By Robert Whitaker author of Anatomy of an Epidemic and Mad in America (posted with the author's permission) Yesterday, I have to confess, I experienced one of the more satisfying days of my journalistic career1. Every journalist hopes that his or her writing will have an impact, and a few months ago, in response to Anatomy of... Continue Reading →
when therapy is sorcery
"You may find it remarkable that I am classifying therapists with sorcerers. There is a fine line between the Healer who heals and the one who, due to ignorance, may cause harm. In working with patients, I have found that archaic language and images are the best means of relating to the spirit or the unconscious. Referring to an ignorant therapist as a "practitioner of iatrogenic illness" would evoke little feeling in the patient and there would be no affective connection to the healer/therapist. Therefore, I use the word sorcerer in order to make the point about the seriousness of some of the actions taken by therapists towards patients. This affective connection is crucial to the task of allowing the soul to open to the process of healing." - Eduardo Duran, Healing the Soul Wound
Comparisons are odious
The conceit of self (mana in Pali) is said to be the last of the great obstacles to full awakening. Conceit is an ingenious creature, at times masquerading as humility, empathy, or virtue. Conceit manifests in the feelings of being better than, worse than, and equal to another. Within these three dimensions of conceit are... Continue Reading →
Trellis: this is your brain on (psych) drugs
When you stop taking a psychiatric drug, it's like you are removing the trellis. If you yank it out all at once, ouch; the plant is damaged and it collapses and it takes a long time for it to heal itself, and it's not going to be able to function properly for a while. (Hence the problems with c/t.) If you want to keep that plant functional you have to snip that thing out bit by bit.
Be yourself
It takes heroic humility to be yourself. — Thomas Merton
Empowering people to become lifelong patients
You remember that 2006 NASMHPD report on morbidity in the “seriously mentally ill” population, so often cited in the current literature, the main navigational tool charting the course of mental health policy for the past decade or so (that I wrote about here and here)? One of the main policy recommendations to come out of that report was that caregivers should “support wellness and empowerment of persons served, to improve mental and physical well-being.” Sounds good, but don’t be fooled – they didn’t really mean that. What they want is to “empower individuals to engage in services” – empower people to become lifelong patients. What they want is controlled [false] empowerment as a strategy for achieving lifelong treatment plan adherence (non-compliance/non-adherence being the $100,000,000,000 problem for pharmaceutical companies – their words.)
Home
A visually beautiful full-length film. And while the title says it's got English subtitles, this film is in fact narrated in English.
Psychiatric drug withdrawal: the basics to get you started
This is an article that briefly explains how to start thinking about safely withdrawing from psychiatric drugs. It includes numerous resources for further study.
The trying times…
Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experiences of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired and success achieved. It is in the most trying times that our real character is shaped and revealed. - Helen Keller
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