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Mad in America: Rethinking Mental Health


The Mad in America podcast, hosted by James Moore, examines mental health with a critical eye by speaking with psychologists, psychiatrists and people with lived experience.

When you hear such conversations, you realise that much of what is believed to be settled in mental health is actually up for debate. Is mental health a matter of faulty biology or is there more to it? Are the treatments used in psychiatry helpful or harmful in the long term? Are psychiatric diagnoses reliable? With the help of our guests, we examine these questions and so much more. 

This podcast is part of Mad in America’s mission to serve as a catalyst for rethinking psychiatric care and mental health. We believe that the current drug-based paradigm of care has failed our society and that scientific research, as well as the lived experience of those who have been diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder, calls for profound change. 

On the podcast over the coming weeks, we will have interviews with experts and those with lived experience of the psychiatric system. Thank you for joining us as we discuss the many issues around rethinking mental health around the world.

For more information visit madinamerica.com

 

May 26, 2017

This week we interview Dr. Gary Sidley. Dr. Sidley worked within NHS mental health services for 33 years in a variety of nursing, psychological and managerial roles. In the 1980s he was employed as a psychiatric nurse at a large asylum in Manchester, commencing his clinical psychology training in 1987. Subsequently, he worked as a clinical psychologist in community mental health services, inpatient units and GP practices, as well as with Senior Management positions. Gary is now a freelance writer and trainer with an interest in promoting alternatives to bio-medical psychiatry as ways of responding to human suffering.

In 2015, Gary published the Book Takes from the Madhouse, in which he clearly lays out the scientific evidence against current psychiatric practices, going on to illustrate key points with beautifully written, poignant, at times deeply shocking stories from his years of experience. His stories leave us in no doubt that medically lead practices impact negatively on those in the care of mental health services.

I was keen to ask Gary about his own experiences of working within the psychiatric system and what the future holds for mental healthcare.

In this episode we discuss:

  • How Gary started working in mental health services in 1980 after his Bachelors degree
  • Gary’s time spent as a Psychiatric nurse, before going on to train as a Clinical Psychologist
  • How Gary has also spent time in Team Leader and Senior Management roles
  • That Gary’s experience of supporting people with their mental health made him extremely uncomfortable with Psychiatry and the way it approached patient care
  • How Gary, in his book Tales from the Madhouse, calls for a paradigm shift in the way we respond to emotional distress and suffering
  • Some anecdotes from Gary’s long and distinguished career that illustrate the mixed messages and limiting beliefs that are often given to patients of the Psychiatric system
  • The tension between a biological medication centred approach and a more person centred, compassionate approach to supporting people with their mental health
  • The reasons that Gary wrote his book, Tales from the Madhouse
  • That response to the book has been excellent and Gary hasn't had too much by way of criticism
  • That informed choice is such an important principle where psychoactive medications are concerned
  • The reality behind antidepressant efficacy, mode of action and withdrawal effects
  • That we need revolution not evolution and changes at multiple levels to better support good mental health
  • We should move away from an illness model and towards promoting wellbeing
  • That we need to review the Mental Health Act as it amounts to legalised discrimination

Podcast show notes: http://www.jfmoore.co.uk/LTW_episode_21.html

To give me your feedback please email me on feedback@jfmoore.co.uk 

© James Moore 2017