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Exploding Myths About Schizophrenia: An Interview with Courtenay Harding

Mad in America

T he Vermont Longitudinal Study, which was led by Courtenay Harding, reported on the long-term outcomes of patients discharged from Vermont State Hospital in the late 1950s and early 1960. Robert Whitaker: Your longitudinal study of outcomes for chronic patients discharged from Vermont State Hospital wasand isof landmark importance.

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Medical Health Treatment vs. Mental Health Treatment

Mad in America

I n 1986 I had my first experience spending time in a hospital. My next memory was waking up in the hospital and being told to try and remain still under the X-ray machine. All I could understand at that age was I got hurt, I was in the hospital and everyone wanted to help.

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Everything About Us Without Us

Mad in America

T his historical record of Oregons first state hospital, the Oregon State Insane Asylum, from its opening in 1883 until the mid-1950s, will focus on the experiences of patients there. The guiding principle for the hospital during these seven decades, whether recognized or not, was Everything About Us Was Without Us.

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How to Learn to Love to Write: A Mental Health Journey

Mad in America

F rom a young age, you discover how much you love to read and write. You start believing the voices and get sent into an unlivable mental state. You’re exhausted, both mentally and physically. Although your schoolwork is pretty light, mental health issues don’t just disappear. You continue struggling.

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“There’s No Word for Depression in Zulu”: Inside South Africa’s Mental Health Crisis

Mad in America

R esearch has found South Africa consistently ranks in the bottom three performing countries in terms of global mental health. Photo by tuxone The Mental State of the World Report measures the mental health of internet users only, making it limited in the South African context where close to one-third of the population isnt online.

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Mad Camp Europe: My Journey from Ward Violence to Healing and Community

Mad in America

And yet I choose to become a mental health nurse. I got two diagnoses, borderline personality disorder and bipolar disorder with ultra-rapid cycling, a fact that I hid throughout my whole time of service for the hospital. I became a mental health nurse at a psychiatric clinic for children and young adults.

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Grief, Bereavement, Public Health, and Me

Mad in America

In public health, we talk about death. We aim to protect, preserve, and promote the health of individuals and their communities. We don’t examine the health effects of this person’s absence. In this sense, it’s odd that we rarely think about death as an exposure with downstream health risks.