Electroconvulsive Therapy …. What does Canada have to say?
Electroconvulsive Therapy, also known as ECT, shock therapy, and electroshock, is a psychiatric treatment that uses electricity to induce a seizure in the person...
What is “Psychosis”?
There are different hypotheses about what psychosis is. One hypothesis that has been repeatedly disproven is that of the medical model belief that psychosis...
Personality disorders? Please, tell us what you really think.
This week on Twitter, there was an uproar in response to a UK Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCPUK) advertisement for a course on ‘personality...
MAID and Mental Illness: An interview with Dr. Jeffrey Kirby
Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) became legal in Canada in June 2016.
In October 2020, Bill C-7: An Act to amend the Criminal Code (medical...
The Ethics of Psychiatry
A government cannot legitimately own its citizens' bodies. Yet, under British Columbia’s (BC) Mental Health Act the BC government, not to mention governments around...
Benzodiazepines in Canada: Is a Withdrawal Crisis Looming?
On February 15th, Radio-Canada’s Enquête aired ‘Cauchemar sur ordonnance’ (translation: Nightmare on prescription), a documentary about the dangers of benzodiazepines and z-hypnotics.
Enquête’s description:
Des pilules...
Is psychiatry such a fragile house of cards?
On October 9, 2021 an opinion piece was published in the Globe and Mail entitled ‘Woke’ psychiatrists have lost sight of the biological causes...
887 Deaths from Psychoactive Meds Reported to Health Canada in 2021
I guess I started seriously considering the potential of antipsychotics to kill after I lost my friend Cameron. Cameron Fray was a husband, father...
When Tapering Antidepressants, is Going Slow Always the Best Strategy?
I start this blog with an apology. There may be people reading who, like myself, look back with frustration and despair that they cannot...
Responses to the ‘No Chemical Imbalance Study’: A Long-awaited Watershed Moment?
Initial reactions to the 20 July publication of the Moncrieff et al. study have included widespread media coverage in some places, and the metaphorical...
Bell Let’s Talk: Are These “New Conversations” Helpful?
January 26th is Bell Let’s Talk Day. From the Bell Let’s Talk website:
"In September 2010, Bell Let’s Talk began a new conversation about Canada’s...
On “knowing,” activism and writing: Remembering Graeme Bacque
We owe a debt of gratitude to activists who over the years have written, recorded, created art and cultural work that exemplifies how, when,...
There’s a Fundamental Flaw in Mental Health Care in Canada
Mad in Canada launched on June 1st. We’re just over a month old. Reflection on the mission we share with Mad in America and...
Richard Bilkszto: The man who finally wakes up employers to the dangers of workplace...
Richard Bilkszto was a principal with the Toronto District School Board. He died by suicide on July 13th. He was just 60 years old.
According...
Medical Assistance in Dying for ‘Mental disorders’: Fatally flawed without expertise of service users/survivors
Now that people suffering exclusively from mental distress will be eligible for medical assistance in dying (MAiD) from April, 2023, the debate has shifted...
Remembering Don Weitz, 1930-2021
My hero, mentor, and very dear friend Don Weitz died comfortably, in his home, on the afternoon of September 1, attended by his loving...
Announcing Oral History Collection on Mental Health Activists in Manitoba
Stories are us. Finding ourselves in history, we figure out who we are and where we belong and how what we do fits with...
Research Reveals Mental Health Professionals’ Participation in Rape Culture
Standard clinical practices often enforce anti-blackness, rape culture, and sanism, normalizing sexual violence and misogyny.
New work from social work professor Merrick Pilling investigates...
The Best (and Worst) That Mood-Tech Can Be
When Ontario was first placed under lockdown in March 2020, I, like many other psych-service users found myself relying on Skype and phone sessions...
Loss, Grief, and Betrayal: Psychiatric Survivors Reflect on the Impact of New Serotonin Study
Loss, grief, and a sense of betrayal are felt deeply by many who have been affected by the myth of the chemical imbalance—a myth...
Rethinking Psychiatry …. Robert Whitaker Speaks in Montreal
Robert Whitaker, founder and president of Mad in America, gave a public lecture at Concordia University on November 10th. 'Rethinking Psychiatry: How the Failure to...
The WHO Calls for Radical Change in Global Mental Health
During the past decade, the World Health Organization has regularly promoted the goal of improving “global mental health.” While it has often told of...
In Memoriam: Paula Joan Caplan
Paula Caplan, a prolific writer, playwright, and social activist, who for decades was one of the most prominent critics of psychiatry and its diagnoses,...
Antipsychotics Often Prescribed Without Informed Consent
This article was written by Samantha Lilly and originally published by Mad in America, March 23, 2022
New research reveals that patients are often not...
NEW VIDEO: Antidepressant Withdrawal Syndrome & its Management
The International Institute for Psychiatric Drug Withdrawal has released a new video: 'Antidepressant Withdrawal Syndrome & its Management"
From the IIPDW:
Stevie Lewis is a campaigner and...
Honoring Jane Whittington: 1950-2021
It’s with great sadness that I am writing of the sudden and unexpected passing of my former husband and best friend Jane. Many of...
Shamanic Approaches to Dis-Ease: Working with the Whole Person
The shamanic practitioner approaches illness, or “dis-ease” from a spiritual perspective. The focus is not on treating a condition, but on working with the...
IN THE GLOBE AND MAIL – Forced psychiatry is expanding – at society’s peril
On June 19, 2023, The Globe and Mail published, his opinion piece, 'Forced psychiatry is expanding - at society's peril'.
From Rob's piece in the...
Good-bye to Christy Huff, MD
On March 5th the Benzodiazepine Information Coalition announced the death of Dr. Christy Huff, MD.
Christy was a cardiologist and the Benzodiazepine Information Coalition's Medical...
The Politics of Distress: A discussion with Dr. James Davies on his new book...
Dr. James Davies graduated from the University of Oxford in 2006 with a DPhil in social and medical anthropology. He is a Reader in...