Bruce Levine
Why We Ignore the Litany of Potentially Deadly Side Effects in TV Ads for Drugs
Who doesn’t laugh at drug commercials with their before-and-after scenes of life-changing improvements accompanied by numerous terrifying side effects? But these drug ads continue because they work. Beyond the overt manipulations, there are more covert ones—including techniques that diminish the impact of the required warning section. Former advertising executive Jerry Mander observed that his ex-colleagues […]
The “Medical/Defect Model of Mental Illness”—and a Path for Those it Has Failed
Depressed, anxious, and substance-abusing people can beat themselves up for being defective. And psychiatrists and psychologists routinely validate and intensify their sense of defectiveness by telling them that they have, for example, a chemical-imbalance defect, a genetic defect, or a cognitive-behavioral defect. In plain words, many depressed, anxious, and substance-abusing persons think: “I feel fucked […]
Psychiatry’s “Defect Model of Mental Illness:” a Path for Those it Has Failed
Depressed, anxious, and substance-abusing people can beat themselves up for being defective. And psychiatrists and psychologists routinely validate and intensify their sense of defectiveness by telling them that they have, for example, a chemical-imbalance defect, a genetic defect, or a cognitive-behavioral defect. In plain words, many depressed, anxious, and substance-abusing persons think: “I feel fucked […]
Healing Voices: Intriguing Documentary, Innovative Release
The soon-to-be released documentary Healing Voices goes a long way to healing our fear of people commonly labeled as “schizophrenic,” “bipolar,” and “psychotic.” The message of this film is that understanding and love—not fear and stigmatizing labels—are what people who have experienced these altered states need. Writer and director PJ Moynihan explores two question: What […]
Healing Voices: Intriguing Documentary, Innovative Release
The soon-to-be released documentary Healing Voices goes a long way to healing our fear of people commonly labeled as “schizophrenic,” “bipolar,” and “psychotic.” The message of this film is that understanding and love—not fear and stigmatizing labels—are what people who have experienced these altered states need. Writer and director PJ Moynihan explores two question: What […]
The Anti-Authoritarian Movement to Rehumanize Mental Health
10 of the Worst Political Abuses of U.S. Psychiatry and Psychology
Psychiatrists and psychologists have been used by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to facilitate mind control and torture in Project MKUltra and in the American Psychological Association bolstered CIA torture program. Psychiatric political abuses in nations that are U.S. enemies have been routinely denounced by U.S. establishment psychiatry and the U.S. government, especially during the Cold War within the Soviet Union (where […]
The 10 Most Egregious U.S. Abuses of Psychology and Psychiatry
Psychiatrists and psychologists have been used by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to facilitate mind control and torture in Project MKUltra and in the American Psychological Association bolstered CIA torture program. Psychiatric political abuses in nations that are U.S. enemies have been routinely denounced by U.S. establishment psychiatry and the U.S. government, especially during the Cold War within the Soviet Union (where […]
The “Institutional Corruption” of Psychiatry: A Conversation with Authors of Psychiatry Under the Influence
What does psychiatry have in common with the U.S. Congress? “Institutional corruption,” concludes Psychiatry Under the Influence (Palgrave Macmillan, 2015), which investigates how drug company money and psychiatry’s own guild interests have corrupted psychiatry during the past 35 years. Co-authored by investigative reporter Robert Whitaker and psychologist Lisa Cosgrove, the foreword for Psychiatry Under the […]
The “Institutional Corruption” of Psychiatry: A Conversation with Authors of Psychiatry Under the Influence
What does psychiatry have in common with the U.S. Congress? “Institutional corruption,” concludes Psychiatry Under the Influence (Palgrave Macmillan, 2015), which investigates how drug company money and psychiatry’s own guild interests have corrupted psychiatry during the past 35 years. Co-authored by investigative reporter Robert Whitaker and psychologist Lisa Cosgrove, the foreword for Psychiatry Under the […]
