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Peer Support and Resistance: Becky Brasfield’s Vision for Mental Health Justice

Mad in America

B ecky Brasfield has emerged as a formidable advocate for change in the complex landscape of mental health care.A She has been a fellow with both the IL Care and HSRI Behavioral Health Policy programs and was appointed Commissioner of the Southeast Expanded Mental Health Services Program.

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Mental Disorder Has Roots in Trauma and Inequality, Not Biology

Mad in America

Moreover, in stark contrast to the discoveries by medical researchers of biological causation for many physical illnesses, psychiatric researchers have failed to find physiological or genetic causation for the most diagnosed mental disorders—the anxiety disorders and depression—negating the rationale for the prescription of these drugs.

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The Dangers of Precision Medicine: Mental Health Is Not a Battlefield

Mad in America

Hailed as the future of mental health care, it conjures images of medical interventions as carefully planned and executed military operations, striking with lethal accuracy at the heart of mental suffering while minimising collateral damage.

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Beyond the Pill Paradigm: Reclaiming Humanity in Mental Health Care

Mad in America

I n the clean hallways of today’s mental health centers, a quiet change is taking shape. You won’t see big protests or new laws, but more people are starting to see that the main way we treat mental healthfocusing on chemical imbalances and managing medshasn’t helped many folks who need real healing.

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Power, Privilege & Controlling the Narrative: Vested Interests in ‘Mental Health’

Mad in America

It was written by David Hansen, a crisis worker at a person-centred, survivor-led mental health crisis service. I have tasked myself with mapping out my understanding of how therapy and mental health relate to politics. Mental health is also political. Is therapy political? Is therapy political?

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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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Is Public Psychiatry Responding to the Mental Health Crisis or Just “Treating the Chart?”

Mad in America

The topic of mental health is on the public’s mind, whether it’s the popularizing of therapy speak, the increased attention paid to severe mental illness and homelessness, or pop psychology advice on TikTok. This scenario in public psychiatry settings is, unfortunately, a familiar one.