Madness Radio

How did pharmaceutical giant Glaxo Smith Kline create “depression” in Japan — and a billion dollar market for its anti-depressant drug Paxil? Why do people diagnosed with schizophrenia recover more in Tanzania than they do in the US? Can western-style psychotherapy help tsunami survivors in Sri Lanka? Ethan Watters, author of Crazy Like Us: The Globalization of the American Psyche, discusses how mental disorders are cultural products, defined in the US and then exported around the world. http://www.crazylikeus.comThe post Exporting Mental Disorders: Ethan Watters first appeared on Madness Radio.

Can therapy reach people in extreme states of “psychosis” — without using medications? Do we need to give a diagnosis to help someone? Why are counselors afraid to listen to their “mad” clients? New York psychotherapist and filmmaker Daniel Mackler discusses how be defied social work training in his work with people labeled with schizophrenia and bipolar, and what he learned from recent visits to successful treatment alternatives in Northern Europe. Daniel is the filmmaker of Take These Broken Wings and co-author with Matthew Morrissey of A Way Out of Madness. http://www.iraresoul.comThe post Therapy for Psychosis: Daniel Mackler first appeared on Madness Radio.

Seamstress Agnes Richter was locked away in a mental asylum in the 1890s, and was so determined to have a voice that she embroidered her personal story onto the jacket she wore on the ward. What is the hidden history of people writing their own narratives of going insane? How important is it to listen to the experiences of “mentally ill” people? Is there meaning in madness? Gail Hornstein, Mt. Holyoke College professor and author of Agnes’s Jacket: A Psychologist’s Search for the Meanings of Madness, discusses the work of the Hearing Voices Movement in the UK, peer run support communities including Freedom Center in the US, and why professionals should let patients speak for themselves. http://www.gailhornstein.com http://bit.ly/aG9bnSThe post Meanings of Madness: Gail Hornstein first appeared on Madness Radio.

How did the New York underground of punk rock music, squatting, and homeless protest give rise to a thriving and innovative peer-run mental health community? Are there creative gifts to be found in the depths of madness? Does the future of Mad Pride lie in the joining of activism with spirituality? Icarus Project co-founder Sascha Altman DuBrul discusses his escape into apocalyptic visions and psychiatric hospitals, and how he was inspired to challenge the identity of bipolar disorder. scatter(at)theicarusproject(dot)net http://www.theicarusproject.netThe post Icarus Project: Sascha DuBrul first appeared on Madness Radio.

Is bipolar disorder a disease? Can medications like lithium correct chemical imbalances and stabilize mood? Do psychiatric drugs act completely differently on the brain than recreational drugs? UK psychiatrist Dr. Joanna Moncrieff, author of The Myth Of The Chemical Cure: A Critique of Psychiatric Drug Treatment, discusses how seeing psychiatric medications as treatments for disease misleads the public about how they actually work, and obscures their potential for abuse as tools of social control. http://www.critpsynet.freeuk.com http://www.academyanalyticarts.org/moncrieff.htm http://www.mentalhealth.freeuk.com/howwork.pdfThe post Bipolar Medication Myths: Dr Joanna Moncrieff first appeared on Madness Radio.

How did the definition of schizophrenia change during the civil rights and Black Power era of the 1960s? Why did a disease primarily affecting withdrawn white housewives suddenly become focused on angry and “paranoid” African American men instead? Psychiatrist and historian Jonathan Metzl, author of The Protest Psychosis: How Schizophrenia Became a Black Disease, discusses racism and social control in psychiatric diagnosis, and how Black protest was turned into a mental disorder and psychosis was a political tool. jmetzl(at)umich(dot)edu http://bit.ly/byOeIwThe post Schizophrenia and Black Politics: Jonathan Metzl first appeared on Madness Radio.

Is a ‘psychotic’ crisis inside one person’s mind — or does it happen between people, in their relationship? Can therapy untangle the web of madness by addressing the family, providers, and entire social network? Smith College social worker and Fulbright scholar Mary Olson discusses the innovative work of Jaakko Seikkula and colleagues’ Open Dialogue Approach in Finland, which has achieved dramatic success helping people through extreme states labeled ‘psychosis’ and ‘schizophrenia’ — while relying much less on medication and hospitalization. http://www.dialogicpractice.net http://beyondmeds.com/2010/01/04/alternative-for-psychosis http://www.willhall.net/opendialogueThe post Open Dialogue Alternative: Mary Olson first appeared on Madness Radio.

People who hear voices are no more violent than anyone else — but what about the small number of voice hearers that do actually commit violent crimes? Are medications and locked wards the best way to help those who act on their aggressive “command hallucinations?” What is the relationship between trauma, violence, and voices? Dutch psychiatric social worker and Hearing Voices Movement member Erica van den Akker discusses her innovative counseling work with violent offenders in the Netherlands. alpouvar1(at)tomaatnet(dot)nlThe post Violent Voices: Erica van den Akker first appeared on Madness Radio.

The US incarcerates more people than any country in the world – and 70% are people of color. Do we need better mental health care inside prisons — or do prisons themselves cause trauma and madness? Psychiatrist and civil lawsuit expert witness Dr.Terry Kupers, author of Prison Madness: The Mental Health Crisis Behind Bars and What We Must Do About It, discusses overcrowding, racism, sensory deprivation, isolation, and sexual abuse in the disgraceful US prison system. http://www.afsc.org/stopmax http://www.criticalresistance.org http://www.aclu.org/prisoners-rightsThe post Prison Mental Health: Terry Kupers first appeared on Madness Radio.

Can a severe, chronic case of “schizophrenia” ever recover? Is psychotherapy an alternative to medications? What role does trauma play in madness? Hear the inspiring story of how Catherine Penney, RN, was catatonic and locked in a hospital back ward for years, and then emerged to create a new alternative healing community. http://www.dantescure.com http://www.desertgathering.com http://www.iraresoul.com/dvd.htmlThe post Schizophrenia Psychotherapy: Catherine Penney first appeared on Madness Radio.

Leah Harris was orphaned after both parents were diagnosed with schizophrenia and died from medication toxicity. Today she is a leading voice in survivor activism, and her powerful spoken word poetry, including “I Was A Teenage Mental Patient,” has been featured in publications including Word Warriors: 35 Women Leaders in the Spoken Word Revolution, and DC Poets against the War: An Anthology. Leah is also the co-coordinator of the US Network of Users and Survivors of Psychiatry. Buy her new cd “Take Refuge” at the National Empowerment Center: http://bit.ly/7f5kyN http://www.myspace.com/dharmamamaleah http://www.usnusp.orgThe post Survivor Spoken Word: Leah Harris first appeared on Madness Radio.

Can recreational drugs be an opening to genuine spiritual awakening? Brian Hartnett’s passion for rave dance music — as well as alcohol and ecstasy — cost him his career. Doctors labeled his paranoia, telepathy, and voices symptoms of schizophrenia. But Brian went on to become one of the founders of Hearing Voices Ireland, and discover a new, heightened spirituality. http://www.voicesireland.comThe post Ireland Voices: Brian Hartnett first appeared on Madness Radio.

How can a chaotic and oppressive family life lead to trauma and extreme states? Do medications and diagnosis provide help, or can they make things worse? Psychiatric abuse survivor Lisa Darbyshire, Massachusetts organizer with the Freedom Center and the Recovery Learning Community, discusses her personal experiences of hospitalization and recovery, including the struggle with learned helplessness and dependence. http://www.freedom-center.org http://www.westernmassrlc.orgThe post Recovery and Diagnosis: Lisa Darbyshire first appeared on Madness Radio.

What does it mean to be autistic, have Asperger’s, or be on the autism spectrum? Is autism a disease to be overcome, or a difference to be embraced? Is autism advocacy like mad pride activism? Ari Ne’eman, a person on the autism spectrum and director of the Autism Self Advocacy Network, discusses the autism movement’s challenge to what we consider “normal.” http://www.autisticadvocacy.orgThe post Autism Self Advocacy: Ari Ne’eman first appeared on Madness Radio.

What do modern psychiatric drug treatments have in common with lobotomy? Is informed consent possible when patients’ judgment is impaired by medication? Should psych drugs be banned? For more than 50 years Dr. Peter Breggin has been a leading crusader against psychiatric abuse, Big Pharma, and medication dangers. His latest book is The Conscience of Psychiatry: The Reform Work of Peter R. Breggin, MD. http://www.breggin.comThe post Conscience of Psychiatry: Peter Breggin first appeared on Madness Radio.

How do we respond to bizarre beliefs like CIA brain chips, abduction by aliens, hearing voices, spirit possession, or telepathy? Is respect for a different reality “colluding” with a delusion? Or is there meaning in madness? Medical doctor Tamasin Knight was hospitalized for delusions, and went on to write the practical guidebook Beyond Belief: Alternative Ways of Working with Delusions, Obsessions and Unusual Experiences, available as a free download at http://www.peter-lehmann-publishing.com/books/beyond-belief.pdf (PDF).The post Beyond Belief: Tamasin Knight first appeared on Madness Radio.

When GlaxoSmithKline was caught lying about the risks of its blockbuster anti-depressant Paxil, it set off ongoing investigations. How did New York state take on one of the world’s most powerful companies? Was NY Governor Eliot Spitzer driven out by his corporate enemies? Pulitzer-nominated Boston Globe journalist Alison Bass, author of Side Effects: A Prosecutor, A Whistleblower, And A Bestselling Antidepressant On Trial, discusses legal battles to clean up drug company corruption, including pay-offs to the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill. http://www.alison-bass.com/The post Paxil On Trial: Alison Bass first appeared on Madness Radio.

What is the mad movement’s best response to science? How is mad pride different from gay pride? Do we want to become equal with “normal” people — or challenge the idea of normal itself? What about suffering and the risk of romanticizing madness? Icarus Project organizer, psychiatrist, and theorist Bradley Lewis, author of Moving Beyond Prozac, DSM, and the New Psychiatry: Birth of Postpsychiatry, discusses the identity politics of madness. http://www.theicarusproject.net http://www.nyu.edu/gallatin/about/bios/bradley_lewis.htmlThe post Mad Science Mad Pride: Bradley Lewis first appeared on Madness Radio.

More than 100,000 people die in the US each year from prescription drugs — used as directed by their doctor. How did aggressive marketing make our health care system a cause of widespread sickness? Why haven’t government regulation or medical research been able to protect the public? New York Times health reporter Melody Petersen discusses her new book, Our Daily Meds: How the Pharmaceutical Companies Transformed Themselves into Slick Marketing Machines and Hooked the Nation on Prescription Drugs. http://www.ourdailymedsthebook.comThe post Our Daily Meds: Melody Petersen first appeared on Madness Radio.

Does modern art, such as Artaud, Beckett, and Duchamp, parallel the mad frames of mind that get labeled “schizophrenia?” Is extreme sensitivity and inner self-consciousness behind artistic innovation and breaks with reality? Rutgers University psychologist Louis Sass, author of Madness And Modernism: Insanity in the Light of Modern Art, Literature, and Thought, discusses art as an insight into the subjective inner world of madness. [email protected] post Art and Schizophrenia: Louis Sass first appeared on Madness Radio.

What is it like to hear voices? How do people learn to live with their voices, and are voices sometimes positive and helpful? What is the connection between voices and trauma? Jacqui Dillon, voice hearer and director of the UK Hearing Voices Network, discusses how the movement of people who hear voices is creating self-help alternatives to traditional and often abusive mental health care. http://www.intervoiceonline.org http://www.caslcampaign.comThe post Hearing Voices Movement: Jacqui Dillon first appeared on Madness Radio.

What are the lasting impacts of taunting, teasing, and physical harassment between children? Why are kids who are different singled out and picked on? What can parents do if their children are victims of bullies? Psychotherapist, parent, and process worker Dawn Menken, author of Speak Out! Talking About Love, Sex & Eternity, discusses her work with public schools and families to break the cycle of bullying. dmenken(at)igc(dot)orgThe post School Bullying: Dawn Menken first appeared on Madness Radio.

Why is ECT, electroconvulsive therapy or electroshock, so widely used today? How is the ECT industry manipulating research and public perceptions the way tobacco companies did about cigarettes? What are the real dangers of this lobotomy-era treatment? ECT survivor Linda Andre discusses her groundbreaking new Rutgers University Press book, Doctors of Deception: What They Don’t Want You To Know About Shock Treatment. http://www.doctorsofdeception.com http://www.ect.orgThe post Electroshock Deception: Linda Andre first appeared on Madness Radio.

How can people recover from serious drinking problems? Are 12-step and Alcoholics Anonymous programs right for everyone? Anne Fletcher, author of Sober for Good: New Solutions for Drinking Problems, discusses how people successfully overcome alcohol abuse and regain control of their lives. http://www.annemfletcher.com http://www.parl.gc.ca/Content/SEN/Committee/371/ille/presentation/alexender-e.htmThe post Alcohol Alternatives: Anne Fletcher first appeared on Madness Radio.

Has society’s embrace of psychiatric medications led to recovery — or chronic disability? What would honest medical policy and treatment standards be if they were free of pharmaceutical company corruption? Pulitzer Prize finalist Robert Whitaker, author of Mad In America: Bad Science, Bad Medicine, and the Enduring Mistreatment of the Mentally Ill, discusses medications as a failed paradigm of care, and imagines what a sane alternative would look like. http://www.madinamerica.comThe post Sane Medication Policy: Robert Whitaker first appeared on Madness Radio.

Do pharmaceutical companies control the social definition of normal? Can advertising and public relations campaigns turn acceptable personality differences into unacceptable disorders? British-American literary critic and historian Christopher Lane discusses his book Shyness: How Normal Behavior Became a Sickness, including the way politics and profits drive the bible of mental health treatment, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual. http://www.christopherlane.org http://blogs.psychologytoday.com/blog/side-effectsThe post Is Shyness a Disease? Christopher Lane first appeared on Madness Radio.

Blogger and former social worker Gianna Kali discusses her experience going into the mental health system after taking psychedelic drugs, spiritual emergence, decades of treatment with more than 30 different psychiatric medications, and the difficult process of coming off meds, drug withdrawal, and regaining her life. Gianna is the creator of the Beyond Meds blog about mental health and coming off medications. http://www.beyondmeds.comThe post Beyond Meds: Monica Cassani first appeared on Madness Radio.

Psychiatric survivor activism is a vital force changing American mental health care, leading the way in human rights reforms and challenging pharmaceutical company corruption long before the scandals of today’s headlines. What is this history of the movement, what challenges does it face today, and are there dangers of cooptation and reformism? Join cultural anthropologist Gabriella Coleman to explore the lessons of the Mad Movement. http://www.gabriellacoleman.orgThe post Mad Movement Strategies: Gabriella Coleman first appeared on Madness Radio.

UK clinical psychologist Rufus May descended into madness — convinced he was on a spy mission and that animals were robots, he even walked into a family gathering naked. How did Rufus find meaning in these experiences, learn to live without medication, and become a successful psychologist and mental health advocate? Rufus was recently featured in the Channel 4 feature film The Doctor Who Hears Voices. http://www.rufusmay.comThe post Schizophrenia Recovery: Rufus May first appeared on Madness Radio.

Is depression a result of poverty? How can community development and economic empowerment affect mental health? Psychology professor Alisha Ali discusses the dangers of turning social problems into medical disorders, including bias in diagnosis, limits of “cultural competency” and “anti-stigma” initiatives, and the experiences of immigrant women. http://steinhardt.nyu.edu/faculty_bios/view/Alisha_AliThe post Depression And Oppression: Alisha Ali first appeared on Madness Radio.

Labor doula and Icarus Project student organizer Annie Robinson talks about her experience in the mental health system as an adolescent, and how it led to her interest in changing medical birthing procedures and becoming a doula. Annie discusses the trauma caused by doctor interventions in childbirth and its lasting effects on both children and mothers. Anniewrobinson(at)gmail(dot)com http://www.dona.org http://www.motherfriendly.orgThe post Birth Trauma w/ Annie Robinson first appeared on Madness Radio.

Internationally known advocate, psychiatric abuse survivor organizer, and clinical psychologist Ronald Bassman discusses and reads from his new book, A Fight To Be: A Psychologist’s Experience From Both Sides of the Locked Door. Ron was diagnosed “paranoid schizophrenic” and left in back wards as a “chronic case,” but has gone on to become a leader in the recovery movement and an inspiring teacher and therapist. http://www.ronaldbassman.comThe post Psychologist and Survivor: Author Ronald Bassman first appeared on Madness Radio.

Marykate Connor, founder of Caduceus Outreach Services in San Francisco, talks about her innovative work helping homeless people with mental health problems. She discusses the criminal justice system, the decline of services since the 1970s, medication policies, poverty, and what led her to create one of the most innovative and effective homelessness programs in the country. marykate_caduceus (at) sbcglobal (dot) net http://www.caduceusoutreachservices.orgThe post Homelessness And Mental Health w/ Marykate Connor first appeared on Madness Radio.

Grace Guyol, diagnosed with bipolar disorder and author of Healing Depression and Bipolar Disorder Without Drugs: Inspiring Stories of Restoring Mental Health Through Natural Therapies, discusses nutrition, supplements, and holistic health care for helping people diagnosed with severe mental illnesses. GGuyol (at) aol.comThe post Holistic Drug Alternatives: Gracelyn Guyol first appeared on Madness Radio.

Psychology professor Randy Frost, author of Buried In Treasures, discusses his work on hoarding, people who collect so much stuff excessively that it disrupts their lives or creates a health or fire hazard, including how to help people without risking adding to the problem through intrusive or drastic intervention. [email protected] post Hoarding Stuff w/ Randy Frost first appeared on Madness Radio.

Editor Sabrina Chapadjiev discusses the new Seven Stories Press anthology Live Through This: On Creativity and Self Destruction, a rich collection of women artists sharing intimate accounts of cutting, alcoholism, suicide, abuse, madness and other self harm and how it relates to their creativity. Authors include bell hooks, Bonfire Madigan Shive, Patricia Smith, Annie Sprinkle, Inga Muscio, Kate Bornstein, and Nicole Blackman. http://sabrinachap.com/LTTThe post Live Through This Anthology: Sabrina Chapadjiev first appeared on Madness Radio.

Advocate and bipolar survivor Steven Morgan talks about his experiences with spirituality and meditation, including healing through dream work. Listen to the recent profile the New York Times did of Steven at http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2008/07/16/health/healthguide/TE_BIPOLAR_CLIPS.html and check out Steven’s writing at http://www.vermontrecovery.comThe post Reinventing Bipolar: Steven Morgan first appeared on Madness Radio.

Long time Icarus Project organizer, open source computer software architect, and graduate doctoral student Jeffrey Goins discusses his psychiatric experiences and insights from the world of technology applied to the world of madness. Topics include the Eli Lilly Zyprexa memos scandal and intellectual property rights; freedom in a surveillance society; prophecy and ancient wisdom, and the “end of forgetting.”The post Madness and Technology: Jeffrey Goins first appeared on Madness Radio.

Oregon Mental health counselor Ron Unger discusses his experiences with altered states of consciousness, and how cognitive behavioral therapy can be a useful alternative to medication and mainstream psychiatric treatment. Ron is a longtime organizer with the human rights organization Mindfreedom International, and his website is http://www.recoveryfromschizophrenia.org/blog/The post Cognitive Therapy: Ron Unger first appeared on Madness Radio.

Clinical Psychologist David Lukoff talks about his madness experience and the spiritual transformation it triggered. David went on to become a leading figure in the field of Transpersonal Psychology and works to bring greater spiritual awareness into mainstream mental health practice. http://www.spiritualcompetency.comThe post Spiritual Emergence: David Lukoff first appeared on Madness Radio.

UK video activist and writer Mel Gunasena on her mystical experiences and forced psychiatric hospitalization. Mel is the director of Evolving Minds, a documentary film about spiritual experiences and what gets labeled “psychosis” by the mental health system. She also discusses the art therapy project in Sri Lanka she helped found to assist traumatized tsunami-affected children. See a trailer for the film at http://www.undercurrents.org/minds and check out the Sri Lanka project at http://www.art-2-art.orgThe post Evolving Minds: Mel Gunasena first appeared on Madness Radio.

Community organizer and writer Michael Gennarelli talks about his 8 years of psychiatric treatment as a child and his stays at Bellevue Hospital in New York City. Michael reads his poetry about these painful experiences and discusses his activism, including an after school program for kids and the Misled Youth Network. http://www.misled-youth.org http://www.123communityspace.org http://www.fountainhouse.org http://www.theicarusproject.netThe post Misled Youth: Michael Gennarelli first appeared on Madness Radio.

Recovery leader and survivor Ed Knight talks about Zen, Insight, and Christian meditation and “schizophrenia,” including discrimination against people with psychiatric labels at meditation retreats, the link between spiritual awakening and madness, and living beyond “managing symptoms.” http://www.professored.com http://www.recoverycircles.orgThe post Buddhist Meditation and Schizophrenia: Ed Knight first appeared on Madness Radio.

Warsaw Poland psychologist Bogna Szymkiewicz discusses “wounded states of consciousness,” what the mind and body do when trauma is activated, as well as how trauma affects our relationships and what we can do to recover. http://www.bogna.infoThe post Wounded States of Consciousness: Bogna Szymkiewicz first appeared on Madness Radio.

Blacks in the UK are much more likely than white people to be locked up, put on drugs, and mistreated in the mental health system. Social scientist Philip Morgan of London’s Tower Hamlets African and Caribbean Mental Health Organization (THACMHO) discusses the legacy of slavery, survivor-run advocacy for system change, and an innovative project reclaiming Black identity through historical research. http://www.thacmho.org.ukThe post Black Mental Health UK: Philip Morgan first appeared on Madness Radio.

Clinical psychologist Jay Joseph details medical science’s 30-year failed quest to find any link between genetics and diagnoses of mental disorders, and debunks widely held beliefs in the psychiatric profession, including the idea of “genetic predispositions” for mental illness. Jay is the author of The Missing Gene: Psychiatry, Heredity, and the Fruitless Search for Genes and The Gene Illusion: Genetic Research in Psychiatry and Psychology Under the Microscope. http://www.jayjoseph.netThe post Genetic Predispositions? Jay Joseph first appeared on Madness Radio.

Harvard University faculty Paula Caplan, author of They Say You’re Crazy: How The World’s Most Powerful Psychiatrists Decide Who’s Normal and editor of Bias In Psychiatric Diagnosis. Paula was on one of the writing committees for the DSM and offers an insightful perspective on the politics behind psychiatric pseudo-science. She discusses mental disorder labeling, including bipolar and post-trauma stress disorder, from a feminist perspective. http://www.psychdiagnosis.net http://paulajcaplan.netThe post Psych Diagnosis Bias: Paula Caplan first appeared on Madness Radio.

Counselor and researcher Joe Goodbread discusses his more than 25 years experience working with madness and extreme states using Process Oriented Psychology, an innovative approach based in the work of Carl Jung and developed by Arnold Mindell. Joe describes listening to the meaning in experience, helping people unfold their states, taoism, dreams, rank differences, and working with the body. Joe is a senior faculty at the Process Work Institute and author of The Dreambody Toolkit and Radical Intercourse. http://www.aamindell.net http://www.processwork.orgThe post Process Oriented Counseling with Joe Goodbread first appeared on Madness Radio.

Award-winning journalist Philip Dawdy, formerly a writer with the Seattle Weekly newspaper, discusses how forced psychiatric treatment and drugging are ineffective responses to violent crime and the so-called “dangerous mentally ill.” Philip is the writer of the excellent blog about Big Pharma profiteering and mental health policy http://www.FuriousSeasons.comThe post Forced Drugging and Treatment with Journalist Philip Dawdy first appeared on Madness Radio.

Visionary writer and thought-provoking environmentalist Derrick Jensen talks about the human-caused ecological collapse of the natural world, family trauma, technological brainwashing, indigenous societies, Scottish psychiatrist R.D. Laing, and the importance of rage in an undeniably insane world. http://www.derrickjensen.orgThe post Environmental Insanity w/ Author Derrick Jensen first appeared on Madness Radio.