Psychology Today

DECEMBER 18, 2023

Caregiving is possible without sacrificing your own life.

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Mad in America

DECEMBER 21, 2023

A t the end of each year, I like to ask this question of ourselves: Are we fulfilling our mission? Here is our mission statement : Mad in America’s mission is to serve as a catalyst for rethinking psychiatric care in the United States (and abroad). We believe that the current drug-based paradigm of care has failed our society, and that scientific research, as well as the lived experience of those who have been diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder, calls for profound change.

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World Psychiatric Association (WPA)

DECEMBER 19, 2023

It is not easy to write this seasonal message given the situation in which our world finds itself: crises on all continents, terrorist attacks, armed conflicts and wars, societies split by polarising views, houses washed away, and forests burning. According to the World Health Organization, War, armed conflict and other man-made or natural disasters cause profound distress and can in some cases ignite or inflame existing mental health conditions.

Aging and mental health 52

Aging and mental health Education 52

Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research (ABMR)

DECEMBER 17, 2023

Climate science and environmental justice: What it means for behavioral medicine 1 pm EST / 12 pm CST / 10 am PST | 2 hours Visit the event page for speaker bios and to register!

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Mad in America

DECEMBER 18, 2023

What happens when you give antipsychotic drugs at the first sign of psychosis? Worse outcomes, according to a new study in Schizophrenia Bulletin Open. Those who did not receive antipsychotics within the first month after being diagnosed with their first episode of psychosis were, on average, almost twice as likely to be in recovery five years later than those who did immediately receive the drugs.

Childhood trauma 145

Childhood trauma Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Healthcare Early intervention 145

Mad in America

DECEMBER 20, 2023

O n the Mad in America podcast this week, we continue our reader Q&A with Mad in America founder Robert Whitaker. In Part 1 , we discussed Mad in America, the biopsychosocial model and the history of psychiatry. For Part 2, we will be covering reader questions on pharmaceutical marketing and issues with psychiatric treatments including psychiatric drugs and electroconvulsive therapy.

Pharmaceuticals 144

Pharmaceuticals Aging and mental health Biopsychosocial model Hospitality 144

Mad in America

DECEMBER 18, 2023

From The Irish Times : “A new training approach to mental health care was launched by the Mental Health Commission (MHC) in Ireland on Wednesday, together with the World Health Organisation (WHO). Organisations from the public, private and NGO sectors across the country gathered in Dublin to pledge to promote a ‘human rights-based approach’ to mental health care across the State.

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Construction 135

Mad in America

DECEMBER 21, 2023

“We need to describe how human beings unfold and become very beautiful when listened to. Listening shows that the nature of human beings is nothing like socialized content. It is a depth of richness that needs only interactive reception to open out, step by step, into a creative self-correcting development with freshly discovered wanting, personal ethics, and unique work in the world.

Trauma and the brain 117

Trauma and the brain Psychedelic therapy Aging and mental health Education 117

Mad in America

DECEMBER 18, 2023

Editor’s Note: Over the next several months, Mad in America is publishing a serialized version of Les Ruthven’s book, Much of U.S. Healthcare is Broken: How to Fix It. In this blog, he addresses healthcare’s focus on back end treatment rather than front end treatment: treating the symptoms rather than the causes of the health condition. Each Monday, a new section of the book is published, and all chapters are archived here.

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Healthcare Sleep and mental health Insurance Pharmaceuticals 105

Mad in America

DECEMBER 21, 2023

From Psychology Today : “Earlier this month, a group of 27 medical professionals, researchers, patient representatives, and politicians decided to act on the data, calling for the UK government to approve guidance that would reduce and, ultimately, reverse the rate of antidepressant prescribing. The BMJ has to date published seven ‘rapid responses’ to the open letter.

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Nutrition and mood Education 103

Mad in America

DECEMBER 19, 2023

Editor’s Note: This article was first published on our affiliate site, Mad in Mexico. This article comprises a conversation between Mad in Mexico’s Luis Gerardo Arroyo Lynn and Tina Minkowitz, a lawyer specializing in international human rights involved in the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). Luis Arroyo: Thank you again, Tina, for giving me the opportunity to talk to you.

Legal 101

Legal Poverty and mental health Resilience and coping Healthcare 101

Mad in America

DECEMBER 17, 2023

From CPTSD Foundation : “Trauma is a word or a concept that does not resonate with everyone. This is especially true for those of the older generation. Many in the older generations, like my mother’s age (70’s and above), say things like, ‘That was just life…it was what it was,’ and that is the end of the story for them. They ‘don’t have trauma’ because they are ‘tougher’ than that.

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Childhood trauma Trauma and the brain Aging and mental health 100

Mad in America

DECEMBER 20, 2023

From ProPublica : “One night in March 1976, a young advocate for people with ‘mental illness’ arrived at the Idaho statehouse with a warning. Marilyn Sword urged lawmakers not to ratify a system that would ultimately lock away some of Idaho’s most debilitated psychiatric patients in the tiny, concrete cells of a maximum security prison — a kind of solitary confinement with no trial, no conviction and often no charges.

Hospitality 88

Hospitality Legal 88

Mad in America

DECEMBER 20, 2023

These are the last breaths you take; these are the last blood cells to rush through your veins. The walls of the room are the last bit of colour for you to see. Rope on your hand, no one’s at home. They cared but didn’t understand, and now, they don’t have the time to take another look. Every thread of the rope stood out. A flashback was expected, but all you can see is a void waiting for you.

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Mad in America

DECEMBER 16, 2023

M any years ago, along with several other psychiatric aides, I participated in tackling a youth who hadn’t followed his behavior management “treatment plan,” and forced him into a seclusion room. I was new to the field and did as I was told. But the violence of the act left me upset and perplexed. The psychiatric hospital where this took place had been founded by Mennonites—a religious order with a strong pacifistic tradition.

Hospitality 117

Hospitality 117