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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
Wait, What? A Survivor’s Notebook
Diagnosis
I’ve got that thing where you ask yourself if you’re to scale in their world, or merely in yours.
Spiders
The ward is crawling with spiders....
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,...
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...
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....
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...
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...
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...
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...
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....
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,...
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...
Queer and Trans Madness: Struggles for Social Justice
This book puts Mad Studies and activism in conversation with queer and trans activism and resistance. When I first came across what would eventually...
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...
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...
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...
“Cured”
Bruce Levine reviews “Cured,” a PBS Independent Lens documentary about gay liberation from psychiatry to be broadcast on October 11, 2021. Levine writes: "Cured is...
“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...
STAR*D UPDATES: Petition for Retraction of STAR*D Summary Article Submitted to AJP Editor Ned...
On September 9, 2023 (updated September 20, 2023) Mad in America published Robert Whitaker's MIA Report on the STAR*D fraudulent data scandal. Since then...
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,...
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,...
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...
BBC Panorama – The Antidepressant Story
On June 19 2023, the BBC's Panorama aired a new documentary: The Antidepressant Story.
From the BBC website:
In the UK, around one in seven now...
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...