by Allen Frances
01/09/2012
The history of medicine has its glorious moments, but is also littered with false theories, blind allies, and harmful treatments. The emergence of invasive therapies in ancient Greece inspired Hippocrates to make ‘First, Do No Harm’ the foundational injunction of western medicine. Psychiatric medicines are quite effective when correctly prescribed for clearcut disorders. But Americans are taking too much medicine, often casually and unnecessarily prescribed by the wrong people for the wrong reasons, and causing lots of needless harm.
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Final decisions on DSM 5 will be made soon. I will post a series of blogs highlighting its worst proposals and updating the efforts to shoot them down before they can become official. Public health will be adversely affected by DSM 5 – the public should become informed and have its say before it is too late.
You just have to admire that kind of commitment. First
Psychology Today, then the
Psychiatric Times, and now the
Huffington Post. When you’ve got something important to say and people who should be listening aren’t interested, I guess you just move up the ladder until they don’t have another choice. My hats off to you, sir…
thanks to this man who has some clout to be challenging the growing absurdity that is what psychiatry has morphed into these past 10 plus years. I have been basically saying the same thing for some time, but, who cares what some clinical psychiatrist in Maryland has to say. Well, at least someone echoes me who seems to be louder!
Same feeling here. Throwing his weight behind this issue is a big help. He’s a “KOL” who is leading in the right way, for a change!
I am just so very sorry for the psychiatrists who have been genuinely trying to help people and alleviate suffering during this “period of absurdity”. Wonder if Nemeroff has ever helped one human??? I just wonder. Find it hard to imagine him “connecting” with a human. And Biederman? Good grief! Since he reports only to “God”, wonder how warm he is???