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

Episode 14 Tina talks about her experience with depression, her use of antidepressant drugs and how a change in her medication led to her withdrawal problems

Apr 29, 2017

This week, Tina talks about her experience with depression, her use of antidepressant drugs and how a change in her medication led to her withdrawal problems. She also tells how her doctors failed to advise her about antidepressant withdrawal in advance or recognise it when it arose.

In this episode we discuss:

How...

Episode 13 Susie talks about stopping her antidepressant cold turkey after 2 years and how her doctors failed to recognise antidepressant withdrawal

Apr 25, 2017

This week, Susie tells us about her experiences of stopping her antidepressant drug cold turkey after 2 years of taking it. She also tells how her doctors failed to identify antidepressant withdrawal and didn't listen when she tried to explain.

In this episode we discuss:

How feeling lonely and having caring pressures...

Episode 12 Doctor Lucy Johnstone on how the underlying causes of emotional distress are often unexplored, and why that might be

Apr 21, 2017

This week, we talk with Doctor Lucy Johnstone who is a clinical Psychologist, trainer, speaker and writer, and a long-standing critic of the biomedical model of psychiatry. She has worked in adult mental health settings for many years, alternating with academic posts. Lucy has authored a number of books,...

Episode 11 Nora talks about her extreme adverse reaction to an antidepressant which started almost immediately and left her with physical, emotional and neurological problems

Apr 18, 2017

This week, Nora tells us about her experiences of sudden and extreme adverse reactions that occurred almost as soon as she started her antidepressant. She also tells us about the attitude of her doctors and how her life has changed since that short course of treatment.

In this episode we discuss:

How pressures and...

Episode 10 Kevin P Miller talks about his documentary films Generation Rx (2009) and Letters From Generation Rx (2015) which tell the powerful stories of families harmed by their psychiatric medications

Apr 15, 2017

This week, we have an interview with Kevin P Miller. Kevin is a filmmaker, writer and journalist and his films have won numerous international Film and Television awards. In 2009, Kevin wrote and directed Generation Rx. The film presents the whole story about the prescribing of psychiatric medicines to children...