THE PSYCHOPATHOLOGY OF AMERICAN LIFE

Vivek Datta, M.D., M.P.H. is a Resident Psychiatrist at the University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle. Born in London, England, he studied Medicine and Psychology at the University of London and was a Research Fellow in Psychological Medicine at the Institute of Psychiatry at the Maudsley. He earned his Masters in Public Health from Harvard University where he was a Frank Knox Fellow. He is currently writing his first book The Psychopathology of American Life: How We All Became Mentally Ill and also blogs at canardtheduck

Vivek Datta, M.D., M.P.H. Does DSM-5 Matter? Yes; but not for Psychiatrists

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May 13, 2013

What makes the DSM so pernicious is that it is a cultural document whose influence transcends not only psychiatric practice but also the Western civilization from which it originates. Each revision of the DSM rescripts and reimagines how we make sense of our experiences, reinterprets what thoughts, feelings and behaviors are socially sanctioned, and ultimately what it means to be human.
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Categorized in: Bipolar, Blogs, Depression, DSM, Featured Blogs, Psychiatric Drugs, Rethinking Psychiatry/Medical Model, Schizophrenia/Psychotic Disorders

Vivek Datta, M.D., M.P.H. The Problem with PTSD

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January 17, 2013

“The voices, they tell me they gonna kill me, and it’s my fault.”

“Sometimes, when we hear voices, they just reflect our own anxieties, sometimes they can echo things we’ve been told in the past. When the voices tell you that they’re going to kill you, does that echo anything you may have been told in the past?” I ask.
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Categorized in: Blogs, Childhood Adversity/Trauma, DSM, Featured Blogs, Hearing Voices, Rethinking Psychiatry/Medical Model, Schizophrenia/Psychotic Disorders, Trauma/Distress

Vivek Datta, M.D., M.P.H. The Denial of Pain and Mortality: Or, the Art of Self-Prescribing and the Philosopher’s Stone

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December 3, 2012

“Don’t look at me! Save yourself!”

Andrew* was a 25 year old with an imposing build that was mollified only by his despair and terror. Andrew was losing his mind. I didn’t have to see Andrew and I somewhat wish I never did. I had received a call late at night from Andrew’s nurse. “You gotta give him something man, I mean, he’s freaking out and I feel really bad.”
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Categorized in: Antidepressants, Blogs, Featured Blogs, Schizophrenia/Psychotic Disorders

Vivek Datta, M.D., M.P.H. Suckling Pigs, Stray Dogs, and Psychiatric Diagnoses

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November 29, 2012

In “The Order of Things”, Michel Foucault, the great French philosopher cites a ‘certain Chinese encyclopedia’ that notes ‘animals are divided into: (a) belonging to the Emperor, (b) embalmed, (c) tame, (d) suckling pigs, (e) sirens, (f) fabulous, (g) stray dogs, (h) included in the present classification, (i) frenzied, (j) innumerable, (k) drawn with a very fine camelhair brush, (l) et cetera, (m) having just broken the water pitcher, (n) that from a long way off look like flies’.
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Categorized in: Blogs, DSM, Featured Blogs, Rethinking Psychiatry/Medical Model

Vivek Datta, M.D., M.P.H. Chemical Imbalances and Other Black Unicorns

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June 25, 2012

“What do you think caused your problems?,” I asked.

“I have a chemical imbalance, a chemical imbalance, an imbalance in the brain that makes me ill.”
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Categorized in: Bipolar, Blogs, Depression, Genetics, Psychotherapy, Recovery/Empowerment, Research, Rethinking Psychiatry/Medical Model, Trauma/Distress

Vivek Datta, M.D., M.P.H. The Psychopathology of American Life

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June 19, 2012

‘I’m severely depressed.’

These were the words that Donesha*, a 35 year-old African American woman repeatedly uttered to me.
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Categorized in: Blogs, DSM, Psychiatric Drugs, Psychotherapy, Rethinking Psychiatry/Medical Model | Tagged as: , , , , ,