On January 10, 2017, I put up a post titled The Biological Evidence for “Mental Illness”. It was published simultaneously on Mad in America. The post was a response to an earlier comment from Carolina Partners in Mental Healthcare PLLC, which included the assertion “mental illnesses have a long history of biological evidence.” In my… Continue Reading
My Response To Dr. Pies
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
Antidepressant-induced Mania
It is generally recognized in antipsychiatry circles that antidepressant drugs induce manic or hypomanic episodes in some of the individuals who take them. Psychiatry’s usual response to this is to assert that the individual must have had an underlying latent bipolar disorder that has “emerged” in response to the improvement in mood. The problem with such… Continue Reading
Life Is Bipolar
I am a 30 year man who finally realized a few months ago (after finding this website) that he is not mentally ill but just an adult who often acts like a child. I dabbled with some “official” drugs (meaning prescribed) in the last few years when I was first diagnosed with depression (was put on anti… Continue Reading
Mental Health After Newtown
On March 5, 2013, a bipartisan panel of leading mental health experts and parents of children with “mental disorders” held a conversation (that’s newspeak for meeting) in Washington D.C. on the topic: Violence and Severe Mental Illness. The invited panelists were: Thomas Insel, MD, Director of NIMH Harold Koplewicz, MD, President of Child Mind Institute… Continue Reading
Childhood Bipolar Disorder
Prior to about 1994, childhood bipolar disorder was virtually unheard of. DSM-III-R (1987), in the section on manic episode, states, “…studies indicate that the mean age at onset is in the early 20s. However…a sizable number of new cases appear after age 50.”(p 216) Of course a mean age of onset in the early 20’s… Continue Reading
Diagnosis
I am writing this post as a response to a comment posted by medical blog in my previous post, More on So-called Bipolar Disorder. In the summer of 2001 I became very ill. The symptoms were exhaustion and mild nosebleeds. I went to three different practitioners, but they all were dismissive of my concerns, assured… Continue Reading
More on So-called Bipolar Disorder
A few days ago, I received the following email: Hi Phil, I would like to hear from you how we can survive the bipolar disorder, as I understand bipolar is a very serious disease. Regards, [Name] The question seems important enough to warrant a more public response, though I have omitted the writer’s name to… Continue Reading
DSM and Disability
Every society in every generation makes errors. Some of the errors are minor. Some are major. One of the great errors of the 20th century was this: we accepted the spurious notion that a wide range of life’s problems were in fact illnesses. This spurious notion was initiated with good intentions – to provide shelter… Continue Reading
Bipolar Disorder Is Not An Illness
This post was edited and updated on June 24, 2013, to address comments received from readers. I thank them for their input. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DSM-IV’s criteria for a manic episode are given below: A. A distinct period of abnormally and persistently… Continue Reading
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
This post was edited and updated on July 7, 2013 in the light of comments from readers. I am grateful for their input. ************* One of the anxiety disorders listed in DSM-IV is posttraumatic stress disorder. The criteria for this condition are listed below: A. The person has been exposed to a traumatic event in… Continue Reading