Madness Radio: Voices And Visions from Outside Mental Health explores 'madness' from beyond conventional perspectives and mainstream treatments, featuring survivors, authors, advocates, professionals, and artists.
Hosted by Will Hall, Madness Radio launched in 2005 on Valley Free Radio and aired more than 150 shows since then. We're heard on KBOO in Oregon, syndicated on other stations through Pacifica, and podcasting on iTunes and Google Play. Check our About page.
Madness Radio Producer is Nina Packebush. Thanks to past Producers Leah Harris and Jeremy Lanzman.
Madness Radio is now an affiliate of Mad In America Radio!
Check out www.madinamerica.com.
Listen to recent shows below, subscribe on the right, browse by topics, search by keyword, or list all 175+ shows by date and title. Shorter versions are also available.
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Coming Off Psych Meds: Laura Delano

What do you do when medications for your emotional problems become worse than the problems themselves? Laura Delano went to a psychiatrist at age 18, and for the next decade was prescribed nineteen different psychiatric drugs. After devastating physical and emotional effects, she began a journey to become medication free — and re-discover who she is. What lessons did she learn?
Laura blogs regularly about her experiences at Mad in America, works for a mental health agency in Massachusetts, and is an advocate for drug alternatives and safe withdrawal.
http://www.madinamerica.com/author/ldelano/
(Link to coming off meds guide: http://willhall.net/comingoffmeds/)
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 51:01 — 46.7MB)
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Healing Sex: Staci Haines

Childhood sexual abuse is pervasive in our society, leaving lifelong wounds that affect men as well as women. Is it enough to hold perpetrators accountable, or are there deeper causes of abuse? Do police, courts, and child protection services help heal — or lead to more trauma? And how can body-oriented approaches move beyond the limits of talk therapy?
Child sexual abuse survivor Staci Haines, author of Healing Sex: A Mind-Body Approach to Healing Sexual Trauma and co-founder of Generation Five, discusses transformative justice and liberating society from child abuse.
http://www.generationfive.org
http://www.generativesomatics.org
http://bit.ly/MrJeRp
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 53:58 — 49.4MB)
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Meaning From Voices: Eleanor Longden

Hearing voices is strongly connected with traumatic experiences, but are voices a brain malfunction or a creative strategy for protection?
UK psychologist Eleanor Longden survived a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia and went on to be a leading researcher around voice hearing, trauma, and dissociation. She is a pioneer in the movement to understand voices as a normal human experience — and truly help people by healing trauma.
http://ind.pn/3ltxoe
http://bit.ly/NjDA77
http://bit.ly/z01Fhn
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 53:12 — 48.7MB)
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Ethical Therapy: Toby Watson

Can psychotherapy be a replacement for medication for psychosis and extreme states? Should therapists hospitalize suicidal clients against their will — even when they could be traumatized by the very care intended to protect them?
Dr. Toby Watson, clinical psychologist, discusses how to be an ethical therapist in an era of medications, diagnostic labels, and forced treatment.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 50:30 — 46.3MB)
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- Show topics:
- Art
- Coming Off Meds
- Professionals
- System Reforms
Bipolar Children: Sharna Olfman

Why are so many children being diagnosed bipolar? Do medications treat disease – or just keep children under control? What else can parents do when faced with difficult behavioral problems?
Sharna Olfman, Psychology Professor at Point Park University and editor of the book Bipolar Children, discusses the growing social and economic pressures to label children bipolar.
http://dai.ly/epbcoO
http://scr.bi/yFfoRN
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 50:26 — 46.2MB)
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Amazonian Healing: Metsa Niwue

Shamans of the Amazon jungle heal the spirit by communicating with plants and singing people back to health. Can indigenous medicine, including the psychedelic ayahuasca, help anxiety, depression, and addiction? What do healers of Peru have to teach us about mental health?
Metsa Niwue, a curandero who has studied for more than sixteen years with the Shipibo and Quechua Lamista peoples, discusses the promise and potential dangers of traditional Amazonian plant medicine for the west.
http://vegetalismo.org
http://www.neip.info/upd_blob/0000/982.pdf
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 49:56 — 45.7MB)
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Chemical Crucifixion: Grainne Humphrys

Could a young man’s overwhelming visions of Christ and apocalypse be a creative response to life trauma, rather than signs of paranoid schizophrenia? Does madness unfold differently depending on whether it is supported – or feared?
Irish activist and punk musician Grainne Humphrys, herself a survivor of an extreme state, discusses the campaign for the release of former partner John Hunt. John has been incarcerated and drugged against his will since 2005, sparking international outcry.
http://freejohn-loverevolutionary.blogspot.com
http://www.mindfreedomireland.com
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 41:33 — 38.1MB)
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Healing Veterans: Paula Caplan

How can we truly help combat veterans facing the aftermath of war? Is veteran trauma a sign of mental illness, or a healthy response to violent situations? Are medications and therapy the answer?
Paula Caplan, author of When Johnny and Jane Come Marching Home: How All of Us Can Help Veterans, discusses healing the wounds of war by listening to the stories of veterans in our communities.
http://whenjohnnyandjanecomemarching.weebly.com
http://www.paulajcaplan.net
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 51:35 — 47.3MB)
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Dignity of Elders: Carole Hayes-Collier

Why are nearly a third of all elders in nursing homes given anti-psychotic drugs, despite life threatening side effects? Are medications being used as chemical restraints? Can nursing homes be places of dignity — or should they be abolished?
Carole Hayes-Collier was diagnosed schizophrenic at 19 and left to a lifetime of hospitalization. When she recovered, the abuses she witnessed inspired her to join the Gray Panthers and dedicate her life to elder rights and mental health.
http://graypanthers.org
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119672919018312521.html
http://www.canhr.org/stop-drugging
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 46:27 — 42.5MB)
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Talking About Suicidal Feelings: David Webb

How common are suicidal feelings? Is a psychiatric illness behind suicidal despair — or a meaningful and even spiritual life crisis? Does forced hospitalization really provide help?
Suicide attempt survivor David Webb, author of Thinking About Suicide: Contemplating and Comprehending the Urge to Die, discusses how speaking openly about suicidal feelings, rather than reacting with panic and fear, is the best form of suicide prevention.
http://www.jungcircle.com/DWebb.html
http://thinkingaboutsuicide.org
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 50:25 — 46.2MB)
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Physics, Dreaming and Extreme States: Arnold Mindell

What is reality? Why do people in extreme states feel connected to the universe, and experience uncanny and even supernatural events? Does quantum physics have something to teach us about madness? What if therapists were like indigenous tribal shamans, entering into clients’ “psychotic” worlds as if stepping into a dream?
Arnold Mindell studied with pioneering scientists Richard Feynman and Norbert Wiener and then became a Jungian therapist and founder of Process Oriented Psychology. He discusses his more than 40 years of work with individuals and groups, including people diagnosed with psychosis, and the ancient belief in a purposeful dreaming reality behind everyday events.
http://www.aamindell.net/blog/books#arny
http://www.processwork.org/
http://www.sonic.net/~billkirn/mindell_interview.html
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 53:16 — 48.8MB)
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Exporting Mental Disorders: Ethan Watters

How did pharmaceutical giant Glaxo Smith Kline create “depression” in Japan — and a billion dollar market for its anti-depressant drug Paxil? Why do people diagnosed with schizophrenia recover more in Tanzania than they do in the US? Can western-style psychotherapy help tsunami survivors in Sri Lanka?
Ethan Watters, author of Crazy Like Us: The Globalization of the American Psyche, discusses how mental disorders are cultural products, defined in the US and then exported around the world.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 47:46 — 43.8MB)
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Therapy for Psychosis: Daniel Mackler

Can therapy reach people in extreme states of “psychosis” — without using medications? Do we need to give a diagnosis to help someone? Why are counselors afraid to listen to their “mad” clients?
New York psychotherapist and filmmaker Daniel Mackler discusses how be defied social work training in his work with people labeled with schizophrenia and bipolar, and what he learned from recent visits to successful treatment alternatives in Northern Europe. Daniel is the filmmaker of Take These Broken Wings and co-author with Matthew Morrissey of A Way Out of Madness.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 49:47 — 45.6MB)
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Meanings of Madness: Gail Hornstein

Seamstress Agnes Richter was locked away in a mental asylum in the 1890s, and was so determined to have a voice that she embroidered her personal story onto the jacket she wore on the ward. What is the hidden history of people writing their own narratives of going insane? How important is it to listen to the experiences of “mentally ill” people? Is there meaning in madness?
Gail Hornstein, Mt. Holyoke College professor and author of Agnes’s Jacket: A Psychologist’s Search for the Meanings of Madness, discusses the work of the Hearing Voices Movement in the UK, peer run support communities including Freedom Center in the US, and why professionals should let patients speak for themselves.
http://www.gailhornstein.com
http://bit.ly/aG9bnS
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 57:04 — 52.3MB)
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Icarus Project: Sascha DuBrul

How did the New York underground of punk rock music, squatting, and homeless protest give rise to a thriving and innovative peer-run mental health community? Are there creative gifts to be found in the depths of madness? Does the future of Mad Pride lie in the joining of activism with spirituality?
Icarus Project co-founder Sascha Altman DuBrul discusses his escape into apocalyptic visions and psychiatric hospitals, and how he was inspired to challenge the identity of bipolar disorder.
scatter(at)theicarusproject(dot)net
http://www.theicarusproject.net
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 53:43 — 49.2MB)
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