Wednesday, 19, March, 2025

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...

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...

Part 4 Neurodiversity: New paradigm or Trojan Horse?

This is Part 4 of the four-part series on neurodiversity that is being jointly published by Mad in America and Mad in the UK....

Part 3: Neuro-authenticity, neuro-identities, and the neuro-industry

This is Part 3 of the four-part series on neurodiversity that is being jointly published by Mad in America and Mad in the UK....

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...

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...

Part 1: Neurodiversity—What Exactly Does It Mean?

Mad in America and Mad in the UK are jointly publishing a four-part series on neurodiversity over the next four weeks. The series was...

Part 2: Are we all neurodivergent nowadays?

This is Part 2 of the four-part series on neurodiversity that is being jointly published by Mad in America and Mad in the UK....

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...

Stop the madness! An indictment against the abuses in Belgian and Dutch psychiatry

Published by Mad in the Netherlands Brenda Froyen is an author, teacher and mental health activist. After two very traumatic experiences of isolation and restraint...

THIS WEEKEND! Neuroplasticity: A Path for Healing from Protracted Withdrawal Symptoms

From Mad in America - this Weekend! A panel on recovering from protracted psychiatric drug withdrawal using neuroplasticity, featuring inspiring stories and useful strategies. Saturday August...

FROM CBC NEWS: Ont. doctors’ college orders Toronto pediatrician to undergo ‘further education’ on...

Woman who suffered severe withdrawal symptoms should not have been prescribed it, assessor finds Tara Carman, journalist with CBC news writes: The College of Physicians and...

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...

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...

Research Study Opportunity – ECT

ELECTROCONVULSIVE THERAPY (ECT) RESEARCH PARTICIPANTS NEEDED FOR INTERNATIONAL ONLINE SURVEY If you are at least 18 years old and have had ECT, other than the last...

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...

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...

Review of “Beyond Reason. Chronicle of a personal experience of madness”

This book review is reprinted from Mad in Argentina. ‘Beyond reason’, with a foreword by RD Laing, was published in 1964 and describes the...

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...

Electroconvulsive Therapy Survey | John Read | Madness Radio

First Aired by Madness Radio on July 11, 2024 Survey of people who have had electroshock (electroconvulsive Therapy/ECT) – for patients, family, and friends. John Read,...

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...

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...

Liquids and Tapering Strips: Formulations in Psychiatric Drug Withdrawal

On June 28th, The International Institute for Psychiatric Drug Withdrawal (IIPDW) is hosting a webinar. Liquids & Tapering Strips: Formulations in Psychiatric Drug Withdrawal The what,...

ECT Survey – Open until end of September!

The ECT Survey Opportunity is available until the end of September! ELECTROCONVULSIVE THERAPY (ECT) RESEARCH PARTICIPANTS NEEDED FOR INTERNATIONAL ONLINE SURVEY If you are at least 18...

New Canadian Benzodiazepine Documentary – AIRS FEBRUARY 15th!

Radio-Canada's Enquête presents "Cauchemar Sur Ordonnance" (Season 17: Episode 17) The episode's title translates to 'prescription nightmare' in French, and it will focus on the...

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...

“Empire of Normality: neurodiversity and capitalism” a review: The Empire Has No Clothes

From Mad in the UK: In his book Empire of Normality, UK philosopher Robert Chapman, who identifies as “proudly neurodivergent and disabled”, linked today’s...

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...

PETITION – World Tapering Org

World Tapering Org (www.worldtaperingday.org) is launching a global petition to make stopping antidepressants and other psych meds/drugs safer.  WTO is calling for: - better guidelines for...

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...