Fw: NEWS: Scientists Clash About Mental Illness - Debate With AmericanPsychiatric Association Continues.

[Guest guest]

NEWS: Scientists Clash About " Mental Illness " - Debate With

AmericanPsychiatric Association Continues.

> P.S. CATHERINE - I'M NOT SURE if this can be

> posted on the Group site or not so I'm forwarding

> it to you first for approval.

> .

> .

> .

> NEWS: Mind Your Freedom - 15 Dec. 2003

> http://www.MindFreedom.org - please forward

> media contact: office@...

>

> Scientists Clash About " Mental Illness " :

>

> Hunger Strike Leads to Ongoing Debate

> with American Psychiatric Association.

>

> Read the Latest Scientific Panel Reply to the

> American Psychiatric Association BELOW.

>

> It began as a hunger strike this summer when

> about two dozen people refused to eat until

> they had some answers from the American

> Psychiatric Association about human rights.

>

> The hunger strike won national media

> including in the _Washington Post_ and

> _LA Times Magazine_. It ended months ago.

>

> But the strike led to an ongoing ping pong match

> back and forth between the scientific panel

> for the Fast for Freedom in Mental Health

> and the American Psychiatric Association.

>

> Today, the latest reply by the scientific panel

> for the hunger strike has been sent to the

> American Psychiatric Association saying,

> " The hunger strikers asked the APA for the

> 'evidence base' that justifies the

> biomedical model's stranglehold on the

> mental health system. The APA has not

> supplied any such evidence...

>

> " We urge members of the public, journalists,

> advocates, and officials reading this

> exchange to ask for straightforward answers

> to our questions from the APA. "

>

> Civil e-mail questions & comments to the

> APA medical director Dr. H. Scully

> may be sent to MedicalDirector@....

>

> In a sharp rebuke to the APA, the hunger strike

> scientific panel concludes, " We also ask Congress

> to investigate the mass deception that the 'diagnosis

> and treatment of mental disorders,' as promoted by bodies

> such as the APA and its powerful allies, represents

> in America today. "

>

> You may read the complete ongoing five-part

> debate, including today's new response, here:

>

> http://www.mindfreedom.org/mindfreedom/hungerstrike1.shtml

>

> You may view the background media coverage of

> the hunger strike, including photographs and

> an ongoing open message board, here:

>

> http://www.mindfreedom.org/mindfreedom/hungerstrike.shtml

>

> BELOW is the text from today's letter by the

> scientific panel, which is composed of

> respected and experienced psychiatrists,

> psychologists, researchers and clinicians.

>

> At the BOTTOM is more information and

> how to join. Please FORWARD this news release.

>

> ~~~~~~~

>

> 15 December 2003

>

> FROM:

>

> MindFreedom

> Support Coalition International

> 454 Willamette, Suite 216

> PO Box 11284

> Eugene, OR 97440 USA

>

> Phone: Fax:

> E-mail: office@...

> http://www.MindFreedom.org

>

> TO:

>

> H. Scully, Jr., M.D., Medical Director

> American Psychiatric Association

> 1000 Boulevard, Suite 1825

> Arlington, VA 22209-3901 USA

>

> e-mail: MedicalDirector@...

>

> Re: American Psychiatric Association

> Statement on Diagnosis and Treatment of

> Mental Disorders, 25 September 2003, Release 03-39.

>

> Dear Dr. Scully:

>

> We believe that the above-mentioned APA

> Statement was released in response to the

> questions posed last summer to the American

> Psychiatric Association, the National

> Alliance for the Mentally Ill, and the

> Surgeon General of the United States by the

> Fast for Freedom in Mental Health based in

> Pasadena, California.

>

> The scientific panel convened by the hunger

> strikers has written the present letter to

> respond to this APA Statement. We have

> paired the contents of the 11-paragraph APA

> Statement to the strikers' original

> questions and also added our own comments

> about some issues the APA Statement raises.

>

> The Fast for Freedom in Mental Health wrote

> on 28 July 2003:

>

> " WE ASK THAT YOU PRODUCE

> scientifically-valid evidence for the

> following, or that you publicly admit to

> media, government officials and the general

> public that you are unable to do so:

>

> " 1. EVIDENCE THAT CLEARLY ESTABLISHES the

> validity of 'schizophrenia,' 'depression' or

> other 'major mental illnesses' as

> biologically-based brain diseases.

>

> " 2. EVIDENCE FOR A PHYSICAL DIAGNOSTIC EXAM

> -- such as a scan or test of the brain,

> blood, urine, genes, etc. -- that can

> reliably distinguish individuals with these

> diagnoses (prior to treatment with

> psychiatric drugs), from individuals without

> these diagnoses. "

>

> The APA Statement's fourth paragraph states:

>

> " Research has shown that neurobiological

> disorders like schizophrenia reveal

> reproducible abnormalities of brain

> structure... " Without any citations, these

> statements cannot be supported, qualified,

> or rejected.

>

> However, in the fifth, sixth, and eighth

> paragraphs, the APA Statement admits to the

> absence of " discernible pathological lesions

> or genetic abnormalities " in mental

> disorders. This admission contradicts the

> previous assertion of " reproducible

> abnormalities. "

>

> Without evidence of brain pathology no basis

> exists to call emotional distress, disturbing

> behavior, or unusual thoughts or perceptions

> " neurobiological disorders. " This and

> similar terms negate the sufferer's distress

> as reaction, protest, or adaptation to

> his/her position in the personally relevant

> social context. A person is understood in

> terms of personal history and social

> circumstances. A neurobiological disorder is

> understood differently. The choice of labels

> is of great consequence.

>

> Moreover, finding reliable biological

> markers would be only a first step toward

> concluding that mental disorders are

> essentially neurobiological. For example,

> blushing, an obviously physical reaction, is

> not biologically caused. Its effective cause

> is acute embarrassment. Biological processes

> make blushing possible but they do not cause

> blushing.

>

> Even total congruence between biological

> processes and psychological events does not

> show that the former cause the latter.

> Psychiatric research is far from showing any

> reliable connections between mental disorders

> and biological measurements, much less

> revealing anything definitive about the

> nature of mental disorders.

>

> Aware of this shortcoming, the APA cites

> migraine headache and hypertension to

> illustrate that the lack of biological

> markers (and thus of physical diagnostic

> tests) is not unique to mental and

> behavioral disorders. It is true that

> medicine has yet to find the biological

> cause for these two disorders, though it has

> developed a very reliable physical

> measurement for blood pressure.

>

> However, in other branches of medicine such

> disorders are exceptions. In psychiatry they

> are the norm. Psychiatry is the sole medical

> specialty that treats only disorders with no

> biological markers.

>

> Moreover, hypertension is regarded as a

> symptom of physical disease because

> hypertension can degenerate into frank

> physical disease, even death. No such

> parallel exists in psychiatry. For example,

> people diagnosed with schizophrenia or major

> depressive disorder often are physically

> healthy: unless their social circumstances

> and neglect interfere negatively, they may

> live long lives and die of the same physical

> causes as other people.

>

> The APA confirms in paragraph six that, in

> the absence of biological markers, mental

> disorders are defined by " a variety of

> concepts " : " distress experienced and

> reported, " " level of disability, " " patterns

> of behavior, " and " statistical deviation

> from population-based norms. " Precisely. The

> APA should therefore explain how such

> sociological concepts -- which easily define

> conditions such as poverty, discrimination,

> or war -- substantiate the existence of

> " neurobiological disorders. "

>

> Although it acknowledges the absence of

> genetic abnormalities, the APA still claims

> that " compelling evidence exists for a

> strong genetic " component " for schizophrenia

> and other conditions. This statement might

> mislead people who have not read the

> research into thinking that physical

> evidence for a genetic condition has been

> discovered. In fact, this research only

> involves counting cases of schizophrenia

> (diagnosed according to behavioral criteria

> and clinical judgment) and testing the

> probability that such cases would occur in

> certain samples.

>

> The twin and adoption studies of this nature

> that the APA usually cites are plagued by

> untenable theoretical assumptions (e.g.,

> that identical and fraternal twins grow up

> in identical environments) and serious

> methodological problems (e.g., expanding the

> diagnosis of schizophrenia to include

> conditions no one thinks are schizophrenia).

> Any results that remain after accounting for

> these manipulations can be fully explained

> on non- genetic grounds (ph, 2003;

> Lewontin, Rose, and Kamin, 1984; Pam, 1995).

>

> The Fast for Freedom in Mental Health also

> requested:

>

> " 3. EVIDENCE FOR A BASELINE STANDARD of a

> neurochemically-balanced 'normal'

> personality, against which a neurochemical

> 'imbalance' can be measured and corrected by

> pharmaceutical means.

>

> These issues were not addressed in the APA

> Statement.

>

> The APA Statement could have replied

> accurately that neuroscientists have not

> established any normal baseline quantity for

> any known neurotransmitter (no measurements

> even remotely parallel to blood pressure to

> diagnose hypertension exist), nor have they

> shown any chemical imbalance to correlate

> with mental disorders diagnosed in un-

> medicated individuals (Breggin, 1991; Healy,

> 1997; Valenstein, 1998).

>

> The Fast for Freedom in Mental Health also

> requested:

>

> " 4. EVIDENCE THAT ANY PSYCHOTROPIC DRUG can

> correct a 'chemical imbalance' attributed to

> a psychiatric diagnosis, and is anything more

> than a non-specific alterer of brain

> physiology. "

>

> The APA Statement merely states what has

> been known for at least 50 years, that

> " medications clearly exert influence on

> specific neurotransmitters... " This response

> states the obvious: all mind and mood

> altering drugs have effects on the brain.

> This includes illegal mind and mood altering

> drugs, though no one has suggested that they

> correct chemical imbalances in the brain.

>

> Given the Food and Drug Administration's

> impotent exercise of its mandate to protect

> consumers from false advertising,

> pharmaceutical companies recklessly

> advertise cartoons showing neurotransmitter

> " imbalances " corrected by drugs. However, in

> the absence of scientific proof to

> substantiate such claims, it is ethically

> and medically reprehensible for doctors to

> convey such messages to justify prescribing

> drugs, and for the APA's own journals to

> publish such advertisements.

>

> And finally, the Fast for Freedom in Mental

> Health also requested:

>

> " 5. EVIDENCE THAT ANY PSYCHOTROPIC DRUG can

> reliably decrease the likelihood of violence

> or suicide. "

>

> Not addressed in the APA statement.

>

> " 6. EVIDENCE THAT PSYCHOTROPIC DRUGS do not

> in fact increase the overall likelihood of

> violence or suicide. "

>

> Not addressed in the APA statement.

>

> " 7. FINALLY, that you reveal publicly

> evidence published in mainstream medical

> journals, but unreported in mainstream

> media, that links use of some psychiatric

> drugs to structural brain changes. "

>

> Not addressed in the APA statement.

>

> Despite its use of terms such as " compelling

> evidence " and " research shows, " the APA

> Statement provides no citations to any

> scientific literature. This was also the

> case in the first letter that Dr. Scully

> addressed to the scientific panel on 12

> August 2003.

>

> Associations devoted to research and

> treatment of genuine diseases readily

> provide consumers with scientific references

> on the pathological basis of these diseases.

> The APA is a 35,000-member organization,

> with an annual budget exceeding $38 million.

>

> With a handful of allies, it shapes mental

> health practice and policy in this country

> and has convinced taxpayers to spend

> billions to support its claim that

> psychiatrists treat " neurobiological

> disorders. "

>

> The APA should be able to provide a one-page

> list of published scientific studies to

> support this claim. Yet, the APA only

> speculates on future findings: " Mental

> disorders will likely be proven to represent

> disorders of intercellular communication; or

> of disrupted neural circuitry. " (This

> sentence is yet another de facto

> acknowledgement that neuropathology cannot

> be shown in mental disorders.)

>

> The APA uses terms like " complex, " " emergent

> properties, " and " subtle " when describing

> people's overwhelming mental and emotional

> crises. It states: " the human brain is the

> most complex ... object of study in the

> history of human science. " Yet this language

> about complexity is completely at odds with

> the biological model that reduces the human

> mind to a machine. Since the discovery of

> the infectious cause of neurosyphilis nearly

> a century ago, this model has failed to

> explain the cause of a single mental

> disorder. Yet this model dominates the

> mental health system.

>

> Aware of this utter failure to find causes,

> the APA claims that money spent by the

> public and private sector " has greatly

> improved our ability to treat severe,

> frequently disabling mental and behavioral

> disorders effectively. " However, relevant

> indicators show the exact opposite.

>

> For schizophrenia, worsened relapse rates

> and increased numbers of people on

> disability status characterize outcomes over

> the last 50 years (Hegarty, Baldessarini,

> Tohen, Waternaux, and Oepen, 1994; Whitaker,

> 2002). For depression, increased incidence

> and prevalence are reported. Indeed, the APA

> Statement cites that mental disorders " rank

> second in societal burden, behind only

> cardiovascular conditions " in modern

> societies.

>

> Perhaps the treatment is worsening the

> disorder. At best, the treatment is not

> helping: researchers now recognize that the

> most popular psychiatric drugs, the SSRI

> antidepressants, rate only slightly better

> than inert placebos (Kirsch, Scoboria, and

> , 2002; Kirsch, , Scoboria, and

> Nicholls, 2002). In addition, negative

> research findings (sponsored by industry)

> are commonly suppressed, and adverse drug

> effects are massively under-reported in

> psychiatric journals and to the Food and

> Drug Administration. These dubious but

> tolerated practices create an enormously

> misleading view of the actual impact of drug

> treatments.

>

> Rather than acknowledge the lack of progress

> despite the huge expenditure of public and

> private funds, the APA dismisses its critics

> as denying the reality of suffering and

> impatient with the " pace of science. " A

> genuine science states hypotheses in ways

> that allow them to be proven true or false.

> For a century now psychiatry has put forth

> hypothesis after hypothesis that is not

> falsifiable.

>

> Today, despite no biological causes, no

> discernible biological markers or

> abnormalities, no diagnostic tests, no

> accurate predictions of treatment response

> and outcome, the APA still continues to

> claim that emotional disorders are genuine

> neurobiological disorders ... with causes

> too subtle to detect at present! This is

> hardly an advance over earlier unfalsifiable

> ideas such as the Oedipal complex.

>

> In sum, the APA's statements reflect less

> the " pace of science " than the pace of

> commerce: they blur with the pharmaceutical

> advertising themes saturating our media.

> This is because the APA is not an

> independent organization. One third of its

> operating budget comes from the drug

> industry. Drug companies dominate its

> professional meetings to advertise drugs. In

> addition, the drug industry funds, directs,

> and analyzes many drug studies (Healy,

> 2003), and psychiatric journals publish

> so-called scientific reports of these drug

> studies that are ghost-written by industry

> employees or marketing firms. Psychiatric

> drug experts with no significant ties to

> industry can hardly be found. Industry

> largesse binds many psychiatric

> practitioners to the industry (Editorial,

> 2002).

>

> The hunger strikers asked the APA for the

> " evidence base " that justifies the

> biomedical model's stranglehold on the

> mental health system. The APA has not

> supplied any such evidence, which compels

> the scientific panel to ask one final

> question: on what basis does society justify

> the authority granted psychiatrists, as

> medical doctors, to force psychoactive drugs

> or electroconvulsive treatment upon unwilling

> individuals, or to incarcerate persons who

> may or may not have committed criminal acts?

> For, clearly, it is solely on the basis of

> trust in the claim that their professional

> acts and advice are founded on medical

> science that society grants psychiatrists

> such extraordinary authority.

>

> We urge members of the public, journalists,

> advocates, and officials reading this

> exchange to ask for straightforward answers

> to our questions from the APA. We also ask

> Congress to investigate the mass deception

> that the " diagnosis and treatment of mental

> disorders, " as promoted by bodies such as

> the APA and its powerful allies, represents

> in America today.

>

> Signed:

>

> Scientific Panel for the Fast for Freedom in

> Mental Health

>

> Fred Baughman, MD; Boyle, PhD;

> Breggin, MD; Cohen, PhD; Ty Colbert,

> PhD; Pat Deegan, PhD; Al Galves, PhD;

> Greening, PhD; s, PhD; Jay ph,

> PsyD; Leo, PhD; Bruce Levine, PhD;

> Loren Mosher, MD; Stuart Shipko, MD.

>

> The hunger strikers endorse the scientific

> panel's statement. The Fast for Freedom in

> Mental Health is a project of MindFreedom

> Support Coalition International.

> http://www.MindFreedom.org

>

> References:

>

> Breggin, P. (1991). Toxic psychiatry. New

> York: St. 's Press.

>

> Editorial. (2002). Just how tainted has

> medicine become? Lancet, 359, 1167.

>

> Healy, D. (1997). The antidepressant era.

> Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

>

> Healy, D. (2003). Let them eat Prozac.

> Toronto: Lorimer & Company.

>

> Hegarty, J., Baldessarini, R., Tohen, M.,

> Waternaux, C., and Oepen, G. (1994). One

> hundred years of schizophrenia: A

> meta-analysis of the outcome literature.

> American Journal of Psychiatry, 151,

> 1409-1416.

>

> ph, J. (2003). The gene illusion:

> Genetic research in psychiatry and

> psychology under the microscope.

> Ross-on-Wye: PCCS Books.

>

> Kirsch, I., , T. J., Scoboria, A., and

> Nicholls, S. S. (2002a). The emperor's new

> drugs: An analysis of antidepressant

> medication data submitted to the US Food and

> Drug Administration. Prevention and

> Treatment. Available:

> http://journals.apa.org/prevention/volume5/pre0050023a.html

>

> Kirsch, I., Scoboria, A., and , T. J.

> (2002b). Antidepressants and placebos:

> Secrets, revelations, and unanswered

> questions. Prevention and Treatment.

> Available:

> http://journals.apa.org/prevention/volume5/pre0050033r.html.

>

> Lewontin, R. C., Rose, S., and Kamin, L. J.

> (1984). Not in our genes. New York: Pantheon.

>

> Pam, A. (1995). Biological psychiatry. In A.

> Pam and C. Ross (Eds.), Pseudoscience in

> biological psychiatry: Blaming the body (pp.

> 7-84). New York: Wiley and Sons.

>

> Valenstein, E. (1998). Blaming the brain:

> The truth about drugs and mental health. New

> York: The Free Press.

>

> Whitaker, R. (2002). Mad in America: Bad

> science, bad medicine and the enduring

> mistreatment of the mentally ill. Cambridge:

> Perseus Publishing.

>

> - end -

>

> PLEASE FORWARD.

>

> MIND YOUR FREEDOM: United Action for Human Rights.

>

> Information about MindFreedom Support

> Coalition International: http://www.mindfreedom.org

>

> join here: http://www.mindfreedom.org/join.shtml

>

> MindFreedom Support Coalition International

> 454 Willamette, Suite 216 - POB 11284

> Eugene, OR 97440-3484 USA

>

> For more information and media contacts:

>

> email: office@... fax:

> phone: toll free in USA: 1-877-MAD-PRIDE

>

> MindFreedom Support Coalition International is an

> independent non-profit uniting 100 sponsor groups

> to win human rights & alternatives in mental health.

> Accredited by the United Nations as a

> Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) with

> Consultative Roster Status.

>

> * * * * * * *

>

> PLEASE FORWARD TO ALL APPROPRIATE

> PLACES ON AND OFF THE INTERNET.

>

> - # # # -

>

> ===============

> ===============

> .

> .