From MindFreedom:
The Lancet, a widely-respected international medical journal,
published an essay this weekend BELOW sharply critical of the
psychiatric industry.
The piece by Athar Yawar reviews two books: "The Myth of the Chemical
Cure: A Critique of Psychiatric Drug Treatment" by Joanna Moncrieff
and "Side Effects: a Prosecutor, a Whistleblower, and a Bestselling
Antidepressant on Trial" by Alison Bass.
http://tinyurl.com/lancet-
http://www.mindfreedom.org/kb/
~~~~~~~~~~
The Lancet
February 21, 2009 - http://www.thelancet.com - pages 621 to 622 - Vol
373
Perspectives
Book Review
~~~~~~~~~~
The fool on the hill
The spinning chair. Bloodletting (copious). Removal of possibly
infected viscera. Extraction of teeth. Electric shock. Forcible
restraint, for days or weeks. Wrapping in cold blankets. Brain
damage. Repeated coma. Back-breaking convulsions. Slicing through the
brain with an ice pick. Sterilisation. Female genital mutilation.
Since the Enlightenment, all the above have been used to treat the
"mad". Even the most grotesque treatments have often been introduced
as humane alternatives to existing options. In the 1950s, the
chemical lobotomy, or "hibernation therapy" was introduced. Patients
were given a drug that rendered them immobile and semiconscious for
days, on the assumption that they would emerge improved. The drug was
called a "neuroleptic", or brain restrainer. Its name?
Chlorpromazine. Since marketed as an antipsychotic, it is used, at
lower doses, today. So too are a host of related drugs. Many doctors,
and some patients, swear by them (other patients swear at them).
Antipsychotics are, at times, cruel drugs. Some cause shaking,
salivation, restlessness, infertility, stiff ness, agitation, and
frail bones; others cause obesity, somnolence, and increase the risk
of heart attack, diabetes, and stroke. Antidepressants also have side-
effects, although theirs are typically less dramatic: sickness,
sexual dysfunction, a feeling of being numbed, or losing one's
personality, and acutely increased risk of suicide. But side-effects,
when they occur, seem justified, since mental illness is extremely
unpleasant; and evidence indicates that the drugs work.
What if they didn't? In "The Myth of the Chemical Cure: A Critique of
Psychiatric Drug Treatment," psychiatrist Joanna Moncrieff has
amassed copious evidence that perhaps the drugs don't work....
For More....
The Lancet, a widely-respected international medical journal,
published an essay this weekend BELOW sharply critical of the
psychiatric industry.
The piece by Athar Yawar reviews two books: "The Myth of the Chemical
Cure: A Critique of Psychiatric Drug Treatment" by Joanna Moncrieff
and "Side Effects: a Prosecutor, a Whistleblower, and a Bestselling
Antidepressant on Trial" by Alison Bass.
http://tinyurl.com/lancet-
http://www.mindfreedom.org/kb/
~~~~~~~~~~
The Lancet
February 21, 2009 - http://www.thelancet.com
373
Perspectives
Book Review
~~~~~~~~~~
The fool on the hill
The spinning chair. Bloodletting (copious). Removal of possibly
infected viscera. Extraction of teeth. Electric shock. Forcible
restraint, for days or weeks. Wrapping in cold blankets. Brain
damage. Repeated coma. Back-breaking convulsions. Slicing through the
brain with an ice pick. Sterilisation. Female genital mutilation.
Since the Enlightenment, all the above have been used to treat the
"mad". Even the most grotesque treatments have often been introduced
as humane alternatives to existing options. In the 1950s, the
chemical lobotomy, or "hibernation therapy" was introduced. Patients
were given a drug that rendered them immobile and semiconscious for
days, on the assumption that they would emerge improved. The drug was
called a "neuroleptic", or brain restrainer. Its name?
Chlorpromazine. Since marketed as an antipsychotic, it is used, at
lower doses, today. So too are a host of related drugs. Many doctors,
and some patients, swear by them (other patients swear at them).
Antipsychotics are, at times, cruel drugs. Some cause shaking,
salivation, restlessness, infertility, stiff ness, agitation, and
frail bones; others cause obesity, somnolence, and increase the risk
of heart attack, diabetes, and stroke. Antidepressants also have side-
effects, although theirs are typically less dramatic: sickness,
sexual dysfunction, a feeling of being numbed, or losing one's
personality, and acutely increased risk of suicide. But side-effects,
when they occur, seem justified, since mental illness is extremely
unpleasant; and evidence indicates that the drugs work.
What if they didn't? In "The Myth of the Chemical Cure: A Critique of
Psychiatric Drug Treatment," psychiatrist Joanna Moncrieff has
amassed copious evidence that perhaps the drugs don't work....
For More....
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