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...
A Disorder for Everyone! – The Online Festival 2023
Part of the Workshops that offer non-pathologising approaches collection.
A whole day of change-making talks, presentations, conversations, poetry etc challenging the culture of diagnosis and...
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...
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...
Appeal to Board of Health to Ban ECT in Ontario
In January of 1984 seven members of the Ontario Coalition to Stop Electroshock, three psychiatrists, and a psychiatric social worker gave personal testimony. I...
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...
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...
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...
ELECTROCONVULSIVE THERAPY (ECT) STUDY
RESEARCH PARTICIPANTS NEEDED FOR INTERNATIONAL ONLINE SURVEY
If you are at least 18 years old and have had ECT, other than the last 4 weeks,...
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...
A Disorder for Everyone – Online Festival 2023
A Disorder for Everyone! - The Online Festival 2023
Friday September 22nd, 9am-8pm GMT
https://youtu.be/2Mlw_GTN17o?si=pDrPmpcwORIU_8Xc
This is a donation only event to ensure that it is as...
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...
How are we doing?
We’re 21 months and counting into this global pandemic. And just when we think we’re getting close to the end, this wicked virus dumps...
Will We Wake for Pity’s Sake
Suicide is the 11th leading cause of death in the United States. While antidepressants, and other psychotropic, mind altering medications, are designed to decrease...
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...
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,...
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...
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...
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...
Fernando de Freitas: A “Dear Friend” Who Was a Warrior for Radical Change
Written by Robert Whitaker and posted to Mad in America on February 3, 2023
Over the past decade, the call for radical change in psychiatry...
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...
Review of the Conference on Withdrawal and Side Effects: IIPDW
The online conference Withdrawal From Psychiatric Drugs was held on Friday May 6th and 7th. An extremely important topic for us at Mad in...
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,...
Video Presentation – ‘The Science and Art of Coming Off Psychiatric Drugs’
Inner Compass Initiative is pleased to share a video recording of a recent live event.
‘The Science and Art of Coming Off Psychiatric Drugs’.
This video...
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...
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...
Are Patients Being Paid to Provide Industry Endorsements?
Dr. Joel Lexchin is Professor Emeritus in the School of Health Policy and Management, Faculty of Health, York University. Dr. Lexchin's 2025 article, 'Information...
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,...