Psychiatry Needs Reform

originally posted by: Nothin
That's really the basis of Western medicine, though, isn't it?
Emergency intervention?

That's what it used to be, almost exclusively. However, after the turn of the last century there was a kind of shift in thought where along with basic emergency treatment ordinary people started to use drugs and nutrition and surgery to enhance themselves and their children even if nothing was functionally wrong with them. We all wanted to become supermen with strength and beauty and intelligence and pure thoughts.

originally posted by: KansasGirl
a reply to: EducationSeeker


I'm not sure there can be a blanket statement about this, and also, in the video about "medication spellbinding" this guy says some misleading and inaccurate things.

One can't compare Lithium to Effexor. He calls them "psychoactive substances" that impair cognitive behavior. Lithium does that- it's an opiate or benzodiazapene type, but Prozac and Effexor arent. Those are SSRIs and the effects are not the same as Lithium.

So that misleading thing right there makes him less trustworthy.

Meaningless details and pretty sure Fluoxetine (Prozac) is psychoactive and also functions as a receptor for other nasties given to you by the good ol doc.

Venlafaxine is also a psychoactive substance.

But everyone is free to pick their poisons.

originally posted by: EducationSeeker

originally posted by: Blaine91555
a reply to: Nothin

It should give a person pause when Breggin says right in the OP's video that even Schizophrenia has nothing to do with a "biochemical imbalance" when it's known that dopamine plays a role, along with abnormalities in the brain.

Untrue.

You have no proof of that.

You are posting as if you are an expert. Are you a licensed medical professional? How much experience in the field do you have? Any degree's?

I fully agree there is a real problem with the pharmaceutical companies, but not being a licensed professional, I'd never try to peddle advice to anyone to not take meds given them by a qualified person and I'd never jump in bed with a person viewed as a quack by their peers.

I have seen what happens to people whose fears have been fed by radical idea's, who stop taking their meds. It destroys their lives. I've watched it play out with coworkers twice now and it destroyed them. People like this hero of yours play a part in destroying their lives, by reinforcing their psychosis.

A guy practicing out of his home, peddling books, is hardly the equivalent of an expert in a clinical setting dispensing care based on actual studies and clinical experience. He's like the MD's who take advantage of cancer patients with worthless therapies to enrich themselves.

a reply to: Blaine91555

Very aggressive debate strategy,


I still would trust a medicine man, or a snake oil salesman, over a psychiatrist or a doctor.

a reply to: Blaine91555

I am a diligent researcher who is dedicated to making this a better world for we the people.

I trust my own reason and my intuition and reserve the right to shout it from the rooftops.

Dr. Peter Breggin is a man of integrity and courage who speaks truth to power. As I've stated before, he volunteered in a mental hospital when he was an undergraduate and found out what could be done with patients treating them with respect and listening to them. He knows what he knows because he's lived it.

a reply to: EducationSeeker

Fair enough. We agree on the need for action regarding the pharmaceutical companies, but we will have to disagree on the other.

My view on that is from personal observation and watching two people ruin their own lives by convincing themselves the doctors are out to get them and by not taking their prescribed meds. They both went from normal, happy people living normal lives to total wrecks living on the streets in a state of constant paranoia. The difference between them on meds and off was breathtaking. Both high IQ individuals who convinced themselves the doctors were out to get them.

a reply to: EducationSeeker

Do you mean only the chemicals we ingest? As in hormones of serotonin, dopamin etc. have no effect on us?

originally posted by: Blaine91555
a reply to: EducationSeeker
They both went from normal, happy people living normal lives to total wrecks living on the streets in a state of constant paranoia.

If they were normal, happy people living normal lives, what were they prescribed meds for?

a reply to: thenomad

You're right hormones have an effect on us, but that is Mother Nature at work, which is what we need to not tamper with.

a reply to: EducationSeeker

I somehow think you understood what I meant, but I'll reply. When they were cooperating with their doctors, they were able to function normally, earn a living and live normally . When they stopped taking their meds they could no longer function and their lives fell apart.

If you think the meds are worse than living on the street, unable to keep a job or interact with people while they talk to the voices in their heads, paranoid everyone trying to help them is out to get them, you're on the wrong track.

Are you opposed to modern medicine in general?

a reply to: EducationSeeker

What are your ideas on how to treat psychosis and schizophrenia then, without tampering with mother nature? These people can rarely be treated without medication. I myself use two psychiatric medications for my dissociation and I can tell you there really is a difference. Comparing to my pre-med state (in which I was already being treated with therapy), there is a remarkable difference. Basically, I am functional again. I can feel again. It is not because the drugs blinded me so I delude myself that I am improved or anything. Perhaps there is another way, but I don't know any.

I agree that alternative approaches must be researched for, though, and drug tests and trials must be done by neutral agencies.

originally posted by: Blaine91555
a reply to: EducationSeeker

I somehow think you understood what I meant, but I'll reply.

I don't play games with people.

You mentioned schizophrenics earlier but it didn't sound like you were talking about the same people.

When they were cooperating with their doctors, they were able to function normally, earn a living and live normally . When they stopped taking their meds they could no longer function and their lives fell apart.

Obviously, something made them want to stop taking their meds.

There is probably more to the story than you know.

Reading the personal stories I posted about earlier is enlightening.

Are you opposed to modern medicine in general?

Generally speaking, yes I am. Overall, I think it's doing more harm than good.

I do take blood pressure medication, however, because I fear having a stroke.

And I'm not opposed to medication for pain or sleep medication for people who are seriously sleep deprived, but both need to be taken with caution to avoid addiction. Searching for the causes, though, and eliminating them should be the long-term goal.

I'm a believer that poor health is caused by poor nutrition, lack of exercise, and too much stress. These things aren't solved with medicine.

originally posted by: thenomad
a reply to: EducationSeeker
What are your ideas on how to treat psychosis and schizophrenia then, without tampering with mother nature?

I don't have ideas of my own; I've been reading and listening to people who speak out on this. I've read personal stories shared by mental patients who describe horrible experiences being drugged and suffering side effects, but have found that they could get off drugs and could come to grips with past traumas that cause symptoms in the first place.

Dr. Breggin recommends Emphathic Therapy:

As Empathic Therapists –

(1) We treasure those who seek our help and we view therapy as a sacred and inviolable trust. With humility and gratitude, we honor the privilege of being therapists.

(2) We rely upon relationships built on trust, honesty, caring, genuine engagement and mutual respect.

(3) We bring out the best in ourselves in order to bring out the best in others.

(4) We create a safe space for self-exploration and honest communication by holding ourselves to the highest ethical standards, including honesty, informed consent, confidentiality, professional boundaries, and respect for personal freedom, autonomy and individuality.

(5) We encourage overcoming psychological helplessness and taking responsibility for emotions, thoughts and actions—and ultimately for living a self-determined life.

(6) We offer empathic understanding and, when useful, we build on that understanding to offer new perspectives and guidance for the further fulfillment of personal goals and freely chosen values.

(7) When useful, we help to identify self-defeating patterns learned in childhood and adulthood in order to promote the development of more effective choice-making and conduct.

(8) We do not treat people against their will or in any way use coercion, threats, manipulation or authoritarianism.

(9) We do not reduce others to diagnostic categories or labels—a process that diminishes personal identity, over-simplifies life, instills dependency on authority, and impedes posttraumatic growth. Instead, we encourage people to understand and to embrace the depth, richness and complexity of their unique emotional and intellectual lives.

(10) We do not falsely attribute emotional suffering and personal difficulties to genetics and biochemistry. Instead, we focus on each person’s capacity to take responsibility and to determine the course of his or her own life.

(11) We recognize that a drug-free mind is best suited to personal growth and to facing critical life issues. Psychiatric drugs cloud the mind, impair judgment and insight, suppress emotions and spirituality, inhibit relationships and love, and reduce will power and autonomy. They are anti-therapeutic.

(12) We apply the Guidelines for Empathic Therapy to all therapeutic relationships, including persons who suffer from brain injuries or from the most profound emotional disturbances. Individuals who are mentally, emotionally and physically fragile are especially vulnerable to injury from psychiatric drugs and authoritarian therapies, and are in need of the best we have to offer as empathic therapists.

(13) Because children are among our most vulnerable and treasured citizens, we especially need to protect them from psychiatric diagnoses and drugs. We need to offer them the family life, education and moral and spiritual guidance that will help them to fulfill their potential as children and adults.

(14) Because personal failure and suffering cannot be separated from the ethics and values that guide our conduct, we promote basic human values including personal responsibility, freedom, gratitude, love, and the courage to honestly self-evaluate and to grow.

(15) Because human beings thrive when living by their highest ideals, individuals may wish to explore their most important personal values, including spiritual beliefs or religious faith, and to integrate them into their therapy and their personal growth.

breggin.com...

a reply to: Blue Shift

Oh! That's my problem, as seem to have missed that big boat on Jan 1, 2000, for a lot of things... LoL!

Was still thinking that med students don't have but one short course on nutrition, but that was back in the '80's and '90's.
Perhaps it has changed.

Come to think of it: we seem to hear about modern medical practices when pro-sports franchises are talking about problems with their precious Rhinestone Cowboys.

Has there been much evolution in the fields of Psychiatry and Psychology?
What are the latest hot new ideas?

a reply to: EducationSeeker

Well, his ideas look good but I do not think that approach would treat schizophrenia. It very well may stop it from developing though. If he has evidence that his approach is successful in those cases, I would like to see that.

I will admit that I had negative experiences with drugs as well, one of them especially turned me into a zombie. Interestingly, it belonged to the same class of meds with one of my current drugs which help. These drugs are potent, but one needs to be very careful and closely monitored in case of negative effects.

I think Breggin's approach would be a lot better for treating light to moderate mental problems.

originally posted by: EducationSeeker
a reply to: nowayreally

But I disagree with you there.

I get my information from studying the work of Dr. Peter Breggin and the information on investigative journalist Robert Whitaker's website Mad in America.

I do this because both individuals strike me as smarter and more trustworthy than anything I see in the official story we're all fed by the mainstream.

Oh, my bad. I assumed you were actually interested in a discussion about psychiatric reform like you stated in your OP. Far be it for me to debate two people that ‘strike you’ as trustworthy and legitimate with, i don’t know, basic research on brain imaging or even a good half hour reading scholarly journals. Say nothing about my own years of dedication To educating and serving this demographic.
Another example of blind leaders of blind- watch out for that ditch....I tell you, with the amount of education, exams, licensing, lawsuits, malpractice insurance fees, coupled with declining pay rates for medical professionals that endure some of the most difficult and excruciatingly heart wrenching, often thankless jobs pretty soon you won’t have to peddle ‘psychiatric hacks’ ideas- you’ll see first hand what happens when those with psychiatric illnesses go untreated....best of luck to you and yours when you move into an apartment building with a hoarder neighbor that happens to drop a match, or say something off tone to an individual in the middle of a manic episode, and let’s not forget the combat vet or sexual assault survivor with PTSD going on weeks without sleep from nightmares- here’s hoping they aren’t a few cars ahead of yours on their way to ‘the gym’ or ‘nutritionist ‘ for ‘help’ when they cause a fatal accident falling asleep at the wheel.

Since you’re not invested enough to cite any reliable source im not going to put the effort I intended in either then. For anyone else mildly interested
Here’s some info on brain imaging that might help you form a better understanding for yourself.
Schizophrenia:
www.gulfbend.org...

One such Developing imaging in this domain
en.wikipedia.org...
Bipolar disorder- biological signatures and tech

www.bbrfoundation.org...

a reply to: nowayreally

One has to learn about "reliable sources" from authority figures in the mainstream by listening to whistleblowers in my opinion.

Big Pharma controls medical schools and medical journals to a large extent. They also control the Food and Drug Admininistration.

originally posted by: EducationSeeker
People who have been prescribed multiple psychiatric drugs, institutionalized, sometimes involuntarily, or undergone electroconvulsive shock therapy (ECT) have a place to tell their personal stories on the website Mad in America.

This lady underwent psychotherapy and took antidepressants for six years when she was experiencing a troubled marriage and eventual divorce. She was subsequently diagnosed schizophrenic and placed on antipsychotics, but managed to get off the drugs and then find health through holistic healers:

Surviving and Thriving After a Diagnosis of Schizophrenia
By Margaret Fong January 22, 2017

. . . Soon after the drug discontinuation, I walked into a health food store for help with the withdrawal effects. My physical appearance had declined substantially as the whites of my eyes had turned yellow and I had the worst case of acne of my life. The sales clerk pulled half a dozen pill bottles off the shelf and I didn’t know which one to buy. She decided to send me to her own holistic practitioner, an herbalist. She advised me to discover what the root cause of the underlying problem was, and not focus on the obvious symptoms showing on my face.

I didn’t tell the herbalist I had just come off antipsychotics or that I was schizophrenic. Instead, I informed her I wanted to feel better. Within six months I felt better than I had in six years of psychotherapy and antidepressants. I woke up one day and realized that the seemingly endless crying spells had stopped. For the first time since I had started searching for help, I felt I had truly found relief in dealing with my painful emotions.

My herbalist determined an individualized recovery plan based on various physical indicators she would recheck each visit. In the beginning, she focused on detoxifying my liver and improving my sleep quality, my digestion and the health of my elimination system. It may appear like a circuitous, roundabout way of healing mental illness, but the fogginess in my brain lifted. Or perhaps it was due to the lack of medication that my recovery was not impeded? I’m not sure, but I managed to hold onto my oil and gas analyst job while I slowly and surely strengthened my physical health at a subtle level.

Although I no longer had active, outward signs of psychosis, I was now coping with the fact that I had been diagnosed schizophrenic — and that proved to be more difficult to recover from. I was so lonesome and ashamed of whom I was. Every time I read a newspaper article about a mass murderer considered schizophrenic, I would burst into tears wondering if I could ever become that dangerous. Although I felt I had made huge improvements with my herbalist and was free from being on antipsychotics, I still felt like a damaged human being, like something was wrong with me.

I thought I had reached a plateau with the herbalist and interspersed working with an acupuncturist, clearing away energy blockages for an extended time. I also experimented with massage therapy, Qi Gong, and a homeopathic practitioner. Everything had a positive effect and seemed less expensive than the traditional treatments for mental illness I had tried. I grew to truly appreciate and respect the wisdom that all these holistic healers possessed regarding the effects of stress and emotions on the body. They all had their own way to help the natural healing processes of the body to heal itself. Their warmth, directness and practicality also appealed to my personality. However, I was still haunted by the diagnosis of schizophrenia. . .

When I was on antipsychotics, I felt disconnected, emotionally numbed, dazed and overwhelmed compared to when I was in a psychotic state and employed. In some respects, I got off easy as I wasn’t on psychiatric drugs for very long. It is those people suffering protracted withdrawal issues that really earn our compassion, or those with brains permanently damaged by prolonged psychiatric drug taking and ECT, who don’t even realize it. Even they are lucky compared to those poor souls that have committed violence towards themselves or others. Not due to their history of mental illness, but due to their history of psychiatric drug use.

www.madinamerica.com...

There is an organization called the International Society for Psychological and Social Approaches to Psychosis (ISPS).

Here is their charter:

Charter of good practice in psychological therapies for people experiencing psychosis

This charter

• Focuses on psychological needs and therapies (and in doing so in no way undervalues the importance of other contributions to the wellbeing and recovery of people with psychosis).
• Is based on the current best understanding of psychosis – which is that for most people a psychotic disturbance is a result of a person being overwhelmed by an excess of difficult experiences and feelings at a vulnerable time leading to an altered sense of reality (sometimes called the stress vulnerability model).
• Recognises that psychosis can appear in many forms and can be brief, episodic, have a gradual onset or be longer term.
• Recognises there are those for whom a medical condition can lead to psychosis such as a brain tumour, an endocrine condition or the side effect of prescribed or street drugs.

The charter
• The primary member of staff allocated should be someone intending to work in the service for at least eighteen months because the stability and continuity of a good relationship is crucial to recovery.
• A person experiencing psychosis should have a sensitive assessment to gather a picture of their strengths and their psychological vulnerabilities and their personal circumstances. This assessment should be modified as appropriate over time to highlight developments and contemporary issues and further understanding.
• The assessment should contain both the person’s own narrative and that of relevant others.
• The assessment should lead to a formulation that aims to ‘make sense’ of the information
gathered, of what has lead to the person’s ‘break’ with reality, and aims to elicit the meaningful personal issues contained in the psychotic manifestations.
• Those nearest to the person should also be offered a sensitive assessment of their own needs and be offered appropriate psychological help. In many cases families may both want and benefit from being helped together with the member who has had or is still experiencing psychosis. Family meetings should be offered at least monthly and more frequently at times of crisis, and these meetings should continue as long as needed.
• All people who experience psychosis should be helped to develop a ‘relapse prevention’ or ‘staying well’ plan, which involves identifying early warning signs of psychosis and clarifies effective interventions at that stage. Family members and others should be involved where this is agreed with the person concerned, as they can be of great assistance at vulnerable times.
• Teams working with psychosis should ensure that all staff are confident that they have the skills to engage with family members and others in the individual’s social network.
• Teams should ensure that staff develop skills in a range of psychological therapeutic approaches for the variety of psychological problems encountered in those vulnerable to psychosis, so that people are offered therapies that match their needs rather than them having to fit in with the service.
• All people who have experienced psychosis should have access to long-term psychological therapy, which might last for a period of up to five years, that helps them in their recovery. The therapist should be experienced and regularly supervised.

For more information please visit our website www.isps.org...

a reply to: EducationSeeker

Searching for the causes, though, and eliminating them should be the long-term goal.

The brain is an organ like any other. Taking a medication to deal with a physiological cause of medical disorder is no different than taking a pill to deal with high blood pressure in my mind. The drugs may need improved, but no amount of counseling will ever change a problem caused by physical malfunction in the brain.

Some mental illness is caused by the environment and can be blamed in part on parenting or the actions of other people. To blame mental issues with a physiological cause on parents is malpractice. A biochemical imbalance is physiological and treating it with medication is the same as using medication to deal with say diabetes.

The bad old days when people were illiterate and believed in things like a bad seed, or that all bad behavior was due to bad parenting should be a thing of the past. Breggin is stuck in pre-1960's thinking.

Why would it surprise you that a person suffering from paranoia would become paranoid about their meds? It does not mean they are right, it confirms the diagnosis and need for medication to give them a more normal life without the fear. To think a person whose brain is malfunctioning should diagnose themselves and what they need, is not reasonable. Anyone reinforcing their delusion by agreeing with them, is their worst enemy.