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My Thoughts on the Link Between Autism and Schizophrenia. | Mind You Reflections on mental illness, mental health and life
By Dr David Laing Dawson Schizophrenia has been thought of as one disease with several subtypes: e.g. catatonic, paranoid, simple, hebephrenic etc. It has also been thought of as a spectrum. Schizophrenia spectrum disorder. And many have speculated that one day we will find that schizophrenia is comprised of several illnesses, each with different genetic…
I Am Yelling at the Television Again | Mind You Reflections on mental illness, mental health and life
By Dr. David Laing Dawson All the generals and commanders of the United States Military are brought together in one room to listen to speeches by the President and the Secretary of "War" from some far off land in the Stan Lee Universe. The serious side to this appeared to be preparation for the use…
Sequel – The Appropriateness of Religion Providing Health Care | Mind You Reflections on mental illness, mental health and life
By Marvin Ross Not unexpected and always welcome, I got some comments on the blog last week on fundamentalist Christians providing supportive care for the mentally ill. My concern was the fact that not all of them accept mental illness as a no fault health problem but as a failure of some sort. Possibly a…
A Brief History of Autism | Mind You Reflections on mental illness, mental health and life
By Dr. David Laing Dawson In the era (1700 - 1900) before prenatal care, public health (sanitation, potable water), vaccination and antibiotics, about 50% of children did not survive. If a "feeble-minded" or otherwise disabled child did survive, against the odds, it was up to the family to provide care, or send off to a…
Jimmy Kimmel And A Glimmer of Hope | Mind You Reflections on mental illness, mental health and life
By Dr. David Laing Dawson` In the making and keeping of a democracy one the most important human rights is the freedom to make fun of our leaders, especially those who would be king. Today that is the job of comedians, comedic writers, comedy shows, satire, Youtube contributors, and talk show hosts. I suspect it…
The Appropriateness of Religious Organizations Providing Health Care | Mind You Reflections on mental illness, mental health and life
By Marvin RossRegular readers of this blog are familiar with much of what we've written about Indwell Supportive Housing headquartered in Hamilton but with housing all over Southern Ontario. Karen Allin's recent blog called “When Supportive Housing Causes More Harm Than Good” was an excellent summary of all that is wrong. Indwell does not hide…
Depressing Thoughts After the Charlie Kirk Murder | Mind You Reflections on mental illness, mental health and life
By Dr David Laing Dawson Chaos begets tyranny. Tyranny begets violence. Violence longs for the security of tyranny. Tyranny provokes violent reaction. Back to chaos. America is in a downward spiral to its own destruction. Is there any peaceful way out of this spiral? Canada needs to be prepared for the worst. At this point…
Thoughts on Book Burning | Mind You Reflections on mental illness, mental health and life
By Dr David Laing Dawson Unexpectedly, in some parts of North America, we seem to have reverted to a time of book burning, or at least book banning, from school libraries. Ironically, this is being promoted by people who came away with all the wrong messages from reading Ayn Rand, Orwell, Bradbury, and Huxley. Or…
The Plague Years | Mind You Reflections on mental illness, mental health and life
By Dr. David Laing Dawson Ron DeSantis has declared that he will end the current mandate for vaccinations for children and adults in Florida. When that happens and the mandates end, and a growing number of parents do not choose to have their children vaccinated, these are the diseases that will make a comeback among…
Guest Blog – When Supportive Housing Causes More Harm than Good | Mind You Reflections on mental illness, mental health and life
By Karen Allin The goal of supportive housing is to provide deeply affordable housing with supports to address mental and physical health. Tenants are often homeless people or people coming out of jail or the shelter system. Tenants are also those who need the affordability with the supports, such as those with a severe and…
Another School Shooting | Mind You Reflections on mental illness, mental health and life
By Dr. David Laing Dawson At least this time when the expert on CNN was asked about motive, he did point out that the motive for the shooting might not coincide with our idea of a rational motive. And he did use the phrase "mental health issues." The necessary causative elements in this shooting, like…
A Blueprint for Fascism | Mind You Reflections on mental illness, mental health and life
By Dr. David Laing Dawsin How do you turn a functioning complex large democracy into a fascist state, a police state? We are watching it happening. Somehow you have to undermine every institution in the country, the culture and professionalism, that maintain the democratic social contract. All of them. And while this is happening the…
Trump’s Psychopathology Cannot be Sated! | Mind You Reflections on mental illness, mental health and life
By Dr. David Laing Dawson I apologize for obsessing about Donald J. Trump and the fate of American democracy. It looks like, for the most part, we citizens of Canada are remaining sane, calm, and carrying on with our polite and respectful lives, while our leaders, for the most part, are doing all they can…
How Dumb is That? RFK Jr. Pulls Funding for mRNA Vaccine Research | Mind You Reflections on mental illness, mental health and life
By Dr. David Laing Dawson Medical research plugs away at extending life, reducing suffering, making cancer treatable, HIV treatable, mental illness treatable. Joint replacements, stents, better eyesight. But nothing in the history of scientific medical advancement comes close to vaccines. Except maybe antibiotics and Public Health Measures (waste disposal, potable water, food inspection). Today we…
Two Videos Plus -Serious Plus Fun | Mind You Reflections on mental illness, mental health and life
First up By Dr. Richard O'Reilly I am a clinical psychiatrist with over 40 years of experience working with patients suffering from psychotic and other severe mental illnesses. In a recent YouTube video, I describe how services for people suffering from these illnesses have progressively deteriorated in Canada. In my opinion, only a strong and active organization…
Is Trump Getting Something Right? | Mind You Reflections on mental illness, mental health and life
By Marvin Ross With a Nay From Dr David Laing Dawson Since the Donald burst onto the political stage in 2016, Dr Dawson has been very critical of him. We even produced a collection of his Trump rantings from his first term called Two Years of Trump on the Psychiatrist's Couch which is still available…
Dear Senator Joe Martin of Maine | Mind You Reflections on mental illness, mental health and life
From Dr. David Laing Dawson Thank you for your invitation to secede from Canada and join the United States. I have always wanted to: 1. Reduce my life expectancy by 7 years 2. Give up universal health care. 3. Increase my chance of dying in a car accident by a factor of 2.5. 4. Increase…
The Deafening Silence – Canada’s Shameful Response to Growing Antisemitism | Mind You Reflections on mental illness, mental health and life
By Marvin Ross David's blog last week on the Trump/US Regime and its potential impact on Canada was depressing but what is even more depressing is what is happening in Canada and where we might end up if political leaders continue to do nothing. David said that Canada may be like Poland of 1937 but…
We Have Effective Treatment! | Mind You Reflections on mental illness, mental health and life
By Dr David Laing Dawson The other evening we parked in the entertainment and industrial area of Kelowna, on the way to attend a music event. My niece's two daughters were playing at the Redbird. As we pulled into a street space I noticed a young man hiding behind a car parked nearby. He clumsily…
Is the Invasion of Canada in our Future? | Mind You Reflections on mental illness, mental health and life
By Dr. David Laing Dawson Spending as much time as I am these days watching and reading about the collapse of American democracy and the behaviour of their dear leader, is unhealthy. I know this. I should be thinking of other things, and enjoying this last chapter of my life with family. But the image…
Status and Failures of Treatment for those with Severe Mental Illness in Canada | Mind You Reflections on mental illness, mental health and life
A FASMI (Family Alliance For Severe Mental Illness) interview with Professor emeritus of Psychiatry, Dr. Richard O'Reilly. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaEhNoZ_Pfg For more information about FASMI, visit https://www.fasmi.ca/ To contact us for further information, membership, or to donate, our e-mail address is fasmiadvocates@gmail.com
Are Governments Finally Exerting Oversight of Supportive Housing – It is About Time They Took Action | Mind You Reflections on mental illness, mental health and life
By Marvin Ross This blog is going to get me into more trouble than usual I suspect. My concern is that we have become so liberal bending over to accommodate some members of society that we do tremendous harm to the majority. From recent efforts in at least two provinces – Ontario and BC –…
Guest Post – Warehouse or Prison? The Consequences of Denied Treatment in Psychiatric Detention | Mind You Reflections on mental illness, mental health and life
Dr. John GrayIn some Canadian provinces, including Ontario, mental health legislation creates a paradox: individuals may be involuntarily admitted to hospital because treatment is deemed necessary for their safety or the safety of others—yet if they are found capable of making treatment decisions, they retain the legal right to refuse that very treatment. The person remains detained, unable…
Guest Blog: Report on the Legal Challenge to BC’s Mental Health Act from a Concerned Mother | Mind You Reflections on mental illness, mental health and life
Susan Inman In my community across Canada of families of people living with psychotic disorders like schizophrenia, BC is considered to have the best Mental Health Act. It ensures that our family members potentially have access to the fastest route to getting out of psychosis if they have relapses, which are not uncommon. People admitted…
Time is Running Out for Americans to Save Their Democracy | Mind You Reflections on mental illness, mental health and life
By Dr. David Laing Dawson It was difficult to imagine a country as large, as diverse, as so heavily populated in large cities, as the USA, being quelled by a central power, a dictatorship. Images of an ICE raid in Macarthur Park, military vehicles on a couple of city streets in a city of 4…
Is AI Worth the Hype? | Mind You Reflections on mental illness, mental health and life
By Marvin Ross My old university research AI - A library card catalogue. Last week we published a blog by Dr Dawson on the similarities of Trump's targeting of immigrants, refugees, trans people with how Hitler accomplished his support for the Holocaust by demonizing Jews, Gypsies and others. The title was Alligator Alcatraz: The Third…
Guest Blog: An Example of How Not to Plan Services for the Mentally Ill | Mind You Reflections on mental illness, mental health and life
By Kathy Mochnacki Supplied photo - homeless person in the very expensive Bloor Yonge Yorkville shopping area of Toronto Despite York Region in Ontario having very hardworking municipal politicians, people who are admired for their sincerity and interest in the welfare of our community, it appears they would prefer to be seen getting things done…
Alligator Alcatraz – the Third Reich, Immigrants, Jews and the Mentally Ill | Mind You Reflections on mental illness, mental health and life
By Dr. David Laing Dawson The manner in which the Nazi's dehumanized the Jews over more than a decade has been thoroughly studied. It was a long process of referring to Jews as animals, vermin, subhuman, dangerous, corrupt, and evil. It gradually brought some citizens to revel in the final solution, and inured the rest…
Questions and Answers About The Family Alliance On Severe Mental Illnesses (FASMI) | Mind You Reflections on mental illness, mental health and life
FASMI is a relatively new Canadian Not for Profit (we are applying for charitable status) to represent the interests of families of those with serious mental illnesses. Our board comes from across Canada and the following questions and answers are designed to give you more information about us and what we hope to accomplish. Further…
A Primer on Trump Semantics for Canada Day | Mind You Reflections on mental illness, mental health and life
By Dr David Laing Dawson I have listened to far more Trump speak than is good for my mental health. And now, when I hear pundits and political commentators explaining what he might mean by what he says, while applying an assumption that Donald J. Trump is a thoughtful empathic rational human being, I find…
We Need to Keep Focusing on the Plight of the Mentally Ill | Mind You Reflections on mental illness, mental health and life
By Dr. David Laing Dawson Some years ago I researched the amount of press received by the Ontario Hospital (psychiatric hospital, mental hospital), and mental illness in general, over the years in the Hamilton Spectator. (The Hamilton Spectator is the newspaper for the greater region of Hamilton, Ontario, founded in 1846.) As one might guess,…
The Negligence and Ongoing Disaster of Affordable Supportive Housing | Mind You Reflections on mental illness, mental health and life
By Marvin Ross One of the recurrent themes of this blog is the disaster that is supportive housing. People with disabilities often require affordable supportive housing to help them cope with their disabilities and their limited financial resources. Sadly, mental illness does not get sufficient hospital beds or trained professionals in Canada compared to other…
A Few More Steps to Full Dictatorship | Mind You Reflections on mental illness, mental health and life
By Dr. David Laing Dawson Already accomplished: 1.Create a threatening enemy. Dehumanize that enemy. Blame that enemy for all woes. 2. Undermine journalism and the free press. 3. Undermine all independent experts. 4. Assume control of Universities by threatening to defund them. 5. Create a cabinet of loyal idiots and sycophants. 6. Weaken and undermine…
A Wasted Expensive Band-aid for Homelessness, addiction and Mental Illness | Mind You Reflections on mental illness, mental health and life
By Marvin Ross The Hamilton Spectator just published a three part series based on one of their reporters having been embedded in the Emergency Room (ER) at St Joseph's Hospital in downtown Hamilton. The term embedded is usually used for press who embed with a military unit in an active war zone but the reporter…
Make America Health Again – The Movement Toward Fascism, Oligarchy, and Dictatorship | Mind You Reflections on mental illness, mental health and life
By Dr. David Laing Dawson Why is the fraudulent, unscientific, destructive, and stupid MAHA movement emerging now? Why are unscientific, debunked ideas finding foothold in 2025? Some of these RFK Jr, and MAHA ideas are cloaked in expert terminology, such as the notion that vaccines should be tested against placebo, but missing all the serious…
In Memorium – Annick Michelle Aubert – A Staunch Advocate for Serious Mental Illness | Mind You Reflections on mental illness, mental health and life
By Marvin Ross I was just starting to wonder about Annick who I had not heard from for a few weeks when her obituary turned up in the Globe and Mail. Her death was not unexpected at the age of 94 but she was a physical and intellectual powerhouse so it was very unexpected. I…
This Mental Health Month We Need Parity with Other Illnesses And Funding/Outcome Accountability | Mind You Reflections on mental illness, mental health and life
By Marvin Ross Thanks to Kiefer Sutherland's grandpa, Tommy Douglas the former premier of Saskatchewan and leader of the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation (CCF), Canadians enjoy universal health care. Sort of. This is May or Mental Health Month and universal health care for those with serious mental illnesses is hard to come by if at all.…
Guest Blog: A Plea to the Canadian Psychiatric Association | Mind You Reflections on mental illness, mental health and life
By Susan Inman As we finish another year’s painful exclusion of information about schizophrenia and anosognosia in Mental Health Awareness Month, all I can do with my frustration is look for help from the Canadian Psychiatric Association. After all, it’s only contemporary mainstream psychiatry that has allowed my daughter who has lived with schizophrenia for…
Happy Mother’s Day to the Heroes Who Fight For their Mentally Ill Kids | Mind You Reflections on mental illness, mental health and life
By Marvin Ross Having a child with an illness is difficult but when that illness is the very misunderstood serious mental illness like schizophrenia, it is a kick in the gut. As Laura Pogliano, a mother and advocate in Maryland wrote on the difference between her experience of having a child with serious mental illness…
The Maga War on Science | Mind You Reflections on mental illness, mental health and life
By Dr. David Laing Dawson It is a curious irony. In many interviews RFK Jr alludes to his childhood years during his uncle's presidency. The reference to “my uncle's presidency” is, of course, a self-aggrandizing reminder of his famous heritage. (Or perhaps it's similar to Trump frequently mentioning his Professor Uncle to buttress his arguments…