Dr. Joanna Moncrieff is a psychiatrist, professor, author, and one of the most fearless and influential thinkers in modern mental health. For over thirty years, Dr. Moncrieff has stood at the center of psychiatry, not to defend it blindly, but to question its foundations, to hold it accountable, and to tell the truth; even when the truth was inconvenient. She is a Professor of Critical and Social Psychiatry at University College London, a consultant psychiatrist in the UK’s National Health Service, and the co-founder of the Critical Psychiatry Network - a global collective of psychiatrists challenging the chemical narratives that have shaped and distorted our understanding of mental illness for decades. For years, we’ve been told that depression is caused by a “chemical imbalance,” that our despair is a disorder, and that our suffering is a malfunction; but Dr. Moncrieff has spent her life asking the question most were too afraid to ask: “What if we got this wrong?” In 2022, she co-authored one of the most important studies in psychiatric history, a landmark meta-analysis that dismantled the serotonin theory of depression, revealing that the scientific basis for one of the most widely accepted explanations for mental illness simply doesn’t exist. Her latest book, Chemically Imbalanced, goes further; it doesn’t just challenge the pharmaceutical narrative; it exposes the social, political, and economic systems that have medicalized emotion and pathologized pain; and it is a call to reclaim our right to feel, to grieve, to question, and to be human without shame or sedation. Beyond the research and the resistance, Dr. Moncrieff is much more: She’s a doctor who has sat across from real people in real pain and never stopped asking what was missing from the way we care and a woman who has walked through the noise of a multi-billion-dollar industry and emerged with her conscience and her courage intact with no intent to burn it down; but to build something better.
Connect with Dr. Moncrieff:
Website - https://joannamoncrieff.com
Is there a guest you’d love to see on @notyourordinaryparts? Follow @notyourordinaryparts on Instagram and tag them.
If this episode resonated with you follow @notyourordinaryparts on Instagram and interact with the host, guests, and other listeners. Like, subscribe, follow, and share with anyone you think would find this helpful.
Life can be hard at times and if you’re like me, you may tend to think that you can handle it all on your own. Maybe you’ve done such a good job of “managing for so long” having to do something different or talk to someone can feel uncomfortable. The idea of therapy, to me, felt like I had to admit that there was something wrong with me or that I’d be showing the world that I was broken or didn't have it all together… but when my health started to suffer, and I was anxious 24/7… I realized my body was trying to tell me something was wrong and I learned that there is no “good health” without mental health. Therapy was the answer for me, it helped me put down all of the heavy things that I was carrying that didn’t belong to me. While therapy can provide so much relief, finding a therapist can feel so daunting. BetterHelp, the sponsor of today’s video, has done so much to make finding a therapist and starting therapy so much easier! BetterHelp is the world's largest online therapy platform whose mission is making professional therapy accessible, affordable, and convenient — so anyone who struggles with life's challenges can get help. BetterHelp connects you with a licensed therapist who is trained to listen and give you helpful, unbiased advice. Over 4 million people have used BetterHelp to start living a healthier, happier life. If you’re struggling, please visit - https://betterhelp.com/notyourordinaryparts for 10% off your first month.
