Mad in America

DECEMBER 29, 2023

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.

Trauma and the brain 145

Trauma and the brain Bipolar disorder Construction Education 145

Mad in America

DECEMBER 17, 2023

From CPTSD Foundation : “Trauma is a word or a concept that does not resonate with everyone. They ‘don’t have trauma’ because they are ‘tougher’ than that. When they describe their pain points or struggles with me as a trauma recovery coach, I see them as symptoms of previous trauma.

Trauma and the brain 102

Trauma and the brain Childhood trauma Aging and mental health 102

Mad in America

FEBRUARY 2, 2024

I tell this story through the lens of akathisia (and a similar condition known as restless leg syndrome or RLS) since it was an early indicator for me that while I was being treated for the typical symptoms of bipolar, I was actually dealing with trauma. In May of 2021 I had a severe manic episode that led to psychosis.

Trauma and the brain 109

Trauma and the brain Hospitality Healthcare 109

Mad in America

APRIL 24, 2025

When the Covid-19 pandemic brought its cascade of anxiety, trauma, and grief, many Americans turned to antidepressants for relief. Antidepressants are Americas first-line treatment for the most common mental health problems, e.g., depression, anxiety, and insomnia. Recent studies and critiques are challenging the antidepressant status quo.

Neurotransmitters and mental health 128

Neurotransmitters and mental health Trauma and the brain Aging and mental health Pharmaceuticals 128

Mad in America

MAY 29, 2025

Many people also believe the psychiatric drugs prescribed to treat depression are effective because they correct a verified biological causation for depression, a chemical imbalance in the brain. NIMH and psychiatrists have not always explained depression to be genetic (as “running in the family). A psychiatric textbook (Silverman, C.,

Genetics and mental health 107

Genetics and mental health Neurotransmitters and mental health Trauma and the brain Dialectical Behavior Therapy 107

Mad in America

APRIL 15, 2025

Psychiatric medications are often offered as the default solutionbut without complementary options such as therapy, community support, or trauma-informed care, these prescriptions can become long-term crutches rather than bridges to healing. According to OECD data, South Korea has the highest suicide rate among member nations.

Aging and mental health 96

Aging and mental health Sleep and mental health Trauma and the brain Insurance 96

Mad in America

DECEMBER 21, 2024

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.

Trauma and the brain 143

Trauma and the brain Construction Sleep and mental health Legal 143

Mad in America

MAY 13, 2025

The way we think about mental distress today is based on a big mistakethat emotional pain comes from brain chemistry problems rather than from people’s experiences, social conditions, and how they make sense of things. I n the clean hallways of today’s mental health centers, a quiet change is taking shape.

Trauma and the brain 103

Trauma and the brain Poverty and mental health Childhood trauma Self-awareness 103

The Anxiety Guy

MARCH 31, 2025

Heres Whats Really Happening in Your Brain Dizziness from anxiety is one of the most unsettling symptoms people experience. If youve ever wondered why anxiety causes dizziness and whats really happening in your brain, youre not alone. Dizziness from anxiety is a major component to increased fear for health anxiety sufferers.

Self-awareness 85

Self-awareness 85

Mad in America

MAY 2, 2024

Some neuroscientists argue that we should rather focus our efforts on the upstream social and structural factors, such as trauma and inequity , that create the conditions for mental health concerns to arise. A recent Neuroscience News article is titled “ Bipolar disorder can be detected with blood test. ”

Trauma and the brain 117

Trauma and the brain Neurotransmitters and mental health Genetics and mental health Biopsychosocial model 117

Mad in America

NOVEMBER 6, 2024

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.

Trauma and the brain 119

Trauma and the brain Poverty and mental health Psychedelic therapy Mental health advocacy 119

Mad in America

NOVEMBER 16, 2024

T he text that follows is the English translation of a speech I gave at The Danish Psychiatry Top Summit in 2024. A video of the speech, with English subtitles, is available here. The summit features professionals, politicians, and people with lived experiences. This year more than a thousand people attended. Every year, the summit has a theme.

Trauma and the brain 138

Trauma and the brain 138

Mad in America

MAY 27, 2025

W hen a close family member compared the collaged moon boards I was using to process a difficult time in my life to that meme of the man frantically mapping red strings on the wall, I didnt laugh. I had just told them I was on the edge of autistic burnout. That I was struggling with emotional flooding. Old friends disappeared. Family stepped back.

Trauma and the brain 77

Trauma and the brain Self-awareness Art therapy Construction 77

Child Mind Intitute

APRIL 14, 2025

As with many clinical conditions, each childs genetic, brain-based, and environmental influences blend into a distinct profile. We need to rule out other causes of inattention (like anxiety or trauma) and ensure were capturing the childs full spectrum of strengths and needs. And ADHD is not only a disorder of childhood.

Trauma and the brain 119

Trauma and the brain Genetics and mental health Aging and mental health Self-awareness 119

Mad in America

MAY 12, 2025

Editor’s Note: This story was originally published on our affiliate site, Mad in the UK. 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. Is therapy political?

Trauma and the brain 106

Trauma and the brain Poverty and mental health Pharmaceuticals Genetics and mental health 106

Mad in America

NOVEMBER 18, 2024

I can think of many examples throughout my early career where I saw many people admitted to psychiatric wards having suffered an adverse life event, recent or past trauma, only to leave with prescriptions for multiple drugs to treat their new presumed diagnoses.

Trauma and the brain 143

Trauma and the brain Sleep and mental health Personality disorders Self-awareness 143

Child Mind Intitute

FEBRUARY 19, 2025

At the Child Mind Institute, we are dedicated to understanding how the brain develops and identifying ways we can support children and adolescents in building mental health awareness and resilience. Think of the brain as a network of interconnected pathways. Journaling is like exercising the brains emotional regulation muscles.

Resilience and coping 59

Resilience and coping Trauma and the brain Self-awareness Technology 59

Mad in America

NOVEMBER 26, 2024

According to Moncrieff, mainstream psychiatry’s theory of drug action is that psychiatric drugs work by healing some underlying brain abnormality, thus supporting the concept of biological psychiatry. C urrently, antidepressants are among the most commonly prescribed drugs for a wide range of diagnoses, not just depression and anxiety.

Trauma and the brain 132

Trauma and the brain Family dynamics Bipolar disorder Community support 132

Lightwork

APRIL 10, 2025

These lingering wounds, known as unresolved trauma, can silently shape our behaviors, relationships, and daily experiences without us even realizing it. For women, unresolved trauma can manifest in unique ways, impacting mental health through anxiety, depression, and complex emotional responses. Many women share similar experiences.

Trauma and the brain 52

Trauma and the brain Sleep and mental health Self-awareness Cognitive Behavioral Therapy 52

Mad in America

NOVEMBER 18, 2023

A fter years of work involving hundreds of people in dozens of countries, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) have released their joint production, Mental Health, Human Rights and Legislation: Guidance and Practice ( WHO/OHCHR , 2023, referred to as the Guidance.

Genetics and mental health 145

Genetics and mental health Biopsychosocial model Trauma and the brain Legal 145

Mad in America

NOVEMBER 8, 2024

I was trying to recover from a mild traumatic brain injury. I was having nightmares and flashbacks from childhood trauma that I had successfully hidden in the recesses of my mind until that time. You said this when I described my nightmares and flashbacks and the confusion and terror I had as I remembered my childhood trauma. “It

Childhood trauma 141

Childhood trauma Trauma and the brain Hospitality 141

Mad in America

NOVEMBER 24, 2023

I had headaches, brain fog, and fatigue. Being a brain doctor, he focused on the headaches. “Maybe the journey isn’t so much about becoming anything. Maybe it’s about unbecoming everything that really isn’t you, so you can be who you were meant to be in the first place.”

Trauma and the brain 143

Trauma and the brain Sleep and mental health Aging and mental health Genetics and mental health 143

Mad in America

NOVEMBER 28, 2024

Concurrently, many mental health professionals carry a burden of their own trauma and are not healthy individuals. Trauma fragments our being as we disconnect from our experiences, suppress our feelings and hide away our wounded parts. When trauma is healed, so do our bodies. When trauma is healed, so do our bodies.

Hospitality 93

Hospitality Trauma and the brain Poverty and mental health Construction 93

Association for Psychological Science (APS)

MAY 15, 2025

What happens in the brain when impulsive decisions take over? Why do some brains lose control under high arousal, while others stay composed? Why do some brains lose control under high arousal while others stay composed? Why do some people struggle to control their actions when emotions run high? This is Under the Cortex.

Trauma and the brain 84

Trauma and the brain Neurotransmitters and mental health Genetics and mental health Dialectical Behavior Therapy 84

Mad in America

JULY 29, 2024

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.

Trauma and the brain 144

Trauma and the brain Construction Education Eating disorders 144

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. If this is true, what are we doing sending people off into the eyeshades on their psychedelic journeys? Cloud Shadow With Red Diffusion Light During the Disturbance Period.

Trauma and the brain 124

Trauma and the brain Psychedelic therapy Aging and mental health Education 124

The London Psychiatry Centre

JANUARY 3, 2025

When first-line treatments havent worked, sufferers and their loved ones often begin to wonder about the science of it all, asking: how does mental health affect our brain (and vice versa)? Read on to learn more about how mental health affects the brain. Brain function is key to both physical health and mental health.

Neurotransmitters and mental health 52

Neurotransmitters and mental health Trauma and the brain Bipolar disorder 52

Mad in America

AUGUST 17, 2024

By Friday, the effects of K2 had turned his brain into a monster, a stark contrast to the gentle young man we knew. Told by his mother, Pamela, and his oldest brother, Joe, it’s also a story of resilience, loving commitment, and a push for change against a system riddled with discrimination and harms.

Hospitality 127

Hospitality Trauma and the brain Mental health advocacy Mental health policy 127

The Art of Healing Trauma

DECEMBER 21, 2018

Healing Trauma with Guided Drawing, A Sensorimotor Art Therapy Approach to Bilateral Body Mapping, by Cornelia Elbrecht, is an in-depth instructional textbook for the somatic therapeutic approach Guided Drawing. Based on leading edge understandings about trauma healing and the body (sensorimotor psychotherapy, somatic experiencing, etc.),

Art therapy 52

Art therapy Trauma and the brain Self-awareness 52

Mad in America

JUNE 17, 2024

I was grappling with the pressures of balancing the needs of my teenagers, who were struggling in different ways, and my two preschoolers with developmental delays that no professional could explain — all while attempting to manage and overcome my own trauma from military service. Two police officers stood inside my entryway, watching us.

Trauma and the brain 132

Trauma and the brain Sleep and mental health Aging and mental health Self-awareness 132

The Art of Healing Trauma

JUNE 25, 2020

When we remember and then begin to do a writing practice about the memory, we are turning on many parts of our brains and awareness to interact with the memory, such as new knowledge, new experiences, and other frames of reference that did not exist when the experience happened.

Trauma and the brain 52

Trauma and the brain Self-awareness 52

Mad in America

FEBRUARY 18, 2025

I will always wonder whether I got worse because of me or because of damage to my brain? T his is all written to the best of my memory. I worked, I had a life. But then I languished on disability for twenty-six years. Dystonia, kidney failure, possibly the hypothyroidism was my lot for serving as a drug whore for psychiatry.

Trauma and the brain 129

Trauma and the brain Sleep and mental health Aging and mental health Legal 129

Mad in America

FEBRUARY 7, 2024

A new review published in CNS Drugs analyzes the current available treatment guidelines for monitoring the potential negative side effects of clozapine. Shockingly, based on their inclusion criteria, the authors only found one existing guideline.

Trauma and the brain 114

Trauma and the brain Childhood trauma Education Hospitality 114

ADDitude

MAY 22, 2025

Q : Schizophrenia is a rare brain disorder, but its prevalence rate among adults with ADHD is about double that of the general population 0.9 ADHD is associated with low dopamine levels in the brain, and most ADHD medications are intended to increase these. percent versus 0.45 Higgins, Jr.,

Trauma and the brain 59

Trauma and the brain Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Education 59

Mad in America

FEBRUARY 24, 2024

P sychiatry’s serotonin-imbalance theory of depression, long discarded by researchers, was finally flushed down the toilet by psychiatry and the mainstream media in 2022. And psychiatrists’ primary treatments for depression—their so-called “antidepressants”—are now circling the drain. 2) What approach to depression makes sense? Genes and depression?

Poverty and mental health 145

Poverty and mental health Childhood trauma Neurotransmitters and mental health Trauma and the brain 145

Center for Integrative Psychiatry

MAY 26, 2025

Grief is more than just sadness, its a profound emotional experience that can affect your entire body, including your brain. This is sometimes referred to as grief brain fog, and its a real, biological response to emotional trauma. Your brain is under stress during bereavement. Is Memory Loss from Grief Permanent?

Trauma and the brain 52

Trauma and the brain Healthcare 52

Mad in America

MARCH 13, 2024

Mandeville, LMFT – Scapegoat Recovery : “What is traumatic invalidation, and why is it important that adult survivors of family scapegoating know about this form of trauma? Questions to ask yourself As a scapegoat child, you may have had a lifetime of being invalidated, and you can’t help but carry that in to other systems.

Trauma and the brain 83

Trauma and the brain 83