What we shouldn’t read about schizophrenia

From Mad in Denmark: I read Christian Dahlström’s articles in SvD (January 13, 2026 and January 14, 2026) about the diagnosis of schizophrenia and feel my pulse rise. Not because Mats and Linda, who are interviewed in the first article, describe what it is like for them to live with schizophrenia, but because of the conclusions drawn and because the second article describes the research that the text deals with so uncritically. I can’t count how many times in recent decades similar statements have been made that researchers will soon find the genetic causes. Millions and millions have been allocated to such research. Neither the first nor the second article mentions all those who have been diagnosed with schizophrenia and have recovered. Those who today live well-functioning lives because they no longer use medication. Instead, a view of knowledge is presented as if it were absolute. For example, the text states that it has been known for centuries that the disease is highly hereditary. “It did not take advanced DNA research to see that psychosis mainly affected certain families.”

Read the full article here. No current English translation here.