Stories by Bruce E. Levine

Bruce E. Levine, a practicing clinical psychologist, writes and speaks about how society, culture, politics and psychology intersect. His latest book is Get Up, Stand Up: Uniting Populists, Energizing the Defeated, and Battling the Corporate Elite. His Web site is www.brucelevine.net  subscribe to Bruce E. Levine's feed

Why Life in America Can Literally Drive You Insane

Posted on: Jul 30, 2013, Source: AlterNet

It's not just Big Pharma.

Are the Young People That Shrinks Label as Disruptive Really Anarchists with a Healthy Resistance to Oppressive Authority?

Posted on: Jun 14, 2013, Source: AlterNet

Many young people diagnosed with mental disorders have acted on their beliefs in ways that threaten authorities.

What's Behind ‘Substantial Increases’ in Suicide Rate for Middle-Aged Americans? Bad Economy Is Likely Culprit

Posted on: May 6, 2013, Source: AlterNet

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has some scary numbers.

Why the Newest Psychiatric Diagnostic Bible Will Be a Boon for Big Pharma

Posted on: Feb 8, 2013, Source: AlteNet

The DSM-5 will likely lead patients down a road of over-diagnosis and over-medication.

Does TV Help Make Americans Passive and Accepting of Authority?

Posted on: Oct 26, 2012, Source: AlterNet

Evidence suggests that the mere act of watching television may have a pacifying effect.

Why Are Americans So Easy to Manipulate and Control?

Posted on: Oct 11, 2012, Source: AlterNet

Shoppers, students, workers, and voters are all seen by consumerism and behaviorism the same way: passive, conditionable objects.

Take a Pill, Kill Your Sex Drive? 6 Reasons Antidepressants Are Misnamed

Posted on: Jul 10, 2012, Source: AlterNet

Two researchers say calling these medications "antidepressants" may make marketing sense -- but it's not very scientific.

How Psychiatry Stigmatizes Depression Sufferers

Posted on: Apr 9, 2012, Source: AlterNet

Viewing depression as a "brain defect" has resulted in the glorification of insipid happiness, particularly among our politicians.

How America's Obsession With Money Deadens Us

Posted on: Mar 18, 2012, Source: AlterNet

In a society that worships "one market under God," we are forced to be somewhat money-centric in order to survive. At what cost?

Would We Have Drugged Up Einstein? How Anti-Authoritarianism Is Deemed a Mental Health Problem

Posted on: Feb 20, 2012, Source: AlterNet

We are increasingly marketing drugs that essentially "cure" anti-authoritarians.

Will the Young Rise Up and Fight Their Indentured Servitude to the Student Loan Industry?

Posted on: Jan 24, 2012, Source: AlterNet

The solution to class exploitation and abuse is always the same: Get conscious, get angry, get energized, and get organized.

7 Reasons America's Mental Health Industry Is a Threat to Our Sanity

Posted on: Jan 5, 2012, Source: AlterNet

Drug industry corruption, scientifically unreliable diagnoses and pseudoscientific research have compromised the values of the psychiatric profession.

How Ayn Rand Seduced Generations of Young Men and Helped Make the U.S. Into a Selfish, Greedy Nation

Posted on: Dec 15, 2011, Source: AlterNet

Thanks in part to Rand, the United States is one of the most uncaring nations in the industrialized world.

How the Occupy Movement Helped Americans Move Beyond Denial and Depression to Action

Posted on: Dec 5, 2011, Source: AlterNet

The spirit of liberation psychology--a tradition from Latin American protest movements--has been embraced by U.S. Occupy participants.

When the World Outlawed War: An Interview with David Swanson

Posted on: Nov 21, 2011, Source: AlterNet

For those who know war only through television, criminalizing it sounds like proposing to criminalize government. But there was a time when the masses made war illegal.

400% Rise in Anti-Depressant Pill Use: Americans Are Disempowered -- Can the OWS Uprising Shake Us Out of Our Depression?

Posted on: Oct 26, 2011, Source: AlterNet

Is it time to repoliticize a great deal of our despair, and reconsider the old-fashioned antidepressant of political activism?

How Can We Rouse Police and Other Protectors of the Corporatocracy -- "Guards" of the Status Quo -- to Join the OWS Rebellion?

Posted on: Oct 20, 2011, Source: AlterNet

Police, teachers, the corporate press, mental health professionals -- the guards of the system -- are given small rewards to pacify and control the population.

How Anti-Authoritarians Can Transcend their Sense of Hopelessness and Fight Back

Posted on: Sep 28, 2011, Source: AlterNet

How can anti-authoritarian critical thinkers rise above their pessimism and really fight for change?

3 Things That Must Happen for Us To Rise Up and Defeat the Corporatocracy

Posted on: Aug 25, 2011, Source: AlterNet

Most Americans oppose rule by the corporatocracy but don't have the tools to fight back. Here are three things we need to create a real people's movement.

8 Reasons Young Americans Don't Fight Back: How the US Crushed Youth Resistance

Posted on: Jul 31, 2011, Source: AlterNet

The ruling elite has created social institutions that have subdued young Americans and broken their spirit of resistance.

10 Steps to Defeat the Corporatocracy

Posted on: May 20, 2011, Source: AlterNet

The only way to overcome the power of money is regain our courage and solidarity. Here's how to do that.

Get Up, Stand Up: Uniting Populists, Energizing the Defeated, and Battling the Corporate Elite

Posted on: May 13, 2011, Source: Chelsea Green Publishing

Author Bruce Levine describes how government-corporate alliances have created a passive populace, and how Americans can recover dignity, unity, and the energy to do battle.

"Get Up, Stand Up": Do Americans Have What It Takes to Stand Up to Corporate Power and Does Wisconsin Offer Hope?

Posted on: Mar 15, 2011, Source: AlterNet

Bruce Levine discusses his upcoming book "Get Up, Stand Up," which analyzes why Americans have been crushed into inaction and how recent events in Wisc. offer hope for change.

Are Antidepressants a Scam? 5 Myths About How to Treat Depression

Posted on: Dec 5, 2010, Source: AlterNet

Many treatments for depression are no more effective than placebos.

American Soldiers Brainwashed with "Positive Thinking"

Posted on: Jul 27, 2010, Source: AlterNet

The U.S. military has become increasingly excited about positive psychology techniques. Maybe a better route would be to offer soldiers respect for their critical thinking

Are Prozac and Other Psychiatric Drugs Causing the Astonishing Rise of Mental Illness in America?

Posted on: Apr 28, 2010, Source: AlterNet

An interview with investigative reporter Robert Whitaker, about the dramatic increase in mental illness disability and its surprising cause.

Drugged Warriors: Sharp Rise in U.S. Military Psychiatric Drug Use and Suicide

Posted on: Apr 5, 2010, Source: AlterNet

Soldiers deployed in combat zones are taking quantities of psychiatric drugs -- and military suicides are on the rise.

Are Americans Too Broken by Corporate Power to Resist?

Posted on: Mar 22, 2010, Source: OpEdNews.com

We need to take a look at what forces in American society are preventing people from being able to resist tyranny and dehumanization.

Are Progressives Depressed or Too Privileged to Produce Social Change? Or Are We Just Failing to Organize Effectively?

Posted on: Jan 6, 2010, Source: AlterNet

Real change seems almost impossible. What are we doing wrong?

Are Americans a Broken People? Why We've Stopped Fighting Back Against the Forces of Oppression

Posted on: Dec 11, 2009, Source: AlterNet

A psychologist asks: Have consumerism, suburbanization and a malevolent corporate-government partnership so beaten us down that we no longer have the will to save ourselves?

Big Pharma Bribes Doctors to Hook Your Kids on Drugs

Posted on: Jul 16, 2009, Source: AlterNet

Americans must start to question the legitimacy of the exploitative pharmaceutical-industrial complex and the predatory people atop them.

The Case for Giving Eli Lilly the Corporate Death Penalty

Posted on: Mar 3, 2009, Source: AlterNet

At this point, the pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly is basically a public menace.

Army Suicides in January Outnumbered Combat Deaths

Posted on: Feb 11, 2009, Source: AlterNet

The NIMH is spending $50 million on research to figure out why. Doesn't common sense tell us enough?

Psychiatry's 'Shock Doctrine': Are We Really OK With Electroshocking Toddlers?

Posted on: Feb 3, 2009, Source: AlterNet

Many Americans think electroconvulsive therapy has been abandoned. But American psychiatry still regards it as a respected treatment, even for kids.

What's It Going to Take to Lock Up Drug Company Execs?

Posted on: Jan 15, 2009, Source: AlterNet

A recent article in the New England Journal of Medicine reveals the shocking extent of how corrupt drug companies are.

Renowned Psychiatrists on Drug Company Payrolls

Posted on: Dec 2, 2008, Source: AlterNet

Money from pharmaceutical companies has corrupted much of the psychiatric profession.

Has American Society Gone Insane?

Posted on: Sep 10, 2008, Source: AlterNet

America's mental health problems may be more than a matter of some "unadjusted" individuals. The entire culture might well need adjusting.

Does It Make Sense to Treat Depression with Drugs?

Posted on: Aug 14, 2008, Source: AlterNet

Depression is rooted in overwhelming emotional pain. Talk therapy is a successful, commonsense antidote, but pushing pills pays more.

Has Big Pharma Corruption Suppressed Effective Treatment Options?

Posted on: Jul 23, 2008, Source: AlterNet

Establishment psychiatry is under attack in Congress. Investigators are recognizing that not all mental health treatments come in a pill.

The Science of Happiness: Is It All Bullshit?

Posted on: Jul 3, 2008, Source: AlterNet

Just because a Harvard academic says something is so, doesn't mean it is.

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