In a two part series in the New York Times Magazine, Marcia Angell reviews three books on the dangers and scandal of overusing drugs to treat so many children and adults whose behavior is not calm, still and compliant. These two articles are amazingly powerful and very damning of modern Psychiatry. I wonder if being a Witch Doctor is not more ethical than these people who prescribe dope for every conceivable problem.
This is not all Doctors, of course, but many who see only problems that a pill will answer. Some Doctors are wholistic and believe in prayer, loving support and good counseling. The ones described by Ms. Angell did not look at any of those ways to support children.
Even government agencies are colluding with this Medicine Only Model. If a family can get a specific diagnosis then there can be money for drugs but not for other support. We at Life Way Counseling Centers have Psychiatrists but we believe in treating the whole person, not just the parts that a pill will alter. Always look for a holistic Doctor.
I have long criticized the medical model for its slavery to drugs. However, I was unaware of how many Doctors have been bought off my big pharma. More than any other specialty, Psychiatry is in the pocket of drug companies.
Below is a summary of Ms. Angell's second article. Read and weep for our kids.
The books by Irving Kirsch, Robert Whitaker, and Daniel Carlat are powerful indictments of the way psychiatry is now practiced. They document the “frenzy” of diagnosis, the overuse of drugs with sometimes devastating side effects, and widespread conflicts of interest. Critics of these books might argue, as Nancy Andreasen implied in her paper on the loss of brain tissue with long-term antipsychotic treatment, that the side effects are the price that must be paid to relieve the suffering caused by mental illness. If we knew that the benefits of psychoactive drugs outweighed their harms, that would be a strong argument, since there is no doubt that many people suffer grievously from mental illness. But as Kirsch, Whitaker, and Carlat argue convincingly, that expectation may be wrong.
At the very least, we need to stop thinking of psychoactive drugs as the best, and often the only, treatment for mental illness or emotional distress. Both psychotherapy and exercise have been shown to be as effective as drugs for depression, and their effects are longer-lasting, but unfortunately, there is no industry to push these alternatives and Americans have come to believe that pills must be more potent. More research is needed to study alternatives to psychoactive drugs, and the results should be included in medical education.
In particular, we need to rethink the care of troubled children. Here the problem is often troubled families in troubled circumstances. Treatment directed at these environmental conditions—such as one-on-one tutoring to help parents cope or after-school centers for the children—should be studied and compared with drug treatment. In the long run, such alternatives would probably be less expensive.
(NOTE: My research found that Parents and Peer Friends are often as effective as Professionals with many children.)
Our reliance on psychoactive drugs, seemingly for all of life’s discontents, tends to close off other options. In view of the risks and questionable long-term effectiveness of drugs, we need to do better. Above all, we should remember the time-honored medical dictum: first, do no harm (primum non nocere).
—This is the second part of a two-part article.
Do not trust your child to drugs without checking them out. Seek a Christian Doctor.
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