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Fascinating article, and worth reading more. Unfortunately, since this isn't 'simple' and you can't randomly hand out bottles of pills and say you fixed it, it will not get the sort of attention it deserves.
Big pharma is heavily invested in the big business of mental health.
I agree with your views on big pharma. Most Americans (and people all over the world) are being scammed in a big way. There is big money to be made on sickness and/or the perception of sickness, and when there are fortunes to be made, people will do anything to make those profits. And thanks for the link to the book. I definitely plan on reading it.
But I think you are overstepping the bounds of good sense when you say there is no such thing as "mental illness". I think this is a highly irresponsible statement, and it is just plain false...
The correct response to comprehending the scam of big pharma is not to go around saying "there is no such thing as mental illness." Aside from being just plain wrong, this approach plays into the hands of those who would want to label you as a goofball fringe conspiracy theorist and thus discount everything you say. Big pharma is exploiting instances of real human suffering, and real disease, for the purposes of pulling off one of the biggest scams in human history. This is despicable. But they did not totally "invent" mental illness.
Exactly. And many, many mental health professionals are VEHEMENTLY NOT on the side of "medicate first and ask questions later." Many of the areas of mental health seeing the most growth and interest right now are therapies that are not dependent on pharmaceuticals.
An industry exploiting mental illness does not make a case for mental illness being a fabrication. Psych disorders weren't born with Big Pharma. They predate psychiatry, as well, for the "shrinks invented mental health issues" crowd. They already existed.
I am very skeptical of psychiatry, very skeptical. I will be called ignorant for that but it's how I feel. It is very easy to obtain a psychiatric diagnosis and psychiatric medications without much effort. I asked a Psychiatrist for lexapro and he gave it to me, all I had to say way I was "feeling anxious" - I wanted the lexapro for weightloss in reality.
I really was shocked how quickly he was willing to write up a prescription after only listening to a few words and requests from me, he didn't seem to want to investigate if I was was genuinely telling the truth or not, he really didn't seem to care.
In terms of the actual validity of mental illness to tell you the truth I don't know. I have met people that were really "crazy" or addicted but I have met so many others with just a label like depression, anxiety without much substance behind it.
My experience is its a lets see if this one works approach that is most common. Symptoms today may not be the same tomorrow because there is a biological component, which may not work the same in each individual, and the environmental one. They can't medicate away a problem, so they aim for symptoms. There is also a lot of off label use with pych drugs. But how any of them react is in part dependent on the body chemestry of the patient, never considered (at least for me, which did matter as I brought it up). Maybe the body is too acid, and it blocks a lot of the drug, or its quickly absorbed where it shouldn't be.
One bit of advise I'd give anyone on psych drugs is get a GOOD medical doctor. They need to do blood tests and get a good physical measure of you, and especially when something changes, redo it. I was on a really high dosage of one med, and yet it still didn't seem to work. The pdoc just raised the dosage. Seems, however, that due to past disease related damage, I barely absorb any of it. So I take none. As none of it 'worked' except in ways negative to my physical health, I handle things with managing the environment and a pill only if needed for very occasional stress. And a whole lot of my 'issues' got cleared up when I could think straight and was able to conquer them myself.
Its a physical thing which is 'different' in the brain, sometimes showing up only when huge stresses push it too far. But its also a sum total of our experience and stress and issues which cannot be resolved by a magic little pill. But... if you market it that way, those little pills can be a good mine. Don't expect to see big pharma put any money into the why's or alternate treatment while they see the money roll in.
Fascinating article, and worth reading more. Unfortunately, since this isn't 'simple' and you can't randomly hand out bottles of pills and say you fixed it, it will not get the sort of attention it deserves.
Big pharma is heavily invested in the big business of mental health.
Yes! That is a great article. I've done a quick search of "nutrigenomics" and it appears to be a legitimate science. The science journal "Nature", for example, has devoted an entire supplemental issue to it. This clearly shows the origins of many forms of mental illness as a disease, but it does not appear to be driven by big pharma - although I'm sure there is plenty of money to be made selling nutrients - even though the same results can probably be achieved with a carefully targeted diet (based on a person's individual genetics) - thus supporting "farms" rather than "pharma".
I can, if you can wade through the technical jargon in this journal article. This is a scientific study in which many studies were examined, a particularly useful experiment, because it combines the results of many researchers' experiments. This study looked at the brain volume of schizophrenic vs. normal brains and discovered cerebral lobe and ventricle shrinkage in patients with schizophrenia vs. the normal patients. These results have been replicated in many studies done by many different scientists across many years, which increases the validity and reliability of the results.
Hey, I'm on your side. My point was that any evidence you post, won't be the end of the argument. As the thread continues. It's like trying to convince Republicans to become Democrats and vice versa. Both sides are sure their side is right. The argument won't end. Hence, nobody will "win" this argument.
I agree with your views on big pharma. Most Americans (and people all over the world) are being scammed in a big way. There is big money to be made on sickness and/or the perception of sickness, and when there are fortunes to be made, people will do anything to make those profits. And thanks for the link to the book. I definitely plan on reading it.
But I think you are overstepping the bounds of good sense when you say there is no such thing as "mental illness". I think this is a highly irresponsible statement, and it is just plain false. Let me re-paste this sentence (from the quote above): That strategy has succeeded in hugely increasing demand for drugs–mostly by healthy Americans. I've emphasized the word mostly. The scam being conducted by big pharma is massive, but it does not change the fact that a brain, like any other organ of the body, is prone to possible dysfunction. The brain is the most complex physical system known to science, and there are innumerable ways in which things can go wrong. There is no scientific basis - or any rational basis at all - for saying "there is no such thing as mental illness." Big pharma, with the help of the larger medical industry, has exploited the existence of mental illness to an outrageous degree, but this does not change the fact that mental illness does, nevertheless, exist.
Depression, for example. When someone commits suicide, they didn't do it just because big pharma tricked them into thinking they were sick when, in fact, they were healthy. No, they really were sick. Due to biochemical dysfunctions and/or brain-structure issues, they were miserable. You could blame big pharma to some extent (along with many other aspects of modern life) for why they were sick, but this does not change the fact that they were, indeed, sick. Most clinically depressed people have an organic brain disorder, and some of these disorders can be alleviated by certain types of medication (or in some cases correcting diet, or in some cases getting the right sort of therapy).
The correct response to comprehending the scam of big pharma is not to go around saying "there is no such thing as mental illness." Aside from being just plain wrong, this approach plays into the hands of those who would want to label you as a goofball fringe conspiracy theorist and thus discount everything you say. Big pharma is exploiting instances of real human suffering, and real disease, for the purposes of pulling off one of the biggest scams in human history. This is despicable. But they did not totally "invent" mental illness.
I'd never question weather these diseases are real, but we don't seem to treat them like 'real' diseases like say, cancer. With it you have a lump, its tested and so on. Exactly HOW its treated is based on a lot of other considerations, and tests. And if something is experimental, the patient knows its possible it might not work. But we look at 'physical' illness as a complex issue.
Mental illness is just as physical, in that it effects the brain and its function. But we call it 'mental' illness as if it wasn't as real. So you get this person who's very depressed. Life went bad, and job, marriage are gone. Maybe they're drinking or using 'off lable street drugs to drown the pain.
He's not going to get the same approach.
His 'lump' is harder to identify, so we fill him full of drugs which might work. If they don't we try another. He'd lucky if a medical doctor who'd not also a pdoc is involved to do that run of physical test that need to be there. He's probably not going to get therapy to find the things he needs to resolve for himself. He's going to get lots of pills, several diagnosis, and if he's lucky work it out himself. If he's not and he quits the meds he's 'non compliant'.
But.... big pharma gets their piece just the same.
That's the problem. We need to be treating the WHOLE person, not just the part which brought them to the office.
For those claiming, or differentiating brain diseases from mental illness... What can one say? Actually some of the ignorance I've read is beyond words. And then to blame on just a big pharma money grab... Again, more head shaking.
One can ask some simple questions to even begin to see others backgrounds in these fields but Google will give someone some answers. For any that have worked in this field, whether in the research, testing, or surgical aspect, I'm surprised they haven't weighed in. But then explaining years of, in coding terms, over 500 + dx's, and that's before subsets... Some very well known from a physiological standpoint. Others, it's an onion analogy: many layers.
Quick example: drd4 is the serotonin/dopamine receptors. A lot of studies were going into this particular receptor for addiction. Come to find out, advances in treating Parkinson's and Alzheimer's were found. Treatments are in the human subject stage now. But, how it effects the levels that opiates/benzo's/alcohol are still evasive (although the opiate route has produced more evidence which led to the blockers currently prescribed more than the replacement methadone).
I guess that's why others are reluctant to weigh in. It is extremely difficult to explain to those who've googled some people who've written some books, especially when much of this is at varying levels of the discovery process.
Someone mentioned nutrient therapy: just as lack of vitamin c will lead to certain diseases, lack of multiple vitamins/nutrients will lead to hormonal imbalances, which leads to all sorts of 'illnessss'.
Same goes with oxygen deprivation, genetic defects, sodium imbalance, etc...
The stigma of mental illness I guess leads to thoughts like this. The hubris of humanity I guess... On certain levels many of us think we have all the answers for everything so far. Like many disciplines, the more we learn, the more we realize just how little we do know.
Anybody who is getting legal prescriptions for psychotropic medication IS getting them from "a real medical doctor."
Technically, I was. But there had not been ONE blood test done. I have extreme absorbancy problems which I told them about, and it was never even considered. When I go to a new GP I always mention that and they always check with a medication. The only response was to 'take more'. My system has random absorbstion (from colitus) but the more just made me feel like a zombie. When the 'doctor' won't listen then what do you do?
I backed myself out completely. My other medical concerns which were not theirs got better. If I need something for anxiety now and then I take ONE St. John's Wort. I still have mood swings and get up and down, but not severe, and controlled by controlling my environment.
I also had cataracs on both eyes which required surgery when I was on meds. Seems one of the meds causes them, and they grew very very rapidly like the drug indiced type. The so called doctor never said to quit after the first. The info on the drug you can dig up on the companies site red flags it if there is even a history of them or woresening vision.
My medical doctor discovered the liver function was dangerously off too, as were several other things. She agreed to me backing out the pills.
She was a real doctor. If the other one with his little perscription pad wasn't, whatever his diploma said. He should have been asking the questions and ordering the blood tests. When I showed him the liver test he actually said it wasn't important.... the official rules say this should be tested twice a year and the meds discontinued if there is a problem.
Their head psych doc wanted me to try this one drug and after looking it up it was clear that as a result of medical conditions I should not even try. He actually lost his temper and yelled that I was a bad patient. I remained calm and resilute. No, I was a patient concerned for MY own health.
So I'd still say see your medical doctor and have them run the tests the psych type may well not have bothered with. All of them too. And if there is a tiny concern see if your medical doctor will officially state their view on record they put with yours both locations. Just in case there's later problems.
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