Dr John Read

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Here are slides from a talk I gave for a @NottsHealthcare conference this week, in which—at a time of political interest & confusion around 'over-diagnosis'—I critique the psychiatric model & suggest we move to a 'Humanistic-Relational' model. Please share & comments welcome 👍

Overdiagnosing allows for Rx-ing of antipsychotics which makes the dementia patients "easier to manage." As even more incentive to overdiagnose, residents on antipsychotics w/ a schizophrenia diagnosis are not counted toward the CMS quality measure which can improve the facility's star rating. medpagetoday.com/geriatrics/dem…

"Long-term antidepressant treatment was associated with increased SCD [sudden cardiac death] risk in a duration- and recency-dependent manner across major drug classes." ARTICLE LINK: sciencedirect.com/science/articl… #antidepressants #cardiology #hearthealth

@AhmadRehanKhan Do you mean like the fixed delusional belief that there is a thing inside people called “schizophrenia” that makes them hear voices etc.?

If you actually worked in mental health, as a psychologist or psychiatrist, you’d know that delusions are not “different realities.” They are fixed, false beliefs held despite clear contradictory evidence and lack of logical support. This isn’t a philosophical debate, it’s a well-defined clinical concept. As a philosopher this isn’t your area of expertise, it’s important to approach it with caution and avoid presenting inaccurate interpretations as facts.

It's as if many negative effects of modern life (poor attention, anxiety, social unease) are being swept up into an acceptable & non-stigmatising medical category, to uncourage self-reform rather than serious questioning of the status quo. ADHD is clearly now the label of choice.

"The purpose, then, of the new DSM is to convince clinicians and the public that unvalidated, hypothetical biological markers prove the validity of psychiatric diagnoses." ARTICLE LINK: madinamerica.substack.com/p/dsm-6-will-b…

Neurodiversity – The Opium of the People By John Hoggett madintheuk.com/2026/03/neurod… #NeurodiversityDebate #CritiquePsychiatry #MentalHealthAndCapitalism #ADHDControversy #SocialModelOfDistress #BeyondDiagnosis #LeftPoliticsUK #PsychiatryIsPolitical

A psychosocial, trauma informed approach to madness with Prof John Read See you on Monday? ⁦ eventbrite.co.uk/e/a-psychosoci…

The role of biological and genetic causal beliefs in the stigmatisation of 'mental patients': Journal of Mental Health: Vol 10, No 2 tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.108…

Looking forward to my 4 hour seminar for Stanford University’s Psychiatry Department today. @markhoro @joannamoncrieff @JDaviesPhD @RichardBentall @UELPsychLondon @UEL_News @PsychRecovery @lucysurvived @jojo_sus @dranneguy @PGtzsche1 @LisaTMSA

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More bizarre nonsense from ECT researchers. Climbing too much is (a) genetically based and (b) cured by electrically induced convulsions . frontiersin.org/journals/psych…

Psychotherapies of Depth, Insight, and Relationship for Psychosis: Listening with the Intent to Understand the Psychological Meaning of Psychotic Symptoms: Psychoanalytic Inquiry: Vol 46, No 1 tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.108…

Is it ethical to subject the growing fetus to the well-known dangers of SSRIs? The establishment position is alarmist: untreated depression can kill. But is this reasonable given the poor efficacy of SSRIs (vs. placebo) & the existence of more effective non-drug alternatives?

DSM-6 Will Be Structured Around Biomarkers—Despite Acknowledgment There Aren’t Any by Peter Simons The committee aims to use biomarkers to reorganize the whole project. The problem? They acknowledge that such biomarkers have not yet actually been found. buff.ly/vtgqFfz

Study finds an association between taking antidepressants and sudden cardiac death, but the authors imply the real culprit may be the underying mental illness. Another attempt to absolve the drugs.

@JDaviesPhD It takes a huge leap of faith to believe that psychiatry is a legitimate medical field. Not to mention a special version of reality where normal rules don't apply, blatant COIs aren't a problem, and common sense is disregarded.

55.7% of US psychiatrists accept pharma industry payments. Studies show the pharma industry spends billions per year making payments to clinical trial authors, DSM panel & FDA committee members, creating COIs at every level of the drug approval process. madinamerica.com/2026/03/undisc…

How Beliefs About Depression Can Harm | Psychology Today @justin_garson coming forward with his revolutionary views on psychiatry once again. This is a short yet powerful blog arguing the dangers of believing depression is solely biological. As someone who was only diagnosed with depression after being sent away from home multiple times, sent to a now shutdown wilderness therapy Troubled Teen Industry program, and was at a boarding school I hated, of course I was diagnosed with depression and told it was genetic. This is what motivates me to detest this narrative. However I don't fully agree with some of the angles of this article. It repeatedly emphasizes the harms of taking antidepressants and SSRIs for too long, briefly mentions withdrawal, but doesn't have any information on how to safely taper. I worry that people go off their medications too fast which leads them to suffering severe withdrawals, which bring them back into the prison of psychiatry and into a worse cell. This is why whenever we talk about the harms of antidepressants, we must make it clear that one must taper very slowly. psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-bi…

Stigma Worsened by Mental Health “Literacy” Interventions madinamerica.com/2025/01/stigma…

Richly informative interview about antidepressants with Piia Tuominen (@TuominenPiia) and John Read (@ReadReadj). This series of discussions have been excellent. Piia speaks to the lived experiences of psychiatrised patients, while John explains the evidence (or lack thereof) underpinning them. youtube.com/watch?v=R_vwmd…