Revolutions begin when people who are defined as problems achieve the power to redefine the problem. ~ John McKnight Hat tip National Coalition for Mental Health Recovery Got this quote in their monthly email newsletter. I'm dedicating this to John Hunt, Psychiatric Prisoner, with much love. Even while his family and community create a safe... Continue Reading →
Grainne is a close friend of mine who has been working tirelessly not only for the release of her partner, John, but also for all people who are wrongly labeled and locked up like chattel. She believes crisis is a messenger for personal transformation. She is deeply concerned and appalled by the drugging and labelling... Continue Reading →
The Switches That Can Turn Mental Illness On and Off -- Discover --The difference between one personality and another is not determined by genes alone. Love’s got something to do with it too... This month’s column is a tale of two rats. One rat got lots of attention from its mother when it was young;... Continue Reading →
How did the definition of schizophrenia change during the civil rights and Black Power era of the 1960s? Why did a disease primarily affecting withdrawn white housewives suddenly become focused on angry and "paranoid" African American men instead? Psychiatrist and historian Jonathan Metzl, author of The Protest Psychosis: How Schizophrenia Became a Black Disease, discusses... Continue Reading →
Psychiatric drugs carry serious physical health risks -- The Vancouver Sun -- The real cost of psychiatric drugs is finally starting to be known, though this isn't a US newspaper. Remember to read Robert Whitaker's book for documentation on these issues. "People diagnosed with depression lose 25 years or more of life expectancy, Taylor said. --... Continue Reading →
This is a review written by Susan Schechter from If You're Going Through Hell Keep Going where it was published first. It's a painfully intimate review that only one of us, those who've been harmed, could write. Thank you, Susan, for contributing this piece to Beyond Meds. Robert Whitaker's latest book "Anatomy of an Epidemic"... Continue Reading →
I've mentioned this amazing documentary when it first came out, but only in a news and blogs roundup. Today for the first time I watched this trailer which is utterly amazing and beautiful. I need to get this film. If anyone who has regular contact with me has seen it and would like to write... Continue Reading →
PharmaGossip: Book of the Month: Anatomy of an Epidemic by Robert Whitaker- -- Another review of this very important book: This is the first book to look at the merits of psychiatric medications through the prism of long-term results. Are long-term recovery rates higher for medicated or unmedicated schizophrenia patients? Does taking an antidepressant decrease... Continue Reading →
By Rothwell C. (Bud) Polk, Jr. The sign in the waiting room hangs over the magazine rack. It is carefully printed out, laminated and precisely trimmed and mounted. It greets the consumer, the visitor, the guest and, I suppose, the would-be thief: "DON'T STEAL OUR MAGAZINES!" The magazines in question are ancient and tattered collections... Continue Reading →
Rather than worry or obsess about enlightenment, why not be honest and accept that we will have our good days and our bad? We will have some enlightened moments of loving-kindness, as well as some dull ones. This encourages all of us to stay real and experience the moment as it is—not how we want... Continue Reading →
Psychological Abuse and Depression -- Storied Mind -- This is one of the most painful problems to look at closely. But the more I understand the impact of abuse of all types – emotional, physical, sexual – and other forms of traumatic experience (whether or not they’re recognized by the The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual... Continue Reading →
