In this video for AdvancingMentalHealth.org, Jeff Baker provides a detailed overview and critique of the chemical imbalance theory of mental illness.
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(Request as sent to Jeff Baker at ‘[email protected]’ on 26/03/2018– no response as yet, so reposting here) As a psychiatrist acutely aware of the pervasiveness and harmfulness of chemical imbalance myth I was very interested in seeing this YouTube. It very nicely goes through the evidence against this falsehood, and usefully quotes the most mainstream of psychiatrists in summarising decades of evidence.
I would like to be able to link this YouTube lecture to emailed information I send my patients, and link on my practice site, however I can find nothing whatsoever online about “Advancing Mental Health.org” or about Jeff Baker in any detail. I am not disputing his good intentions, nor that of the organisation/brand which has the YouTube channel – but I cannot professionally/personally feel comfortable in linking such materials without knowing a bit about the background of individuals and groups providing them.
I’m sure all readers of MIA are aware enough of the problems within our field to understand why!
I would be grateful for MIA editors, or Jeff Baker, or ANYONE for providing some background information about Mr Baker and advancingmentalhealth.org -
Saving Money
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-43576044
“…NHS England chief executive Simon Stevens said: “Every pound we save from cutting waste is another pound we can then invest in better [accident and emergency] care, new cancer treatments and much better mental health services.”
And Dr Graham Jackson, of NHS Clinical Commissioners, which represents local health managers, said unfortunately “difficult decisions” had to be made…”Practical Psychotherapy for All “Mental Health” Conditions could save the NHS billions (it’s the mainstream psychiatric treatments that cause the psychiatric disability).
Practical psychotherapy can EVEN be found for free in the community.
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“It is an imbalance in the brain, it is not a psychological problem, and this is not at all controversial.”
NHS Psychiatrist, 2018 -
I can’t see any difference between “rational” anxiety and “irrational” anxiety – both are “irrational” and both can be alleviated through the Psychological Process.
The same with “extreme anxiety” this can be alleviated through the same psychological process as “non extreme anxiety”.
The thing about the psychological approach is that once a person overcomes a problem they can move on. The mainstream chemical approach disables the person and ultimately makes the problem worse.
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It could be said that I suffered from a “Chemical Imbalance” in the Brain when I discontinued my Long Acting Depot Injection years ago (in the 1980s). I was completely racked with longterm “High Anxiety” withdrawal syndrome.
But the Psychological Process provided me with the skills I needed, to cope with my “high anxiety” and to return to normal life.
Needless to say I was very expensive while I engaged with the psychiatric services. I was also very heavily diagnosed.
