Skip to main content

The timeline can be navigated with the “Scroll Left” and “Scroll Right” buttons or by dragging the pointer to a date on the timeline waveform (located at the bottom of the screen on the desktop version and on the left of the screen on mobile). To filter by a particular topic and see a smaller section of the data, make a selection on the dropdown “Filters” menu or click “Search” to do a keyword search. Hover over the abbreviated filter tags in the blue boxes to see the complete name of the filter, or click a filter to display all the data with this tag. If you want to take a deeper dive into a specific topic by viewing a narrative essay page and a curated timeline, click on “Stories.”

Read More
In the center, a metal plate reads "Valium 5" and "90" in small font. Other objects are blurred, though shot appears to be a museum display.
Valium photographed in a special exhibition on "the mind" at the Melbourne Museum. (Photo: Mads Boedker)

Rise of psychiatric medication.

1963

PHA
MED
MHP
RAC
SRA
Valium photographed in a special exhibition on "the mind" at the Melbourne Museum. (Photo: Mads Boedker)

A new era of psychiatric treatment begins with the creation of numerous psychiatric medications. Valium (diazepam) is brought to the market by Roche in 1963, followed by the introduction of the monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI) class of antidepressants and antipsychotic haloperidol. This also corresponds with a rise in schizophrenia diagnoses for Black men, and continued racialized trends in the psychiatric internment of People of Color.