Some dissenting views as to psychiatry's efficacy

[Snowdrop]

The articles linked deal with psychiatry and mental illness. However given that psychiatry's view of ME is that while the symptoms are physically 'real' the maintenance of illness resides in the mind I thought that the points the articles make were valid to consider here:

http://bryanappleyard.com/psychiatry-on-trial/

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/jun/19/james-davies-top-10-psychiatry-critiques

http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/does-psychiatry-need-science

 

[Snowdrop]

http://bryanappleyard.com/psychiatry-on-trial/

In 1973, David Rosenhan, an American psychologist, published an article called On Being Sane in Insane Places. It told the story of an experiment in which eight perfectly sane people were sent to psychiatric hospitals. The only aberrant symptom they were instructed to display was that they occasionally heard a voice saying “Thud” or “Hollow”. All eight were admitted with diagnoses of psychosis — schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. They were treated with drugs and only discharged after days or, in some cases, many weeks, if they stated that they accepted their diagnosis.

Horrified by this, one hospital challenged Rosenhan to send fake patients and assured him they would detect them. Staff detected 83 fakes out of 193 new patients. In fact, Rosenhan had sent none. “No excuses could wash with such an embarrassment,” writes Tom Burns in Our Necessary Shadow, “something had to change.”

 

[A.B.]

Wow, if The New Yorker article is to be believed, there was only a single disorder proposed for inclusion in the DSM-V which was based on biomarkers of some sort. Even more shockingly, it was rejected because there were lab tests for it. Presumably it would have been too embarrassing.

Psychiatry really seems to be beyond saving.

 

[alex3619]

The articles linked deal with psychiatry and mental illness. However given that psychiatry's view of ME is that while the symptoms are physically 'real' the maintenance of illness resides in the mind I thought that the points the articles make were valid to consider here:

http://bryanappleyard.com/psychiatry-on-trial/

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/jun/19/james-davies-top-10-psychiatry-critiques

http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/does-psychiatry-need-science

One can cite Freud as influential, that is an understatement, but he is largely discredited, shown to have engaged in fraudulent reporting on patients, and more noted for his ability to influence people than any scientific claims. His work clearly fits the definition of nonscience. Articles that praise Freud make me very suspicious.

Psychiatry does need science. More importantly, scientific psychiatry needs to be clearly split from nonscientific psychiatry, and the latter removed from medicine. It has no grounds to claim scientific authority. The problem here is that much of psychiatry that claims scientific authority is deeply flawed. We have to do better.

Unfounded claims of scientific authority, particularly coupled with coercive agendas, are an authoritative abuse of medical privilege. It should be considered unethical and immoral.

No DSM is a basis for a claim for scientific authority.

 

[Snowdrop]

I hope that there will people from within the ranks of psychiatry/medicine who are willing to examine this issue more closely and honestly. Psychiatrists I think are aware that they are floundering and that they lack credibility even as they seek to propagandise and saturate the media with unsubstantiated claims (however reasonable and erudite sounding).

And it's easy to get the public to swallow a well turned out canape then it is to get them thinking about what real science underlies their claims.

What's different about this particular round of true believers in psychiatric quackery is the sheer amount of information (authored by whom) from both sides (propaganda vs science) that will survive to be parsed later thanks to the internet.

Education is one way forward that would benefit patient populations such as ours and in mental health as well I think.