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Self Stolen: How ECT Fried My Brain

Mad in America

A traumatic brain injury in 2002 didn’t help anything. I tried going back to school after the brain injury, but between the bipolar disorder and the head trauma, I couldn’t handle the stress and pressure anymore. I was in ICU for 11 days, and on a ventilator for four of those days. So to back way up, as a kid I was brilliant.

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The Fallacy of Modern Psychiatry: Treating Symptoms, Ignoring Causes

Mad in America

From the safety of ones surroundings to access to proper nutrition, sleep, and social stability, the circumstances of life have a lasting biochemical effect on the brain. These areas of the brain impact how a person reacts to the world. Those with high ACE scores have brains physically different from those with low or no ACE scores.

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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. This is in contrast with the typical chronological history of who served as superintendent, for how long, the date new buildings were opened and other such changes.

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One Person’s Journey from Celebrity Medical Model Advocate to Skeptic: An Interview with Rose Cartwright

Mad in America

She talks about understanding the place of her own childhood trauma and also the limitations of simplistic trauma narratives. She talks about understanding the place of her own childhood trauma and also the limitations of simplistic trauma narratives. She is also a writer and producer on Netflix’s 3 Body Problem.

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Part 3: Neuro-Authenticity, Neuro-Identities, and the Neuro-Industry  

Mad in America

Mad in America and Mad in the UK are jointly publishing this four-part series on neurodiversity. This third part of this series on Neurodiversity consists of an essay by a therapist who has asked to remain anonymous for fear of the consequences for their job. The series is being archived here. In Part 1 and Part 2 , we—e.g.

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Multiplicity and Mad Studies: An Interview with Jazmine Russell

Mad in America

As a writer, educator, and scholar, Jazmine works at the intersection of mad studies, critical psychology, and neuroscience. Her work is deeply informed by her lived experiences surviving complex trauma, psychosis, and an autoimmune disease. This has led her to bridge critical neuroscience communities with the mad movement.

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Peaceful Reflections on the Past from ‘One Who Got Away’

Mad in America

My family life growing up was a good period for me, and I have no complaints, yet there seemed to be something in the way my nervous system was wired, a leftover of birth trauma perhaps, that meant that relaxation and physical comfort weren’t part of my being. Perhaps broken open a bit, but in a good way.