Mad in America: Rethinking Mental Health

Like to know more about MIA, its mission or rethinking psychiatry more broadly? On our podcast, MIA founder Robert Whitaker will answer your questions. Email questions to askmia@madinamerica.com by November 10 and we will pick a selection. *** Our guest today is Diane Dimond, a longtime, award-winning investigative journalist specializing in crime and justice issues. As a freelance journalist, syn...

Like to know more about MIA, its mission or rethinking psychiatry more broadly? On our podcast, MIA founder Robert Whitaker will answer your questions. Email questions to askmia@madinamerica.com by November 10 and we will pick a selection. *** Brooke Siem is a writer, speaker, and advocate for the safe de-prescribing of psychiatric drugs. Her work on antidepressant withdrawal has appeared in The W...

Ray Moynihan is an accomplished health journalist and author who has won several awards for his work. He is also an academic at Bond University and a documentary filmmaker. Moynihan's research and writing focus on the healthcare industry, with an emphasis on how diseases are created, branded, and marketed to unsuspecting people. He is known for his use of sharp humor, which can be seen in his mock...

Bradley Lewis works at the intersections of medicine, psychiatry, philosophy, the psychological humanities, mad studies, and disability studies, balancing roles as both a humanities professor and a practicing psychiatrist. Lewis earned degrees in psychiatry (MD) and Interdisciplinary Humanities (PhD) from George Washington University, and he currently holds an associate professorship at New York U...

On the Mad in America podcast today, we hear about the potential of lucid dreaming therapy to aid those struggling with post-traumatic stress. Our guest is  Charlie Morley , a lucid dreaming teacher and bestselling author who helps people wake up in their dreams and harness the power of sleep for psychological growth. Charlie became a Buddhist at the age of 19 and has been lucid dreaming for over...

This week we are sharing the audio from a recently held online discussion on supporting a child, teen or young adult in crisis. The host is Mad in America's Family Editor, Amy Biancolli, and with her are guest speakers Ciara Fanlo, a recovered troubled teen, Morna Murray, a parent who supports her son through crisis, and Sami Timimi, a child and adolescent psychiatrist. It's an honest and thought-...

We have two guests today. One is Susan Swim, executive director of the Now I See A Person Institute, which she created in 2007 to provide therapy and counseling to kids, teens, adults, families and others who haven't found healing in the usual approaches to therapy and treatment. From its base in Los Angeles County, California, the Institute provides both in-person services, including equine thera...

Micha Frazer-Carroll is a writer, editor, and advocate whose work ventures into the radical politics of madness and mental health. Our exploration will excavate the connections between mental health, power structures, societal norms, liberation, and disability justice. A columnist at the Independent and previously an editor for publications such as the Guardian, gal-dem, and Blueprint, a mental he...

Today on the Mad in America podcast we share a conversation between Luis Gerardo Arroyo Lynn and Justin Karter. Luis conducted this conversation in his role as an editor of Mad in Mexico . Established in September 2021, Mad in Mexico is not just an extension but an essential limb of the international initiative of Mad In America. Its mission resonates with the core values of challenging convention...

This week on the Mad in America podcast, we are joined by Sarah Fay. Sarah is an author, an adjunct professor at Northwestern University, a freelance writer at The New York Times and elsewhere, a certified mental health peer recovery support specialist, and a mental health keynote speaker who's spoken to audiences across the country about recovery from mental illness. We have previously spoken wit...

According to Edison Research , there are more podcast listeners than ever, with 64% of the US 12+ population having ever listened to a podcast. With over half a million active podcasts available, more time is being devoted to mental health discussions. However, little is known about the motivation and experiences of people listening to mental health related material in podcasts. Joining us today a...

James Greenblatt is an innovator and longtime authority in the fields of integrative medicine and functional psychiatry, focusing on nutrition and other natural modes of treatment for people in distress—including teens with eating disorders and children and adults diagnosed with ADHD.  He's the author of eight books, most recently on antidepressant withdrawal, and the founder of the website Psychi...

Nandita Chaudhary is a foremost expert on child psychology. She served as a professor at Lady Irwin College in India for over 35 years and teaches in Brazil. Dr. Chaudhary has an impressive record of over 70 publications and several books. Her work challenges mainstream views of parenting, child-rearing, and child health. Given recent debates concerning child research conducted primarily in WEIRD...

Mia Berrin is a songwriter, producer, and recording artist based out of Brooklyn, whose project, Pom Pom Squad, has garnered attention over the last few years for its grunge-pop sound and introspective lyrics. Her debut album, Death of a Cheerleader, was released in 2020 via Berlin-based label City Slang and has since been featured in Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, Billboard, and more. Mia has been ope...

David Edward Walker is the author of Coyote's Swing: A Memoir and Critique of Mental Hygiene in Native America , which was published in February by Washington State University Press. A psychologist, novelist, public speaker, poet, and singer-songwriter, Walker is a Missouri Cherokee descendent. For more than three decades he's worked as a professor, psychotherapist, and consultant based in Washing...

Chris Bullard is the executive-director of the Sound Mind Live Festival , scheduled for May 20 in Brooklyn, New York. A former touring musician. Bullard performed with acts such as Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson. Subsequent to receiving his MBA, he oversaw portfolio management at Acumen, a global non-profit impact investing fund focused on poverty alleviation. Bullard created the festival ba...

This week on the Mad in America podcast we are joined by Dr. Chris van Tulleken. Chris is an Infectious Diseases doctor at the Hospital for Tropical Diseases in London. He trained at Oxford and has a PhD in molecular virology from University College London, where he is an associate professor. His research focuses on how corporations affect human health, especially in the context of child nutrition...

This week on the Mad in America podcast, we hear from drug safety advocate David Carmichael. David has personal knowledge of the effects of psychiatric drugs, having experienced a family tragedy in 2004. David now uses his knowledge and experience to help people make informed choices about prescription drug use. In November 2023, he will embark on a tour of 15 U.S. cities , aiming to educate and i...

On the Mad in America podcast this week, we chat with author and educator  Tanya Frank . Tanya has worked as a college and university lecturer in the UK and taught middle school children, teens, and elders in the US. She has also trained as a wildlife guide in California and has been an advocate for people with lived experience of psychosis. Tanya's work has appeared in the Guardian , the New York...

Pata Suyemoto is a feminist scholar, educator, curriculum developer, activist, and artist. Her work focuses on promoting racial equity in mental health and suicide prevention through teaching and advocacy. She advocates for equity and inclusion at all levels of mental health care, from grassroots organizations to state-level policy institutions. Dr. Suyemoto has spoken and written about being a su...

Camille Robcis is a Professor of History and French at Columbia University. She is the author of two books, The Law of Kinship: Anthropology, Psychoanalysis, and the Family in France , and her more recent book from 2021, Disalienation: Politics, Philosophy and Radical Psychiatry in Postwar France . Her areas of interest and expertise include European Intellectual History, with a focus on 19th and...

E rick Turner is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU). He is also a senior scholar with OHSU's Center for Ethics and Health Care. Dr. Turner has been an FDA reviewer and has dedicated his work and life to improving research transparency. He's well known for his work on publication bias and antidepressant trials, but his findings...

On our podcast this week, we hear from Dr. Adam Urato. Adam graduated from Harvard Medical School in 1997 and has been practicing medicine for over 25 years, specializing in obstetrics and gynecology. He cares for pregnant women on a daily basis as an attending maternal-fetal medicine physician at MetroWest Medical Center in Framingham, Massachusetts. He writes and lectures regularly on antidepres...

Owen Whooley is an associate professor of sociology at the University of New Mexico. His book On the Heels of Ignorance : Psychiatry and the Politics of Not Knowing deals with the tumultuous history of psychiatry and its equally unstable present. In his book, he documents psychiatry's ignorance, insecurity, hubris, and hype. Owen Whooley is an expert in the field of the sociology of mental health,...

The Mad in America podcast is sponsored this week by Drs Rani and Suraj Holistic Psychiatry and Mental Health Coaching. Are you Ready to make a lasting change in your life? Then join Dr Rani Bora's 12-month group coaching programme named "Beyond Diagnosis". Visit their website  drsranisuraj.com today for more information and to join this unique programme. *** Last fall, the New Haven Register repo...