INTRODUCTION I recently came across an article titled Diagnosisgate: Conflict of Interest at the Top of the Psychiatric Apparatus, by Paula Caplan, PhD. The article was published in Aporia, the University of Ottawa nursing journal, in January 2015. Aporia is “a peer-reviewed, bilingual, and open access journal dedicated to scholarly debates in nursing and the health sciences.” Dr, Caplan is a clinical and research psychologist, and an Associate at Harvard’s DuBois Institute. She worked as a consultant to the DSM-IV task force in the 1980’s, but resigned from this position after two years. Here’s a quote from her February 2014 post on Mad in America The Great “Crazy” Cover-up: Harm Results from Rewriting the History of DSM: ...

On May 27, The Lancet Psychiatry published an editorial titled This year’s model. The article is a response to the British Psychological Society Division of Clinical Psychology’s Guidelines on Language in Relation to Functional Psychiatric Diagnoses, which was published in March of this year. The paper was produced: "…to support clinical psychologists in the development of documents using language consistent with the Division of Clinical Psychology (DCP) position on functional psychiatric diagnoses." ...

I have recently read this book, and I think it would be extremely helpful for parents, teachers, and counselors who work with children in this area. Here are some quotes: "…ADHD [is] something that your child does rather than something that she has." "The first thing to realize is that while you and other adults see your child’s ADHD behavior as a problem to overcome, for your child, ADHD behavior holds solutions to the difficulties that he faces on a daily basis. When your child encounters adversity, ADHD behavior somehow mitigates the situation. When you identify what gives his ADHD behavior its staying power, you will have gained valuable insight into why such behavior repeats so frequently. You will also be taking a giant step forward in knowing how to eliminate it." ...

No, I’ve never used the services of psychologists, never took a “pill.” But I have felt under sudden Depression and Anxiety, like any of you. Self awareness is necessary. To know when you are not acting “normal.” If we keep hoping for something to happen in an unrealistic way, on denial, and at the end of the journey we cannot achieve that goal, DEPRESSION hits… How do I beat it? Redirecting my mind to most realistic goals. Recharging my mind with optimism, remembering the beautiful things we have achieved already. Admiring Nature, the smile of a kid: LOVING. Exercises help. Art too. The most important thing? Think you have come to this world with a purpose. Think you can help others. Feel like a champion who can accomplish everything. And stay away from medication: The cure is inside you, in your mind, in your soul… Be strong! YOU ARE STRONGER THAN WHAT YOU THINK!!!! ...

On February 26, 2015, The Lancet published online an article by Soren Dalsgaard et al titled Mortality in children, adolescents, and adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: a nationwide cohort study. The article describes a Danish study that was designed to assess “ADHD-related mortality in a large cohort of Danish individuals.” The researchers describe their methods as follows: "By use of the Danish national registers, we followed up 1·92 million individuals, including 32 061 with ADHD, from their first birthday through to 2013. We estimated mortality rate ratios (MRRs), adjusted for calendar year, age, sex, family history of psychiatric disorders, maternal and paternal age, and parental educational and employment status, by Poisson regression, to compare individuals with and without ADHD." ...

I’m impressed with your site Phil. You are highly intelligent and an excellent writer. Some others here also state their thoughts in a clear eloquent fashion. This place is like a breath of fresh air. It’s not often I see critical thinking and logic employed. I’ve dealt with depression, anxiety, and addiction most of my life. I’m at peace today, after a long journey. Like millions, I was “diagnosed” with depression after a brief conversation with a “doctor” AKA “specialist”. As a kid, I had dysfunctional parents. Dad was detached and drank. Mom died when I was a baby, and as a teenager, I had a 2 year sexual relationship (my first) with my demanding narcissistic stepmother. My anger and shame was not addressed by the “specialist”, and I was given Prozac, which made me feel lifeless. For 20 years I used meth, cocaine, pills, and pot. I told people meth saved my life, because I believed I couldn’t tolerate my negative thoughts and feelings without it. I thanked God for meth. ...

In November of last year, the Schizophrenia Bulletin published online a research study: Antipsychotic Treatment and Mortality in Schizophrenia, by Minna Torniainen et al. The research was conducted in Sweden. The authors offer the following background for the study: "It is generally believed that long-term use of antipsychotics increases mortality and, especially, the risk of cardiovascular death. However, there are no solid data to substantiate this view." and the following conclusions: "Among patients with schizophrenia, the cumulative antipsychotic exposure displays a U-shaped curve for overall mortality, revealing the highest risk of death among those patients with no antipsychotic use. These results indicate that both excess overall and cardiovascular mortality in schizophrenia is attributable to other factors than antipsychotic treatment when used in adequate dosages." ...

On March 25 of this year, Psychiatric Times published an article titled Dementia, Agitation, and Aggression: The Role of Electroconvulsive Therapy. The author is Manjola Ujkaj, MD PhD, and the article’s subtitle is “What role might electroconvulsive therapy play for short-term treatment of agitation and aggression in patients with dementia?” According to their website Psychiatric Times is a medical trade publication that covers news, reports, and clinical content related to psychiatry “for psychiatrists and allied mental health professionals who treat mental disorders.” The circulation of the monthly print publication is approximately 40,000. ...

Earlier this year the British publisher PCCS Books published Tales From The Madhouse: An insider critique of psychiatric services, by Gary Sidley. Gary worked for thirty-three years in the British NHS mental health service. He has held positions as a psychiatric nurse, a manager, and a clinical psychologist. He is currently a freelance writer and trainer. His present focus is the promotion of alternatives to biological psychiatry in the alleviation of human suffering. ...

I have recently learned of Psychex, a non-profit Swiss organization that stands up for people who are force-“treated” against their will in psychiatric hospitals. Psychex was founded in 1987 by Edmund Schönenberger, Barrister at Law. In 2012, Edmund produced a document titled Fundamental Criticism of Coercive Psychiatry. It runs to 19 pages, and makes interesting reading. Here are some quotes: "Over the 40 years that I have worked as a lawyer, the majority of the clients I have defended have been people subjected to forced psychiatric treatment. I can therefore claim to know the fields of psychiatry, justice and their 'judgements' inside out. The conclusion I have come to is that the strongholds of psychiatry have absolutely nothing to do with 'care', the law or justice – instead, they are nothing other than instruments of domination." ...