Alternative perspective on psychiatry's so-called mental disorders | PHILIP HICKEY, PH.D.
On November 18, 2015, Dr. Pies sent his response to my November 17 article to MIA. MIA posted it, and forwarded a copy to me. It reads: “I have read Dr. Philip Hickey’s 8400+ word treatise, and I have only the following to say with regard to the two key points at issue: Notwithstanding my… Continue Reading
This morning, I received, by way of a forward from MIA, the following from Dr. Pies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I have read Dr. Philip Hickey’s 8400+ word treatise, and I have only the following to say with regard to the two… Continue Reading
In the October 2015 issue of the Behavior Therapist (pages 206-213), Jeffrey Lacasse, PhD, and Jonathan Leo, PhD, published an article titled Antidepressants and the Chemical Imbalance Theory of Depression: A Reflection and Update on the Discourse, I thought the article had particular merit, and I drew attention to it in a post dated November… Continue Reading
On November 5, Kermit Cole, Front Page Editor at Mad in America, forwarded to me the following email which he had received from Ronald Pies, MD. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . From: Ronald Pies MD <[email protected]> Date: November 4, 2015 at 2:17:53 PM… Continue Reading
On October 23, 2015, Jeffrey Lacasse, PhD, and Jonathan Leo, PhD, published an interesting article on Florida State University’s DigiNole Commons. The title is Antidepressants and the Chemical Imbalance Theory of Depression: A Reflection and Update on the Discourse. Dr. Lacasse is assistant professor in the College of Social Work at Florida State University; Dr…. Continue Reading
On October 13, 2015, Allen Frances, MD, published a post on his Psychology Today blog Saving Normal. The post is titled What Drives Our Dumb and Disorganized Mental Health Policies, and the subtitle is “Naming and shaming the power players.” The article has also been published in Psychiatric Times and the Huffington Post. Dr. Frances… Continue Reading
Ronald Pies, MD, is one of American’s most eminent and prestigious psychiatrists. He is the Editor-in-Chief Emeritus of Psychiatric Times, and he is a Professor of Psychiatry at both Syracuse and Tufts. I disagree with many of Dr. Pies’ contentions, and I have expressed these disagreements in detail in various posts (for instance, here, here,… Continue Reading
A few months ago, I became aware of various articles online that stated “Robert F Kennedy Jr. says 70% of news advertising revenue comes from Big Pharma”. In the articles there is a link to a May 18, 2015 video in which Jesse Ventura, former Governor of Minnesota, interviews Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on an… Continue Reading
One of psychiatry’s most obvious vulnerabilities is the fact that various so-called antidepressant drugs induce homicidal and suicidal feelings and actions in some people, especially late adolescents and young adults. This fact is not in dispute, but psychiatry routinely downplays the risk, and insists that the benefits of these drugs outweigh any risks of actual… Continue Reading
Integration of physical and “mental health” care has been a popular topic in psychiatric circles in recent years. During his term as President of the APA, the very eminent psychiatrist Jeffrey Lieberman, MD, made frequent references to this matter in his posts on Psychiatric News (the APA’s online newspaper). For instance, on December 6, 2013,… Continue Reading
Hugh Middleton, MD, posted an interesting article on Mad in America, October 1, 2015. It’s called Hey; Don’t Just Shoot the Messenger! Dr. Middleton is a British psychiatrist who is a founding member of the Critical Psychiatry Network, and was a co-author of the cardinal paper, Psychiatry beyond the current paradigm. (2012). Dr. Middleton had… Continue Reading
On April 25, 2014, Jeffrey Lieberman, MD, then President of the APA, announced that the association had engaged the services of Porter Novelli, a prestigious PR company based in Washington DC and currently operating in 60 different countries. “Mindful of the continuing stigma associated with mental illness and psychiatric treatment, we retained an outside consultant… Continue Reading
It’s no secret that at the present time, psychiatry is reeling under a barrage of scrutiny and criticism. Their long-standing contention that all significant problems of thinking, feeling, and/or behaving are brain illnesses “just like diabetes”, which need to be “treated” with drugs and high-voltage electric shocks to the brain, has been thoroughly discredited. And… Continue Reading
I imagine that everybody on this side of the issue knows by now that the eminent psychiatrist Jeffrey Lieberman, MD, Chief Psychiatrist at Columbia, and past President of the APA, called Robert Whitaker “a menace to society.” This outburst of petulance – the latest in a string of similar deprecations – occurred on April 26,… Continue Reading
On February 27, 2015, European Psychiatry published a paper titled EPA guidance on how to improve the image of psychiatry and of the psychiatrist. The paper was authored by D. Bhugra et al. EPA is the European Psychiatric Association. Dr. Bhugra is a psychiatrist who works at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience, King’s… Continue Reading
In this truly remarkable, and meticulously researched, volume, Dr. Lynch annihilates psychiatry’s cherished chemical imbalance theory of depression. Every facet of this theory, which the author correctly calls a delusion, is critically analyzed and found wanting. Example after example is provided of psychiatrists promoting this fiction, the factual and logical errors of which are clearly… Continue Reading
BACKGROUND DSM-5 defines delusions as “…fixed beliefs that are not amenable to change in the light of conflicting evidence.” (p 87). The manual lists six kinds of delusions: persecutory; referential; grandiose; erotomanic; nihilistic; and somatic. The APA provides another definition of delusions on p 819. It’s substantially the same as the one above, but offers… Continue Reading
Imagine that you’re not feeling well, and you visit Dr. Ducknoise. The doctor asks you questions, nods knowingly at your answers, asks more questions, perhaps jots down some notes. Finally, he nods gravely. “What is it, doc?” you ask. “You’ve got UTW disorder,” he replies grimly. “What’s that?” “Under-the-weather disorder. It’s a serious illness. It’s… Continue Reading
Yesterday I received the following tweet from Dr. Huda: “funnily enough my time availability hasn’t changed in 24 hours. I have however written one more page. Are u ever in UK?” From which I must conclude, sadly, that the debate, to which I had been so looking forward, seems unlikely to materialize. For the benefit… Continue Reading
Yesterday I received the following comment from Dr. Huda, who, believe it or not, still seems to be under the impression that I want to debate him on Twitter! “Hi I don’t read your blog so only found out about this from someone else Debates on social media are usually a non meeting of minds and… Continue Reading
After Monday’s post, I received the following tweet from Dr. Huda: “Dear @BigPhilHickey I find debates over Twitter r largely pointless I am (slowly) writing a book outlining my views” To which I reply: I never suggested a debate over Twitter. In fact, I stated very clearly that “… Twitter, while an excellent medium for… Continue Reading
A few days ago, I received notification via Tweetdeck that my handle (@BigPhilHickey) had appeared in a Twitter conversation between one of my Twitter followers and Samei Huda, MD. My follower had mentioned me, and had pointed out that I critique “… the ideas, value systems, politics, practice etc of psychiatry…” To which Dr. Huda… Continue Reading
According to the APA, intermittent explosive disorder is characterized by angry aggressive outbursts that occur in response to relatively minor provocation. This particular label has an interesting history in successive editions of the DSM. DSM I (1952) Intermittent explosive disorder does not appear as such in the first edition of DSM, but the general concept… Continue Reading
In recent years, we’ve seen an increasing number of articles and papers from psychiatrists in which they seem to be accepting at least some of the antipsychiatry criticisms, and appear interested in reforms. It is tempting to see this development as an indication of progress, but as in many aspects of life, things aren’t always… Continue Reading
The first benzodiazepine – chlordiazepoxide – became available, from Hoffman-La Roche, in 1960, under the brand name Librium. It was soon followed by: diazepam (Valium) 1963; nitrazepam (Mogadon) and oxazepam (Serax) in 1965; temazepam (Restoril) 1969; clorazepate (Tranxene) 1972; flurazepam (Dalmane) 1973; clonazepam (Klonopin) 1975; lorazepam (Ativan) in 1977; and alprazolam (Xanax) in 1981; etc. Benzodiazepines… Continue Reading
