Verified by Psychology Today

Mad Woman Out of the Attic

Care without the idea of disease.

Woman looking out window
Depression
Normal but Not Detectably Sane

Susanne Paola Antonetta on September 9, 2024

Normal life can read as depression on screening tools. In a culture of medicating, it's critical to define mentally well.

Normal life can read as depression on screening tools. In a culture of medicating, it's critical to define mentally well.

Shakespeare's King Lear and daughter Cordelia
Neurodiversity
The Neurodivergent Brilliance of William Shakespeare

Susanne Paola Antonetta on July 29, 2024

Personal Perspective: As a young girl, I became obsessed with Shakespeare's King Lear. Now I realize it taught me the truths of transformative madness and pernicious sanity.

Personal Perspective: As a young girl, I became obsessed with Shakespeare's King Lear. Now I realize it taught me the truths of transformative madness and pernicious sanity.

Neuroscience
The Breathtaking Diversity of the Human Mind

Susanne Paola Antonetta on February 7, 2024

Talking about a transformative "perceptual diversity" with neuroscientist Anil Seth gives new ways to consider neurodiversity and the wild creativity of the human mind.

Talking about a transformative "perceptual diversity" with neuroscientist Anil Seth gives new ways to consider neurodiversity and the wild creativity of the human mind.

Psychiatry
Booby Hatches: The Crisis in Psychiatric Hospitalization

Susanne Paola Antonetta on September 25, 2023

A Personal Perspective: The crisis in psychiatric hospitalization goes back decades. A 1960 experiment conducted by psychologist David Rosenhan shows how far we haven't come.

A Personal Perspective: The crisis in psychiatric hospitalization goes back decades. A 1960 experiment conducted by psychologist David Rosenhan shows how far we haven't come.

Psychiatry
We Need an End to Psychiatry by Proxy

Susanne Paola Antonetta on June 7, 2023

Personal Perspective: For too long, people have relied on psychiatry by proxy, using scales and neat categories to diagnose and medicate. Here's why that doesn't work.

Personal Perspective: For too long, people have relied on psychiatry by proxy, using scales and neat categories to diagnose and medicate. Here's why that doesn't work.

Gaslighting
Mental Difference and Medical Gaslighting

Susanne Paola Antonetta on December 19, 2022

A Personal Perspective: Your psychiatric diagnosis can adversely affect your medical care. Being aware of the problem can help you get what you need.

A Personal Perspective: Your psychiatric diagnosis can adversely affect your medical care. Being aware of the problem can help you get what you need.

Psychiatry
When Protest and Difference Are Labeled Dysfunction

Susanne Paola Antonetta on October 24, 2022

Personal Perspective: Once, protesting while Black or being LGBTQ+ were seen as the products of "sick" brains. Here's how it happened, and what it means for us today.

Personal Perspective: Once, protesting while Black or being LGBTQ+ were seen as the products of "sick" brains. Here's how it happened, and what it means for us today.