10 Things I Learned in 5 Years Consulting With People Coming Off Psych Drugs
It's been over 5 years since I started offering non-medical consultations to people in the process of coming off or hoping to come off psych drugs. I wanted to share here some things I have learned in this process. Despite how far we have come, we have a long way to go in the quest to liberate all who wish to be liberated from psychiatry.
Psychiatry by Jenny
Sighted through your pinhole spectacles: the mystery of consciousness; the timid eccentricity of suffering.
Do Antidepressants Work? A People’s Review of the Evidence
After a meta-analysis of RCTs of antidepressants was published in Lancet, psychiatry stated that it proved that "antidepressants" work. However, effectiveness studies of real-world patients reveal the opposite: the medications increase the likelihood that patients will become chronically depressed, and disabled by the disorder.
Researchers Challenge Industry-Friendly Depression Guideline
Review of a new mixed depression guideline reveals financial bias of guideline developers and lack of evidence supporting recommendations for prescribing of antipsychotics.
Should We Screen for Adverse Childhood Experiences?
One author outlines the foundations of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) research, addressing its dimensions, limitations, and potential future directions.
Psychosocial Adversities Should be Included in Diagnosis
Proposal to include psychosocial adversities that impact mental health in ICD and DSM diagnoses.
Study Examines the Difficulty of Withdrawing from Antidepressant Drugs
Correcting unnecessary long-term antidepressant use is difficult and met with apprehension by providers and service-users.
Police Violence Victims at Increased Risk of Psychotic Symptoms
Researchers examine links between police victimization and psychotic symptoms in a topical new study.
Psychiatry: The Brain is a Malignant Tumor!
We have persistently failed in trying to influence psychiatry with scientific argument because we view the brain as normal and they think it is a cancer. Imagine how weird it must seem to them: We are talking about an organ inside our heads that we treasure, and they are peering at it the way a surgeon studies a neuroblastoma.
Review Reinforces Social Connection as Protective Health Factor
Is a lack of social connection in the US harmful to health? In a review of social connection and health literature, researcher calls for a societal shift in values towards interdependence.
Duration of Untreated Psychosis Revisited: Response to the Goff Paper
Based on the studies cited, it seems hard to support the assertion that “early initiation of antipsychotics may improve long-term course of the illness.” This raises an urgent question about initial treatment. Doesn’t it make sense to try to capture all of those individuals who might get through a psychosis without drugs?
Minority and Immigration Status Associated with Psychosis Risk
Ethnic minorities and those who migrated during childhood have an elevated risk for psychosis, study finds.
Tranquilizing Humanity into Oblivion: A Warning from Nathan S. Kline
Widely heralded as the father of American psychopharmacology, Kline insisted that his discoveries were adjunctive to psychotherapy, not replacements. The psychopharmacology of Kline's era recognized that medications are a blunt instrument.
Rigorous Study Finds Antidepressants Worsen Long-Term Outcomes
A new study conducted by Jeffrey Vittengl at Truman University has found that taking antidepressant medications resulted in more severe depression symptoms after nine years.
The State of Animal Psychiatric Research
Since animal research is the foundation for moving on to clinical trials despite its poor quality, it is likely that this leads to many superfluous trials in humans based on false hopes. This leaves a risk of adverse events for the participants in the trials, and subsequently the patients.
Study Examines Overdiagnosis of Mental Health Disorders in Childhood
Are diagnoses of mental disorders among children and adolescents in developed countries disproportionate to disease prevalence trends?
To See An Atom: Psychosis and Ecology
Having smelled colors, heard ghosts, grown ecstatic, glimpsed Gaia, chatted with cartoons, and been overwhelmed by persistent paranoia and fear while under the influence of LSD, a modified fungus, I cannot distinguish how such plant-induced experiences differ from what psychiatrists call psychosis.
World Mental Health Day 2017: Challenging the Messages – A Call to Action
If we can have a presence and visibility, this could be life-changing for individuals with no current access to the bigger truths about psychiatric theory and practice. So let's infiltrate and disrupt the hashtags #WMHD2017 #worldmentalhealthday and share messages of hope, healing, validation and solidarity!
In Memoriam: Matt Stevenson
MIA blogger Matt Stevenson, who was best known to the MIA community for his frequent—and insightful—comments on MIA posts, died last Thursday. He took his own life, at age 32. His last message was this: Don't let a psychiatric diagnosis rob you of your hope.
Researchers Question Add-On Treatment for ‘Schizophrenia’
A common practice when antipsychotics are found to be ineffective for schizophrenia is to prescribe a second, additional psychoactive medication. Now, a new study suggests that this practice is not supported by the research.
Michelle Carter Part IV: Did She Tell Conrad to “Get back in the truck”?
There is no text, transcript or recording that demonstrates that Michelle ever said anything to Conrad about getting back in the truck to die. The DA’s entire case is based upon the “confession” of an irrational girl on antidepressants who has been trying to communicate with her boyfriend in heaven via phone.
Some Thoughts About Conferences
Without judging the motivation of people presenting and speaking at conferences, I’d like to ask the question: can we achieve more with these conferences than generating knowledge and touching people's hearts? Are we preparing the ground for change or are we marking time?
Human Right to Health – More than Economic Justice
Something is lost, a great deal is lost, when we give up an independent advocacy platform about our own bodies and subsume our needs and rights into what medical professionals are motivated to fight for on our behalf.
Call to Action: MA Bill H.3594 for Informed Benzodiazepine Use
This proposed legislation would require practitioners to obtain written informed consent regarding risk of dependency and addiction and risks associated with long-term use. It would also mandate warning labels concerning long-term use.
Change in Chicago: The Dolin Verdict
Finally, faced with the twenty known and two possible suicides on Paxil during clinical trials, Dr. Kraus reluctantly conceded that 80% of the victims were over thirty. Whatever they had told the FDA, the risks of Paxil could not be confined to adolescents — and GSK knew it.
