Behaviorism and Mental Health

Alternative perspective on psychiatry's so-called mental disorders | PHILIP HICKEY, PH.D.

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Deep Sleep “Therapy” in Australia in the 1960’s and 70’s. Could Something Like This Happen Today?

August 27, 2020 By Phil Hickey | Leave a Comment

Here’s an interesting story from Australia, recently back in the spotlight. From 1962 to 1979, psychiatrist Harry Bailey, MD, serving as chief psychiatrist at Chelmsford Private Hospital in New South Wales, practiced “deep sleep therapy”, which involved keeping people in barbiturate-induced comas for days or even weeks.  Twenty-four of the individuals who received this “treatment”… Continue Reading

Allen Frances: Still Spinning the Story

April 24, 2020 By Phil Hickey | Leave a Comment

On March 4, 2020, the very eminent Allen Frances, MD, published an article in Aeon, which according to its About page is “a digital magazine, publishing some of the most profound and provocative thinking on the web. We ask the big questions and find the freshest, most original answers, provided by leading thinkers on science,… Continue Reading

I was a Victim and Came Back: My Empowerment Story

October 21, 2019 By A reader | Leave a Comment

                                                                Everyone has their own story, some fortunate, some less so. Mine is a story of abuse, neglect and mental illness, and the long road… Continue Reading

Speaking Out Against Electric Shocks

January 10, 2018 By Phil Hickey | 10 Comments

“…they’re human beings, for God’s sake!  In the name of everything holy, how can they do that to them?” (p 108) The Other Mrs. Smith, by Bonnie Burstow, 2017   In the March 2017 issue of the Journal of ECT, there was an editorial titled:  Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) in the News: “Balance” Leads to Bias…. Continue Reading

ECT: Safe and Effective for Agitation and Aggression in Cases of Dementia?

May 19, 2015 By Phil Hickey | 10 Comments

On March 25 of this year, Psychiatric Times published an article titled Dementia, Agitation, and Aggression: The Role of Electroconvulsive Therapy.  The author is Manjola Ujkaj, MD PhD, and the article’s subtitle is “What role might electroconvulsive therapy play for short-term treatment of agitation and aggression in patients with dementia?” According to their website Psychiatric… Continue Reading

ECT for Agitation and Aggression in Dementia

January 2, 2015 By Phil Hickey | 2 Comments

On May 16, 2014, the International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry published an article by Deepa Archarya, PhD, et al.  The article is titled Safety and utility of acute electroconvulsive therapy for agitation and aggression in dementia.  Here are the authors’ conclusions: “Electroconvulsive therapy may be a safe treatment option to reduce symptoms of agitation and… Continue Reading

A Macabre Celebration:  80 Years of Convulsive ‘Therapy’

October 9, 2014 By Phil Hickey | 14 Comments

There’s an interesting article in the June 2014 issue of the Journal of ECT.  It’s written by Max Fink, MD, and is titled Celebrating 80 Years of Inducing Brain Seizures as Psychiatric Treatment.  Dr. Fink is a psychiatrist and neurologist, and professor emeritus of psychiatry and neurology at the State University of New York, Stony Brook…. Continue Reading

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation

February 20, 2014 By Phil Hickey | 1 Comment

TMS is a psychiatric treatment that uses a rapidly alternating magnetic field to induce electric currents in the brain.  These currents stimulate neurons, causing them to “fire.” When used repetitively, TMS is said to alter the excitability of the brain area that has been stimulated.  In the psychiatric field, TMS is being used increasingly as… Continue Reading

Understanding Human Behavior

January 13, 2014 By Phil Hickey | 5 Comments

A couple of months ago I wrote an article concerning ECT which generated some controversy.  One of the issues that came up was the relationship between biological explanations of human activity and more global explanations, which, for want of a better term, I’ll call person-centered explanations. Any human activity can be viewed from different levels… Continue Reading

Is Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) Effective?

November 21, 2013 By Phil Hickey | 51 Comments

ECT, or shock treatment as it’s sometimes called, is a controversial topic.  Adherents describe it as safe and effective; opponents condemn its use as damaging and ineffective.  But it is still widely used in the US and in other countries. The treatment consists essentially of passing sufficient electricity across the brain to cause a seizure. … Continue Reading

ECT And Adolescents At The Mayo Clinic

August 7, 2013 By Phil Hickey | 5 Comments

BACKGROUND At the APA annual convention in San Francisco in May of this year, Chad Puffer, DO, of the Mayo Clinic, presented a poster display titled ECT Use in Adolescents at the Mayo Clinic.  The poster was reported by Caroline Cassels of Medscape.com, a month later (ECT in Kids:  Safe, Effective, Robust and …Underutilized), and… Continue Reading

Involuntary Shock Treatment To Be Banned in Ireland

July 25, 2013 By Phil Hickey | 2 Comments

Courtesy of Talla Trialogue on Twitter, I recently read an article in journal.ie on this topic. Kathleen Lynch, Minister of State for Disability, Equality, Mental Health and Older People, has reportedly stated that “…the law will be changed so that unwilling patients will no longer be forced to receive ECT.” At present, if an individual… Continue Reading

Psychiatry Has the Moral High Ground (According to Jeffrey Lieberman)

July 2, 2013 By Phil Hickey | 9 Comments

BACKGROUND As I suppose everyone knows by now, psychiatry has been on the receiving end of some very serious criticism in recent years.  The criticism has come from many sources, including: survivors of psychiatric “treatment,” non-psychiatric mental health practitioners, journalists, the general public, and even from some psychiatrists themselves. The content of the criticisms has… Continue Reading

ECT – New and Improved?

May 10, 2013 By Phil Hickey | 2 Comments

I’ve just come across a strange article on Mad in America.  It’s called Researchers look at therapeutic benefits of ketamine.  You can see it here.  It doesn’t identify an author, but it’s from the University of Manchester. The opening paragraph says: “The largest trial into the use of Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) in the UK in… Continue Reading

Shock “Treatment” Is Not Safe and Provides Little If Any Benefit

March 27, 2013 By Phil Hickey | 4 Comments

DELICATE THINGS REQUIRE DELICATE HANDLING When I was a teenager, one of my hobbies was making small transistor radios.  It sounds complicated, but is well within the reach of an average 15-year-old.  You get some magazine articles, learn how to read a circuit, and learn how to use a soldering iron. A transistor is a… Continue Reading

 

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The phrase "mental health" as used in the name of this website is simply a term of convenience. It specifically does not imply that the human problems embraced by this term are illnesses, or that their absence constitutes health. Indeed, the fundamental tenet of this site is that there are no mental illnesses, and that conceptualizing human problems in this way is spurious, destructive, disempowering, and stigmatizing.

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The purpose of this website is to provide a forum where current practices and ideas in the mental health field can be critically examined and discussed. It is not possible in this kind of context to provide psychological help or advice to individuals who may read this site, and nothing written here should be construed in this manner. Readers seeking psychological help should consult a qualified practitioner in their own local area. They should explain their concerns to this person and develop a trusting working relationship. It is only in a one-to-one relationship of this kind that specific advice should be given or taken.

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