Blog - Mental Health Clinicians

A Reflection on “Unshrunk: A Story of Psychiatric Treatment Resistance”

Mad in America

APRIL 5, 2025

We both ended up writing to Robert Whitaker and posting blogs on Mad in America. Whereas there was a time in my life when blogs just seemed to flow out of me, I have experienced much greater difficulty writing in recent years. Years later, we both happened upon Anatomy of an Epidemic shortly after its publication.

Bipolar disorder

Bipolar disorder Hospitality Construction

Making psychiatry more open-minded

Critical Psychiatry

MAY 7, 2025

Peter Gtzsche is not joking when he asks if psychiatrists are more mad than their patients (see his Mad in America blog post ). I understand what he means about the wishful thinking of biomedical psychiatrists (see eg. previous post ). Its important not to distance ourselves from people with whom we disagree by labelling them insane (see eg.

When Narratives Clash: Unshrunk and The Cognitive Dissonance of the NY Times

Mad in America

MARCH 21, 2025

Laura contacted me via email, we met in a caf, and she became the first person to tell her personal story on what was, at that time, my personal blogging site (madinamerica.com). The New York Times review is favorable, and I would say, fair.

Aging and mental health

Aging and mental health Pharmaceuticals

Ten Years Later: Still Shooting the Odds

Mad in America

OCTOBER 4, 2023

I t was about 10 years ago I wrote in a MIA blog post that if I thought that it was possible, I would have opened a string of clinics all over the country to help get people off of antidepressants. My blog post goes on to explain this in more detail.

Neurotransmitters and mental health

Neurotransmitters and mental health Education

Brief admission during crisis for people diagnosed with borderline personality disorder

The Mental Elf

MARCH 25, 2025

Dan Warrender publishes his debut elf blog on a recent systematic review, which suggests that brief admission as a crisis management tool is acceptable and can be effective for people with 'borderline personality disorder'.

Personality disorders

Personality disorders Hospitality

Lithium is best at decreasing the risk of depression-related hospitalisation in bipolar disorder, according to new cohort study

The Mental Elf

APRIL 2, 2025

This Swedish cohort study, blogged by Duncan Swiffen, is yet more evidence for lithium as an excellent treatment for people with bipolar disorder. This time it comes out on top in terms of preventing depression-related hospitalisation.

Bipolar disorder

Bipolar disorder Hospitality

The inescapable role of stigma in driving depression and distress

The Mental Elf

MARCH 20, 2025

In her debut blog (and the Mental Elf's first body-focused repetitive behaviours blog), Mallory Moore summarises a systematic review investigating whether internalised stigma can predict depression. The post The inescapable role of stigma in driving depression and distress appeared first on National Elf Service.

Personal trauma is associated with secondary traumatic stress in mental health professionals

The Mental Elf

MARCH 6, 2025

Linda Gask blogs a systematic review finding that personal trauma is linked to onset of secondary trauma in mental health professionals. The post Personal trauma is associated with secondary traumatic stress in mental health professionals appeared first on National Elf Service.

Thinking differently about mental health

Critical Psychiatry

OCTOBER 8, 2024

Ive changed the name of this blog before (see eg. Im making another attempt to see if expressing what this blog is about in more everyday langauage, avoiding the use of the term psychiatry, makes a difference. previous post ). Im not convinced its really made much impact in terms of attracting more readers (see eg.

Mad studies and critical/relational psychiatry

Critical Psychiatry

OCTOBER 3, 2024

The book for which it was written has now been published: Mad Studies Reader , edited by Brad Lewis (who has written a guest post for this blog) et al. Ive mentioned before the chapter written by key members involved in the foundation of the Critical Psychiatry Network (see previous post ).

Education

Diagnostic overshadowing in PTSD and autism: what do we know about trauma in ASD?

The Mental Elf

MARCH 24, 2025

Sofiia Karnatska blogs on a systematic review of PTSD in autistic individuals, which provides some useful insights about effective assessment and treatment of PTSD in autism. The post Diagnostic overshadowing in PTSD and autism: what do we know about trauma in ASD? appeared first on National Elf Service.

Autism spectrum

Perspectives Blog: Choosing the Right EHR Connection Type for Your Behavioral Health AI Solution: Integrated, Embedded or Built-In?

National Council for Mental Wellbeing (NCMW - the

APRIL 15, 2025

The post Perspectives Blog: Choosing the Right EHR Connection Type for Your Behavioral Health AI Solution: Integrated, Embedded or Built-In? Our specialized AI cuts admin time by over 70% and provides clinical insights to drive better outcomes. We lighten the load so providers can focus on what they do best caring for their clients.

Technology

Technology Healthcare

Perspectives Blog: Choosing the Right EHR Connection Type for Your Behavioral Health AI Solution: Integrated, Embedded or Built-In?

National Council for Mental Wellbeing (NCMW - the

APRIL 15, 2025

The post Perspectives Blog: Choosing the Right EHR Connection Type for Your Behavioral Health AI Solution: Integrated, Embedded or Built-In? Our specialized AI cuts admin time by over 70% and provides clinical insights to drive better outcomes. We lighten the load so providers can focus on what they do best caring for their clients.

Technology

Technology Healthcare

Dispelling Misconceptions About High-Functioning Depression 

Anxiety & Depression Association of America

MARCH 27, 2025

Read this blog to learn more about high-functioning depression. Externally, people with high-functioning depression may give the impression of "managing" or "coping" with their symptoms and seem to be fine, even successful.

Sticking to the argument about whether antidepressants work

Critical Psychiatry

FEBRUARY 12, 2025

For example, Awais recent blog post criticises Jo for her methods rather than necessarily actually what she says. I worry that the clash between Joanna Moncrieff and Awais Aftab about her new book Chemically imbalanced has become too personal (see eg. last post ). In many ways, how Jo expresses her critique is irrelevant.

Psychiatry misleading the public about chemical imbalance in depression

Critical Psychiatry

JANUARY 14, 2025

Awais Aftab has responded (see his blog post ) to the Sunday Times magazine article about Joanna Moncrieff (see eg. previous post ). He raises various useful questions about Jo's position but tends to be very critical of her perspective.

Is psychiatric diagnosis of any value?

Critical Psychiatry

NOVEMBER 13, 2024

This blog is called Thinking differently about mental health. As I keep saying, too many people are being misled by psychiatry that their mental health problems are due to their brain (see eg. previous post ). This includes misleading children who are being given a neurodivergent diagnosis to justify their sense of difference from others.

Construction

2023 in Review: A Paradigm Shift Is Underway

Mad in America

DECEMBER 21, 2023

A Recap of Our Operations in 2023 In 2023, we have published: 241 reports on scientific publications 182 blogs 62 MIA Reports 44 personal stories 28 podcasts & more: we host an online support group for parents, an online meeting space for artists, art galleries, and reader-nominated “songs of the week.”

Women Trailblazers in Mental Health

Anxiety & Depression Association of America

MARCH 3, 2025

As part of Women's Health Month, ADAA's Women Mental Health SIG presents a series of blogs and videos showcasing women trailblazers in the mental health sector.

21 Rare Ways To Find Your Life Purpose As A Woman

Sanity Daily

FEBRUARY 28, 2025

In this blog, I will share 21 ways to help you find your life purpose as a woman and start living your life as an empowered one. A woman who is looking for useful ways to take charge of her married life or a woman who loves to explore her life, this blog might help you Find your life purpose through his simple exercise Get a pen and paper.

Work needs to be undertaken now as part of the process towards complete reform of mental health legislation

Critical Psychiatry

NOVEMBER 9, 2024

blog post from DHSC Media Centre and version of amended Mental Health Act (MHA) 1983 as if amended by the Bill prepared by Alex Ruck Keane). This would have also given an opportunity to produce a new Bill taking into account the recent WHO/OHCHR guidance to countries on mental health legislation (see previous post ).

Mental health advocacy

ADHD and “Weak Muscle Disorder”

Mad in America

OCTOBER 15, 2024

We’ll save the analysis of the construct validity of ADHD for another blog post, but let’s just take one jab at it for now by pointing out a criterion that allegedly describes the hyperactive, impulse feature of ADHD. But are we defining this condition clearly enough and are we thinking about the nature of it in the right way?

Construction

Discovering what psychiatry’s really like

Critical Psychiatry

DECEMBER 18, 2024

The difficulty in changing psychiatry is real and I have often commented in this blog about how hard it is to get the message of critical/relational psychiatry accepted (see eg. As I wrote in my book chapter 'Historical perspectives on anti-psychiatry', this retreat could be said to have symbolised a lack of commitment to changing psychiatry.

Is There Transformative Meaning in Madness?

Mad in America

NOVEMBER 21, 2024

Eight co-researchers (see Table 1 below) were selected via the Emerging Proud blog and social media. Participants were people who had been labelled with psychosis, but found alternative ways to understand their experiences.

Self-awareness

Paula J. Clayton, MD (1934 – 2021): Pioneering Psychiatry with Passion and Precision

Anxiety & Depression Association of America

FEBRUARY 27, 2025

As part of Women's Health Month, ADAA's Women Mental Health SIG presents a series of blogs and videos showcasing women trailblazers in the mental health sector. In this blog, learn about Paula Clayton, MD, an internationally recognized researcher, dedicated to destigmatizing mental health and advocating suicide prevention.

5 Reasons Why A Comeback Is Powerful Than A Setback

Sanity Daily

JANUARY 30, 2025

My blog Sanity Daily was attacked and targeted by some digital marketer whom I trusted to the core. She not only left my blog to doom but also made sure I didn’t spread the word about her unprofessionalism, so she reached out to our few common contacts and manipulated them. Fight all the fears and conquer them, one at a time.

Self-awareness

Margaret Floy Washburn, PhD (1871 – 1939): First Woman to Earn a PhD in Psychology in the USA

Anxiety & Depression Association of America

FEBRUARY 27, 2025

As part of Women's Health Month, ADAA's Women Mental Health SIG presents a series of blogs and videos showcasing women trailblazers in the mental health sector. In this blog, learn about Margaret Floy Washburn, PhD, the first woman in the United States to earn a PhD in psychology in 1894.

Eleanor Maccoby, PhD (1917-2018): Early Pioneer in Gender Studies and Child Development

Anxiety & Depression Association of America

FEBRUARY 26, 2025

As part of Women's Health Month, ADAA's Women Mental Health SIG presents a series of blogs and videos showcasing women trailblazers in the mental health sector.

Legal

Claire Weekes, MD, DSc (1903 – 1990): The Grandmother of Cognitive Behavioral Treatment for Anxiety

Anxiety & Depression Association of America

FEBRUARY 26, 2025

As part of Women's Health Month, ADAA's Women Mental Health SIG presents a series of blogs and videos showcasing women trailblazers in the mental health sector. In this blog, learn about Claire Weekes, MD, DSc, who originally studied zoology but made a career change in her 30's to research anxiety and fear in humans.

Mamie Phipps Clark (1917-1983): Pioneer Psychologist on Racial Identity, Child Development, and Systemic Racism

Anxiety & Depression Association of America

FEBRUARY 27, 2025

As part of Women's Health Month, ADAA's Women Mental Health SIG presents a series of blogs and videos showcasing women trailblazers in the mental health sector.

Anna Freud (1895-1982): Child Psychoanalysis and Child Psychology

Anxiety & Depression Association of America

FEBRUARY 26, 2025

As part of Women's Health Month, ADAA's Women Mental Health SIG presents a series of blogs and videos showcasing women trailblazers in the mental health sector.

Therapy by Script Undermines Healing; Connection Is the Key

Mad in America

DECEMBER 21, 2023

Eugene Gendlin In a previous blog, I wrote about my experiences in psychedelic therapy, and the ways that the psychedelic-assisted therapy model by design perpetuates one of our cultures deepest wounds: feeling alone.

Trauma and the brain

Trauma and the brain Psychedelic therapy Aging and mental health Education

Bridging the Gap: Why Black Voices Must Shape Mental Health Research

NAMI

FEBRUARY 27, 2025

However, some of the most valuable insights came from blogs and communities dedicated to people of color with ADHD, as medical research on those within the Black/African Ancestry community remained limited. Since then, Ive focused on researching ADHD and connecting with various groups to better understand how it shaped my experiences.

Mental health advocacy

Mental health advocacy Bipolar disorder Healthcare

THE LIGHT PREVAILED by Diana Spore

Mad in America

SEPTEMBER 12, 2024

I have written academic/scholarly articles published in scientific peer-reviewed journals, position papers, blogs, newspaper articles, and workbooks. I experienced the good and the worst in terms of the mental health care I received.

Bipolar disorder

Bipolar disorder Hospitality

Reflections on the RADAR Study

Mad in America

OCTOBER 14, 2023

Moncrieff has discussed the findings in a blog post. RADAR Study RADAR replicates earlier studies in which, over a two-year period, individuals who reduce their doses are at higher risk of relapse than those who do not reduce.

Hospitality

Hospitality Pharmaceuticals

Phenotypic diversity from dogs to diseases

Real Psychiatry

MAY 6, 2025

There is a previous post on this blog that discusses stochastics based on behavioral variation in rats with nearly identical genotypes. It highlights issues of classification and that have been discussed in many places on this blog. It reduces interindividual variation based on genetics. Dog breeding is a variation on that theme.

Construction

Construction Healthcare

Mood Tracking: My System for Reducing Psychiatric Hospitalizations

Mad in America

JULY 19, 2024

This blog is not about the cruelty of psychiatric institutions, although they can be cruel. Instead, what this blog is about is earning the right to be freed from such societal constraints. I was terribly uncomfortable, and over and over I begged her to release me. Finally, after a considerable time, I was released.

Hospitality

Hospitality Self-awareness Sleep and mental health Bipolar disorder

Not Before Time: Lived Experience Led Justice and Repair

Mad in America

OCTOBER 7, 2023

Power was consistently decentralised (hence, for example, my writing this blog—I’m one co-author amongst many; we have all stepped up at various points). Simon added two Reference Group Facilitators (one consumer, one carer) to increase safety for group members.

Mental health advocacy

Mental health advocacy Legal

The Significance of Semiotics in Social Work

Mad in America

APRIL 2, 2024

This blog post seeks to illuminate semiotics’ untapped power in social work and advocate for its integration as a novel approach to fostering more nuanced, empathetic, and compelling client relationships.

Resilience and coping

Resilience and coping Art therapy Self-awareness Education

Thousands of Reasons To Stay Alive, All You Need Is ONE

Sanity Daily

APRIL 15, 2025

I know how hard it must be for you, or else you would not have ended up reading this blog. If you are someone searching for reasons to stay alive, let me share 50 reasons for you to hold on. I agree it is tough. Since you have stopped by my post, I will make sure I try to give you enough reasons to hold on for a little longer.

Self-awareness

How the Medical Model Corrupted Mennonite Values

Mad in America

DECEMBER 16, 2023

How did the change in models lead to the seclusion and violent restraint illustrated in the story beginning this blog? Yet, something happened then to conflict with nearly 500 years based on bedrock values of non-violence and humane care.

Hospitality

A bouquet of encouragement for mental health carers this Mother’s Day

Sane Blog

MAY 8, 2025

In this blog, SANE community member Sonya shares a list of the things that helped her when her daughter was first diagnosed with schizophrenia at 20 years of age. Youre still in shock and disorientated, so its understandable everything feels impossibly hard for you right now.

Aging and mental health

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

Mad in America

JULY 29, 2024

In this blog, a therapist who works with children and young people expands on some of these worrying consequences, including the imposition of identities, the co-option of the neurodiversity movement for personal and professional gain, the restrictions on therapeutic work, and the silencing of dissenting views.

Trauma and the brain

Trauma and the brain Construction Education Eating disorders

Real World Evidence and Cannabis Psychosis

Real Psychiatry

MAY 9, 2025

As readers of this blog know I am not high on cannabis. That is based on my experience as an acute care psychiatrist and an addiction psychiatrist.

Legal

Legal Hospitality Bipolar disorder Insurance

A Reflection on “Unshrunk: A Story of Psychiatric Treatment Resistance”

Making psychiatry more open-minded

Trending Sources

When Narratives Clash: Unshrunk and The Cognitive Dissonance of the NY Times

Ten Years Later: Still Shooting the Odds

Brief admission during crisis for people diagnosed with borderline personality disorder

Lithium is best at decreasing the risk of depression-related hospitalisation in bipolar disorder, according to new cohort study

The inescapable role of stigma in driving depression and distress

Personal trauma is associated with secondary traumatic stress in mental health professionals

Thinking differently about mental health

Mad studies and critical/relational psychiatry

Diagnostic overshadowing in PTSD and autism: what do we know about trauma in ASD?

Perspectives Blog: Choosing the Right EHR Connection Type for Your Behavioral Health AI Solution: Integrated, Embedded or Built-In?

Perspectives Blog: Choosing the Right EHR Connection Type for Your Behavioral Health AI Solution: Integrated, Embedded or Built-In?

Dispelling Misconceptions About High-Functioning Depression

Sticking to the argument about whether antidepressants work

Psychiatry misleading the public about chemical imbalance in depression

Is psychiatric diagnosis of any value?

2023 in Review: A Paradigm Shift Is Underway

Women Trailblazers in Mental Health

21 Rare Ways To Find Your Life Purpose As A Woman

Work needs to be undertaken now as part of the process towards complete reform of mental health legislation

ADHD and “Weak Muscle Disorder”

Discovering what psychiatry’s really like

Is There Transformative Meaning in Madness?

Paula J. Clayton, MD (1934 – 2021): Pioneering Psychiatry with Passion and Precision

5 Reasons Why A Comeback Is Powerful Than A Setback

Margaret Floy Washburn, PhD (1871 – 1939): First Woman to Earn a PhD in Psychology in the USA

Eleanor Maccoby, PhD (1917-2018): Early Pioneer in Gender Studies and Child Development

Claire Weekes, MD, DSc (1903 – 1990): The Grandmother of Cognitive Behavioral Treatment for Anxiety

Mamie Phipps Clark (1917-1983): Pioneer Psychologist on Racial Identity, Child Development, and Systemic Racism

Anna Freud (1895-1982): Child Psychoanalysis and Child Psychology

Therapy by Script Undermines Healing; Connection Is the Key

Bridging the Gap: Why Black Voices Must Shape Mental Health Research

THE LIGHT PREVAILED by Diana Spore

Reflections on the RADAR Study

Phenotypic diversity from dogs to diseases

Mood Tracking: My System for Reducing Psychiatric Hospitalizations

Not Before Time: Lived Experience Led Justice and Repair

The Significance of Semiotics in Social Work

Thousands of Reasons To Stay Alive, All You Need Is ONE

How the Medical Model Corrupted Mennonite Values

A bouquet of encouragement for mental health carers this Mother’s Day

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

Real World Evidence and Cannabis Psychosis

Stay Connected

Dispelling Misconceptions About High-Functioning Depression 