How Psychiatry Lost Its Way- Dr. Fred Moss on Psychiatric Truth and Creative Healing

2025-05-22

Episode Summary: What if your diagnosis isn’t your destiny—and the real problem isn’t you, but the system that told you something was wrong in the first place? In this bold and eye-opening episode, James sits down with Dr. Fred Moss, a former psychiatrist who spent 45 years inside the mental health system—only to walk away. Known today as The UNDoctor, Fred now helps people “UNdiagnose, UNmedicate, and UNindoctrinate” themselves through creativity, communication, and conscious choice. We talk about the origins of the modern psychiatric model, the myth of the chemical imbalance, and why discomfort isn’t a disorder—it’s...

Episode Summary:

What if your diagnosis isn’t your destiny—and the real problem isn’t you, but the system that told you something was wrong in the first place?

In this bold and eye-opening episode, James sits down with Dr. Fred Moss, a former psychiatrist who spent 45 years inside the mental health system—only to walk away. Known today as The UNDoctor, Fred now helps people “UNdiagnose, UNmedicate, and UNindoctrinate” themselves through creativity, communication, and conscious choice.

We talk about the origins of the modern psychiatric model, the myth of the chemical imbalance, and why discomfort isn’t a disorder—it’s part of being human. Fred shares how 100,000+ prescriptions and 30,000 patients eventually pushed him to break the cycle, and how healing actually begins when we stop trying to be “fixed.”

This episode is for anyone who’s ever questioned their diagnosis, their medication—or what it really means to be okay.

Show Notes with Chapter Markers:

Episode Title: Welcome to Humanity: Dr. Fred Moss on Psychiatric Truth and Creative Healing

Chapter Markers:

[00:00] What If the Problem Isn’t You? – Redefining the “disorder”
[03:00] Growing Up in Chaos & Learning to Communicate – Fred’s early love of human connection
[08:00] A Job That Was Supposed to Last 3 Weeks – How a childcare gig changed everything
[10:00] The Birth of a Healer – First encounters with barbaric psychiatry
[13:00] Why Prozac Changed Everything – The rise of biological psychiatry
[15:00] The Thousand-Cut Career – When prescribing becomes soul-sacrifice
[17:00] The Razor Blade in the Band-Aid – Medication as symptom generator
[20:00] The Mindset That Keeps People Stuck – Why people fight to keep their diagnosis
[22:00] Becoming The UNDoctor – Shifting from psychiatrist to life coach
[26:00] On Anxiety, Sunday Scaries & Social Media – Real talk on what’s “normal”
[29:00] 20 Ways to Manage Discomfort – Non-pharma tools for being human
[33:00] The Power of Creativity – Art, gardening, dancing & expression as healing
[36:00] Agency & Sovereignty – The reminder no one gives you
[40:00] “I Just Want to Be Better” – Why medication won’t get you there
[45:00] The Starting Line – Step one for those wanting a different way
[48:00] Welcome to Humanity – The messy truth and beautiful possibility