Detroit Psych Hospital Insiders Raise COVID-19 Concerns
From WXYZ News: Three hospital current hospital employees are blowing the whistle on behavior that they say has put everyone inside the hospital at risk.
61 Mental Health Patients Test Positive for Coronavirus at Louisiana Hospital
From The Advocate: "Phillip Newton, interim president of Local 1695 at AFSCME Council 17, said the outbreak began early last week and administrators were...
We Are All in This Together
We need a new narrative of shared distress to replace the failed one of individual disorders. We need human connection and mutual support. We can learn to manage our feelings in a way that helps us through the crisis and gives us the energy to make much-needed social and environmental changes afterwards. The usual dividing lines melt away in the face of global emergency. We really are all in this together.
Antidepressant Use Continues to Climb Among Youth on Medicaid
New study finds that Medicaid enrolled youth were 14 times more likely to be on an antidepressant in 2014 than in 1987.
Suicide Hotline Sees Rise in Coronavirus-Related Calls. Counselors Feel the Pain
From the Los Angeles Times: The crisis counselors at Didi Hirsch, whose job it is to reassure, need some reassurance of their own.
A Peek Inside the Modern Asylum
The psychiatric hospital of today is a panopticon, a modern prison for the daring mind and for weird behavior. I was once inside and thus, am inviting you to have a look. I will take your hand, and encourage you to join me, on an exploration of the inside of the psychiatric institution. We'll have a small peek, but in reality, it is much more distressing for the one who is being observed.
Supreme Court Decides Case on Insanity Defense
The debate between the majority and dissent shows how distorted and destructive the stereotypes of madness are as they have passed down through the law. But there are also winds of change coming from tensions inherent in the insanity defense itself, and we should take this opportunity to develop some sensible policies.
The Kids Aren’t All Right
From The Atlantic: The youngest among us will bear the larger burdens of trauma and economic fallout from COVID-19.
Coronavirus Hits Native American Groups Already Struggling With Poor Health Care
From The Wall Street Journal: "As tribal leaders around the country gear up for the pandemic’s arrival, they worry the federal agencies that are...
Lived Wisdom on Panic, Worry and Isolation
From The Dulwich Centre: "Some of us were thinking during this period of global concern with COVID-19 about the idea of knowledges earned through...
Making a Mad Community, from Attic to Attic: Part One
This two-part piece outlines our struggle to build a mad community, Madwomen in the Attic, across locations, across differences, across challenges.
Why it’s Healthy to be Afraid in a Crisis
From The Guardian: "As a mental health professional, I disagree with the message in Paul Daley’s article (We face a pandemic of mental health...
The Persistent, Misdirected Search for Causes of Trauma-based Suffering
In the United States and other countries that have a military, there is often a great deal of talk about supporting veterans, but way too often, research aimed at learning what will be helpful is misguided and can even be harmful. The same applies to nonveterans who have been through traumatic experiences. Two new studies exemplify such wrongheaded approaches.
My Hospital Discharge Summary: An Intriguing Work of Fiction
I recalled a brief intercourse with a lady two months earlier that went something like this: “Why don’t you want to take medication?” to which I replied, “Because I think psychiatry is a sham.” Needless to say, my response hastily resulted in a temporary though adequately lengthy loss of my autonomy.
From FACT to POD: How a FACT Team Integrated Open Dialogue
Work with open dialogue always starts with a "network meeting" in which the person of concern is invited to talk with members of their social network (i.e., family, friends, co-workers) and at least two professionals from the care team. The main guideline was "nothing about you, without you."
National Boards of Health Are Unresponsive to Children Driven to Suicide by Depression Pills
Peter C. Gøtzsche reports what happened, or rather did not happen, when he contacted National Boards of Health in eight countries with his serious concern that the use of depression pills in children is increasing and leads to more suicides. The continued official denial that these drugs cause suicide and that something substantial needs to be done is appalling.
The Psychiatric Narrative & The Boston Globe: Violence, Force, & Derogatory Labels
The Boston Globe recently published an atrocious opinion piece, “Massachusetts law meant to protect people with mental illness may make them sicker.” Though framed as an attempt to shed light on a need for better mental health laws, the piece insults those of us of who have been labeled with mental health diagnoses.
Please Stop Saying Depression Is Like Diabetes
It seems more and more common for people who consider themselves mental health advocates to make the argument that “mental illness is like physical illness.” Have you heard this “depression is like diabetes” tactic? I have a hard time seeing how this is advocating for those in emotional distress.
Does Longer Duration of Untreated Psychosis Cause Worse Outcomes?
New research counters the long-held assumption that a longer duration of untreated psychosis is associated with worse outcomes.
Psychology is Not What You Think: An Interview with Critical Psychologist Ian Parker
MIA’s Ayurdhi Dhar interviews Ian Parker about critical psychology, discourse and political action, and whether psychology has anything left to offer.
To My Black Crows of Wisdom
Some might wonder why I'm still stumbling in the desert when there are cars and jobs and museums downtown, but really, the turquoise dawn is in the canyons. The thing is, my people seem to need this nutrition, the rarified medicine of this particular cactus and that specific root that I haven't found anywhere else.
Beatrice Birch – Inner Fire and Soul Health
An interview with Beatrice Birch who is the initiator of the residential healing community Inner Fire. For over 35 years, Beatrice worked as a Hauschka artistic therapist in integrative clinics and inspiring initiatives in England, Holland and the USA. We discuss how Inner Fire works to help the people that attend, and how a core principle of their healing work is that ‘human being are creators, not victims’.
UN Report: Involuntary Psychiatric Interventions “May Well Amount to Torture”
Such interventions, the report says, "generally involve highly discriminatory and coercive attempts at controlling or 'correcting' the victim’s personality, behaviour or choices and almost always inflict severe pain or suffering."
The Healing Power of Tea
Tea is my weapon of choice for battling anxiety and depression. But its true power comes from the people behind the cup. Tea is merely the drink that brings us together.
Suicide Warning on Antidepressant Label is Justified, Researchers Say
Researchers confirm that the suicide warning for antidepressants is justified by the evidence and that claims that the warning is harmful lack support.
