Alternative perspective on psychiatry’s so-called mental disorders PHILIP HICKEY, PH.D.
I am a licensed psychologist, presently retired. I have worked in clinical and managerial positions in the mental health, corrections, and addictions fields in the United States and England. My wife and I have been married since 1970 and have four grown children.
The phrase “mental health” as used in the name of this website is simply a term of convenience. It specifically does not imply that the human problems embraced by this term are illnesses, or that their absence constitutes health. Indeed, the fundamental tenet of this site is that there are no mental illnesses, and that conceptualizing human problems in this way is spurious, destructive, disempowering, and stigmatizing.
The purpose of this website is to provide a forum where current practices and ideas in the mental health field can be critically examined and discussed. It is not possible in this kind of context to provide psychological help or advice to individuals who may read this site, and nothing written here should be construed in this manner. Readers seeking psychological help should consult a qualified practitioner in their own local area. They should explain their concerns to this person and develop a trusting working relationship. It is only in a one-to-one relationship of this kind that specific advice should be given or taken.
I too have been digonisoed with bi- polar 11. and hve been taken lithium for the last twney four years, since 1991 nd I find that iam bter off and can fuction better without them
A Reader
The APA's New Image
On April 25, 2014, Jeffrey Lieberman, MD, then President of the APA, announced that the association had engaged the services of Porter Novelli, a prestigious PR company based in Washington DC and currently operating in 60 different countries.
"Mindful of the continuing stigma associated with mental illness and psychiatric treatment, we retained an outside consultant agency (Porter Novelli) to review APA’s communications capabilities, needs, and opportunities. Based on its report, we are now moving forward with an initiative to enact a sophisticated and proactive communications plan that will be directed both internally to APA members and externally to the media, mental health stakeholder groups, and the general public."
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Psychiatry: The Hoax Exposed
It’s no secret that at the present time, psychiatry is reeling under a barrage of scrutiny and criticism. Their long-standing contention that all significant problems of thinking, feeling, and/or behaving are brain illnesses “just like diabetes”, which need to be “treated” with drugs and high-voltage electric shocks to the brain, has been thoroughly discredited. And yet they go on peddling their spurious , self-serving ideology and the products of their pharma partners.
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Depleted to Undefeated: PTSD and Me
The basis of my story is rooted in my own, unique experience with medical and psychiatric treatment for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). This writing is not intended to convince or influence the necessity or use of mental health professionals. Rather, it is my perspective of what did, is, or will contribute to my personal journey towards a permanently healthier mental state.
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The Inherent Unreliability of the ADHD Label
I imagine that everybody on this side of the issue knows by now that the eminent psychiatrist Jeffrey Lieberman, MD, Chief Psychiatrist at Columbia, and past President of the APA, called Robert Whitaker “a menace to society.”
This outburst of petulance – the latest in a string of similar deprecations – occurred on April 26, 2015 during an interview with Michael Enright on CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) radio’s “The Sunday Edition.” The grounds for Dr. Lieberman’s vituperation were that Robert had dared to challenge some of psychiatry’s most sacred tenets!
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Stigmatization of Psychiatry and Psychiatrists
On February 27, 2015, European Psychiatry published a paper titled EPA guidance on how to improve the image of psychiatry and of the psychiatrist. The paper was authored by D. Bhugra et al. EPA is the European Psychiatric Association. Dr. Bhugra is a psychiatrist who works at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience, King’s College, London, and is also President of the World Psychiatric Association. There are thirteen co-authors, most of whom are also psychiatrists.
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Book Review: <b>Depression Delusion</b>, by Terry Lynch, MD, MA
In this truly remarkable, and meticulously researched, volume, Dr. Lynch annihilates psychiatry’s cherished chemical imbalance theory of depression. Every facet of this theory, which the author correctly calls a delusion, is critically analyzed and found wanting. Example after example is provided of psychiatrists promoting this fiction, the factual and logical errors of which are clearly exposed in Dr. Lynch’s lucid, seamless, and highly readable prose.
The book runs to 343 pages, and is laden with factual details, case studies, alternative perspectives, and hard-hitting commentary. Dr. Lynch does not sit on the sidelines, nor does he seek any kind of collegial compromise with the chemical imbalance theory, which he unambiguously denounces as a groundless and destructive falsehood. Here are some quotes that I think will convey something of the content, style, and cogency of this vitally important work.
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Delusions
BACKGROUND
DSM-5 defines delusions as “…fixed beliefs that are not amenable to change in the light of conflicting evidence.” (p 87). The manual lists six kinds of delusions: persecutory; referential; grandiose; erotomanic; nihilistic; and somatic. The APA provides another definition of delusions on p 819. It’s substantially the same as the one above, but offers the additional varieties: bizarre; delusional jealousy; mixed type; mood-congruent; mood-incongruent; of being controlled; thought broadcasting; and thought insertion. Interestingly, nihilistic delusions are omitted from the second list. These, we are told on page 87, “…involve the conviction that a major catastrophe will occur.”
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Psychiatric Diagnoses are Just Labels: Re-wordings of the Presenting Problem
Imagine that you’re not feeling well, and you visit Dr. Ducknoise. The doctor asks you questions, nods knowingly at your answers, asks more questions, perhaps jots down some notes. Finally, he nods gravely.
"What is it, doc?" you ask. "You've got UTW disorder," he replies grimly. "What's that?" "Under-the-weather disorder. It's a serious illness. It's why you have been feeling poorly." "What causes it?" you ask. "Imbalances in the blood." "How do you know I've got it?" "Because you have been feeling poorly." "Can you help?"
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The Great Non-Debate with Samei Huda, MD
Yesterday I received the following tweet from Dr. Huda:
"funnily enough my time availability hasn't changed in 24 hours. I have however written one more page. Are u ever in UK?"
From which I must conclude, sadly, that the debate, to which I had been so looking forward, seems unlikely to materialize. For the benefit of readers who might have come late to this interaction, here is a brief summary of what happened.
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