Post by Admin on Dec 21, 2023 23:33:17 GMT
2023 in Review:
A Paradigm Shift is Underway
mailchi.mp/madinamerica/mad-in-america-weekly-newsletter-december-18-1021454
When we launched Mad in America twelve years ago, we wanted to serve as an alternative media on matters related to psychiatry and mental health. The disease model of care had clearly failed, and we believed that scientific research, as well as the lived experience of those who have been diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder, called for profound change.
Today, we can see that this paradigm shift in societal thinking is happening even within prominent institutions. The World Health Organization, in two lengthy documents, has twice called for a radical change in psychiatric care, away from the disease model and toward one centered on human rights and the social determinants of health. That is a narrative that is moving the locus of “mental illness” away from the individual’s “brain” and into the community. The former United Nations Special Rapporteur for Health, Dainius Pūras, similarly issued calls for radical change along these lines.
As 2023 comes to a close, I want to thank our readers for becoming part of a growing community advocating for such change. Here is a quick recap of our operations this past year.
2023 Numbers
In 2023, we have published:
241 reports on scientific publications
182 blogs
62 MIA Reports
44 personal stories
28 podcasts
& more: we host an online support group for parents, an online meeting space for artists, art galleries, and reader-nominated “songs of the week.”
As for our readership, it continues to grow. This year we will have around six million unique visitors to Mad in America, and around one million more to our affiliated websites. Our podcasts have now been downloaded more than a million times.
These are numbers that tell of a growing community eager to “change the narrative” that governs societal thinking. The collective voice for radical change grows ever louder.
Mad in the World
This past October, we had our first in-person meeting with the editors of our 13 affiliated websites (soon to grow to 15 affiliates). The meeting in Copenhagen brought together the MIA board and 40 editors from the 13 sites, and if there was one “take-away” from our days together, it was a glorious sense of a shared mission.
At the meeting, the group decided to name itself Mad in the World. We are now working on improving our sharing of stories across this network. Our hope is that this will serve to “cross-pollinate” all of the sites with new ideas and accounts of promising new initiatives.
Looking Ahead to 2024
As we have often noted, we are supported entirely by reader donations, and we want to thank all who contributed to Mad in America in 2023. Your generosity is what has enabled us to do what we do.
From all of us at MIA, we wish everyone a happy holiday season.
—Robert Whitaker
A Paradigm Shift is Underway
mailchi.mp/madinamerica/mad-in-america-weekly-newsletter-december-18-1021454
When we launched Mad in America twelve years ago, we wanted to serve as an alternative media on matters related to psychiatry and mental health. The disease model of care had clearly failed, and we believed that scientific research, as well as the lived experience of those who have been diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder, called for profound change.
Today, we can see that this paradigm shift in societal thinking is happening even within prominent institutions. The World Health Organization, in two lengthy documents, has twice called for a radical change in psychiatric care, away from the disease model and toward one centered on human rights and the social determinants of health. That is a narrative that is moving the locus of “mental illness” away from the individual’s “brain” and into the community. The former United Nations Special Rapporteur for Health, Dainius Pūras, similarly issued calls for radical change along these lines.
As 2023 comes to a close, I want to thank our readers for becoming part of a growing community advocating for such change. Here is a quick recap of our operations this past year.
2023 Numbers
In 2023, we have published:
241 reports on scientific publications
182 blogs
62 MIA Reports
44 personal stories
28 podcasts
& more: we host an online support group for parents, an online meeting space for artists, art galleries, and reader-nominated “songs of the week.”
As for our readership, it continues to grow. This year we will have around six million unique visitors to Mad in America, and around one million more to our affiliated websites. Our podcasts have now been downloaded more than a million times.
These are numbers that tell of a growing community eager to “change the narrative” that governs societal thinking. The collective voice for radical change grows ever louder.
Mad in the World
This past October, we had our first in-person meeting with the editors of our 13 affiliated websites (soon to grow to 15 affiliates). The meeting in Copenhagen brought together the MIA board and 40 editors from the 13 sites, and if there was one “take-away” from our days together, it was a glorious sense of a shared mission.
At the meeting, the group decided to name itself Mad in the World. We are now working on improving our sharing of stories across this network. Our hope is that this will serve to “cross-pollinate” all of the sites with new ideas and accounts of promising new initiatives.
Looking Ahead to 2024
As we have often noted, we are supported entirely by reader donations, and we want to thank all who contributed to Mad in America in 2023. Your generosity is what has enabled us to do what we do.
From all of us at MIA, we wish everyone a happy holiday season.
—Robert Whitaker