The Psychiatric Drugging of Children – Town Hall Discussion
Friday 13th August at 5pm BST, 12PM EDT, 9AM PDT
Mad in America, the Council for Evidence- based Psychiatry, the International Institute for Psychiatric Drug Withdrawal and A Disorder 4 Everyone are pleased to announce a series of live, online town hall discussions focussing on issues related to psychiatric drug withdrawal.
Each town hall will feature a panel comprised of a mix of professionals and people with lived experience. Following the discussion, there will be an opportunity for viewer questions.
For our fourth discussion in this series, we are focussing on the prescribing of psychiatric drugs to children and adolescents. Rates of prescriptions of psychiatric drugs for children and adolescents continue to increase around the world, with the USA leading the way. The effects on the developing brain of these powerful substances are under researched.
Four international experts come together to outline the extent of the problem and discuss solutions:
Laura Delano
Laura Delano is a former psychiatric patient and the founder and Executive Director of Inner Compass Initiative, a non-profit organization that helps people make more informed choices about psychiatric drugs and diagnoses.
Mo Hannah
Mo Therese Hannah is a New York State licensed psychologist, a Professor of Psychology at Siena College in Loudonville, New York, and a practicing psychotherapist. In her clinical practice, she specializes in grief therapy, relationship therapy, traumatic stress, and grief. Through her clinical work and personal encounters, Dr. Hannah has accumulated significant knowledge and experience that she shares with people suffering with protracted psychiatric drug withdrawal syndrome.
Elia Abi-Jaoude
Elia Abi-Jaoude is a psychiatrist and assistant professor at the University of Toronto. He works mainly with children, adolescents, and their families. He is particularly interested in how social factors influence how we view the experiences of youth.
Sami Timimi
Sami Timimi is a UK based Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist who writes from a critical psychiatry perspective and has published over a hundred and thirty articles and tens of chapters as well as being involved in writing, co-authoring, or co-editing 12 books. His latest book, Insane Medicine, is available in serialized form on the Mad in America website as well as for purchase from Amazon.
Host – John Read
John is Professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of East London. He has published over 150 research papers, primarily on the relationship between adverse life events and psychosis. John is Chair of the International Institute for Psychiatric Drug Withdrawal. He is the Editor of several books, including: Read J, Dillon J (eds) (2013) ‘’Models of Madness”, Routledge.
Chat Moderator – Lucy Fernandes
Lucy Fernandes is the Administrator for IIPDW. She was prescribed psychiatric drugs throughout her twenties and withdrew without support. She works towards a greater understanding of these issues for the public and prescribers.
Technical Adviser – James Moore
James Moore has lived experience of psychiatric drug withdrawal and is a keen advocate for greater awareness and understanding of these issues. He hosts and produces the Lets Talk Withdrawal and Mad in America podcasts.