Psychiatrists under fire in mental health battle

[fizzgig]

British Psychological Society to launch attack on rival profession, casting doubt on biomedical model of mental illness

There is no scientific evidence that psychiatric diagnoses such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder are valid or useful, according to the leading body representing Britain's clinical psychologists.

In a groundbreaking move that has already prompted a fierce backlash from psychiatrists, the British Psychological Society's division of clinical psychology (DCP) will on Monday issue a statement declaring that, given the lack of evidence, it is time for a "paradigm shift" in how the issues of mental health are understood. The statement effectively casts doubt on psychiatry's predominantly biomedical model of mental distress – the idea that people are suffering from illnesses that are treatable by doctors using drugs. The DCP said its decision to speak out "reflects fundamental concerns about the development, personal impact and core assumptions of the (diagnosis) systems", used by psychiatry.

Dr Lucy Johnstone, a consultant clinical psychologist who helped draw up the DCP's statement, said it was unhelpful to see mental health issues as illnesses with biological causes.

"On the contrary, there is now overwhelming evidence that people break down as a result of a complex mix of social and psychological circumstances – bereavement and loss, poverty and discrimination, trauma and abuse," Johnstone said. The provocative statement by the DCP has been timed to come out shortly before the release of DSM-5, the fifth edition of the American Psychiatry Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

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i think we do have a problem with overmedication but, at least in my case, my meds help me function at a much more even level. my shit is packed a lot tighter when i'm on meds as compared to when i'm not.

[olddots]

1. I have read this is GD and here about 6 times

And I don't get it ,here are these people who are supposed to have it together acting like fools instead of working together .

[fizzgig]

2. sorry for the dupe

didn't see it here.

mental illness is not a black and white issue, you think they'd be interested in working together.

[Neoma]

5. Some do, I'm sure.

My psychologist (first therapist) told me to get medical help.

[HereSince1628]

3. The thread in GD was very revealling about DUers...

That thread had a huge number of responses...with a majority of them trashing psychology.

Scientology aside, it seems many think mental illness and psychology are fake.

[bananas]

10. The IT revolution

In a world of programmers, everyone will deny there are software bugs, everyone will blame the hardware.

[HereSince1628]

4. A few things to maybe ponder...

The practice of clinical psychology is not an homogeneous discipline. Within it there are a variety of approaches/schools.

In the US it's fairly common to think of mental illness as biological phenomena. It you go to the national NAMI site you will see mental illness described as brain disease and chemical imbalances within the brain. American advocacy groups for mental illness often push the idea that mental illness are brain-sicknesses and thereby real medical illnesses.

The new changes for research funding at NIMH focus money only on projects that intend to research that biological view. Challenging research revenue surely implies challenges to the credibility of those different points of view. That will generate observable conflict.

The psychologists who don't like the current state of the game are speaking out about it. I'm not a psychologist, and I'm not at all an expert in the rivalries and internal conflicts within clinical psychology. I know these 'schools' exist, and at a superficial level I know some of the differences between them.

The folks who assembled the new DSM are by and large members of the group within psychology that sees mental illness as being biologically based. One of the consequences of considering mental illness as biological pathology is that it can be targeted with pharmaceuticals. The use of pharmaceuticals for mental illness is quite controversial between the differing schools of psychology and among the general public.

I am not kidding when I say that there are therapists who believe that mental illness is a consequence of conscious and unconscious mind being misdirected by urges. Those who believe this defend it.

I am not kidding when I say that there are therapists who believe that virtually all mental illness can be solved by positive support from within a therapeutic alliance. Those who believe this defend it.

I am not kidding when I say that there are therapists who believe that mental illness is a consequence of structure and function of the brain. Those who believe this defend it.

These conflicts are long-standing and, as yet, unresolved within psychology. American graduate students of psychology are exposed to all of them and when they go into business, they pick and choose among those things which they feel work for them--an approach that's referred to as "eclectic" psychology.

When stories about conflicts in clinical psychology are encountered, it seems that they must be considered carefully and critically because they often represent only one of the therapeutic points of view. The authors of popular articles often do this superficially while emphasizing the sparks of the conflict rather than the nature of the steel and flint that are rubbing together.

[fizzgig]

6. wonderful insight as usual

do you think the conflicts can be resolved?

[Downwinder]

7. Is this a case of:

Last edited Thu May 16, 2013, 10:42 AM - Edit history (1)

If we can't prescribe medication nobody can?

[Neoma]

8. I figure it's a way to not fund mental health facilities.

[olddots]

9. I naturally became fearfull

that we would return to the 18th. century .

we won't and can't so in this case the old Mad magazine slogan What me worry rings true as usual .