Fwd: Doctors & Scientists for Psychiatric Freedom

[Guest guest]

Sat, 30 Aug 2003 21:58:27 -0400

Doctors & Scientists for Psychiatric Freedom

Lynn Michaels

 

Doctors & Scientists for Psychiatric Freedom

FAST FOR FREEDOM IN MENTAL HEALTH

Provided by the Law Project for Psychiatric Rights in support of the Freedom

Fast

 

 

On August 22, 2003, a Scientific Panel of fourteen internationally recognized

experts on mental illness struck a blow for psychiatric freedom by issuing a

letter exposing the American Psychiatric Association's inability to produce any

scientifically valid science that mental illnesses are biologically-based brain

diseases. This totally unproven hypothesis is used to justify the forced

drugging of hundreds of thousands of people in the United States. Following the

issuance of the Panel's letter, which is set forth below, other Doctors and

Scientists have added their names to the Scientific Panel's conclusions.

 

People wanting to sign on to the Scientific Panel's Conclusions should e-mail

webmaster.

 

------

MindFreedom

Support Coalition International

454 Willamette, Suite 216

PO Box 11284

Eugene, OR 97440 USA

 

Phone: (541) 345-9106 Fax: (541) 345-3737

E-mail: office

 

22 August 2003

 

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

American Psychiatric Association

1000 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 1825

Arlington, VA 22209-3901

 

Dear Dr. Scully:

 

David Oaks, Executive Director of MindFreedom, has forwarded to us your reply

dated 12 August 2003 to the hunger strikers involved in a " Fast for Freedom in

Mental Health. " We are a panel of 14 academics and clinicians who have agreed to

review any such reply for scientific validity.

 

The hunger strikers asked your organization, as well as the Surgeon General of

the United States, and the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, to provide:

 

1. evidence that establishes the validity of " schizophrenia, " " depression " or

other " major mental illnesses " as " biologically-based brain diseases " ;

2. evidence for a physical diagnostic exam that can reliably distinguish

individuals with these diagnoses (prior to treatment with psychiatric drugs)

from individuals without these diagnoses;

3. evidence for a baseline standard of a neurochemically-balanced " normal "

individual, against which a neurochemical " imbalance " can be measured;

4. evidence that any psychotropic drug can correct any " chemical imbalance "

attributed to a psychiatric diagnosis;

5. evidence that any psychotropic drug can reliably decrease the likelihood of

violence or suicide.

 

In your reply, no specific studies of any kind were cited with reference to any

of the questions above. You cited three general sources, including the recent

Surgeon General¹s report on mental health and two textbooks of psychiatry.

 

In examining each of these sources, we found numerous statements that

invalidate suggestions that behaviors referred to as " mental illnesses " have

specific biological bases:

 

Mental Health: A Report of the Surgeon General (1999) is explicit about the

absence of any findings of specific pathophysiology:

 

p. 44: " The diagnosis of mental disorders is often believed to be more

difficult than diagnosis of somatic, or general medical, disorders, since there

is no definitive lesion, laboratory test, or abnormality in brain tissue that

can identify the illness. "

 

p. 48: " It is not always easy to establish a threshold for a mental disorder,

particularly in light of how common symptoms of mental distress are and the lack

of objective, physical symptoms. "

 

p. 49: " The precise causes (etiology) of mental disorders are not known. "

 

p. 51: " All too frequently a biological change in the brain (a lesion) is

purported to be the Œcause¹ of a mental disorder Š [but] The fact is that any

simple association & shy; or correlation & shy; cannot and does not, by itself,

mean causation. "

 

p. 102: " Few lesions or physiologic abnormalities define the mental disorders,

and for the most part their causes remain unknown. "

 

In the third edition of Textbook of Clinical Psychiatry (1999), we find similar

statements:

 

p. 43: " Although reliable criteria have been constructed for many psychiatric

disorders, validation of the diagnostic categories as specific entities has not

been established. "

 

p. 51: Most of these [genetic studies] examine candidate genes in the

serotonergic pathways, and have not found convincing evidence of an

association. "

 

In Andreasen and Black¹s (2001) Introductory Textbook of Psychiatry, we find,

in the chapter on schizophrenia:

 

p. 23. " In the areas of pathophysiology and etiology, psychiatry has more

uncharted territory than the rest of medicine...Much of the current

investigative research in psychiatry is directed toward the goal of identifying

the pathophysiology and etiology of major mental illnesses, but this goal has

been achieved for only a few disorders (Alzheimer's disease, multi-infarct

dementia, Huntington's disease, and substance-induced syndromes such as

amphetamine-related psychosis or Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome). "

 

p. 231: " In the absence of visible lesions and known pathogens, investigators

have turned to the exploration of models that could explain the diversity of

symptoms through a single cognitive mechanism. "

 

p. 450: " Many candidate regions [of the brain] have been explored [for

schizophrenia] but none have been confirmed. "

 

As you are no doubt familiar with these textbooks you cited, you will agree

that such statements invalidate claims for specific, reliable biological causes

or signs of " mental illnesses. " In the judgment of the panel members, your reply

fails to produce or cite any specific evidence of any specific pathophysiology

underlying any " mental disorder. "

 

You have also referred us to 60 volumes of Archives of General Psychiatry and

160 volumes of The American Journal of Psychiatry. The 28 July 2003 cover letter

from the hunger strikers and panelists that they sent to you by certified mail

stated:

 

" We are aware that research studies can run to thousands of pages. Therefore,

please respond only with those studies that you consider the best available in

support of your claims and theories in a timely way. When responding with

evidence, please send citations for the original publications or copies of the

publications you are citing. "

 

Like you, we are familiar with the material found in these journals. It is

understandable why you did not provide any citations. There is not a single

study that provides valid and reliable evidence for the " biological basis of

mental illness. "

 

The members of the panel wish to make some further observations which we hope

will assist the American Psychiatric Association to present an honest scientific

stance with respect to the hunger strikers¹ questions.

 

In the panel¹s view, the questions posed by the hunger strikers are serious and

fair. These questions are legitimate questions that any patient or family member

or interested person might ask of any psychiatrist, or a student might ask of a

professor. The panel was therefore quite dismayed that you, as Medical Director

of the world¹s largest, wealthiest, and most resourceful psychiatric

association, could not provide a more specific or substantial response than the

equivalent of, " See our textbook. "

 

If, as you state in your letter, " the answers to [the above] questions are

widely available in the scientific literature, and have been for years, " then it

behooves your organization to make these answers and their specific sources

& shy; if they differ from the quotes we present in this letter & shy; available

promptly.

 

The panel members could not help but notice the contrast between the hunger

strikers, who ask clear questions about the science of psychiatry and

consciously take risks in the name of protecting the well-being of users of

psychiatry, and the American Psychiatric Association, which evades revealing

what actual scientific evidence justifies its authority. By not giving specific

answers to the questions posed by the hunger strikers, you appear to be

affirming the very reason for the hunger strike.

 

Sincerely,

 

Fred Baughman, MD

Mary Boyle, PhD

Peter Breggin, MD

David Cohen, PhD

Ty Colbert, PhD

Pat Deegan, PhD

Al Galves, PhD

Thomas Greening, PhD

David Jacobs, PhD

Jay Joseph, PhD

Jonathan Leo, PhD

Bruce Levine, PhD

Loren Mosher, MD

Stuart Shipko, MD

 

The hunger strikers endorse the scientific panel¹s statement.

www.MindFreedom.org.

 

- end & shy;

------

 

Other Doctors and Scientists adding their names to the Scientific Panel's

Conclusions

 

People wanting to sign on to the Scientific Panel's Conclusions should e-mail

webmaster.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Sat, 30 Aug 2003 21:58:27 -0400

Doctors & Scientists for Psychiatric Freedom

Lynn Michaels

 

Doctors & Scientists for Psychiatric Freedom

FAST FOR FREEDOM IN MENTAL HEALTH

Provided by the Law Project for Psychiatric Rights in support of the Freedom

Fast

 

 

On August 22, 2003, a Scientific Panel of fourteen internationally recognized

experts on mental illness struck a blow for psychiatric freedom by issuing a

letter exposing the American Psychiatric Association's inability to produce any

scientifically valid science that mental illnesses are biologically-based brain

diseases. This totally unproven hypothesis is used to justify the forced

drugging of hundreds of thousands of people in the United States. Following the

issuance of the Panel's letter, which is set forth below, other Doctors and

Scientists have added their names to the Scientific Panel's conclusions.

 

People wanting to sign on to the Scientific Panel's Conclusions should e-mail

webmaster.

 

------

MindFreedom

Support Coalition International

454 Willamette, Suite 216

PO Box 11284

Eugene, OR 97440 USA

 

Phone: (541) 345-9106 Fax: (541) 345-3737

E-mail: office

 

22 August 2003

 

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

American Psychiatric Association

1000 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 1825

Arlington, VA 22209-3901

 

Dear Dr. Scully:

 

David Oaks, Executive Director of MindFreedom, has forwarded to us your reply

dated 12 August 2003 to the hunger strikers involved in a " Fast for Freedom in

Mental Health. " We are a panel of 14 academics and clinicians who have agreed to

review any such reply for scientific validity.

 

The hunger strikers asked your organization, as well as the Surgeon General of

the United States, and the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, to provide:

 

1. evidence that establishes the validity of " schizophrenia, " " depression " or

other " major mental illnesses " as " biologically-based brain diseases " ;

2. evidence for a physical diagnostic exam that can reliably distinguish

individuals with these diagnoses (prior to treatment with psychiatric drugs)

from individuals without these diagnoses;

3. evidence for a baseline standard of a neurochemically-balanced " normal "

individual, against which a neurochemical " imbalance " can be measured;

4. evidence that any psychotropic drug can correct any " chemical imbalance "

attributed to a psychiatric diagnosis;

5. evidence that any psychotropic drug can reliably decrease the likelihood of

violence or suicide.

 

In your reply, no specific studies of any kind were cited with reference to any

of the questions above. You cited three general sources, including the recent

Surgeon General¹s report on mental health and two textbooks of psychiatry.

 

In examining each of these sources, we found numerous statements that

invalidate suggestions that behaviors referred to as " mental illnesses " have

specific biological bases:

 

Mental Health: A Report of the Surgeon General (1999) is explicit about the

absence of any findings of specific pathophysiology:

 

p. 44: " The diagnosis of mental disorders is often believed to be more

difficult than diagnosis of somatic, or general medical, disorders, since there

is no definitive lesion, laboratory test, or abnormality in brain tissue that

can identify the illness. "

 

p. 48: " It is not always easy to establish a threshold for a mental disorder,

particularly in light of how common symptoms of mental distress are and the lack

of objective, physical symptoms. "

 

p. 49: " The precise causes (etiology) of mental disorders are not known. "

 

p. 51: " All too frequently a biological change in the brain (a lesion) is

purported to be the Œcause¹ of a mental disorder Š [but] The fact is that any

simple association & shy; or correlation & shy; cannot and does not, by itself,

mean causation. "

 

p. 102: " Few lesions or physiologic abnormalities define the mental disorders,

and for the most part their causes remain unknown. "

 

In the third edition of Textbook of Clinical Psychiatry (1999), we find similar

statements:

 

p. 43: " Although reliable criteria have been constructed for many psychiatric

disorders, validation of the diagnostic categories as specific entities has not

been established. "

 

p. 51: Most of these [genetic studies] examine candidate genes in the

serotonergic pathways, and have not found convincing evidence of an

association. "

 

In Andreasen and Black¹s (2001) Introductory Textbook of Psychiatry, we find,

in the chapter on schizophrenia:

 

p. 23. " In the areas of pathophysiology and etiology, psychiatry has more

uncharted territory than the rest of medicine...Much of the current

investigative research in psychiatry is directed toward the goal of identifying

the pathophysiology and etiology of major mental illnesses, but this goal has

been achieved for only a few disorders (Alzheimer's disease, multi-infarct

dementia, Huntington's disease, and substance-induced syndromes such as

amphetamine-related psychosis or Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome). "

 

p. 231: " In the absence of visible lesions and known pathogens, investigators

have turned to the exploration of models that could explain the diversity of

symptoms through a single cognitive mechanism. "

 

p. 450: " Many candidate regions [of the brain] have been explored [for

schizophrenia] but none have been confirmed. "

 

As you are no doubt familiar with these textbooks you cited, you will agree

that such statements invalidate claims for specific, reliable biological causes

or signs of " mental illnesses. " In the judgment of the panel members, your reply

fails to produce or cite any specific evidence of any specific pathophysiology

underlying any " mental disorder. "

 

You have also referred us to 60 volumes of Archives of General Psychiatry and

160 volumes of The American Journal of Psychiatry. The 28 July 2003 cover letter

from the hunger strikers and panelists that they sent to you by certified mail

stated:

 

" We are aware that research studies can run to thousands of pages. Therefore,

please respond only with those studies that you consider the best available in

support of your claims and theories in a timely way. When responding with

evidence, please send citations for the original publications or copies of the

publications you are citing. "

 

Like you, we are familiar with the material found in these journals. It is

understandable why you did not provide any citations. There is not a single

study that provides valid and reliable evidence for the " biological basis of

mental illness. "

 

The members of the panel wish to make some further observations which we hope

will assist the American Psychiatric Association to present an honest scientific

stance with respect to the hunger strikers¹ questions.

 

In the panel¹s view, the questions posed by the hunger strikers are serious and

fair. These questions are legitimate questions that any patient or family member

or interested person might ask of any psychiatrist, or a student might ask of a

professor. The panel was therefore quite dismayed that you, as Medical Director

of the world¹s largest, wealthiest, and most resourceful psychiatric

association, could not provide a more specific or substantial response than the

equivalent of, " See our textbook. "

 

If, as you state in your letter, " the answers to [the above] questions are

widely available in the scientific literature, and have been for years, " then it

behooves your organization to make these answers and their specific sources

& shy; if they differ from the quotes we present in this letter & shy; available

promptly.

 

The panel members could not help but notice the contrast between the hunger

strikers, who ask clear questions about the science of psychiatry and

consciously take risks in the name of protecting the well-being of users of

psychiatry, and the American Psychiatric Association, which evades revealing

what actual scientific evidence justifies its authority. By not giving specific

answers to the questions posed by the hunger strikers, you appear to be

affirming the very reason for the hunger strike.

 

Sincerely,

 

Fred Baughman, MD

Mary Boyle, PhD

Peter Breggin, MD

David Cohen, PhD

Ty Colbert, PhD

Pat Deegan, PhD

Al Galves, PhD

Thomas Greening, PhD

David Jacobs, PhD

Jay Joseph, PhD

Jonathan Leo, PhD

Bruce Levine, PhD

Loren Mosher, MD

Stuart Shipko, MD

 

The hunger strikers endorse the scientific panel¹s statement.

www.MindFreedom.org.

 

- end & shy;

------

 

Other Doctors and Scientists adding their names to the Scientific Panel's

Conclusions

 

People wanting to sign on to the Scientific Panel's Conclusions should e-mail

webmaster.