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A NEW PARADIGM I’ve recently read an interesting article by Jacqui Dillon, Lucy Johnstone and Eleanor Longden. It’s titled Trauma, Dissociation, Attachment &Neuroscience: A new paradigm for understanding severe mental distress. The article was published in the Journal of Critical Psychology, Counselling and Psychotherapy (Vol 12, No 3, September 2012) Here are some quotes: "A new and profoundly important paradigm for understanding overwhelming emotional pain has emerged over the last few years, with the potential to change the way we conceptualise human suffering across the whole spectrum of mental health difficulties. It is a strongly evidence-based synthesis of findings from trauma studies, attachment theory and neuroscience, which offers new hope for recovery. It also presents a powerful challenge to biomedical model psychiatry in that it is based on scientific evidence that substantiates and attests to what many individuals with first-hand experience of mental health problems have always known –– that the bad things that happen to you can drive you mad." ...

The late George Albee, psychologist, never accepted the medical model of behavioral/emotional problems. He fought tirelessly for years to insulate psychology from the encroaching medicalization of its subject matter, and he died in 2006 believing that his efforts had failed. He authored more than 200 articles. As early as the 50’s and 60’s, he argued that social factors such as racism, poverty, and child abuse were largely responsible for the conditions known as mental illness. ...

I’ve recently come across an article by Ronald Pies MD on PsychCentral. It’s titled: Are the Puritans Behind the War on Antidepressants? Here’s the opening paragraph: "These are not good times for Prozac and its progeny. In the popular media, the use of antidepressants has been likened to swallowing 'expensive Tic-Tacs', while in professional journals, the effectiveness of these medications has been challenged, if not discounted. And even a casual Google search under the terms, “Antidepressants damage” turns up thousands of websites and articles claiming that these drugs cause brain damage, induce suicide, or lead to 'addiction.' Yikes!" ...

On May 27, David Brooks, a New York Times columnist, wrote a piece on psychiatry called Heroes of Uncertainty. It’s an interesting and somewhat contradictory article. Here are some quotes: "As the handbook’s [DSM-5] many critics have noted, psychiatrists use terms like 'mental disorder' and 'normal behavior,' but there is no agreement on what these concepts mean." "What psychiatrists call a disease is usually just a label for a group of symptoms." ...

On March 12 of this year, the Los Angeles Daily News ran an article by Susan Abram titled: Doctors report big pharma payouts for drug endorsements. It discusses the financial ties between physicians and drug companies in California. Here are some quotes: "In fact, hundreds of physicians, psychiatrists, and medical school faculty members across California are on the payroll of major drug companies, earning tens of thousands of dollars for speaking to other medical professionals at events held by industry leaders that make drugs such as Advair, Cymbalta, Viagra and Zoloft." ...

Thanks to Tommy Morrela on Twitter, I’ve become aware of The Wellbeing Foundation. They are located in Ireland. Here are some quotes from their About Us page. "To call human suffering a disease, something pathological, is deluded. The biological model of psychological distress has no basis in science; it takes away from the equation between 'healer', sufferer and society the need for understanding, compassion, healing, prevention and social and political change. The medicalisation of problems of living has to stop. We have a collective duty of care to bring about the destruction of psychiatry in its present form." ...

There’s an article in the current (May/June) issue of The National Psychologist called Compulsive pleasing is deceptive and dangerous. It’s written by Les Barbanell, EdD. (The National Psychologist is a newspaper-type publication for psychologists. It’s published in Ohio, in the US. Some of their material is posted online, but this article is not.) The article is about “the Caretaker Personality Disorder (CPD),” which apparently Dr. Barbanell invented in 2006 and has been promoting since. ...

I’ve recently come across an October 2012 article by Ted Chabasinski. It’s on Mad in America and it’s called: Our Task Is to Take Away the Power of Psychiatry. Ted tells us that he was was subjected to electric shock “treatment” when he was six years old. You can see a brief bio here. Here are some quotes from the October 2012 article: "Those who benefit from the way things are now won’t give up their money and power without a huge fight." ...

BACKGROUND On 19 April, The Conversation ran an article titled Mental disorders: debunking some myths of the DSM-5, by Perminder Sachdev, MD. Dr. Sachdev is a psychiatrist, and was a member of the DSM-5’s Neurocognitive Disorders Work Group. He works at the School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Australia. (Thanks to Dave Traxson on Twitter for the link.) ANALYSIS Let’s start with the title. “…debunking some myths of the DSM-5.” This sounds good. You might get the impression that he’s going to address the myth of mental illness – the myth that all human problems are illnesses and are best treated by drugs. But – alas – you would be mistaken. Dr. Sachdev lists four myths that he plans to debunk. He refers to these as the “…four key criticisms about DSM-5…” Let’s examine what he says about these one by one. ...

BACKGROUND On May 17, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a report titled Mental Health Surveillance Among Children – United States, 2005-2011. The CDC is based in Atlanta, Georgia and is a part of the US Department of Health and Human Services. The CDC’s report runs to 40 pages, including tables and references. It received a fair amount of media coverage, and will likely inform legislation and other government action for several years. ...