Mad in America: Rethinking Mental Health

Mary Watkins is a psychologist at Pacifica Graduate Institute who focuses on reorienting psychology toward social justice and liberatory ends. She has a foundation in the depth psychologies of Carl Jung and James Hillman, as well as holistic approaches to community healing such as indigenous, liberation, and eco-psychologies. She has worked in a variety of settings, such as immigration detention centers, prisons, and marginalized communities, with the aim of social transformation beyond the individual. Her research interests include a focus on the restorative power of dialogue, creative imagination, forced migration, adoption, and socioeconomic justice. In addition to numerous articles, she has published several books, such as Waking Dreams, Invisible Guests: The Development of Imaginal Dialogues, Toward Psychologies of Liberation with Dr. Helene Shulman, Up Against the Wall: Re-imagining the U.S.-Mexico Border with Dr. Edward Casey, and most recently, Mutual Accompaniment and the Creation of the Commons.  

Peter Mayfield is the founder and executive director of Gateway Mountain Center in California, an innovative program for helping youth learn, heal, and thrive As a teenager growing up in California, Peter became an accomplished rock climber, and developed into one of the world’s best mountain climbers, rising to become chief guide of the Yosemite Mountaineering School. Yosemite is known for being a rock climbing mecca, offering climbers some of the most difficult ascents anywhere in the world. He has enjoyed a 40-year career guiding people in mountain experiences and developing entrepreneurial enterprises. He is the founder of City Rock, the first full-service climbing gym in the world. Today, he is passionate about changing the system of care for youth suffering from serious emotional disturbances and complex trauma. Gateway’s program,  ‘Whole Hearts, Minds and Bodies’ is the first nature-based therapeutic program in California to achieve full-service partner contracts with County behavioral health departments and certification as a MediCal provider. This means that California has recognized his nature-based therapeutic programs as providing a medical benefit. In this interview, Peter speaks about his journey from mountaineering to his role as an educator and mentor, and how enabling children and adolescents to connect with nature has such a profound effect on their health and wellbeing. If you'd like to know more about the work of the Gateway Mountain Center, you can visit the website www.sierraexperience.org

This week on MIA Radio, we interview Drs. Peter Breggin and Michael Cornwall their new initiative, Stop the Psychiatric Abuse of Children (SPAC!). Peter Breggin, MD is a Harvard-trained psychiatrist and a former consultant at the National Institute of Mental Health who has been called "The Conscience of Psychiatry." For decades, he has made successful efforts to reform the field, including bringing a stop to lobotomy and psychosurgery. He has testified before the FDA and Congress, been an expert witness in many court cases involving the pharmaceutical industry and has appeared on Oprah and 60 Minutes, among other programs. Dr. Breggin continues to criticize psychiatric drugs and “electroconvulsive therapy,” and promotes more caring, empathic and effective therapies. To that end, with his wife Ginger, he founded the Center for the Study of Empathic Therapy, Education and Living.  He is the author of more than 20 books, most recently Guilt, Shame and Anxiety: Understanding and Overcoming Negative Emotions. Dr. Breggin maintains a private practice in Ithaca, New York where he treats adults, couples, and families with children. Michael Cornwall, PhD has done therapy with children, teens and families since 1980 as well as specializing in therapy with people of all ages experiencing extreme states. He completed doctoral research on medication-free treatment of extreme states and is the editor of a two-volume special edition of the Journal of Humanistic Psychologyon extreme states. Dr. Cornwall has been a prolific MIA blogger since 2012 and a frequent Esalen Institute workshop leader on alternative approaches to extreme states. He is the director of the SPAC! project for Dr. Breggin’s Center for Empathic Therapy. (audio) We discuss: How SPAC was started in response to the introduction of the Monarch eTNS, an electric stimulation device worn on a child’s forehead at night that is touted as an alternative to ADHD medication, which was fast-tracked by FDA with little testing The extensive, downplayed adverse reactions found in testing the Monarch on children How the device is purported to work to target brain activity in certain areas, but likely affects other important neural areas and how this is likely to disrupt a child’s normal brain function Problems with the design of the studies on the Monarch and how deliberate intrusions into brain function make an individual child more docile but also more apathetic The potential widespread adoption of the Monarch device due to a partnership between the manufacturer and a pharmacy chain, the many uses for which it is being marketed, and anticipated psychiatric prescribing of the treatment by primary care doctors The nature and risks of ECT, another form of psychiatric “treatment” that targets the brain with electricity, intentionally causing a seizure and short- and long-term traumatic brain injury, and where to find ECT resources on Dr. Breggin’s website Reframing “ADHD” behavior as a sign of deficiencies in the teacher, classroom, or parenting approach rather than an illness in the child. What might cause inattentiveness in a young student and how doctors typically medicate the problem as a brain disorder Alternatives to high-tech interventions and drugs for helping inattentive or severely troubled youth alike, including modifications at school and entering family therapy. The importance of parents’ expressing love and discipline to change problematic behaviors, with examples from Breggin’s private practice How the medical model of psychiatry discourages identifying unmet human needs in young patients and their families, and the benefits of offering trauma-informed support and connection, with examples from Cornwall’s work in the public mental health system The importance of engaging children to identify what they need from adults in their lives, arming parents with new attitudes and communication tools for relating to their children, and the success they have had with such approaches How listeners can learn more about SPAC! and get involved with advocacy against conventional psychiatric treatment for children and for more compassionate and commonsense alternatives. The groundswell of interest they have received from parents and a variety of online resources available on these topics The right of parents to say no to dangerous drugs or devices doctors want to prescribe, and the importance of understanding the risks of resisting a medical professional’s authority or challenging a child’s school Reasons for parents and teachers be optimistic that even seemingly incorrigible children can be reached. Relevant Links SPAC! webpage, part of Dr. Peter Breggin’s Children’s Resource Center ECT Resource Center Center for the Study of Empathic Therapy, Education, and Living MIA blogs Monarch eTNS Inspires “Stop the Psychiatric Abuse of Children!” (SPAC!) FDA Approves Using Electricity All Night Long on Children’s Brains

This week on MIA Radio we turn our attention to support for those who are struggling to withdraw from psychiatric drugs. Recently in the UK, this issue has become headline news with more and more attention being given to the work of groups such as the Council for Evidence Based Psychiatry and peer-led initiatives such as the Bristol Tranquilliser Project.  December 4 2019, marks the release of guidance which has been specifically written to support psychological therapists and their clients in having discussions about taking and withdrawing from psychiatric drugs. The comprehensive guidance is a collaboration between psychologists, peer support specialists and psychiatrists and aims to provide important context and evidence-based support to psychological therapists, whatever their particular modality. In this interview, we chat with psychotherapist  and project lead Dr. Anne Guy, Peer Support Specialist Paul Sams and Professor of Psychology John Read. We Discuss: How the project to create guidance for psychological therapists got started. The need to address a significant gap in knowledge and experience, particularly given the numbers of clients who work with psychological therapists and are already taking or thinking of coming off psychiatric drugs. That therapeutic training previously hasn’t addressed the intersection of psychiatric drugs and the practice of therapy. How a recent survey showed that 96% of all therapists are seeing at least one client who is taking psychiatric drugs. That the guidance is not prescriptive but provides an opportunity for a therapist to respond to drug issues that other professionals may not have time available to address. The important distinction made between giving medical information and giving medical advice. How the guidance will be launched in Westminster, London on December 4 2019, and that people can read the guidance and view a Q&A here. That next year will see some Continuing Professional Development activities. How lived experience and peer support knowledge has been applied in developing the guidance. How the guidance opens up the conversation such that no go areas are addressed as part of the overall therapeutic discussion. That the approach is one of empowerment and supporting conversation rather than defining or being prescriptive. How the evidence-based part of the guidance came together and that there was a fairly consistent finding that around 50% of people coming off psychiatric drugs will experience some sort of withdrawal with around half of those describing the withdrawal effects as severe. That the guidance has provided the chance for psychologists, counsellors and psychotherapists to work together. Relevant Links: Read or download the guidance here. View the guidance Q&A here. © Mad in America 2019

This week on MIA Radio, MIA Correspondent Leah Harris interviews Celia Brown. Celia is a psychiatric survivor and a prominent leader in the movement for human rights in mental health. She is the current Board President of MindFreedom International, a nonprofit organization uniting 100 sponsor and affiliate grassroots groups with thousands of individual members to win human rights and alternatives for people labelled mentally ill. Please Support Us: Our work is made possible by the generous support of our readers. To make a donation please visit this page. Thank you. https://www.madinamerica.com/donate/

This week on MIA Radio, we interview US Navy Veteran and Co-Founder of Minority Veterans of America, Lindsay Church. Lindsay served from 2008-2012 as a Cryptologic Technician Interpretive (Linguist). During her time in the service, she attended language school at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, CA where she learned Persian-Farsi. After spending two years at a cyber intelligence command, she left the Navy and returned home to Seattle. Upon returning home, Lindsay attended the University of Washington where she earned her BA in Near Eastern Language and Civilization and Islamic Studies and an MA in International Studies – Middle East. At the University of Washington, Lindsay co-founded the office of Student Veteran Life, where she also served as the University Liaison for the Student Veterans of AmericaChapter there. In 2017, Lindsay started the Minority Veterans of America to ensure there is a community of support around the underrepresented veterans so that we may see the true diversity of the U.S. military reflected in our veteran communities. We discuss: How Lindsay was enlisted in 2008 under “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” and served all but three months of her time in the Navy under Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. That Lindsay is a third-generation Navy veteran with many family members also serving. How during her Navy career she had multiple health issues arising from an inverted sternum, but a surgical procedure was botched and she experienced multiple complications, spending 5 days in ICU with a collapsed lung. How within 18 months of enlisting she had been prescribed 16 different medications including painkillers, antidepressants and anti-anxiety drugs. How she then had to endure a number of further surgeries but managed to complete language school in spite of the surgeries and complications. Lindsay recalls being amazed that she is alive considering the cocktail of meds she was prescribed. How she came to be stuck for six months at a medical barracks in San Diego. That Lindsay got to a point in 2010 where she felt that she couldn’t go on. That she was being transitioned between Klonopin, Effexor, Valium and Zoloft almost every month which led to intense suicidal thoughts and how she considered jumping from a fifth-floor window. That she recalls asking for psychological support but instead only received more psychiatric drugs. How Lindsay made the decision in 2010 to get off the antidepressants and then in 2011 came off the opioids and has refused painkillers since, finally in 2012 she came off the anti-anxiety drugs. Lindsay says that it hurts to have realized that suicidal thoughts occurred during times of being switched between psychiatric medications, and changes her way of viewing past events in her life. How Lindsay notes that it is very easy to get referred into psychiatry and onto the drugs but very difficult to find appropriate psychological support. That Lindsay moved back to Seattle after leaving the Navy in 2012 and is thankful her mom is a veteran, as she helped her navigate the VA. How Lindsay’s experiences both with the military medical system but also witnessing pervasive misogyny, racism and homophobia in the American Legion, led her to resign her position and to co-found the Minority Veterans of America. How she found that female veterans are 2.2 times more likely to die by suicide than their civilian counterparts and LGBTQ veterans are 2 times more likely to die by suicide than their civilian counterparts. That she now works with people of color, women, LGBTQ and religious and non-religious minorities, many of whom are disenfranchised from the veteran community, so the goal is to bring people into a supportive community to break the isolation, because isolation is a killer. How important social engagement is to address the isolation felt by minority veteran communities. That as regards herself, she is working on reaching the person that she was five years ago when she didn’t think that she belonged or that her story was unique, or even worthy of even being told. That if readers want to know more they can visit MinorityVets.org which is a non-profit. How she feels that we don’t have another three to five years to address the suicide epidemic amongst the veteran community, Congressional action is needed now. Please Support Us: Our work is made possible by the generous support of our readers. To make a donation please visit this page. Thank you. https://www.madinamerica.com/donate/

This week on MIA Radio, MIA Correspondent Leah Harris interviews psychiatric survivor Dorothy Dundas. Dorothy is an activist, a mother, a mentor, and an incredible supporter of the activists in all of our movement-building work, going back several decades. Relevant Links: On Our Own by Judi Chamberlin: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/5106590-on-our-own Dorothy Dundas author page at Mad in America: https://www.madinamerica.com/author/dorothydundas/ Image of Dorothy's "Behind Locked Doors" poster: https://www.madinamerica.com/2014/05/behind-locked-doors/ To contact Dorothy and/or to order a "Behind Locked Doors" poster: https://www.facebook.com/dorothywdundas Please Support Us: Our work is made possible by the generous support of our readers. To make a donation please visit this page. Thank you. https://www.madinamerica.com/donate/

Joseph Gone is a professor of both Anthropology and Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard University. He is a clinical and community psychologist by training, and he conducts participatory research projects with community partners in Native American communities. His projects aim to rethink traditional mental health practices and incorporate Indigenous-healing practices. He has published over seventy-five articles on his work. His work includes both the critical analysis of psychological theories and concepts, such as indigenous historical trauma, as well as original research on new mental health programs such as the Blackfeet Culture Camp for the treatment of addiction. As an undergraduate, he became interested in psychology because the field approaches the question of human experience from so many diverse vantage points -- taking up questions from the workings of the brain to what it means to be human. His love for ideas and his desire to contribute to the American Indian communities (as a member of Aaniiih-Gros Ventre tribal nation) led him to get a doctorate in clinical psychology. However, his experience is not simply that of a clinical psychologist or psychotherapist who addresses mental health at the individual level -- because sometimes, he explains, the remedies that help people “look less like healing and more like justice.”

This week on MIA Radio, we interview Professor of Psychology Dr. Steven C. Hayes. Dr. Hayes is Nevada Foundation Professor in the Behavior Analysis program at the Department of Psychology at the University of Nevada. An author of 45 books and over 625 scientific articles, his career has focused on an analysis of the nature of human language and cognition and the application of this to the understanding and alleviation of human suffering. He is the developer of Relational Frame Theory, an account of human higher cognition, and has guided its extension to Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), a popular evidence-based form of psychotherapy that uses mindfulness, acceptance, and values-based methods. Dr. Hayes has been President of several scientific and professional societies including the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapy, and the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science. He was the first Secretary-Treasurer of the Association for Psychological Science, which he helped form and has served a 5-year term on the National Advisory Council for Drug Abuse in the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Hayes received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapy and was recently named as a Fellow in the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In this interview we talk about his recently released book, A Liberated Mind: How to Pivot Toward What Matters, which uses the principles of acceptance and commitment therapy to help readers overcome negative thoughts and feelings, turn pain into purpose, and build a meaningful life. We discuss: What led Steven to his interest in psychology and, in particular, behavioral science. That his keen interest was to mix an understanding of human experience with analytical science. How he came to be standing on stage in Nevada at a 2016 TEDx talk, relating his experiences of panic disorder and ‘hitting bottom’. How Steven has dedicated his life to helping people understand how they can be their whole selves while dealing with their problems and distress. How his book ‘A Liberated Mind’ was in part based on his own experiences but also presents the voluminous research that underlies Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). That ACT is based on the psychological flexibility model and involved pulling at the threads of cognition and language to understand the fundamentals. How ACT is a combination of acceptance and mindfulness processes and commitment/behaviour changes, referred to in the book as ‘pivots’ and ‘turning towards’. That ACT allows us to be present with our difficulties in a way that we can learn from distress without becoming entangled. That the book defines six basic processes: defusion, self, acceptance, presence, values and action. How it is important not to believe that we need ‘fixing’ before we can move on with our lives. That acceptance is often seen as giving up or tolerance but is better viewed as the response to receiving a gift. How acceptance opens us up to the validity of our experiences and can help to achieve a healthy distance from distressing experiences. How pain, judgement and comparison impact our lives. That reliance on medications can mean that we become numb to experiences that we could learn from if we turned or pivoted towards them. That the guide to happiness is hidden within our misery. Relevant links: Steven C Hayes The Liberated Mind: How to Pivot Toward What Matters TEDx Nevada – Psychological flexibility: How love turns pain into purpose Acceptance and commitment therapy and contextual behavioral science: examining the progress of a distinctive model of behavioral and cognitive therapy © Mad in America 2019

Jennifer Freeman is a marriage and family therapist and an Expressive Arts Therapist. Since 2017, she has been researching narratives centered on how humans are facing climate change and responding to these challenging times of social impoverishment, ecological degradation, the Anthropocene, and the sixth great extinction. She has been engaged in therapeutic conversations, international community work, teaching, and professional writing for the past 30 years based on narrative approaches. She is the co-author of the book Playful Approaches to Serious Problemsalong with David Epston and Dean Lobovits. © Mad in America 2019