Category: psychiatry

24 Sep

Comments Off on The McGorry-Hickie reform controversy: Why has mental health become so political?

The McGorry-Hickie reform controversy: Why has mental health become so political?

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Yesterday one of Australia’s most prominent psychiatrists, Professor Ian Hickie, wrote an op-ed piece in the SMH titled, “Ignore the critics, public need to back fresh start in mental healthcare”. It is part of a growing controversy around the Gillard government’s apparent big boost to mental health funding in this year’s Budget, in particular around the adoption of […]

Filed under: health, psychiatry

09 Nov

Comments Off on Beyond anti-psychiatry? The politics of mental illness

Beyond anti-psychiatry? The politics of mental illness

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Me in today’s Overland Journal blog, on the crisis in psychiatry: Biological psychiatry is currently facing pervasive challenges to its hegemony. Mental illness has gained massive recognition and medical treatments for such disorders are virtually ubiquitous. At the same time, the field is beset by scandals around kickbacks from drug companies, embroiled in divisive arguments over its […]

Filed under: health, psychiatry

21 Sep

Comments Off on We will decide which people we will kill, and the circumstances under which we kill them*

We will decide which people we will kill, and the circumstances under which we kill them*

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While John Paul Young’s euphoric pop-disco classic “Love Is In The Air” could’ve been the theme song for the Greens’ election night success, it seems that the Liberals and the right-wing media have latched onto Bob Brown’s push to allow the territories to legalise euthanasia as a reason to suggest the party would prefer the […]