Psychiatry Needs Reform

Psychiatry as it is practiced in western medicine today is based on a false premise: that people who have symptoms of mental distress have a biochemical imbalance in their brain requiring drugs to get rid of those symptoms.

My understanding is that in the United States, 25% of the population are on psychiatric drugs. Those drugs are wreaking havoc in people’s lives.

There is a dissident psychiatrist by the name of Peter Breggin who has been courageously going up against what I call the medical mafia for decades to speak out about this. He’s now in his eighties and still active in the fight. And fight it is. He has taken on Big Pharma.

Psychiatrists concoct labels to describe behaviors and call them disorders. But the behaviors are simply ways humans act out their stresses and traumas from living life. Even the labels “schizophrenia” and “bi-polar” are not based on anything scientific. If one’s life story is known, bizarre behaviors become understandable.

Here is Dr. Breggin talking about how the theory of “biochemical imbalance” got started:

Peter Breggin MD
Published on Jul 20, 2012

. . .Trailblazing psychiatrist Peter R. Breggin, MD in his first of the series: Simple Truths About Psychiatry: Do You Have A Biochemical Imbalance? Dr. Breggin debunks the myth of biochemical imbalance and examines what is known about "mental illness." Further information may be found on Dr. Breggin's website and in his many books, including his latest: "Psychiatric Drug Withdrawal: A Guide for Prescribers, Therapists, Patients and Their Families." See more at his website www.breggin.com...

www.youtube.com...

a reply to: EducationSeeker

The "labelling" of individuals with problems is what annoys me a lot. It seems all too easy to be labelled, wear a metaphorical badge, get benefits and allowances and never feel the need to be accountable. All so a doctor or specialist can tick a box, prescribe a solution to the SYMPTOM and feed big pharma for a few kickbacks.

None of us are perfect but personally I will never wear an unscientific label to use as an excuse for freeloading or putting my mind in the hands of an overpaid stranger.

Thanks for the thread.

Some think that mental illness is because some people try to block something special in themselves. Something that some have but are stigmatized but we just don't understand yet. Something like physic abilities but not what we think, like such a small amount that is usually undetectable. There is prolly a conspiracy somewhere within mental illness besides over prescribing. idk

One of the root problems of psychiatry is that it is still reeling from the impact of behaviorism. This is the idea that psychiatry ought to study the inputs and outputs of the brain, without contemplating any philosophy of mind, or diagnostic model of what the individual is perceiving and thinking.

Noam Chomsky published a stinging critique of it in 1959, and the cognitive psychology movement was born. There is an ongoing dialectic between cognitive and behaviorist schools, with seemingly about a decade-long cycle.


B.F. Skinner was the O.G. of behaviorism. He was extremely dismissive not only of religion, but of art and music as well. His children I think tried to divorce him, definitely disowned his parenting style....

There is something called "medication spellbinding."

It describes the phenomenon of patients thinking that drugs are doing them good, because they're not realizing that their capacity to perceive harm being done to themselves is diminished by the drugs they're taking:

Peter Breggin MD
Published on Dec 1, 2012

"What is Medication Spellbinding?" is 3rd in psychiatrist Peter Breggin's video series: Simple Truths in Psychiatry

www.youtube.com...

a reply to: EducationSeeker

Thanks for the brilliant vid.
Am afraid that these kind of things will get censored by BoobYoobe.

a reply to: EducationSeeker

They will never change their business model.

originally posted by: watchandwait410
Some think that mental illness is because some people try to block something special in themselves. Something that some have but are stigmatized but we just don't understand yet. Something like physic abilities but not what we think, like such a small amount that is usually undetectable. There is prolly a conspiracy somewhere within mental illness besides over prescribing. idk

Can see what you are getting-at.
Like the causes can often remain unspoken, and never even known to the sufferer themselves, let alone those trying to help.

There seems to be an element of resistance to it. Like some level of non-acceptance of the reality that is imposing itself around them, and sometimes even within them.

There may have to some kind of inner belief structure, that silently comes under challenge.

(Am not a professional, and don't really know anything.)

I have lots of experience with psychiatrists due to long-term PTSD and related issues. They used to offer talking therapy along with medication if needed. Nowadays, it's a quick visit followed by a script for meds. The doc I see has no counseling ability whatsoever. I see him for fifteen minutes, twice a year. His only skill, as far as I can see, is checking off a list of symptoms and writing a script for whatever med matches up best with the symptoms.

To be fair to him, the health care system is what drives this. Insurance companies want a quick (cheap) fix and the docs are forced to oblige. It's a big, complicated mess. If you want therapy, it's coming out of your own pocket.

originally posted by: elkabong57
To be fair to him, the health care system is what drives this. Insurance companies want a quick (cheap) fix and the docs are forced to oblige. It's a big, complicated mess. If you want therapy, it's coming out of your own pocket.

Also, pharmaceutical companies fund medical schools and medical journals.

The Food and Drug Administration allows drug companies to fund their own drug testing.

We have a corrupt system.

originally posted by: EducationSeeker
He’s now in his eighties and still active in the fight. And fight it is. He has taken on Big Pharma.

Could it also be that he's just wrong?

Another unacceptable practice in psychiatry at present is Electroconvulsive Shock Therapy (ECT); it is barbaric.

There is a website where people who have learned the hard way about this practice can have a voice: ECT Justice!

a reply to: EducationSeeker

This is the guy who blames all mental illness, even schizophrenia, on bad parenting. His peers consider him a quack.

As much as I agree with the pharmaceutical industry being corrupt and in our pockets, I think this guy may be the wrong wagon to hitch your horse to.
Link

Not until the last fifth of this book are we finally told what Breggin believes is the cause of children's developmental disorders, such as ADHD and autism, and behavioral/emotional problems such as oppositional defiant disorder and depression. The causes are said to be: (1) lack of parental love, (2) lack of parental attention, (3) lack of parental discipline, (4) family stress, (5) poor educational methods, and (6) a mental health profession that is prejudiced toward neurobiological explanations for behavior over psychosocial ones. The recommendations proposed for parents to follow are, of course, the inverse of these causes; love more, pay more attention, use more discipline, reduce family stress, work to reform your child's educational system, and avoid getting help from organized psychiatry and psychology. While there may be nothing inherently wrong with some of these admonitions, there is nothing inherently right about them either. Some may even ring with the sound of common sense about them, but common sense is often just that, common and often misinformed. Witness the widely held belief among the lay public that sugar is a major cause of ADHD and learning disabilities when the weight of credible scientific evidence unquestionably shows that it is not so. Science has shown that ADHD and the other disorders Breggin discusses, including autism, are not the consequence of the causes he cites in his book. And so addressing them is not likely to remedy the child's problems. Neither is avoiding the established scientific and clinical pediatric and mental health professions as Breggin recommends. Breggin's view must be seen for what it actually is -- a not-so- subtle form of parent-bashing that lays the blame for ADHD and other complex developmental and mental disorders at the feet of the child's parents, family, and school. This is outdated psychoanalytic thinking, discarded decades ago by the scientific community for its explanatory uselessness not to mention its cruelty toward parents seeking help for their children.

The propaganda Breggin offers here -will be easily dismissed by the scientific and clinical professional communities as having nothing to add to the important issues related to understanding and managing ADHD. But to the lay reader, such misguidance as Breggin provides in Talking Back to Ritalin can do real harm. Breggin literally encourages parents of ADHD and developmentally disordered children to turn away from the established fields of pediatrics, psychiatry, and psychology and the professionals who practice within them. Instead, Breggin instructs parents to seek outdated, unscientific, and ineffective pop-psychological views of disorders and their treatment. What was so dismaying to me as a professional by the end of the book was the knowledge that Dr. Breggin took an oath as a physician to "first, do no harm." In my opinion, his book has violated that sacred oath.

a reply to: Blue Shift

Asking a question like that indicates disagreement regarding Big Pharma, which I will not engage in a debate about.

originally posted by: EducationSeeker
a reply to: Blue Shift

Asking a question like that indicates disagreement regarding Big Pharma, which I will not engage in a debate about.

One thing you should know about ATS is this is a discussion and debate forum and not a blog. Be prepared to debate your position and expect to run into differing opinions. It's why we are all here. Debate needs to be civil, but be prepared to back up your position if you want people to participate in your threads.

originally posted by: EducationSeeker
There is a dissident psychiatrist by the name of Peter Breggin who has been courageously going up against what I call the medical mafia for decades to speak out about this. He’s now in his eighties and still active in the fight. And fight it is. He has taken on Big Pharma.

There was a time in his life when Dr. Breggin had to have body-guards because of the work that he was doing.

He is featured in the documentary The Minds of Men:

Peter Breggin MD
Published on Apr 26, 2019

This is Peter R. Breggin's interview with film makers Aaron and Melissa Dykes in the making of The Minds of Men, a documentary in which Dr. Breggin is featured. This is the whole unedited interview, presenting some of Peter Breggin's most inspired and engaging discussions about his life’s work and shows what motivated him to become such an avid lifetime reformer. You will know him and understand his work much better after viewing this.

The film examines government-supported mind and behavioral control experimentation, including psychosurgery, electroshock treatment, and sensory deprivation. The film makers generously gave permission for Dr. Breggin to publish his entire uncut interview, most of which is being seen for the first time. The film is an extraordinary success, quickly reaching nearly one million viewers, and rising.

Dr. Breggin shares his feelings, thoughts and actions surrounding one of the most important accomplishments of his career: his successful international campaign to stop the world-wide resurgence of brain-mutilating lobotomy and psychosurgery. In the several segments, he describes his response to learning the truth about the hidden, devastating impact on children and adults and his discovery of the racist and political ambitions of leading psychiatrists and neurosurgeons.

Dr. Breggin describes harrowing and sometimes triumphant confrontations with powerful professional and political leaders, including Senator Ted Kennedy and top officials at the American Psychiatric Association, who did their best to stop his reform work. He describes how the experience made him into a lifelong reformer.

www.youtube.com...

a reply to: Blaine91555

I will discuss the facts but I'm not going to debate things that people simply fundamentally disagree on.

It is a waste of time.

I'm not here to try to change minds; what people believe is their business.

originally posted by: Blaine91555
a reply to: EducationSeeker

His peers consider him a quack.

There will be plenty of links you can post smearing Dr. Breggin.

I'm not impressed.

a reply to: EducationSeeker

Beyond making money by playing on peoples fears and illiteracy for profit, what about him makes his point of view more valuable than nearly the entire psychiatric community resulting from actual studies and science?

I'm with you on the pharmaceutical companies methods of pushing their products so that too many are taking them, but that has nothing to do with this guy or his credibility.

a reply to: Blaine91555

There are no reliable actual studies and science in the mainstream today, according to my research. It is not just psychiatry that needs reform, it is the whole medical establishment, because of the fact that profit-seeking corporations fund the training doctors get in medical school and the research they read about in medical journals.

Dr. Breggin learned from first-hand experience volunteering at a mental hospital while he was an undergraduate and before making a decision to be a psychiatrist. He is an independent thinker who I personally find to be very wise and credible.

He recommends Empathic Therapy for clients in need of help with mental stress.

The Center for the Study of Empathic Therapy, Education and Living is a 501c3 nonprofit organization founded by Peter R. Breggin MD for professionals and non-professionals who want to raise ethical and scientific standards in psychology and psychiatry.

www.empathictherapy.org...