Mental Health: Which Way To Go?

[Guest guest]

http://www.cchr.org/doctors/eng/page26.htm

 

MENTAL HEALTH: WHICH WAY TO GO?

 

 

" Yes, I believe `a' Hippocratic Oath is relevant—for me in June of

1990 (when I took it), in March 2001, and every day of my life in this

profession in which I am honored to be a member. What is the essence

of a Hippocratic Oath? Simple and echoed throughout time, whatever the

words: `May I care for others as I would have them care for me.' " 136

 

— Physician,

2001

 

 

Megan Shields

Megan Shields, M.D., a family practitioner for over 30 years, says

medicine offers effective testing and treatments, while psychiatry

offers a diagnostic system lacking any scientific validity and

treatments that often harm in the name of health care.

 

 

In a 2002 survey of physicians in three European countries and in the

United States, 72% said qualities that best describe a good physician

are compassion, caring, personable and good listening and

communication skills. In this way, they felt they could help make

their patients healthier and lead better lives.

 

Asked about how to distinguish between a " mental disorder " and a

physical illness, 65% said that physical examinations and clinical

diagnostic testing should first rule out physical problems.

 

Studies, some already referenced in this site, show that psychiatry's

track record is consistently undesirable. It has misrepresented the

efficacy of its drugs, the often horrific side of its drugs are

frequently minimized or ignored, and its physical treatments have

repeatedly harmed in the name of health care. Physical testing and

clinical diagnosis rarely, if ever, happen. But it is critical to

understand that the fact that the person turns up in the

psychiatrist's office is tantamount to a confirmation of their mental

illness. A pre-packaged checklist of behaviors, which a political

process—a vote—has elevated to the status of a " disorder " has been

consulted and the " diagnosis " has been made. All that remains is to

prescribe the psychoactive miracle drug.

 

All this is based on a diagnostic sham—DSM-IV—that in 2001 was voted

by more than 100 international mental health experts assembled in

London, as one of the ten worst psychiatric papers of the millennium.

 

Additionally, while medical cures exist, psychiatric ones don't. In

1994, psychiatrist Norman Sartorius, president of the WPA (1996-1999),

declared at a meeting of a congress of the Association of European

Psychiatrists, " The time when psychiatrists considered that they could

cure the mentally ill is gone. In the future the mentally ill have to

learn to live with their illness. " 137

 

Meanwhile, medical residents are staying away from psychiatry in

droves. Between 1988 and 1996, the number of United States medical

school graduates entering psychiatry decreased by more than 39%, and

fell again in 2000.138 A study of medical students conducted by

Christine Moutier, M.D., chief resident in the department of

psychiatry at the University of California at San Diego Medical

Center, found psychiatry as a career choice ranked much lower than

primary care, surgery, obstetrics/gynecology, and pediatrics. Medical

students also rated psychiatry much lower in terms of treatment

efficacy, scientific foundation, bright and interesting future, and

being a rapidly advancing field in medicine. " 139

 

To combat the paucity of interest in psychiatry, the WPA has produced

a " Core Curriculum in Psychiatry for Medical Students. " 140 Its

objective is to train all future physicians to identify and treat

mental illness.141 The authors candidly state, " Since most students

will not enter psychiatry, the acquisition of appropriate attitudes is

of primary importance " and should be taught not just in psychiatry but

all other subjects.142

 

In a wish list for mental health reform, Mad in America author Robert

Whitaker stated, " At the top of this wish list, though, would be a

simple plea for honesty. Stop telling those diagnosed with

schizophrenia that they suffer from too much dopamine or serotonin

activity and that the drugs put these brain chemicals back into

`balance.' That whole spiel is a form of medical fraud, and it is

impossible to imagine any other group of patients—ill say, with cancer

or cardiovascular disease—being deceived in this way. "

 

David B. Stein, Ph.D., clinical psychologist and Associate Professor

of Psychology says, " Physicians are trained to heal. They really want

to help. They often claim that they don't have an alternative—that the

only way to help these [ADHD, learning disordered] children is with

drugs. Besides, parents and teachers are constantly at their throats

for them to write prescriptions. They want their disruptive kids under

control immediately. Some doctors dislike doing this; many wish for an

alternative. " 143

 

With psychiatric diagnoses and treatments impacting more and more on

people's lives through primary care medicine, the alternatives need to

be emphasized. While CCHR cannot and does not give medical advice, the

following suggested alternatives are derived from years of working

with health professionals who are qualified to address such medical

issues.

 

 

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The emphasis must be on workable medical testing and treatments that

improve and strengthen individuals and can save the person from a

lifetime of psychiatric abuse.

 

 

 

1. Check for the Underlying Physical Problem

 

Studies show the frequency with which physical illnesses are

misdiagnosed as " mental illness " —in one study, 83% of people referred

by clinics and social workers for psychiatric treatment had

undiagnosed physical illnesses; 42% of those diagnosed with

" psychoses " were later found to be suffering from a medical illness,

48% of those diagnosed by psychiatrists for mental treatment had an

undiagnosed physical condition. Another study found that 76% of

patients with certain types of cancer exhibited supposed psychiatric

symptoms as a first indicator of the physical illness.144

 

In 1998, the Swedish Social Board cited several cases of disciplinary

actions against psychiatrists, including one in which a patient was

complaining of headaches, dizziness and staggering when he walked. The

patient had complained of these symptoms to psychiatric personnel for

five years before a medical check-up revealed that he had a brain

tumor.145

 

Dr. Thomas Dorman, an internist, says, " ...please remember that the

majority of people suffer from organic disease. Clinicians should

first of all remember that emotional stress associated with a chronic

illness or a painful condition can alter the patient's temperament. In

my practice I have run across countless people with chronic back pain

who were labeled neurotic. A typical statement from these poor

patients is `I thought I really was going crazy.' " Often, he said, the

problem may have been " simply an undiagnosed ligament problem in the

back. " 146

 

2. There is Help Without Mind-Altering Drugs

 

German psychiatrist Paul Runge says he's helped more than 100 children

without using psychiatric drugs. He has also helped reduce the dosages

of drugs prescribed by other physicians.147

 

Dr. Mary Ann Block, who has helped thousands of children safely come

off or stay off psychiatric drugs, says, " Many doctors don't do

physical exams before prescribing psychiatric drugs...[children] see a

doctor, but the doctor does not do a physical exam or look for any

health or learning problems before giving the child an ADHD diagnosis

and a prescription drug. This is not how I was taught to practice

medicine. In my medical education, I was taught to do a complete

history and physical exam. I was taught to consider something called a

`differential diagnosis.' To do this, one must consider all possible

underlying causes of the symptoms. " 148 Dr. Block does allergy testing

and develops dietary solutions to " behavioral " problems. She cites a

Journal of Pediatrics (1995) study showing that sucrose may cause a

10-times increase in adrenaline in children resulting in " difficulty

concentrating, irritability, and anxiety. "

 

3. Psychotropic Drugs May Mask A Child's Physical Problems

 

According to medical and educational experts, unwanted or over-active

behavior comes from many sources ranging from, but not limited to,

allergies, food additives, environmental toxins, improper sleep,

certain medications, not knowing how to study, going past words not

fully understood, and bored with the curriculum because of exceptional

intelligence or creative ability.

 

 

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Unwanted or hyperactive behavior can have many sources ranging from,

but not limited to allergies, food additives, environmental toxins,

improper sleep, certain medications, study problems, or being bored in

class simply because the child is very intelligent or creative.

Isolating and correcting this can help the child so that there is no

need for psychiatric treatment.

 

 

 

Psychiatrist Dr. Sydney Walker's book, The Hyperactivity Hoax, records

a variety of reasons for hyperactive behavior: " Children with

early-stage brain tumors can develop symptoms of hyperactivity or poor

attention. So can lead- or pesticide-poisoned children. So can

children with early-onset diabetes, heart disease, worms, viral or

bacterial infections, malnutrition, head injuries, genetic disorders,

allergies, mercury or manganese exposure, petit mal seizures, and

hundreds—yes hundreds—of other minor, major, or even life-threatening

medical problems. Yet all these children are labeled hyperactive or

ADD. " 149

 

Professor Stephen J. Shoenthaler, Ph.D., a California State University

criminologist, conducted a study at 12 juvenile correctional

institutions and 803 public schools, in which the researchers

increased fruits and vegetables and whole grains and decreased fats

and sugars in children's diets. The juvenile institutions exhibited

47% less " antisocial behavior " in 8,076 confined juvenile delinquents.

In the schools, the academic performance of 1.1 million children rose

16% and learning disabilities fell 40%.150

 

Prescribing psychotropic drugs for a disease that doesn't exist, Dr.

Walker noted, is a tragedy because " masking children's symptoms merely

allows their underlying disorders to continue and, in many cases, to

become worse. " 151

 

Dr. Walker compares the phenomenon to a patient going to see a

physician for a swollen leg and the doctor diagnoses it as a " lump " ,

gives him or her an aspirin and never determines if the lump is a

tumor, an insect bite, or gangrene.

 

 

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INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE: Resolutions calling for an end to psychiatric

drugging of children as a solution to learning and behavioral problems

are an international trend, from the Colorado State Board of

Education, U.S. National Caucus of Black State Legislators, to the

Green Party in Soermland County, Sweden.

 

 

 

4. What About Prescription Drug-Induced Behavior?

 

Several diseases closely mimic schizophrenia, fooling both patient and

physician. Dr. A. A. Reid lists 21 conditions, beginning with an

increasingly common one, " the temporary psychosis brought on by

amphetamine drugs. " Dr. Reid explains that drug-induced psychosis is

complete with delusions of persecution and hallucinations, and " is

often indistinguishable from an acute or paranoid-schizophrenic illness. "

 

Additionally, Dr. Poldinger and colleagues from Basel University in

Switzerland gave depressed patients either a state-of-the-art `SSRI'

antidepressant or a nutrient called 5-HTP. 5-HTP outperformed the drug

on every measure, resulting in greater improvements in their

depression, anxiety and insomnia, and no side effects!152 This is in

sharp contrast to the estimated one suicide every day caused directly

by adverse reactions to this class of anti-depressant drug.

 

5. Mental Health Facilities Require Diagnostic Systems

 

Psychiatric facilities should have a full complement of diagnostic

equipment, which could prevent more than 40% of admissions by finding

undiagnosed physical conditions. According to the California

Department of Mental Health Medical Evaluation Field Manual

(1991)—which CCHR assisted in introducing— " Mental health professionals

working within a mental health system have a professional and a legal

obligation to recognize the presence of physical disease in their

patients... physical diseases may cause a patient's mental disorder

[or] may worsen a mental disorder.... " 153

 

There are far too many workable alternatives to psychiatric drugging

to list them all here. Psychiatry on the other hand, would prefer to

say there are none and fight to keep it that way. That leaves a

medical practitioner with a choice between fact and fiction, between

cure and coercion, and between medicine and manipulation.

 

We have every respect for medicine practiced as medicine, in a spirit

of honest, ethical endeavor, and with due consideration to primacy of

the patient's needs and health. However, we have every argument with

the seduction and contamination of medicine by medical pretenders

whose contribution threatens to pervert not only the position, honor,

humanity and value of medicine, but to wreck the lives of millions of

patients who simply came to medicine for help.