Myth of Mental Illness

Recently, courtesy of Hersteltalent on Twitter, I came across this newspaper article: Doctors Urge Mental Health Screenings with Physicals. It appeared in USA Today, and was written by Jessica Contrera of the Lafayette, Indiana Journal and Courier. Dateline March 12. The gist of the article, which is written for the general public, is that when you go in to your doctor for a check-up, you should ask for a mental evaluation as well. The article reminds us that “25% of American adults suffer from some form of mental illness each year.” ...

In my earlier post on this topic, I mentioned that benzo withdrawal can be dangerous, but it’s been drawn to my attention, by Monica, that perhaps I didn’t adequately stress how dangerous it can be in some cases. If you click here, you can read Monica’s own account of her experience in a detox center in Florida. It’s a thought-provoking article. Because for many years benzos were dished out so liberally, there is still a mistaken perception that they are relatively safe and benign, which is not the case. ...

I’ve recently come across (courtesy of Tallaght Trialogue) an article in Current Psychiatry (Feb 2013) on this topic. The author is Henry A. Nasrallah, M.D., and you can see it here. Dr. Nasrallah, who is Editor-in-Chief of Current Psychiatry, states that there are 273 bio-markers for schizophrenia. But wait. Dr. Nasrallah goes on to say: "None of the individual 273 biomarkers alone can serve as a diagnostic tool for the schizophrenias because there will be high rates of false positives and false negatives." ...

On March 5, 2013, a bipartisan panel of leading mental health experts and parents of children with “mental disorders” held a conversation (that’s newspeak for meeting) in Washington D.C. on the topic: Violence and Severe Mental Illness. The invited panelists were: Thomas Insel, MD, Director of NIMH Harold Koplewicz, MD, President of Child Mind Institute E. Fuller Torrey, MD, Founder of Treatment Advocacy Center Michael Welner, MD, Founder and Chairman of The Forensic Panel Michael Fitzpatrick, MSW, Director of NAMI And three parents of "diagnosed" children ...

First story In the early 70’s I worked in Grendon Prison in England. The facility was run on the lines of a therapeutic community – lots of meetings, groups, etc… One of the prisoners – let’s call him William – was serving time for burglary. He was about 24 years old, and during his intake interviews he told us that he was a member of a small quasi-religious sect who believed that doomsday was imminent and that they would be the chosen few. He talked about these matters openly and with a good measure of passion, and after a few weeks the other prisoners were describing him as “crazy” and a “nutcase.” ...

The central theme of this website is that there are no mental illnesses, and that the widespread medicalization of ordinary human problems is spurious and destructive. These concepts have been around for decades, but in the last four or five years have “taken off,” and are finding a good deal of acceptance among practitioners, academics, clients, and the general public. Change is in the air. A matter that is sometimes overlooked, however, is that the concept of “mental illness” and its “treatment” by psychiatrists and other professionals is deeply embedded in the legal system of most states and countries. ...

One of the central themes on this website is that psychiatric diagnoses are spurious and have no explanatory value. This contention is central to my entire argument, and for this reason I thought it might be useful to discuss the matter in some detail. Let’s start by examining what is meant by an explanation. Almost as soon as a child can talk, he begins to ask questions. He asks why does it rain; why does grass grow; why is the sun hot; why is iron hard; why does wood float on water; why do cats eat mice; and so on. What the child is doing is trying to find meaning and system in the world which he sees and feels and tastes and hears and smells. He is looking for explanations. So, for instance, if a child were to ask: “Why is iron hard?” a conscientious parent who had some scientific background might venture an explanation like this: “Because the molecules in the iron are bound together in a way which prevents them from moving around too much. By contrast, the molecules in soft substances, like water, are not bound as tightly, and so they move apart when you stick your finger in. The molecules in the iron won’t move apart easily – you would have to hit them with a hammer and chisel to get them apart.” ...

Until just a few years ago, the spurious nature of mental illness received little or no attention either in professional circles or in the general media. There were a few of us “cranks” who poked away at the issue, but peer condemnation was usually swift and outspoken. On one occasion I was called an “anti-science Nazi” for daring to suggest that the condition known as ADHD might have more to do with ineffective parental discipline than with brain chemistry. We were voices in the wilderness. ...

This post is a continuation of my post Steven Novella M.D. and Mental Illness Denial. In Mental Illness Denial Part I, Dr. Novella makes the point that various parts of the brain enable us to do certain things, and that if we are doing these things dysfunctionally, or not well, or perhaps not at all, then clearly there is something wrong with that part of the brain. The example he gives is the activity of paying attention – but I think this is provided as an example, and that Dr. Novella intended his comments to apply to the full range of problems embraced by the DSM. ...

As most readers of this website are aware, there is a great deal of resistance to the soon-to-be-released DSM-5. There is even a Boycott DSM-5 Committee established by Jack Carney, and many people are suggesting that practitioners use the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) International Classification of Diseases (ICD) instead. In the general context of this debate, I have come across an article by Philip Thomas, M.D. – “Pinball Wizards and the Doomed Project of Psychiatric Diagnosis." Dr. Thomas points out that “…it’s hard to imagine that the criticisms raised about DSM-5 won’t also apply to the ICD.” ...