It’s Time to Emotionally Prepare for What’s Coming
From Medium: We would do well to start preparing our stock, not just of physical needs like food, but emotional needs like strength, resolve, and the ability to grieve.
I Am a Critical Psychiatrist
From MJH Life Sciences: My view of psychiatry is that we need to acknowledge and embrace humility. This is a hard narrative when we live in a culture that values spin over content.
Coronavirus: Temporary Changes to UK’s Mental Health Act
From Rethink Mental Illness: The UK government has proposed changes to the Mental Health Act which, if implemented, will make it easier to detain people during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Coronavirus and the Sun: a Lesson From the 1918 Influenza Pandemic
From Medium: Some hard-won experience from the greatest pandemic in recorded history could help us in the weeks and months ahead.
Social Distancing Is So Hard Because It’s Contrary to Human Nature
From The Washington Post: Feeling socially isolated triggers a fight-or-flight response, just as it would have in our ancestors, for whom being alone could mean being a saber-toothed tiger’s lunch.
Coronavirus and the Isolation Paradox
From The New York Times: While physical isolation will be required for many Americans, it’s important that we don’t let such measures cause social and emotional isolation, too.
GPs Must Pause Before Diagnosing, Prescribing Antidepressants
From the Irish Examiner: This whole system needs rethinking and remodelling in order to avoid more and more people being prescribed drugs for lack of alternatives.
The Lure of ‘Cool’ Brain Research Is Stifling Psychotherapy
From Aeon: Since 1990, the NIMH has increasingly narrowed its focus almost exclusively to brain biology – leaving out everything else that makes us human, both in sickness and in health.
Institutional Corruption and Social Justice in Psychiatry
From Psychiatric Times/Conversations in Critical Psychiatry: Dr. Awais Aftab interviews Lisa Cosgrove, PhD, a leading expert on how pharmaceutical industry and academic guild interests have shaped the evolution of psychiatry.
Seeds of Despair: Farmer Stress and Suicides Spike in the Midwest
From Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting: Farmers are now saddled with near-record debt, declaring bankruptcy at rising rates and selling off their farms amid an uncertain future.
Psychedelic Therapy Has a Sexual Abuse Problem
From Quartz: Alongside the potential benefits, psychedelic therapy also carries a serious risk of sexual abuse. Meaghan Buisson’s experience suggests there aren’t sufficient protocols in place to protect patients.
Autistic Group Welcomes Ban of Electric Shock Torture
From the Autistic Self Advocacy Network: "This ban is long overdue. During the six years that the ban sat at the FDA, people were terrorized, injured, and traumatized as the JRC continued to use electric shocks to punish and control them."
FDA Bans ‘Aversive’ Shock Device Used at Judge Rotenberg Center
From CBS Boston and Medpage Today: The announcement from the FDA follows years of pressure from disability rights groups and mental health experts who have called the treatment outdated, ineffective and unethical.
Lawmakers Investigating Whether Trump Pals Had Stake in Risky Drug He Pushed for Veterans
From ProPublica: House Democrats requested emails and financial records as they investigate why the president told the VA to “corner the market” on a Johnson & Johnson drug.
Talk Is Cheap: On Capitalism, Mental Health and Taxing the Rich
From The Tyee: There is only one effective way for us to address the crisis of mental illness and addiction: We must reverse the trend toward greater inequality by increasing taxes on corporations and the ultra-rich.
The Spooky, Loosely Regulated World of Online Therapy
From Jezebel: Unless the people who trust Better Help and other therapy apps deftly analyze the fine print, they might not have much of an idea of how far their intimate information is traveling.
For Some Vets, Peer Counseling More Helpful Than Traditional Services
From Colorado Public Radio: "I felt comfortable talking to my mentor about certain things, whereas I didn't with other people," one vet said. "It is relieving. I could just come in anytime."
On the Brink of Extinction, Can We Transform the Western Ego?
From Kindred: Darcia Narvaez discusses Jungian analyst Jerome Bernstein’s landmark work, Living in the Borderland: The Evolution of Consciousness and the Challenge of Healing Trauma.
6-Year-Old Girl Baker Acted Without Parent Consent
From NBC News: The Florida girl was committed for two days to a mental health facility and given anti-psychotic drugs after allegedly throwing a temper tantrum at school.
‘I Thought I Was a Lost Cause’: How Therapy Is Failing People of Colour
From The Guardian: Black and minority ethnic people are more likely to develop mental health conditions but less likely to access counselling – or find it fit for purpose.
CDC: Blue Collar Work Leads Jobs With Highest Suicide Rates
From The Oregonian/OregonLive: Past research has shown that low-skilled work, less education, job stress and lower socioeconomic status increase suicide risk, the CDC said.
Even When I’m Psychotic, I’m Still Me
From The New York Times: I can’t divide myself into the ableist Sick Me and Healthy Me, or Sick Me and Real Me. I also believe that hallucinations hold truth, though a hard truth to stay with for very long.
Woman in Crisis Neglected, Died at WA Jail After 4 ‘Torturous’ Days
From KIRO 7 and The Seattle Times: After she suffered from a mental health episode, the mother of five's husband said he called 911 "to get an ambulance, but instead the police arrived."
APA Condemns Sharing of Immigrant Youths’ Therapy Notes With ICE
From the American Psychological Association: "For this administration to weaponize these therapy sessions by ordering that the psychotherapy notes be passed to ICE is appalling,” said APA President Sandra L. Shullman.
Calls for Segregated Mental Health Wards to Reduce Sexual Assault Risk
From ABC News Australia: Sexual violence against women in Australian mental health wards is going unchecked, despite service providers' awareness of the problem.
