Rachel777, you are on to something! As we’ve seen, antidepressants can cause violent behavior–even homicide–in some people. Perhaps reduced empathy is part of the reason why?
Great article, and especially interesting to see its analysis of news media complicity in promulgating erroneous information. Is it possible to view their data on which outlets were analyzed and what they said? I couldn’t find it in the article itself
Methinks Pies doth protest too much. If psychiatry never did and still doesn’t promote the chemical imbalance concept, why then do the websites of the National Institute of Mental Health, medical websites such as Mayo Clinic, and popular health websites such as WebMD? Why does NAMI? Why do so many practicing doctors and psychiatrists? Did they pull the concept out of thin air?
And if psychiatry doesn’t promote the idea of chemical imbalance, what are Pies and others going to do to rectify this error, beyond writing occasional articles in academic journals? How about a mass media tour to correct the record? No? Didn’t think so.
‘Online” is a general term that way more people are likely to be searching for. However, ‘cyber’ is in the metadescription so it can still be picked up. Feel free to use any terms you want in your own social media though.
Yes, there’s a bigger story here. Namely, the incentives public schools and parents have to get their kid a psychiatric or learning-disabled label–especially if they are financially strapped. It’s not that some kids don’t have real problems, but one shouldn’t have to stretch the truth or fabricate in order to bring in the funds…only to then marginalize the students, as happened in this case.
Sounds 99% likely, that’s usually how agencies make their money.
Come to think of it, the way Julie was hired where they sort of gave her the job first and made sure she was qualified after the fact, may also run afoul of employment law. Any lawyers on here with insight?
Don’t search with “Agora.” I just did a Google search with the term “online charter school” (which is more generic and people more likely to search with) and it was the first hit! Make sure when you set the search criteria it says “past week.”
Yes, that’s one of the reasons this story is important! Parents may pull their children from public, or even private school thinking an online school is the way to go. And there are certainly many legitimate ones. But if you wander your way into the wrong one, your child could get a new label and a lousy education.
ā…’tailoring clinical plans to reduce the effect of social or economic adversity *without necessarily targeting the social condition itself*.’ An example of this would be to consider how the side effects of a medication may interact with oneās living situation.”
Sigh. It sounds like the idea is not to help change people’s life circumstances, but just to find ways to get around those circumstances to continue the same old drug-centered model of “care.”
Bravo! I’ve been concerned about the “pill shaming” trope for a while, and the two of you have laid out the arguments beautifully.
Sera, you’re such a fantastic writer, and I know you’re also a mom. I hope you’ll consider contributing to MIA’s Parent Resources section on a topic of your choice. You can email me at mspencer@madinamerica or [email protected]. Thanks.
It seems there is some text accidentally missing from the third paragraph? After footnote 1, part of a quote seems to have been cut off, and there is mention of someone named Wardle who hadn’t been introduced yet.
This is a heartbreaking story, Elizabeth, and I’m so relieved it has a happy ending.
My question: Did the doctor you wrote to ever respond in any way? (I’m assuming you actually sent this letter to your child’s doctor, or perhaps the link to this essay.)
This is really all about values. Our values DEFINE us. Leonardo lived life as he saw fit, according to his values of creativity, exploration, and freedom. This necessitated rejecting other values such as consistency, conformity, and money. These neurologists want to impose their 21st-century bourgeois values on a 15th-century Renaissance man.
In publishing this paper, they reveal more about themselves than about Leonardo and his alleged neuro-atypicality. And doing it when the subject can’t speak for himself is cowardly and arrogant. In my opinion it’s downright dangerous when “brain doctors” imply there’s only one right way to “be” in the world.
That’s an astute observation. For what is ECT but intentional, repeated TBIs?
Years from now, will a researcher look back at data about people subjected to electroshock as children and find increased suicide rates in these people? By then it will be too late to do anything about it.
Steve and all, here is the thing. When editing blogs and other materials for the Parent Resources section I recognize that we are operating in a world where certain terms are used and where we’re trying to reach beyond those who already share our perspectives. Thus, for the purpose of an article designed for a fairly broad audience, it makes sense to start with the easily recognizable, standard language for a specific type of distress–OCD, obsessions, compulsions–and then offer alternative ways to look at them and address them.
A parent or child seeking new solutions will probably use the search term “OCD,” and for this article to be found, that term needs to be in the headline and to appear in the body. Such is the internet as currently controlled by Silicon Valley. So we attempt to reach people “where they’re at” and bring them around to a new perspective.
That’s my way of looking at it (speaking for myself and not MIA). Some day, I hope we can put quotes around all conventional psychiatric diagnoses, and evenutally eliminate these constructs altogether. Right now, let’s focus less on semantics and more on what we can do to help parents and children in real distress find alternatives to business as usual.
To the person above who wondered if developing techniques to quiet chronic worries and repetitive behaviors serves to perpetuate the underlying causes of those worries– that’s a great question! What if the “OCD” child is being abused, or something highly dysfunctional is going on within the family, school, or community? My guess is that the child is going to have limited control over their environment, but at least they can gain some control over their reaction to it.
From the parents’ side of things: If this were my child, I’d take a hard look at what is going on around that child, as well as how I’m treating him or her. At the end of the day, I feel it would be my responsibility to take action to create change, given that I have more power to do so.
Seems to me these tips do exactly that –help children avoid therapy and risky drugs, because they come up with their own solutions to distressing worries.
Obsessive anxiety and compulsions, by whatever name you want to call them, cause suffering…why wouldn’t you want to overcome them, especially if the sufferer decides the method themselves?
Hi, Julie’s editor here. I’m always cognitive of the importance of semantics, and I think the word “misdiagnosis” was appropriate in this case.
In the story, she shares that she had an eating disorder that went unrecognized. Instead, she got diagnoses including bipolar and schizoaffective. That’s definitely a misdiagnosis!
That is to say, there actually was a problem she had wanted help in addressing (self-destructive relationship with/behavior regarding food and eating). But no one in the mental health system would see that.
It bothers me very much that several of the psychiatrists they interviewed raised the specter that without drugs, patients would likely become violent, even homicidal! Way to perpetuate stigma, docs!
When they should know that the vast majority of people diagnosed with mental illness are more likely to be the victim than the perpetrator of violence. These psychiatrists, in my opinion, simply can’t stand to lose control, so they fall back on the charge that drug-free programs are “unscientific.” A savvy strategy. But it won’t work forever, because the science doesn’t seem to be in psychiatry’s favor.
Peter, regarding the last lines about studies of stimulants being at high risk of bias: Does that mean the findings above are not to be trusted, or that previous studies are not to be trusted? Or something else.
In any case, this is scary stuff. I follow discussion boards for parents of kids with mental health issues, and so many of the youth who have ADHD diagnoses and are on stimulant drugs seem to have many other, more serious diagnoses as well. Can’t help but wonder if the ADHD meds triggered the “new symptoms” of a so-called co-morbid illness….
Absolutely — it would be great to de-gender all the references to man and mankind and he/him in this article because it erases half the human race. I wish we women had nothing to do with society’s delusions, but we’ve been on this ride forever too.
I was prescribed Mirtazapine years ago and its therapeutic effects were so minimal and its side effects so disconcerting that I quickly went off it (also unpleasant). Brain zaps, extreme agitation, nightmares, Tourette’s like symptoms, auditory and visual disturbances, inability to think straight…you name it. No one could pay me to take that (or any psych drug) again. It goes by the brand name Remeron and is a tetracyclic antidepressant.
I read the article as showing that once again, psych drugs are ineffective: The traditional antidepressant drugs aren’t effective in many people, and adding a different class (Mirtazapine) doesn’t help either.
Very interesting that “Oppositional Defiant Disorder” appeared concurrently with the rightward tilt of the US during the 1980s. And in my experience, it’s true that today the politically liberal are just as likely as those on the right to conform to psychiatry’s dogma. Perhaps more so–I see more skepticism of psychiatry on (ugh) Fox News and among Libertarians. Sen. Charles Grassley, who helped expose the role of pharma in overprescribing psychiatric drugs to children on Medicaid, is a Republican. Not sure what to make of that….
But in retrospect, it should have been obvious: They tell us that it takes 4 to 6 weeks for antidepressant levels to build up in our brain so the drug can “work.” Yet somehow the reverse process of tapering off can be accomplished in only 2 weeks?
Rachel 777, I think your survey is worthwhile and you should do it. Collecting stories from people who got a bipolar2 diagnosis after a psych drug reaction (and all that follows) is the first step into deeper research and discussion on a neglected topic, and could potentially be published at MIA, on Medium, or other venues.
It happened to me about a decade ago. Standard doses of antidepressants of any class amped me up horribly, and pretty soon psychiatrists were tossing around diagnoses like “hypomania” and talking about Zyprexa. Fortunately I didn’t buy it and walked away from this treatment and recovered by other means. But I’ll never forget being told it was me “at fault” when it was so obviously the drug.
ILNC, Would you be willing to share the name of that school district? This is very interesting and something we might want to cover in the Parent Resources section. If you don’t want to post it, you can email me at [email protected].
It’s interesting that the study found that people mostly aren’t coming out and specifically requesting their psychiatrist to change their drug regime, much less asking them to prescribe a drug by name. This suggests that all the money and effort pharmaceutical companies are pouring into consumer-targeted TV advertising (“ask your doctor about Abilify!”) might not be working as planned….
Also fascinating is that “patients” feel they must be deferential when talking to psychiatrists. Despite that they’re the paying customer, as it were. Clearly they understand a need to be savvy in a situation with a large power differential.
Strikingly, the consensus seems to be that ECT is only appropriate for the most intransigent “cases,” and yet the way researchers and psychiatrists praise it one wonders if it’s only a matter of time before ECT is used as an early intervention.
Dr. Breggin, how about writing a blog on ECT and kids?
Daniel, I think your argument makes Esketamine look worse, not better. Of COURSE if you (lightly) anesthetize someone their depression will vanish for a while. Is this what we call progress? If we can’t really help you, we’ll just numb you out? Ah, “modern medicine”….
Based on how little testing is required for “regular” FDA approved psychiatric drugs, it seems Esketamine can be considered virtually UNtested. Even more worrisome, this drug will inevitably be prescribed to young children and teenagers –off label. Parents are desperate to help their kids, and when (as often happens) the Prozac and Risperdal cocktails don’t work, they may acquiesce to this ‘nasal spray for depression.’
This is a fascinating way to look at things. I’m immediately reminded that the DSM is constantly called the “bible” of psychiatry…and that’s no accident.
I wish the news media would stop using this inaccurate expression, because by so doing they are buying into its false holiness. Better to say simply “the classification manual psychiatrists use.” Takes away some of its aura, doesn’t it?!
Thanks for the background, I hadn’t known who had started it. It certainly helped me when I was in emotional crisis a decade ago– the many blood tests turned up a B12 deficiency, among other things, which can sometimes create psychiatric issues.
This is extremely useful! I wanted to point out that Functional Medicine practitioners utilize integrative medicine. People can find practitioners (including psychiatrists) in their area along with other useful info at https://www.functionalmedicine.com.
I don’t think Dr. Breggin’s philosophy of psychological healing has altered with his political leanings. Remember, one of his most famous books (and one that I credit with helping to save my life) is titled “Toxic Psychiatry: Why Therapy, Empathy and LOVE Must Replace the Drugs, Electroshock, and Biochemical Theories of the New Psychiatry.”
Hi, this is Miranda, editor of Parent Resources. I’m glad to see readers coming up with their own tasks for parents to add to Chaya’s list of seven.
Remembering back to when I was a troubled teenager with a psychiatric diagnosis, I’ll add my own (and this is solely my personal opinion). Restrain yourself from complaining about how your child’s mental health difficulties affect you or how the expensive therapy is straining the family budget. Work those issues out within yourself, or vent to your spouse or a friend. If your child is made to feel responsible for your feelings or worries, it adds an additional psychic burden to dealing with his or her own struggles.
Hi, The_cat, This is Miranda, editor of MIA’s Parent Resources page. Would you be willing to share links to some ‘parents of mentally ill children’ forums? They could be useful to our outreach. You can email me at [email protected]. Thanks!
I’ve been following Jani’s case for a while and think her treatment with a mega drug cocktail and her exploitation by the media and her parents is unconscionable. The work with children who hear voices, on the other hand, is inspiring.
Jacqui, Did they ever receive a response from Oprah? And have you considered sending this letter to the author of the book (Jani’s dad) via his publisher? I do believe he wants to help his child — who I see as creative and gifted as well as disturbed — perhaps, perhaps he would listen.
Rachel777, you are on to something! As we’ve seen, antidepressants can cause violent behavior–even homicide–in some people. Perhaps reduced empathy is part of the reason why?
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Great article, and especially interesting to see its analysis of news media complicity in promulgating erroneous information. Is it possible to view their data on which outlets were analyzed and what they said? I couldn’t find it in the article itself
Here’s a good critique of the inherent problems with digital Abilify (and future drugs like it) from a more humanistic standpoint: https://theconversation.com/digital-mental-health-drug-raises-troubling-questions-97510
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Methinks Pies doth protest too much. If psychiatry never did and still doesn’t promote the chemical imbalance concept, why then do the websites of the National Institute of Mental Health, medical websites such as Mayo Clinic, and popular health websites such as WebMD? Why does NAMI? Why do so many practicing doctors and psychiatrists? Did they pull the concept out of thin air?
And if psychiatry doesn’t promote the idea of chemical imbalance, what are Pies and others going to do to rectify this error, beyond writing occasional articles in academic journals? How about a mass media tour to correct the record? No? Didn’t think so.
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The recent research update, “The DSM: ‘Scientifically Meaningless’ Diagnoses” is a good companion piece to this essay: https://www.madinamerica.com/2019/07/dsm-scientifically-meaningless-diagnoses/.
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Here is the latest scandal on online charter schools. Clearly Julie Greene’s experience was a symptom of a much larger problem.
https://www.voiceofsandiego.org/topics/education/inside-the-charter-school-empire-prosecutors-say-scammed-california-for-80m/
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‘Online” is a general term that way more people are likely to be searching for. However, ‘cyber’ is in the metadescription so it can still be picked up. Feel free to use any terms you want in your own social media though.
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Yes, there’s a bigger story here. Namely, the incentives public schools and parents have to get their kid a psychiatric or learning-disabled label–especially if they are financially strapped. It’s not that some kids don’t have real problems, but one shouldn’t have to stretch the truth or fabricate in order to bring in the funds…only to then marginalize the students, as happened in this case.
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Sounds 99% likely, that’s usually how agencies make their money.
Come to think of it, the way Julie was hired where they sort of gave her the job first and made sure she was qualified after the fact, may also run afoul of employment law. Any lawyers on here with insight?
Report comment
Don’t search with “Agora.” I just did a Google search with the term “online charter school” (which is more generic and people more likely to search with) and it was the first hit! Make sure when you set the search criteria it says “past week.”
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Yes, that’s one of the reasons this story is important! Parents may pull their children from public, or even private school thinking an online school is the way to go. And there are certainly many legitimate ones. But if you wander your way into the wrong one, your child could get a new label and a lousy education.
Report comment
ā…’tailoring clinical plans to reduce the effect of social or economic adversity *without necessarily targeting the social condition itself*.’ An example of this would be to consider how the side effects of a medication may interact with oneās living situation.”
Sigh. It sounds like the idea is not to help change people’s life circumstances, but just to find ways to get around those circumstances to continue the same old drug-centered model of “care.”
Report comment
Bravo! I’ve been concerned about the “pill shaming” trope for a while, and the two of you have laid out the arguments beautifully.
Sera, you’re such a fantastic writer, and I know you’re also a mom. I hope you’ll consider contributing to MIA’s Parent Resources section on a topic of your choice. You can email me at mspencer@madinamerica or [email protected]. Thanks.
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This is a fascinating and disturbing article.
It seems there is some text accidentally missing from the third paragraph? After footnote 1, part of a quote seems to have been cut off, and there is mention of someone named Wardle who hadn’t been introduced yet.
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Thank you for pointing that out; it’s been corrected.
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This is a heartbreaking story, Elizabeth, and I’m so relieved it has a happy ending.
My question: Did the doctor you wrote to ever respond in any way? (I’m assuming you actually sent this letter to your child’s doctor, or perhaps the link to this essay.)
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Everything critical Allen Frances says about psychiatry makes sense. Except he’s talking out of both sides of his mouth:
https://www.madinamerica.com/2015/10/diagnosisgate-a-major-media-blackout-mystery/
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This is really all about values. Our values DEFINE us. Leonardo lived life as he saw fit, according to his values of creativity, exploration, and freedom. This necessitated rejecting other values such as consistency, conformity, and money. These neurologists want to impose their 21st-century bourgeois values on a 15th-century Renaissance man.
In publishing this paper, they reveal more about themselves than about Leonardo and his alleged neuro-atypicality. And doing it when the subject can’t speak for himself is cowardly and arrogant. In my opinion it’s downright dangerous when “brain doctors” imply there’s only one right way to “be” in the world.
Report comment
That’s an astute observation. For what is ECT but intentional, repeated TBIs?
Years from now, will a researcher look back at data about people subjected to electroshock as children and find increased suicide rates in these people? By then it will be too late to do anything about it.
Report comment
Steve and all, here is the thing. When editing blogs and other materials for the Parent Resources section I recognize that we are operating in a world where certain terms are used and where we’re trying to reach beyond those who already share our perspectives. Thus, for the purpose of an article designed for a fairly broad audience, it makes sense to start with the easily recognizable, standard language for a specific type of distress–OCD, obsessions, compulsions–and then offer alternative ways to look at them and address them.
A parent or child seeking new solutions will probably use the search term “OCD,” and for this article to be found, that term needs to be in the headline and to appear in the body. Such is the internet as currently controlled by Silicon Valley. So we attempt to reach people “where they’re at” and bring them around to a new perspective.
That’s my way of looking at it (speaking for myself and not MIA). Some day, I hope we can put quotes around all conventional psychiatric diagnoses, and evenutally eliminate these constructs altogether. Right now, let’s focus less on semantics and more on what we can do to help parents and children in real distress find alternatives to business as usual.
To the person above who wondered if developing techniques to quiet chronic worries and repetitive behaviors serves to perpetuate the underlying causes of those worries– that’s a great question! What if the “OCD” child is being abused, or something highly dysfunctional is going on within the family, school, or community? My guess is that the child is going to have limited control over their environment, but at least they can gain some control over their reaction to it.
From the parents’ side of things: If this were my child, I’d take a hard look at what is going on around that child, as well as how I’m treating him or her. At the end of the day, I feel it would be my responsibility to take action to create change, given that I have more power to do so.
What are your thoughts, Dr. Ben Furman?
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Seems to me these tips do exactly that –help children avoid therapy and risky drugs, because they come up with their own solutions to distressing worries.
Obsessive anxiety and compulsions, by whatever name you want to call them, cause suffering…why wouldn’t you want to overcome them, especially if the sufferer decides the method themselves?
Report comment
Hi, Julie’s editor here. I’m always cognitive of the importance of semantics, and I think the word “misdiagnosis” was appropriate in this case.
In the story, she shares that she had an eating disorder that went unrecognized. Instead, she got diagnoses including bipolar and schizoaffective. That’s definitely a misdiagnosis!
That is to say, there actually was a problem she had wanted help in addressing (self-destructive relationship with/behavior regarding food and eating). But no one in the mental health system would see that.
Julie, what do you think?
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As a media critic, person with lived experience of mental illness [sic], and MIA staffer, I loved this piece. Thank you.
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It bothers me very much that several of the psychiatrists they interviewed raised the specter that without drugs, patients would likely become violent, even homicidal! Way to perpetuate stigma, docs!
When they should know that the vast majority of people diagnosed with mental illness are more likely to be the victim than the perpetrator of violence. These psychiatrists, in my opinion, simply can’t stand to lose control, so they fall back on the charge that drug-free programs are “unscientific.” A savvy strategy. But it won’t work forever, because the science doesn’t seem to be in psychiatry’s favor.
Report comment
Peter, regarding the last lines about studies of stimulants being at high risk of bias: Does that mean the findings above are not to be trusted, or that previous studies are not to be trusted? Or something else.
In any case, this is scary stuff. I follow discussion boards for parents of kids with mental health issues, and so many of the youth who have ADHD diagnoses and are on stimulant drugs seem to have many other, more serious diagnoses as well. Can’t help but wonder if the ADHD meds triggered the “new symptoms” of a so-called co-morbid illness….
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Absolutely — it would be great to de-gender all the references to man and mankind and he/him in this article because it erases half the human race. I wish we women had nothing to do with society’s delusions, but we’ve been on this ride forever too.
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I was prescribed Mirtazapine years ago and its therapeutic effects were so minimal and its side effects so disconcerting that I quickly went off it (also unpleasant). Brain zaps, extreme agitation, nightmares, Tourette’s like symptoms, auditory and visual disturbances, inability to think straight…you name it. No one could pay me to take that (or any psych drug) again. It goes by the brand name Remeron and is a tetracyclic antidepressant.
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I read the article as showing that once again, psych drugs are ineffective: The traditional antidepressant drugs aren’t effective in many people, and adding a different class (Mirtazapine) doesn’t help either.
Report comment
Brilliant analysis!
Very interesting that “Oppositional Defiant Disorder” appeared concurrently with the rightward tilt of the US during the 1980s. And in my experience, it’s true that today the politically liberal are just as likely as those on the right to conform to psychiatry’s dogma. Perhaps more so–I see more skepticism of psychiatry on (ugh) Fox News and among Libertarians. Sen. Charles Grassley, who helped expose the role of pharma in overprescribing psychiatric drugs to children on Medicaid, is a Republican. Not sure what to make of that….
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I’m glad Dr. Horowitz has seen the light.
But in retrospect, it should have been obvious: They tell us that it takes 4 to 6 weeks for antidepressant levels to build up in our brain so the drug can “work.” Yet somehow the reverse process of tapering off can be accomplished in only 2 weeks?
Report comment
Rachel 777, I think your survey is worthwhile and you should do it. Collecting stories from people who got a bipolar2 diagnosis after a psych drug reaction (and all that follows) is the first step into deeper research and discussion on a neglected topic, and could potentially be published at MIA, on Medium, or other venues.
It happened to me about a decade ago. Standard doses of antidepressants of any class amped me up horribly, and pretty soon psychiatrists were tossing around diagnoses like “hypomania” and talking about Zyprexa. Fortunately I didn’t buy it and walked away from this treatment and recovered by other means. But I’ll never forget being told it was me “at fault” when it was so obviously the drug.
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ILNC, Would you be willing to share the name of that school district? This is very interesting and something we might want to cover in the Parent Resources section. If you don’t want to post it, you can email me at [email protected].
Thanks!
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It’s interesting that the study found that people mostly aren’t coming out and specifically requesting their psychiatrist to change their drug regime, much less asking them to prescribe a drug by name. This suggests that all the money and effort pharmaceutical companies are pouring into consumer-targeted TV advertising (“ask your doctor about Abilify!”) might not be working as planned….
Also fascinating is that “patients” feel they must be deferential when talking to psychiatrists. Despite that they’re the paying customer, as it were. Clearly they understand a need to be savvy in a situation with a large power differential.
Report comment
An interesting addendum to this blog: Recent research on the link between anxiety and missing school (whether by refusal, excused absence, or whatnot): https://www.madinamerica.com/2019/03/students-struggle-stress-depression-colleges-act-counselor/
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I’m very concerned that ECT continues to be performed on children. A little Googling turns up articles cheerleading the practice, urging that MORE children be subject to it, and chiding anyone who dares to question it:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/how-everyone-became-depressed/201312/electroconvulsive-therapy-in-children
https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/806923
https://www.mayoclinic.org/medical-professionals/psychiatry-psychology/news/electroconvulsive-therapy-for-adolescents-make-sure-its-on-the-menu/mac-20429824
Even the science press has jumped on the bandwagon with uncritical articles:
https://www.livescience.com/35160-electroconvulsive-therapy-treats-children-mental-illness-101110.html
The articles above are from a few years ago. But more recent articles seem to show that ECT is being encouraged for a new use: on children with autism.
https://www.psychiatryadvisor.com/home/conference-highlights/apa-2018/electroconvulsive-therapy-effective-in-children-with-autism/
https://www.spectrumnews.org/features/deep-dive/how-shock-therapy-is-saving-some-children-with-autism/
Strikingly, the consensus seems to be that ECT is only appropriate for the most intransigent “cases,” and yet the way researchers and psychiatrists praise it one wonders if it’s only a matter of time before ECT is used as an early intervention.
Dr. Breggin, how about writing a blog on ECT and kids?
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Daniel, I think your argument makes Esketamine look worse, not better. Of COURSE if you (lightly) anesthetize someone their depression will vanish for a while. Is this what we call progress? If we can’t really help you, we’ll just numb you out? Ah, “modern medicine”….
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Based on how little testing is required for “regular” FDA approved psychiatric drugs, it seems Esketamine can be considered virtually UNtested. Even more worrisome, this drug will inevitably be prescribed to young children and teenagers –off label. Parents are desperate to help their kids, and when (as often happens) the Prozac and Risperdal cocktails don’t work, they may acquiesce to this ‘nasal spray for depression.’
Report comment
This is a fascinating way to look at things. I’m immediately reminded that the DSM is constantly called the “bible” of psychiatry…and that’s no accident.
I wish the news media would stop using this inaccurate expression, because by so doing they are buying into its false holiness. Better to say simply “the classification manual psychiatrists use.” Takes away some of its aura, doesn’t it?!
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Yep, I was temporarily misdiagnosed as Bipolar 2 because antidepressants revved me up. What a crock indeed.
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Thanks for the background, I hadn’t known who had started it. It certainly helped me when I was in emotional crisis a decade ago– the many blood tests turned up a B12 deficiency, among other things, which can sometimes create psychiatric issues.
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This is extremely useful! I wanted to point out that Functional Medicine practitioners utilize integrative medicine. People can find practitioners (including psychiatrists) in their area along with other useful info at https://www.functionalmedicine.com.
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I don’t think Dr. Breggin’s philosophy of psychological healing has altered with his political leanings. Remember, one of his most famous books (and one that I credit with helping to save my life) is titled “Toxic Psychiatry: Why Therapy, Empathy and LOVE Must Replace the Drugs, Electroshock, and Biochemical Theories of the New Psychiatry.”
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I loved this piece, no pun intended. It made my day.
Its message is that love heals, which is definitely one psychiatry needs to hear.
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Is this something that happened to you, Rachel 777? I’m very sorry!
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Hi, this is Miranda, editor of Parent Resources. I’m glad to see readers coming up with their own tasks for parents to add to Chaya’s list of seven.
Remembering back to when I was a troubled teenager with a psychiatric diagnosis, I’ll add my own (and this is solely my personal opinion). Restrain yourself from complaining about how your child’s mental health difficulties affect you or how the expensive therapy is straining the family budget. Work those issues out within yourself, or vent to your spouse or a friend. If your child is made to feel responsible for your feelings or worries, it adds an additional psychic burden to dealing with his or her own struggles.
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Hi, The_cat, This is Miranda, editor of MIA’s Parent Resources page. Would you be willing to share links to some ‘parents of mentally ill children’ forums? They could be useful to our outreach. You can email me at [email protected]. Thanks!
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I’ve been following Jani’s case for a while and think her treatment with a mega drug cocktail and her exploitation by the media and her parents is unconscionable. The work with children who hear voices, on the other hand, is inspiring.
Jacqui, Did they ever receive a response from Oprah? And have you considered sending this letter to the author of the book (Jani’s dad) via his publisher? I do believe he wants to help his child — who I see as creative and gifted as well as disturbed — perhaps, perhaps he would listen.
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