Madness Radio

Is psychosis a journey and a breakthrough to somewhere more authentic? Should unhappy people be made to adjust to a mad society? Scottish psychiatrist R.D. Laing was a fierce critic of the mental health system, and saw madness as a rational adaptation to irrational family and social constraints. Laing’s compelling prose, acute intellect, and spiritual insight made a huge cultural impact worldwide, shaping the psychiatric survivor movement and calling to overturn social conventions during the U.S. war in Vietnam and the revolutionary 1960s. How are Laing’s provocative insights about politics and culture still relevant today? Michael Guy Thompson, a psychoanalyst and founder of the Gnosis Retreat Center, worked with R.D. Laing in London and has created hospital alternative sanctuaries for people struggling with experiences called psychosis. He directs the annual R.D. Laing in the 21st Century Symposium at Esalen Institute. www.gnosisretreatcenter.org www.michaelguythompson.com www.rdlaingsymposium.com The post Legacy of R.D. Laing | Michael Guy Thompson | Madness Radio first appeared on Madness Radio.

Is madness breakdown or initiation into a spiritual calling? Crazywise is a documentary film that explores the meaning of psychosis from the perspective of traditional cultures and shamanism, following the stories of people struggling with extreme states, spiritual awakening, and the mental health system’s failures. Filmmaker Phil Borges is an award winning photographer and filmmaker whose work has appeared on National Geographic and Discover. www.crazywisefilm.comThe post Crazywise Film | Phil Borges | Madness Radio first appeared on Madness Radio.

How can seeing visions and hearing voices be transformed into a spiritual gift for healing? What does the initiation ordeal into becoming a shaman involve? Gogo Ekhaya Esima was diagnosed with psychosis and confined in psychiatric hospitals before she became an initiated Sangoma healer in the Zulu tradition of South Africa. Today she is a certified Peer Recovery Specialist in mental health, a trauma survivor, and a spiritual teacher and was recently featured in the film Crazywise. www.sangomahealing.comThe post Traditional South African Healing | Gogo Ekhaya Esima | Madness Radio first appeared on Madness Radio.

What is it like to hear voices — and are all voices harmful or can they also be helpers? What does voice hearing say about the human mind – and the society we live in? And how can we support people who hear voices? Lisa Forestell has heard voices since she was a child. She is an organizer with the Hearing Voices Movement and with the Western Massachusetts Learning Community, a mutual support initiative run by and for people with lived experience of unusual and extreme states of mind labeled as “mental illness.” http://www.westernmassrlc.org/ Hearing Voices USAThe post Hearing Voices | Lisa Forestell | Madness Radio first appeared on Madness Radio.

Is mindfulness meditation about calming the mind and accepting things as they are? Or is it a force for social change and challenging oppression? Can meditation help us become intimate with our wild, primal and untamed creative force? Nirali Shah, certified UCLA mindfulness facilitator and teacher at Spirit Rock, has spent thousands of hours meditating, as well as serving in one of the largest slum communities of Asia. She currently teaches with technology companies such as Google as well as academic institutions and non-profits, with a focus on re-wilding the self. http://www.niralis.com http://bit.ly/2nW1krF https://www.spiritrock.org/InstructorDetails?calendarinstructorid=177996 https://gtalks-gs.appspot.com/talk/meditation-for-re-wilding-the-selfThe post Meditation and Liberation | Nirali Shah | Madness Radio first appeared on Madness Radio.

Now available as an audiobook! Based in more than 10 years work in the peer support movement,The Icarus Project and Freedom Center’s 52-page guide is used internationally by individuals, families, professionals, and organizations to support reducing and coming off psychiatric drugs. Includes info on mood stabilizers, anti-psychotics, anti-depressants, anti-anxiety drugs, risks, benefits, wellness tools, psychiatric drug withdrawal, information for people staying on their medications, and much more. Audiobook read by Guide author Will Hall. A ‘harm reduction’ approach means not being pro- or anti- medication, but supporting people where they are at to make their own decisions. Written by Will Hall, with a 55-member health professional Advisory Board, more than 50 collaborators involved in developing and editing, and now available in 14 languages. The Guide and this audiobook are Creative Commons copyright and you have advance permission to link, copy, broadcast, and distribute. (Text version here: www.willhall.net/comingoffmeds). Download the Audiobook here (rt/cntrl-click save as).The post Audiobook: Coming Off Psychiatric Medications Harm Reduction Guide first appeared on Madness Radio.

What is it like to flee a war-torn country as a child? What lasting psychological effects do refugees face? Can peer support and trauma informed care lead to lasting recovery? Khatera Aslami Tamplen, an Afghan-American and the Consumer Empowerment Manager for Alameda CountyBehavioral Health Services in California discusses war trauma, the activist struggle to end involuntary commitment, and the value of letting people have a say in their own mental health recovery. pocc.org/ https://copelandcenter.com/facilitators/khatera-aslamiThe post Refugees and Trauma | Khatera Aslami-Tamplen | Madness Radio first appeared on Madness Radio.

Are psychiatric treatments, experts, and medications the best way for traumatized communities to heal their mental health problems? Could indigenous practices, including traditional Chinese medicine and acupuncture, offer a different way forward — through grassroots community development? Herman Garcia is the Vice President and Ryan Bemis Founder of Crossroads Community Supported Healthcare, which offers practical skills training to local healers in the violence-stricken communities of Ciudad Juarez and Sierra Tarahumara, Mexico. Joined by health promotors Maria de Jesus, Sister Maria de Rosario Cordova, and Gloria of the Rahrami indigenous group, they discuss supporting communities harmed by the War on Drugs, severe poverty, and inequality. Thanks to Cynthia Pompa for translation. http://bit.ly/2gu2MPN www.freedom-center.org/files/FreedomCenteracupuncture_brochure.pdf www.freedom-center.org/files/TrainingGazetteAcupuncture3-06Newspaper.pdf http://bit.ly/2d4UmfF http://www.americamagazine.org/issue/valley-sorrows https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rar%C3%A1muri_people www.crossroadsacupuncture.com http://latinalista.com/new-headline/acupuncture-for-healing-in-border-communities http://acutakehealth.com/ear-acupuncture-for-the-masses https://crossroadsacupuncture.com/2015/10/24/ear-acupuncture-and-humanitarian-aid/ The post Borderlands Acupuncture | Herman Garcia – Ryan Bemis | Madness Radio first appeared on Madness Radio.

Are beliefs in witchcraft and “voodoo death” not real? Do magical explanations of disease mean people are primitive and less educated? Or are stories and beliefs at the heart of reality for all cultures – including yours? Frank Bures, author of The Geography of Madness: Penis Thieves, Voodoo Death, and the Search for the Meaning of the World’s Strangest Syndromes, looks beyond travel literature’s colonial superiority and explores how meaning, perception, and belief shape what we think of as “real” in disease and health. http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2016/04/the-diseases-you-only-get-if-you-believe-inthem/479367/ http://nym.ag/2k0tKQaThe post Geography of Madness | Frank Bures | Madness Radio first appeared on Madness Radio.

How does the legacy of colonialism affect mental health in India? Are women’s rights, spiritual freedom, and ant-colonialism intertwined? Do women who choose a path of spiritual renunciation have the same freedom as men? Where are human rights more respected: in traditional temples, or in hospital locked wards? Bhargavi Davar’s mother Bapu was a psychiatric abuse survivor persecuted for her religious devotion. Bapu’s struggle inspired Bhargavi to found the Bapu Trust, where she leads advocacy for mental health reform and community development throughout Asia. Bhargavi is also a lead organizer with INTAR, the International Network Towards Alternatives for Recovery. www.baputrust.com http://bit.ly/1Mkn3u9 http://bit.ly/1TY2Ap0 http://bit.ly/25KXMp2 www.intar.org https://www.hrw.org/news/2014/12/03/india-women-disabilities-locked-away-and-abusedThe post Human Rights in India | Bhargavi Davar | Madness Radio first appeared on Madness Radio.

What if psychotic experiences express historical and intergenerational trauma? Does one person’s emotional crisis reach beyond their own individual mind? Could synchronicities and meaningful coincidences guide recovery instead of just being “symptoms”? Naas Siddiqui, a psychiatric survivor and therapist in training who founded the Spiritual Emergence and other Unusual Experiences student group, descended into altered states after withdrawing from psychiatric medications. She discovered how her Bangladeshi heritage shaped her madness, and found a unique pathway to use her visionary states to heal personal and family trauma. http://www.madinamerica.com/2015/10/transmuting-historical-trauma/ https://www.madinamerica.com/author/nsiddiqui/The post Intergenerational Trauma | Naas Siddiqui | Madness Radio first appeared on Madness Radio.

What if psychiatry recognized that schizophrenia does not exist? How might diagnostic categories (left over from the asylum era) be replaced by spectrums of experience that show how psychotic experiences can also be normal? What if services were oriented around individuals, not the statistical groups of “evidence based” research? And could the mental health system as we know it, which defines health as the absence of disease symptoms, be replaced with a new definition of health, health as empowerment in life? Jim van Os, professor of Psychiatric Epidemiology at Maastricht University and member of the Royal Dutch Academy of Science with more than 700 publications, is one of the top one percent highly cited scientists in the world. His research combines with the experiential knowledge of people with lived experience of psychosis to envision a radically new direction for the mental health system. (Alternate 58 min version here.) https://www.madnessradio.net/files/SchizophreniaDoesNotExist-vanOs-BMJ.pdf https://www.madnessradio.net/files/HuberHowShouldWeDefineHealthbmjd4163.pdf http://www.brown.uk.com/schizophrenia/rossler.pdf http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/schizophrenia-reclassification_us_56b20834e4b01d80b2449334 http://bit.ly/1IYsEez WWW.PSYCHOSENET.NL TEDx “Connecting To Madness” http://bit.ly/tedxmtricht The post New Vision for Psychiatry | Jim van Os | Madness Radio first appeared on Madness Radio.

The Families in Mental Health Crisis Act HR 2646 — The Murphy Bill — proposes drastic changes to US mental health policies. Will the Murphy Bill curb violence and improve care? Or will more forced treatment, medication, and hospitalization only enrich pharmaceutical and medical industry power and reinforce stereotypes at the expense of real human needs? Leah Harris, psychiatric abuse survivor and organizer for the Campaign for Real Change in Mental Health Policy, completed an investigative report on the Murphy Bill’s potential impact on people in crisis, how the gun manufacturer lobby is involved, and the role of Otsuka Pharmaceuticals. www.realmhchange.org http://www.ndrn.org/en/issues/mental-health/protect-paimi.html www.proteus.com/press-releases/u-s-fda-accepts-first-digital-medicine-new-drug-application-for-otsuka-and-proteus-digital-health/The post Stop The Murphy Bill | Leah Harris | Madness Radio first appeared on Madness Radio.

Is mental health about individual diseases, or the health of communities and countries as a whole? How do economic policies after the 2008 crisis impact disability rights, suicide rates, and community wellbeing? Are cuts in social spending really necessary for economic growth, or do they cause more problems in the long run? Guardian columnist Mary O’Hara, author of Austerity Bites, discusses the devastating impact of austerity economic policies in Europe, the scapegoating mindset behind social spending cuts, and the dangers of pursuing similar policies in the US and globally. http://www.theguardian.com/profile/maryohara www.austeritybitesuk.com http://m.mh.bmj.com/content/41/1/40.full http://bit.ly/Ot9hzgThe post Economic Austerity and Mental Health | Mary O’Hara | Madness Radio first appeared on Madness Radio.

Psychiatric survivor leader Oryx Cohen was at a national conference when a seizure suddenly launched him out of his body and into a visionary state of madness. Avoiding medications or hospitalization, friends held a hotel room vigil for Oryx for many sleepless nights, and then drove him 4 days across country to safety. What surprising lessons – about the usefulness of medications, support, spirituality, and his own trauma – did Oryx learn? How can the fear of manic psychosis turn into healing? http://healingvoicesmovie.com The post Journey Through Mania | Oryx Cohen | Madness Radio first appeared on Madness Radio.

Is thinking a cognitive process of information input and output? Or do consciousness and emotion take place in our bodies – animated, moving, and responsive to the environment? And what would Darwin think of today’s focus on brains and neuroscience – is there an evolutionary way to understand the mind instead? Maxine Sheets-Johnstone, dancer, philosopher, and author of more than 70 journal articles and 9 books, including The Corporeal Turn: An Interdisciplinary Reader, The Primacy of Movement, and The Phenomenology Of Dance, explores her understanding of the evolution of mind. http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/Movement_as_a_Way_of_Knowing http://www.bodypsychyoga.com/Downloads_BCMT/ProgressiveRelaxation.pdf http://www.amazon.com/Putting-Movement-into-Your-Life/dp/149747695X  The post Evolution of Mind | Maxine Sheets-Johnstone | Madness Radio first appeared on Madness Radio.

Celebrated US President Abraham Lincoln also suffered from life-threatening depression. Did he view his “melancholy” as a treatable illness, as a punishment from God — or as a source of his gifts? How did Lincoln’s extraordinary leadership abilities arise from his struggle with extreme pain? Joshua Wolf Shenk, author of Lincoln’s Melancholy: How Depression Challenged a President and Fueled His Greatness, explores the famous President’s battle with despair, suicide, and intense sorrow, and discusses what people with depression – and the medical establishment empowered to treat them – can learn from Lincoln’s suffering. www.shenk.net www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2005/10/lincolns-great-depression/304247/ www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2009/06/what-makes-us-happy/307439/ www.shapell.org/manuscript.aspx?lincoln-mccullough-civil-war-condolenceThe post Lincoln’s Depression | Joshua Wolf Shenk | Madness Radio first appeared on Madness Radio.

What if you were the only one seeing coded messages, covert realities, and elaborate plots all around you? Does that make you out of touch with reality, “paranoid” and “psychotic?” Or is it real — but you are just so upset that everyone thinks the problem is you instead? Tim Dreby, a psychotherapist and author in the San Francisco Bay Area, endured a life-threatening — and real — encounter with gangsters, police, and political conspiracy. He also survived a schizophrenia diagnosis, and today leads support groups for people facing overwhelming intuitions, coded messages, and conspiracies, helping them heal from trauma and regain control of their lives. fightingforfreedominamerica.wordpress.com outskirtspress.com/fightingforfreedominamerica https://www.facebook.com/Clyde-Dee-455156071353094/ http://amzn.to/1LIJrngThe post Special Messages | Tim Dreby | Madness Radio first appeared on Madness Radio.

In schizophrenia really an “incurable illness” — or a state of chronic terror? Are there ways for psychotherapy to reach people in different realities? And can talk therapy offer a humane and empowering approach? Bert Karon, psychoanalyst since 1955, co-author of the classic textbook Psychotherapy of Schizophrenia, and Professor of Clinical Psychology at Michigan State University, outlines psychoanalysis and discusses how his talking cure helps people diagnosed psychotic and schizophrenic. http://psychrights.org/Research/Digest/Effective/BKaronTragedyofnoPsychotherapy4Schizophrenia.pdf http://bit.ly/ZxwwNk http://bit.ly/11CPtzOThe post Psychotherapy for Schizophrenia | Bert Karon first appeared on Madness Radio.

Are there ways to reach people in states of madness? How do talking with ghosts, hearing voices, and seeing visions — as well as enduring family turmoil — relate to psychotic crisis? When Dina Tyler discovered the meaning of life in an altered state, the treatment she received only inflicted further trauma. Dina instead embraced her madness as a guiding force for recovery, and found a way to leave labels and medications behind. Today she works as a counselor to youth experiencing psychosis, communicating across different realities with people driven away from traditional care. Dina is the co-director of the Bay Area Mandala Project, co-founder of Bay Area Hearing Voices, and works with an early psychosis intervention program in Alameda County, California. She was awarded Peer Specialist of the Year by the National Council for Behavioral Health in 2015! https://youtu.be/2rtBYHttOBg www.bayareamandalaproject.org www.bayareahearingvoices.orgThe post Communicating With Psychosis | Dina Tyler first appeared on Madness Radio.

What if ordinary families could provide care for people psychiatry has given up on? Is there a way out for people stuck long-term as mental patients? Can human relationships and living together be more effective than medications, diagnosis, and hospitals? Carina Håkansson’s values wouldn’t allow her to work in the traditional psychiatric system in Sweden. She left to create the Family Care Foundation, providing foster homes, therapy, and supervision for people with psychosis and extreme emotional distress. What can we all learn from this visionary — and simple — solution? http://www.familjevardsstiftelsen.se http://bit.ly/1l8KYQz http://www.madinamerica.com/2013/04/carina-hakansson-family-care-foundation/The post Family Homes | Carina Håkansson first appeared on Madness Radio.

How do we recover from childhood violence? When Lauren Spiro was 14, her father was murdered. Eighteen months later, she began to have unusual spiritual experiences and was diagnosed with schizophrenia. Today she works to promote peace and healing in communities, fulfilling the vision she had in her extreme state. Lauren is co-director of Emotional CPR, associate director of the National Coalition for Mental Health Recovery, and her new memoir is Living For Two: A Daughter’s Journey from Grief and Madness to Forgiveness and Peace. http://laurenspiro.wordpress.com www.ncmhr.org www.emotional-cpr.orgThe post Healing Connection | Lauren Spiro first appeared on Madness Radio.

What if researchers collaborated with patients rather than treating them as “informants” and objects of study? Nev Jones survived her mother’s frightening extreme states — and then her own mind unravelled into different realities. She was herself diagnosed with schizophrenia, and began a lifelong exploration of the uniqueness of madness. Today Nev is a post-doctorate fellow at Stanford University, founder of Chicago Hearing Voices and the Lived Experience Research Network, and part of the the movement to create alternatives to professional control of research on psychosis. http://depaul.academia.edu/NevJones http://www.chicagohearingvoices.orgThe post Redefining Research: Nev Jones first appeared on Madness Radio.

Adverse effects from prescription drugs are the 4th leading cause of death in America. How can we know if the pills we take are actually safe? What can we do if they aren’t? Dr. David Healy, internationally renowned psychiatrist, whistleblower, and author of 20 books, discusses industry corruption of pharmaceutical regulation and proposes better ways to protect patients and prevent harm. http://www.rxisk.com http://www.davidhealy.org http://1.usa.gov/LpbTvUThe post Risky Pills: David Healy first appeared on Madness Radio.

If madness isn’t like other illnesses, what is it? Should psychiatry have the power of legal coercion? How can the legacy of Thomas Szasz inform new ways of helping people? Tomi Gomory, associate professor of social work at Florida State University and co-author of Mad Science: Psychiatric Coercion, Diagnosis, and Drugs, explores thinking beyond the medical model of emotional distress. http://csw.fsu.edu/faculty/tomi-gomory http://bit.ly/LoqI1LThe post Medical Coercion: Tomi Gomory first appeared on Madness Radio.

How is the legacy of colonialism impacting American Indian mental health today? Does the Indian Health Service meet the needs of the people on tribal land? Can Native peoples revitalize cultural traditions and reverse centuries of racism? David Walker, mixed-heritage Cherokee, psychologist working at the Yakama Nation, and author of the award-winning novel Tessa’s Dance, discusses healing the deep wounds of intergenerational trauma in Indian Country. http://www.tessasdance.comThe post Indian Country Psychology: David Walker first appeared on Madness Radio.

Does psychotherapy cover up issues of power and social justice? Are talk show therapists providing help, or blaming individuals for their problems? David Bedrick, counselor, attorney, and author of Talking Back to Dr. Phil: Alternatives to Mainstream Psychology, discusses how to discover profound meaning in our struggles by taking the time to understand the deeper context of our lives. http://talkingbacktodrphil.comThe post Psychology of Power: David Bedrick first appeared on Madness Radio.

Why are so many trauma survivors, especially women, diagnosed “borderline?” Is the label useful — or sexist and degrading? How can people who live through intergenerational violence be understood and supported — instead of discounted and silenced? Rita Marshall, human rights activist and former psychiatric inmate from a family of Holocaust survivors, examines the social and political context for the controversial “Borderline Personality Disorder” diagnosis. Note – this is an interview with a psych survivor activist who asked at the time that her name be disguised. They recently passed away from an illness.The post Understanding Borderline Trauma: Rita Marshall first appeared on Madness Radio.

How can family members help a relative in extreme crisis — instead of worsening the situation? Is there a way out of treatment power struggles and arguments about “insight”? And what do families need to change about themselves? Psychiatric survivor Krista MacKinnon, formerly at Toronto’s Family Outreach and Response program and now Director of Families Healing together, discusses practical methods for turning family relationships into tools for healing. http://www.familieshealingtogether.com http://www.practicerecovery.com http://kristamackinnon.net http://www.familymentalhealthrecovery.orgThe post Effective Family Support: Krista MacKinnon first appeared on Madness Radio.

Are Xanax, Klonopin, Ativan and other benzodiazepines really more addictive than heroin? How can these common drugs for anxiety actually worsen the symptoms they’re prescribed to treat? What are the dangers of protracted withdrawal? Matt Samet, former professional rock climber, Outside Magazine writer, and author of Death Grip: A Climber’s Escape From Benzo Madness, discusses his recovery journey from psychiatric drug addiction. http://us.macmillan.com/deathgrip/MattSamet http://www.madinamerica.com/2013/05/matt-samet-climbing-out/The post Benzodiazepine Recovery: Matt Samet first appeared on Madness Radio.

Are elders living with forgetfulness, Alzheimer’s, and dementia unreachable? Are there parallels with states called psychotic? Can meaning be found in the confusion of brain injury and coma? Stan Tomandl, MA, DiplPW and author of Coma Care & Palliative Work, and An Alzheimer’s Surprise Party: Unveiling the Mystery, Inner Experience, and Gifts of Dementia, explores communicating with memory loss and how to make an end of life transition with dignity. http://www.comacommunication.comThe post Elders and Forgetfulness: Stan Tomandl first appeared on Madness Radio.

Why did the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistic Manual become so controversial? Is it possible to alleviate human suffering without classifying it as a mental disorder? Gary Greenberg, psychotherapist, author of Manufacturing Depression and The Book of Woe: The DSM and the Unmaking of Psychiatry, and journalist for Harper’s, the New Yorker, and Rolling Stone, discusses the politics behind psychiatry’s new Bible. http://www.garygreenbergonline.comThe post Unmaking Diagnosis: Gary Greenberg first appeared on Madness Radio.

How do psychiatric labels shape our perceptions of others – and ourselves? Are there better ways to understand emotional distress? Does the “peer movement” offer real alternatives — or present new problems? Sera Davidow, psychiatric survivor, director of the peer-run Western Mass Recovery Learning Community (RLC), and co-producer of the new film “Beyond the Medical Model,” discusses the politics of language and innovative programs to truly help people in distress. http://www.westernmassrlc.org http://www.madinamerica.com/author/sdavidow/The post Politics of Language: Sera Davidow first appeared on Madness Radio.

Is trauma also a source of creative inspiration? Can sexual passion be a force for healing? And do we have to live in either/or boxes — or is there somewhere else? Artist and activist Jacks McNamara, co-founder of the Icarus Project radical support community, discusses their recently-published anthology Inbetweenland, including poetry about being a genderqueer person, surviving with a broken heart, and how to travel the path from madness to the wounded healer. http://www.ashley-mcnamara.net http://www.theicarusproject.net http://www.crookedbeauty.comThe post Queer Poetry Inbetweenland: Jacks McNamara first appeared on Madness Radio.

Why does the same psychiatric drug help one person – but harm another? Do psychiatric medications “work” by chemistry alone – or through expectation, placebo, and social factors? What is the difference between prescribed medications and mind altering substances like alcohol? David Cohen, social work professor at Florida International University and co-author of Your Drug May Be Your Problem, discusses the role of social context in constructing how we experience psychiatric medications. http://www.criticalthinkrx.org http://bit.ly/15tSAXH http://rscphsw.fiu.edu/social_work/faculty_cohen.htmlThe post Meaning of Medications: David Cohen first appeared on Madness Radio.

Is poetry the way to truly understand madness? Do rituals and music — such as Ireland’s tradition of keening — have the power to heal emotional suffering? Susan McKeown, Grammy award-winning singer/songwriter and folklorist, supported her partner through an extreme state. She began a journey to uncover intergenerational trauma in her family and in the history of her native Ireland, and was inspired to take poems about madness — by Anne Sexton, Theodore Roethke, James Clarence Mangan, Gwendolyn Brooks, and others — and set them to music in her album “Singing in the Dark.” http://www.susanmckeown.com http://irishphiladelphia.com/singinginthedark The post Singing in the Dark | Susan McKeown on Madness Radio first appeared on Madness Radio.

Can people’s behavior really be explained by neuroscience and our evolutionary needs as hunter-gatherers — or is this just a popular fad? Does understanding the brain really solve the mysteries of being human? Neurologist Dr. Raymond Tallis, philosopher, Academy of Medical Sciences Fellow, and author of Why the Mind is Not a Computer and Aping Mankind: Neuromania, Darwinitis and the Misrepresentation of Humanity, exposes the bad science and faulty logic behind pop obsessions with the brain and evolutionary psychology. http://www.raymondtallis.com http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/the_tls/article3712980.ece http://www.newstatesman.com/culture/books/2012/09/your-brain-pseudoscienceThe post Beyond Biological Reductionism: Raymond Tallis first appeared on Madness Radio.

Is it possible to navigate the “multiple worlds” that emerge during psychotic experiences? Are voices and altered states also like a shamanic journey, needing guidance to find your way? Anusuya StarBear has heard voices and gone through altered states her whole life. A tragic near-death experience 20 years ago left her with severe and chronic physical pain — and the calling to be a healer. Today visionary painting and Native American spirituality transform her pain into a creative pathway as a Process Oriented therapist, coach, and energy healer. http://www.anusuyastarbear.com/The post Multiple Worlds: Anusuya StarBear first appeared on Madness Radio.

What if people struggling with madness could explore their emotions in a supportive sanctuary? Do frightening ‘psychotic’ experiences have the power to transform and heal? Is breakdown also breakthrough? Michael Cornwall became a therapist after surviving his own crisis — without medication or psychiatric treatment. For more than 30 years he has worked in the tradition of Carl Jung and R.D. Laing to support people to go through psychotic states in medication-free community settings, including John Weir Perry’s Diabasis House in the 1970s. http://www.madinamerica.com/author/mcornwall/ http://altmentalities.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/michael-cornwall-diss.pdf (PDF)The post Madness and Renewal: Michael Cornwall first appeared on Madness Radio.

What do you do when medications for your emotional problems become worse than the problems themselves? Laura Delano went to a psychiatrist at age 18, and for the next decade was prescribed nineteen different psychiatric drugs. After devastating physical and emotional effects, she began a journey to become medication free — and re-discover who she is. What lessons did she learn? Laura blogs regularly about her experiences at Mad in America, works for a mental health agency in Massachusetts, and is an advocate for drug alternatives and safe withdrawal. http://www.madinamerica.com/author/ldelano/ (Link to coming off meds guide: http://willhall.net/comingoffmeds/)The post Coming Off Psych Meds: Laura Delano first appeared on Madness Radio.

Childhood sexual abuse is pervasive in our society, leaving lifelong wounds that affect men as well as women. Is it enough to hold perpetrators accountable, or are there deeper causes of abuse? Do police, courts, and child protection services help heal — or lead to more trauma? And how can body-oriented approaches move beyond the limits of talk therapy? Child sexual abuse survivor Staci Haines, author of Healing Sex: A Mind-Body Approach to Healing Sexual Trauma and co-founder of Generation Five, discusses transformative justice and liberating society from child abuse. http://www.generationfive.org http://www.generativesomatics.org http://bit.ly/MrJeRp Staci Haines, Integrating Personal and Social Transformation from Luminific.com on Vimeo.The post Healing Sex: Staci Haines first appeared on Madness Radio.

Hearing voices is strongly connected with traumatic experiences, but are voices a brain malfunction or a creative strategy for protection? UK psychologist Eleanor Longden survived a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia and went on to be a leading researcher around voice hearing, trauma, and dissociation. She is a pioneer in the movement to understand voices as a normal human experience — and truly help people by healing trauma. http://ind.pn/3ltxoe http://bit.ly/NjDA77 http://bit.ly/z01Fhn The post Meaning From Voices: Eleanor Longden first appeared on Madness Radio.

Can psychotherapy be a replacement for medication for psychosis and extreme states? Should therapists hospitalize suicidal clients against their will — even when they could be traumatized by the very care intended to protect them? Dr. Toby Watson, clinical psychologist, discusses how to be an ethical therapist in an era of medications, diagnostic labels, and forced treatment. http://www.abcmedsfree.com/The post Ethical Therapy: Toby Watson first appeared on Madness Radio.

Why are so many children being diagnosed bipolar? Do medications treat disease – or just keep children under control? What else can parents do when faced with difficult behavioral problems? Sharna Olfman, Psychology Professor at Point Park University and editor of the book Bipolar Children, discusses the growing social and economic pressures to label children bipolar. http://dai.ly/epbcoO http://scr.bi/yFfoRNThe post Bipolar Children: Sharna Olfman first appeared on Madness Radio.

Shamans of the Amazon jungle heal the spirit by communicating with plants and singing people back to health. Can indigenous medicine, including the psychedelic ayahuasca, help anxiety, depression, and addiction? What do healers of Peru have to teach us about mental health? Metsa Niwue, a curandero who has studied for more than sixteen years with the Shipibo and Quechua Lamista peoples, discusses the promise and potential dangers of traditional Amazonian plant medicine for the west. (transcript) http://vegetalismo.org http://www.neip.info/upd_blob/0000/982.pdfThe post Amazonian Healing: Metsa Niwue first appeared on Madness Radio.

Could a young man’s overwhelming visions of Christ and apocalypse be a creative response to life trauma, rather than signs of paranoid schizophrenia? Does madness unfold differently depending on whether it is supported – or feared? Irish activist and punk musician Grainne Humphrys, herself a survivor of an extreme state, discusses the campaign for the release of former partner John Hunt. John has been incarcerated and drugged against his will since 2005, sparking international outcry. http://freejohn-loverevolutionary.blogspot.com http://www.mindfreedomireland.com http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQUKdaRaJNw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVjgRUI-IM0The post Chemical Crucifixion: Grainne Humphrys first appeared on Madness Radio.

How can we truly help combat veterans facing the aftermath of war? Is veteran trauma a sign of mental illness, or a healthy response to violent situations? Are medications and therapy the answer? Paula Caplan, author of When Johnny and Jane Come Marching Home: How All of Us Can Help Veterans, discusses healing the wounds of war by listening to the stories of veterans in our communities. http://whenjohnnyandjanecomemarching.weebly.com http://www.paulajcaplan.netThe post Healing Veterans: Paula Caplan first appeared on Madness Radio.

Why are nearly a third of all elders in nursing homes given anti-psychotic drugs, despite life threatening side effects? Are medications being used as chemical restraints? Can nursing homes be places of dignity — or should they be abolished? Carole Hayes-Collier was diagnosed schizophrenic at 19 and left to a lifetime of hospitalization. When she recovered, the abuses she witnessed inspired her to join the Gray Panthers and dedicate her life to elder rights and mental health. http://graypanthers.org http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119672919018312521.html http://www.canhr.org/stop-druggingThe post Dignity of Elders: Carole Hayes-Collier first appeared on Madness Radio.

How common are suicidal feelings? Is a psychiatric illness behind suicidal despair — or a meaningful and even spiritual life crisis? Does forced hospitalization really provide help? Suicide attempt survivor David Webb, author of Thinking About Suicide: Contemplating and Comprehending the Urge to Die, discusses how speaking openly about suicidal feelings, rather than reacting with panic and fear, is the best form of suicide prevention. http://www.jungcircle.com/DWebb.html http://thinkingaboutsuicide.orgThe post Talking About Suicidal Feelings: David Webb first appeared on Madness Radio.

What is reality? Why do people in extreme states feel connected to the universe, and experience uncanny and even supernatural events? Does quantum physics have something to teach us about madness? What if therapists were like indigenous tribal shamans, entering into clients’ “psychotic” worlds as if stepping into a dream? Arnold Mindell studied with pioneering scientists Richard Feynman and Norbert Wiener and then became a Jungian therapist and founder of Process Oriented Psychology. He discusses his more than 40 years of work with individuals and groups, including people diagnosed with psychosis, and the ancient belief in a purposeful dreaming reality behind everyday events. http://www.aamindell.net/blog/books#arny http://www.processwork.org/ http://www.sonic.net/~billkirn/mindell_interview.htmlThe post Physics, Dreaming and Extreme States: Arnold Mindell first appeared on Madness Radio.