The ERNI Declaration: Making Sense of Distress Without “Disease”
The ERNI (Emotions aRe Not Illnesses) declaration is based on the idea that distress does not equate to disease, dysfunction, dysregulation, or chemical imbalance....
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...
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...
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...
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...
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....
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
Mental Health Advocacy and Activism: Perspectives from Living Experience-Based Practices
From Mad in America Continuing Education
Thursday, September 23rd, 2021. 1pm Eastern, 12pm Central, 11am Mountain, 10 am Pacific
Participants will be introduced to highlights of...
SAVE THE DATE! IIPDW Conference
Save the Date!
On Friday October 20th and Saturday October 21st, the International Institute for Psychiatric Drug Withdrawal will hold its 3rd conference on withdrawal...
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...
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 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...
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....
July 22: MIA Continuing Ed webinar on Hearing Voices: The Value of Experts by...
In this webinar Dmitriy Gutkovich will present on how lived experience is reshaping support and strategy in the hearing voices community.
About this event
Major topics...
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...
“Asylum”
This story, published in Aeon, about a hospital at Saint-Alban-sur-Limagnole, in southern France during WWII, has some lessons for us today. According to author...
Everyone’s Afraid of an Angry Woman: Honoring Sinéad O’Connor
This article was originally published On August 1, 2023 by Mad in America.
Comment from Mad in Canada:
Karin Jervert, Arts Editor with Mad in America,...
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...
The Need for Deinstitutionalization
Irit Shimrat
All provincial and territorial legislation allowing psychiatric hospitalization and community treatment or outpatient committal orders must be abolished.
People who behave strangely routinely get...
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...
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...
“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...
AFN NATIONAL CHIEF ROSEANNE ARCHIBALD ACKNOWLEDGES NATIONAL DAY FOR TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION
https://www.afn.ca/afn-national-chief-roseanne-archibald-acknowledges-national-day-for-truth-and-reconciliation/
(Ottawa, ON) – Today, Assembly of First Nations (AFN) National Chief RoseAnne Archibald acknowledges the importance of Orange Shirt Day, urging all Canadians to...
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...