A few days ago, I received the following email: Hi Phil, I would like to hear from you how we can survive the bipolar disorder, as I understand bipolar is a very serious disease. Regards, [Name] The question seems important enough to warrant a more public response, though I have omitted the writer’s name to… Continue Reading
Archives for February 2011
More On Disability
In his book Anatomy of an Epidemic, Robert Whitaker drew attention to the increasing numbers on the Social Security disability rolls due to so-called mental illness. Robert raises the possibility that the drugs routinely used to “treat” depression may be contributing to the problem. In a recent post, he discusses this matter further. I think… Continue Reading
Business As Usual
Christopher Lane, author of Shyness has written an interesting post. The gist of the matter is as follows. There’s a class of drugs known as benzodiazepines (benzos for short) that are promoted by Pharma and prescribed by psychiatrists to “treat” anxiety. (As if anxiety were an illness!) See my post on the So-called Anxiety Disorders. Benzos… Continue Reading
Overeating Is Not An Illness
DSM lists two principal “illnesses” under the heading Eating Disorders: anorexia nervosa and bulimia. Anorexia Nervosa means chronic and pernicious fasting even though food is readily available. “Anorexia” is Greek for lack of appetite. “Nervosa” is Greek for nervous. Bulimia means recurrent episodes of binge eating followed by self-induced vomiting or other methods of purging. … Continue Reading