Duncan Double

The Hype for Psychedelic Drugs Relies on Unblinding open.substack.com/pub/madinameri…

Thinking differently about mental health: Changing how mental health and illness are understood criticalpsychiatry.blogspot.com/2026/03/changi…

@Keirwales @VirgilMSW People of course can be damaged by abuse

@VirgilMSW I don’t think all psychiatrists are bad people, but some do have incredible enthusiasm for telling survivors of abuse that their personality is disordered. It is very hard to get them to take responsibility though.

I often have people telling me that a personality disorder doesn’t mean a disordered personality I’ve currently got a feed full of Drs literally telling me a disordered personality isn’t a bad thing Apparently good clinicians can help people see their grasp of English is wrong

#NottinghamInquiry hears Police saw no evidence of psychosis whilst Calocane was in custody.

@markhoro @ReadReadj @sanilrege @psycheureka How much is the belief that antidepressants have a biological effect on depression a factor in causing withdrawal symptoms?

@markhoro @ReadReadj @sanilrege @psycheureka Psychiatrists should be experts on medically unexplained symptoms

Myth busting - When the fundamental understanding of the condition is incorrect, everything that flows from it is incorrect 🚨🚨👇1/2 Myth 1 👉”FND is a diagnosis of exclusion” ( Horowitz) ❌ Myth busting 👉 “The diagnosis of FND should be 'ruled in' based on the presence of positive signs.” ( Bennett et al,2021) ✅ “Functional neurological disorder (FND), previously regarded as a diagnosis of exclusion, is now a rule-in diagnosis with available treatments.” (Aybek & Perez ,2023) Myth 2 👉FND has no evidence of physical pathology ( Horowitz) ❌ Myth Busting 👉 “Psychological factors are one of many possible risk factors for FND and should not be considered the sole aetiological cause.” ( Bennett et al,2021) ✅ From 👉 Myths about functional neurological disorder, old and new; adapted from Lidstone et al Reference : Bennett et al, A practical review of functional neurological disorder (FND) for the general physician. Clin Med (Lond). 2021 Jan;21(1):28-36.

@JDaviesPhD We all need support

We shouldn’t have to accept being labelled dysfunctional or disordered in order to receive 'care'; we shouldn't have to become subjects of a disrespectful & misleading ideology. Yet this is how our system works - exacting from us the weighty price of our power & dignity.

Rethinking Mental Health Mad in Norway’s International Film Festival September 24 to 26, 2026 – Lillehammer, Norway madinnorwayfilmfest.org

@JDaviesPhD @ReadReadj Doctors need to understand the limits of health care, the nature of medicine itself, its uncertainties, and the dangers of a blame culture

@JDaviesPhD @ReadReadj Medicine has always exploited people

Throughout history, critics of systems of power & oppression have been portrayed by elites as 'haters,' 'deviants', 'malicious' etc, while power (in this case, psychiatry) casts itself as benevolent - as an expression of love. This quote embodies such punative splitting perfectly

@awaisaftab @KonstantinaPou1 Mental illness is generally not a brain problem

@awaisaftab @KonstantinaPou1 The understanding of mental health and illness does need to change

Worth resharing psychiatrymargins.com/p/why-has-crit…

@awaisaftab Didn’t the Americans over-diagnose schizophrenia helping to lead to DSM-III?

I can’t help but see the British preoccupation with “overdiagnosis” as the flailing of a culture that has given up on the clinical mission of addressing the full spectrum of human distress and disability, because they think they can’t afford to provide the needed care (scarcity), because some people ought to suffer (stoicism), and because some people are only pretending to suffer (malingering).

@JDaviesPhD @DrEvgenyLegedin Mainstream psychiatry still thinks serotonin is implicated in depression eg. criticalpsychiatry.blogspot.com/2023/06/unders…

If this is the case, why did psychiatric institutions promote the myth, and stand by as the myth grew & enabled the mass pharmaceuticalisation of contemporary society. Psychiatry has never offered apology for this, only new myths, excuses (like this one 👇) & denial.

@ProfRobHoward Shouldn’t this post be taken down as it contains information from a closed email list. It is a breach of confidentiality.

Nobody who follows me here should be in doubt that I will always promote evidence-based practice and would want the RCPsych to do so. I hadn’t expected support from the Critical Psychiatry Network, but fascinating that my UCL colleague should advise them all by email how to vote.

@miguelorangel @JDaviesPhD True, and technically differentiated from disease, representing biological pathology.

@JDaviesPhD @DBDouble Illness refers to being unwell, either physically or mentally. It encompasses the subjective experience of feeling sick, discomfort, pain, fatigue, weakness, or any imbalance in well-being.

Why do psychiatrists who claim to be 'pluralists' religiously keep using the phrases 'mental illness' & ‘mental disorder' as if such usage didn't betray their affiliation with, or sympathy for, one dominant bio-psych perspective - they must see the problem with this, right?

@ProfRobHoward What is the misinformation of anti-psychiatry?

@JDaviesPhD @awaisaftab I also agree there’s nothing wrong with a plualistic position but it needs to be based on an anti-reductionist biopsychosocial understanding.

@JDaviesPhD @awaisaftab But, that eclectic understanding of biopsychosocial meant that Engel’s original integrative position was undermined.