co: “A profound loss of the integrity of the self is what abuse genuinely is: the internalization of the harm that has one...
Adrenal Fatigue and How to Beat It
Your adrenal glands are two tiny pyramid-shaped pieces of tissue situated right above each kidney. Their job is to produce and release, when appropriate, certain regulatory...
Mental Health Survival Kit, Chapter 4: Withdrawing from Psychiatric Drugs (Part 3)
Editor’s Note: Over the next several months, Mad in America is publishing a serialized version of Peter Gøtzsche’s book, Mental Health Survival Kit and Withdrawal from...
A ‘Nappuccino’ Can Boost Alertness
For the price of a cup of coffee and 20 minutes of time, you could overcome those slothful slumps in the day and boost your mental...
Mental Health Liberation and Spirituality: Ex-Psychiatric Inmates Share Their Thoughts
My journey these days is a path of deep listening which brings me towards spirituality and, shall we say, unseen dimensions. I serve as a bridge...
WHO Online Launch Event Jun. 10: Rights-Based Transformation in Mental Health
From the World Health Organization: “‘Is rights-based transformation truly possible in mental health? … Yes, and it’s already started!’
Many mental health services in high-, middle- and...
Secure Attachment Is a Privilege by Rebecca Donaldson
Having an internal working model of secure attachment from childhood is a privilege.
Yes, it’s a privilege.
It’s a privilege to not carry this hole.
It’s a privilege to...
Interview with Philosopher Hanna Pickard
Hanna Pickard is a Bloomberg Distinguished Professor of Philosophy and Bioethics at Johns Hopkins University. She is also appointed with the William H. Miller Department of...
Mental Health Survival Kit, Chapter 4: Withdrawing from Psychiatric Drugs (Part 2)
Editor’s Note: Over the next several months, Mad in America will publish a serialized version of Peter Gøtzsche’s book, Mental Health Survival Kit and Withdrawal from Psychiatric...
Shining a Light on Numbers Needed to Treat (NNT)
I see my cardiologist once a year about my high blood pressure and we also have conversations about the current state of healthcare, both the quality...
The ERNI Declaration: Making Sense of Distress Without “Disease”
The ERNI (Emotions aRe Not Illnesses) declaration is based on the idea that distress does not equate to disease, dysfunction, dysregulation, or chemical imbalance. Signatories believe...
My “Mother Wound”: De-Pathologizing Fear of Abandonment
I was about three years old when I first remember feeling that my mom may not be coming for me because I didn’t think she’d survive...
The Undervalued Potential of Living Without Psychiatric Drugs
I had never believed in evil until I met my psychiatric nurse.
By evil, I do not mean malevolent, or sociopathic. We have all been evil at...
Allen Frances Takes on the Over-Prescription of Antidepressants
Eminent psychiatrist Allen Frances recently wrote an article exploring the reasons for the over-prescription of antidepressants.
Writing in the HealthWatch Newsletter, Frances explains that industry corruption is...
Mental Health Survival Kit, Chapter 4: Withdrawing from Psychiatric Drugs (Part 1)
Editor’s Note: Over the next several months, Mad in America will publish a serialized version of Peter Gøtzsche’s book, Mental Health Survival Kit and Withdrawal from Psychiatric...
Grassroots Activism: Rethinking Psychiatry Builds A Community
In the United States and abroad, a growing number of groups have devoted their mission and mindset to rethinking psychiatry, doing their best to encourage dialogue...
Foster Kids Sent Out of State to Mental Health Facilities Faced Abuse, Neglect
From ProPublica: “Across the country, child welfare officials have sent thousands of foster children to mental health institutions in distant states, including facilities where children reported...
Radical Acts of Community Healing and Self-Love
One thing has remained true for me as I’ve reflected on my journey into and out of the psychiatric system. My society—the education system, culture, economy...
Addiction Treatment Providers in Pa. Face Little State Scrutiny Despite Harm to Clients
From Kaiser Health News: “Addiction treatment facilities in Pennsylvania, like ASI, are licensed and regulated by the state to ensure they follow certain rules and keep...
Ethical Issues Raised Over FDA Collaboration with Biogen on Failed Drug
Two years ago, Biogen’s two trials of experimental Alzheimer’s drug aducanumab were canceled early after failing to show efficacy and demonstrating a high rate of fluid...
Reframing Britney: Press and Public Waking Up to Guardianship Harms
What a difference two years make.
Back in spring 2019, the tabloids were training their gaze on the mental health of pop star Britney Spears—who’d recently reemerged...
Gabor Maté, MD: The Power of Connection: Finding Wisdom in Our Trauma
From Wholehearted.org: “Dr. Gabor Maté will take you on a journey of discovery; weaving together common struggles we all experience through his unique perspective and helping...
From Wonder Drug to Catastrophe: My Seroquel Story
At first, it was a love story. It was the winter of 2004. After more than three years of getting a minuscule amount of broken sleep...
Coalition Calls for Halt to Use of ‘Unethical and Unsafe’ Mental Distress Emergency Scheme
From Disability News Service: “Disabled activists are calling for an immediate halt to the use of a multi-agency scheme that they believe is unethical, unlawful and...
Study Confirms Overdiagnosis of ADHD
A new study has found that ADHD is overdiagnosed in children and adolescents. Growing diagnoses in those with mild symptoms may lead to children being exposed...
Mental Health Survival Kit, Chapter 2: Is Psychiatry Evidence Based? (Part 9)
Editor’s Note: Over the next several months, Mad in America will publish a serialized version of Peter Gøtzsche’s book, Mental Health Survival Kit and Withdrawal from Psychiatric...
How Can Mental Health Research Become More Relevant to Those it is Meant to...
Since 2004, I have been following New York Times writer Benedict Carey and his coverage of mental health issues. A few weeks ago, in his farewell...
Nutrition Is the Foundation of Resilience
One of the key messages of our book THE BETTER BRAIN is that nutrition is the foundation of resilience. Very often we hear people say that...
The Relapsing Peer Supervisor – Mad In America
When I first entered the professional world working in the mental health system, I never shared my lived experience of recovering from schizophrenia for a few...
An Interview with Hannah Zeavin
Hannah Zeavin is a leading scholar investigating how mediated communications and technology impact our intimate relations. Her most recent work tackles teletherapy and digital mental health...
Antidepressants Not Clinically Useful for Back Pain
Antidepressants are commonly prescribed for chronic pain, including back pain, sciatica, and osteoarthritis. Major pain guidelines recommend the use of serotonin-noradrenaline reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs), most commonly...
Cochrane Review Calls for More Research on Antidepressant Withdrawal
A new Cochrane review examines the current body of research on stopping antidepressant use, finding a major lack in this area. The researchers call for further...
Serious, ‘Unexpected’ Adverse Events From Nasal Esketamine
From Medscape: “Patients who receive esketamine for ‘treatment-resistant depression’ are at increased risk for serious and unexpected adverse events (AEs), new research suggests.
. . . The...
6 Signs You Developed Health Anxiety During the Pandemic
This post was written by Samantha Desmond and Robyn Martin.
Source: Phoenixns/Shutterstock
The COVID-19 pandemic introduced a new health threat in the form of a disease about which little...
