About Phil Hickey Ph.D

I am a licensed psychologist, presently retired. I have worked in clinical and managerial positions in the mental health, corrections, and addictions fields in the United States and England. My wife Nancy and I have been married since 1970 and have four grown children.

The Consumers Strike Back

April 1, 2013 By Phil Hickey |

There’s a new post on SOAP – How to Escape from a Psychiatric Hospital. It’s light-hearted in tone, but relevant and significant in its implications. It discusses three ways to escape: make a run for it; play the game; and the tribunal. In its undertones, the article levels a number of valid and accurate criticisms… Continue Reading

DSM-5 Inter-Rater Reliability is Low

March 30, 2013 By Phil Hickey |

BACKGROUND There’s an article by Jack Carney, DSW, on this topic on Mad in America. Jack refers to the DSM-5 field trials published earlier this year in the American Journal of Psychiatry. Inter-rater reliability is measured by a statistic called a kappa score. A score of 1 means perfect inter-rater agreement; a score of 0… Continue Reading

Shock “Treatment” Is Not Safe and Provides Little If Any Benefit

March 27, 2013 By Phil Hickey |

DELICATE THINGS REQUIRE DELICATE HANDLING When I was a teenager, one of my hobbies was making small transistor radios. It sounds complicated, but is well within the reach of an average 15-year-old. You get some magazine articles, learn how to read a circuit, and learn how to use a soldering iron. A transistor is a… Continue Reading

Psychiatric “Diagnoses” for Children

March 26, 2013 By Phil Hickey |

Today, courtesy of Monica, I came across an article by Marilyn Wedge, PhD. It’s called Six Problems with Psychiatric Diagnosis for Children. You can read it here. Here are some quotes: “Psychiatric diagnoses contained in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders are not classified by causes like genuine medical diseases.” “Perhaps worst of… Continue Reading