article thumbnail

On Not Becoming David Foster Wallace

Mad in America

A dozen years ago I created a website, now extinct, called ‘Five Years’ From the David Bowie song of the same name (“We had five years left to cry in”). The idea was to see how my attitudes evolved over the coming five years: toward optimism, toward pessimism, or same-same. I was told, and believed, that I would be on this drug for life.

article thumbnail

Depression: Psychiatry’s Discredited Theories and Drugs Versus a Sane Model and Approach

Mad in America

P sychiatry’s serotonin-imbalance theory of depression, long discarded by researchers, was finally flushed down the toilet by psychiatry and the mainstream media in 2022. And psychiatrists’ primary treatments for depression—their so-called “antidepressants”—are now circling the drain. 2) What approach to depression makes sense? Genes and depression?

Insiders

Sign Up for our Newsletter

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

article thumbnail

Doctors Are Not Trained to Think Critically

Mad in America

I was still only 17 years old but it was a great relief after the horrendous years I had spent at an all-girls boarding school. My fellow students and I started our first year ‘pre-clinical’ training with 4 ½ days a week of lectures. Those who failed would have one chance to re-sit and if unsuccessful, they would have to leave medical school.

article thumbnail

Healing From Psychiatric Drug Harm, Part 2: Rational Approaches to Recovery

Mad in America

In my last piece , I wrote about various neuro-rehab therapies I engaged in with Dr. J, the functional brain injury specialist, and that there came a point when my husband and I knew we’d reached the end of what medical science could offer me. I sat down to write this article with the experience of severe akathisia fresh in my mind.

article thumbnail

How Epigenetics Could Revolutionize ADHD Care

ADDitude

Epigenetic tags allow each of these cells to “read” only the parts of the DNA sequence that are relevant to them, in order to become skin cells, liver cells, brain cells, muscle cells, and other unique cells with the right structure and functions for their specific role. Yet, genetic influences are less fixed than one might think.

article thumbnail

Upcoming ECT Legislation Needs to Be Revised

Mad in America

A bill raised in the Connecticut legislature, H.B. 6837 , would change state law concerning shock therapy (ECT or electroconvulsive therapy). It would extend the duration of probate court orders authorizing ECT without a patients informed consent, from the current maximum of 45 days to 90 days. Anwar , Rep. Anwar , Rep. Dubey, 2023).

article thumbnail

Could IPT Be a Treatment Option for Autism?

International Society for Interpersonal Psychother

Individuals on the autism spectrum often experience comorbid depression, social stress, and difficulties in relating to themselves and others. While IPT has not been extensively studied for autism spectrum conditions, many clinicians report its usefulness in practice. Bateman & Fonagy, 2008).