How peer are you? - Mad in the UK
Satirical piece exploring the version of ‘peer’ that is valued within psychiatric services, and why other versions are discounted.| Mad in the UK
Monthly Archives: September 2025| Mad in the UK
By AD4E Part of the Challenging the culture of diagnosis & disorder! collection Join humanistic counsellor and author Helen Kewell as she takes us on a journey of exploration into the rich meaning of mid life. Date and time Tue, 14 Oct 2025 18:00 – 20:00 BST Location Online Refund Policy Refunds up to 7 days […] The post Oct 14th: Exploring the meaning of (Mid) life: transition, loss and growth. appeared first on Mad in the UK.| Mad in the UK
Editor’s note: this blog is published jointly with our affiliate site Mad in America What are we without our memories? Or the ability to make new memories? A new paper just published, from the largest ever international survey of people who had electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and their families, reports on their memory damage in their […] The post “I Can’t Remember a Single Day”: New Survey Shows Disastrous Memory Effects of ECT appeared first on Mad in the UK.| Mad in the UK
My pov as a ‘schizophrenic’ On good days, I get out of bed before noon. I brush my teeth. Brush my hair. Drink something. Maybe half a litre if I’m lucky. I wear clothes that make me look like someone passable. Someone normal. I look in the mirror and try not to gag at the […] The post The daily life of a ‘schizophrenic’ appeared first on Mad in the UK.| Mad in the UK
“Once a diagnosis is declared incurable, it stops being medicine. It turns into a lifelong sentence and a weapon, used by insiders, supported by institutions, and accepted without question.” (Personal reflection) It never seemed convincing to me that ‘bipolar disorder’ was an actual illness, although I had all the symptoms. It felt more like a […] The post Guilty by Diagnosis: How Stigma Replaced Justice appeared first on Mad in the UK.| Mad in the UK
I Wasn’t A Person I wasn’t a person, I was a fear made flesh to conquer and crucify. I wasn’t a person, I was a scapegoat to blame. I wasn’t a person, I was a trophy to collect, A step up to step on, A toy to play with, A thing to use. […] The post Poetry from one of MITUK’s authors – I Wasn’t A Person appeared first on Mad in the UK.| Mad in the UK
Editor’s note: First published on Mad in America on August 25th 2025 You might think that telling women about the potential risks of taking antidepressants during pregnancy would be uncontroversial. You might think that a drug regulator considering the evidence on these risks would be uncontroversial. You would be wrong! The medical establishment backlash to […] The post Antidepressants in Pregnancy—Turning a Blind Eye, Again appeared first on Mad in the UK.| Mad in the UK
Mad in South Asia presents Rethinking Psychiatric Medications – A Critical Conversation on Healing, Withdrawal, & Deprescribing September 27th 2025 1.30 pm BST (6 pm IST) Format A 40-minute talk followed by an extended Q&A session, where you can ask your own questions about psychiatric meds, alternatives, and what recovery can look like. Have you […] The post Sept 27th: Rethinking Psychiatric Medications appeared first on Mad in the UK.| Mad in the UK
Join AD4E ally, Professor of Clinical Psychology , author and activist John Read for an informal chat and Q&A Date and time Tue, 7 Oct 2025 18:00 – 19:00 BST Location Online AN AUDIENCE WITH AN ALLY offers an informal, interactive space for you to ask John about his decades of activism against western psychiatry’s labels […] The post Oct 7th: An Audience with an Ally – Professor John Read appeared first on Mad in the UK.| Mad in the UK
Satirical piece exploring the version of ‘peer’ that is valued within psychiatric services, and why other versions are discounted.| Mad in the UK
An Audience With an Ally – Ayurdhi Dhar By AD4E Join us for a virtual chat with our ally Ayurdhi Dhar, founder or Mad in South Asia and interviewer for Mad in America. Date and time Wed, 1 Oct 2025 18:00 – 19:00 BST Location Online Good to know Refunds up to 7 days […] The post Oct 1st: An Audience With an Ally – Ayurdhi Dhar appeared first on Mad in the UK.| Mad in the UK
Part of the Challenging the culture of diagnosis & disorder! collection Activist Sophie Olson & poet Jacky Power explore how creativity can help transform experiences of trauma & extreme emotional distress. Date and time Tue, 30 Sep 2025 12:00 – 14:00 BST Location Online Refund Policy Refunds up to 7 days before event. About this […] The post Sept 30th: The power of creative expression in the healing process. appeared first on Mad in the UK.| Mad in the UK
Over the last couple of years, I have become one of many volunteers who give voice to the patient perspective as a peer leader and ‘patient safety partner’ for the NHS. Everyone has their own story to tell and not everyone shares the same perspectives. Predictably many people in this arena believe that psychiatric diagnosis, […] The post The GP Active Problem List: an Active Problem for the Patient appeared first on Mad in the UK.| Mad in the UK
Mad in America Presents a Special Webinar: Navigating Complex Choices in Antipsychotic Reduction Join us on Thursday, September 25, 2025 at 9am PDT, 12pm EDT, 5pm BST, 7pm CEST Dr. Helene Speyer discusses the complications of stopping antipsychotics and possibilities for addressing this issue. Date and time Thursday, September 25 · 5 – 6:30pm GMT+1 […] The post Sept 25th: Navigating Complex Choices in Antipsychotic Reduction appeared first on Mad in the UK.| Mad in the UK
Editor’s note: First published on Mad in America on 15th August 2025 “The biggest gift you can give is to be absolutely present, and when you’re worrying about whether you’re hopeful or hopeless or pessimistic or optimistic, who cares? The main thing is that you’re showing up, that you’re here and that you’re finding ever […] The post Community, Ethics, and Healing Amidst the Great Unraveling appeared first on Mad in the UK.| Mad in the UK
Medical organizations and the media dismiss the large body of research telling of fetal harm from exposure to antidepressants during pregnancy. Editor’s note: First published by Mad in America on August 23rd 2025 On July 21, the FDA convened a panel on antidepressants in pregnancy, with a focus on possible harms to the fetus from exposure to […] The post Not Even the Unborn Are Safe from Psychiatric Harm appeared first on Mad in the UK.| Mad in the UK
How pharma redefined schizophrenia, rewrote the safety narrative of antipsychotics, and helped drive successful launches of their drugs| Mad in the UK
Editor’s note: This is a report by a MIA researcher, first published on Aug 15th 2025 A new approach known as Comprehend, Cope, and Connect is reshaping mental health crisis care in the United Kingdom, with promising early results across inpatient and community settings. Increasing attention has been given to prioritizing alternative ways to support people experiencing […] The post UK Crisis Care Model Prioritizes Trauma, Empathy, and Collaboration appeared first on Mad in the UK.| Mad in the UK
The reflections of a mental health professional on saving her own son from labelling Editor’s note: the writer of this blog wishes to remain anonymous. The context of this piece is me, my own experience and only that. I approach it through a lens shaped early by my childhood visits to the large psychiatric hospital […] The post How not to diagnose your child appeared first on Mad in the UK.| Mad in the UK
This blog is published simultaneously with Mad in America. ECT: New Studies Detail Harms, Lack of Efficacy, Lack of Informed Consent Evidence from a huge survey of what people who have received ECT (and their families) really think—about what they were told, and about how ECT affected them. You can’t just ignore patients anymore in […] The post ECT: New Studies Detail Harms, Lack of Efficacy, Lack of Informed Consent appeared first on Mad in the UK.| Mad in the UK
Editor’s note: This article was first published on Mad in the Netherlands. It was written by Sandra Kouwenhoven, an expert by experience in the side effects and withdrawal symptoms of antidepressants and benzodiazepines. Psychological and relational issues often have their roots in childhood and are closely linked to the attachment patterns we develop early in life. The […] The post Subpatterns: A Deeper Dive into Attachment Theory appeared first on Mad in the UK.| Mad in the UK
Yearly Archives: 2025| Mad in the UK
Medical policymakers acknowledge that pharma-funded researchers endanger patient safety by minimising incidence & severity of withdrawal.| Mad in the UK
Monthly Archives: March 2025| Mad in the UK
Monthly Archives: July 2025| Mad in the UK
AN AUDIENCE WITH AN ALLY offers an informal, interactive space for you to ask our friend & ally Johann about his books, his work, his life.| Mad in the UK
The author who has lived experience works in an acute setting and witnesses dehumanization, infantilization, judgment, and lack of empathy.| Mad in the UK
Podcast interview with Stijn Vanheule, a clinical psychologist, psychoanalyst, and professor of psychology trained in the Lacanian tradition| Mad in the UK
Editor’s note: this blog was first published by Mad in America on June 30th 2025 “The part can never be well unless the whole is well.” —Plato Where Medicine Loses Its Mind Modern neuroscience no longer studies the brain. It markets it. Wrapped in scans, loops, and circuitry, it presents diagrams as if they reveal thoughts […]| Mad in the UK
The use of simplified, coherent versions of ourselves decries the actual inner experience which remains messy, contradictory, and complex.| Mad in the UK
Cathy Wield author of Unshackled Mind discusses issues of consent and the widespread use of coercion in psychiatry| Mad in the UK
A discussion of how vested interests are involved in psychiatry and the treatment or therapies offered in the name of 'mental health'| Mad in the UK
AD4E's Jo Watson interviews author Dr Cathy Wield about her new memoir 'Unshackled Mind a doctor's story of trauma, liberation and healing'| Mad in the UK
Katie Mottram uses art to illustrate that mental distress is a portal to self-actualisation, providing a gateway into inner-consciousness| Mad in the UK
Date and time Wed, 14 May 2025 18:00 – 19:00 BST Location Online Refund Policy Refunds up to 7 days before event About this event Event lasts 1 hour Hári joins us for an informal chat and Q&A Bio Hári Sewell is founder and Director of HS Consultancy and is a former executive director of health and […]| Mad in the UK
In person launch of the ELEPHANT collective, a not-for-profit collaboration between Sameer Patel and Katie Mottram in London on May 12th| Mad in the UK
