By now I guess everybody knows that psychiatry is under attack. The attack is four-pronged: the “diagnoses” are spurious; the drugs are damaging; the deception is blatant and deliberate; and the ties to Big Pharma are corrupting. I have discussed all of these topics in great detail throughout the website.
This week I’ve come across interesting responses from two different psychiatrists.
First, Adrian Preda, MD, from California. Dr. Preda apparently attributes at least some of the anti-psychiatry groundswell to the ignorance of the general public and the bias of the media, whom he contrasts to the well-informed experts who understand the nuances. The article is brief and vague, but by experts I think he means psychiatrists!
It reminds me of the old joke:
Q: What’s the difference between a psychiatrist and God?
A: God doesn’t think he’s a psychiatrist.
The second (and completely contrasting) reaction is from Daniel Johnson, a psychiatrist from Ashville, North Carolina. Dr. Johnson reportedly saw the light after reading an article by Dr. Marcia Angell. He has also worked with Dr. Peter Breggin. He decided to start listening to his clients rather than trying to fit them into “diagnostic” cubby holes. There’s an idea!
Dr. Johnson is currently tapering his clients off their drugs and providing individual and group therapy. He has also done a lot of apologizing to his clients for the previous drugging. (“They put a lot of trust in me, and I feel like I led them astray.”)
WOW!