Nonfiction and Nonsense

Part 2 of the book discusses depression and the types of treatments that are prescribed by psychiatrists to treat it, and why the way the profession, as a whole, choses to treat patients is ineffective, dangerous, and incredibly cruel.

The first chapter in this section explains what depression is and how we can recognize it. Recognizing depression is generally very easy, and being able to identify an event that occurred in the individual’s life that could have caused the onset of depression is also usually simple. But there are times when a professional cannot determine the cause of depression, and this is because of a lack of understanding on their part, not because there is some unusual or obscure cause. A mental health professional, psychiatrists not included, realize this, and work with the patient to try to determine the cause of the turmoil. A psychiatrist would just pump the patient full of drugs without bothering to have any meaningful conversation with them. 

The next chapter goes into the biology of depression. Early theories guessed that having too little norepinephrine or serotonin were behind depression, but there was never enough evidence to prove this. There is a relationship between certain hormonal disorders and depression, but there is no way to tell if the disorder causes depression, or if depression causes the disorder. The biggest takeaway from this chapter, for me, was that we cannot understand the biology of depression until we understand a normal, healthy human brain, which we do not and are far from doing so. 

Tricyclics are the star of chapter 8, or as they are more commonly known, antipsychotics. Some generalizations about tricyclics, drugs such as Prozac, are that they can be extremely lethal if taken in an overdose, they have a sedative effect, cause sexual dysfunction, cause severe withdrawal symptoms, they dull the mind, and taking one is not much better than taking a placebo as seen in studies. Basically, there is not so much evidence for them being useful, but there is a ton of evidence showing them to be extremely harmful. Antidepressants are the drug you most often see being used by an individual in suicide attempts. This makes you question, why do psychiatrists prescribe such dangerous drugs to people who are the most at risk for trying to end their own lives? If you want to read more about the ‘miracle’ drug Prozac, as well as lithium, you should consider reading this. 

The final chapter in part 2 was the most disturbing one I have read in this book so far. What medical procedure causes effects similar to a head injury, requires the patient to be paralyzed before treatment, can cause the breaking of bones during treatment, and after multiple sessions can lead to subhuman functioning? Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), or electroshock, is a procedure still practiced in the field of psychiatry today. There is too much detestable information in this chapter to go into. A summary of the topics the chapter goes into includes, elder abuse, the immediate side effects of each session of ECT, erasing memories and reprogramming, the threat of ECT from psychiatrists as punishment for ‘bad’ behavior in institutions, the FDA, and the power high that turns some psychiatrists into sadists. 

If you have an interest in schizophrenia, or just want to learn more about it, I would suggest reading this section of Dr. Breggin’s book. 

The first chapter in this part details what schizophrenia is, specifically the symptoms of what the author calls a psychospiritual crisis, which is brought on by environmental factors, feelings of anger and overwhelm, feelings of humiliation, depression, and identity crisis, and not genetic factors as the psychiatry community would like us to believe. There is a lack of evidence to prove that schizophrenia has a genetic link, even though psychiatrists as a whole try to push this theory. Psychiatrists usually end up making symptoms worse by prescribing medications that end up making the condition worse. 

The next chapter lists all the most popular drugs that are used to treat schizophrenia, both their scientific names and the name brands which they are sold under by various pharmaceutical companies. Psychiatric treatment revolves around these drugs and the prescribing of them to impair the ‘normal’ brain function of the patient, not to cure whatever is askew. Basically, psychiatric drugs are the chemical equivalent of a lobotomy, instead of surgically clippining the pathways between the frontal lobe and the rest of the brain, these drugs chemically disrupt the path. 

Following the chapter about drugs, is a chapter about the effects of long term drug use. I learned all about tardive dyskinesia and dementia, two diseases that are linked with persons who have taken psychiatric drugs for years. Taking narcoleptic drugs for even a few months could lead to health problems that could plague a person for the rest of their life. I also learned about the flu-like withdrawal symptoms that occur when a person stops taking narcoleptics.

The final chapter in part 1 points out how obvious it is that schizophrenia is the result of environmental factors, and not genetics. Psychiatrists push the genetic link as the cause of  schizophrenia for many reasons, the most important being that they would likely lose their validity and their jobs. The second most important reason is that schizophrenics rarely reproduce and have a lot of difficulty doing so, due to spending a large portion of their lives in institutions, being isolated, trouble being social, and other mental health problems. If schizophrenia was genetic, it would not be as prevalent as it is, as there would not be enough diagnosed individuals producing children to keep the disease alive. This, for me, was the most interesting chapter.

This post is going to be short. I picked up a book, from my shelf, one that I purchased maybe 10 years ago, and which I also probably last read 10 years ago. This was when I was actively studying psychology, hoping to eventually become a psychologist, therapist, or counselor. After a few years of school, I realized that this wasn’t the career for me and that mental health was more of a hobby. I don’t know if hobby is the right word, but the human mind fascinates me, especially the things that go on in the brain that make a person seek out aid from a mental health professional. It was published in 1991, but I think the arguments in this book are still valid today. The book is split into five parts, which is convenient for me since I like to make breaks when they won’t interrupt the flow.

There is an introductory chapter in which Dr. Breggin gives a short explanation of the differences between a psychiatrist, psychotherapist, psychologist, and psychoanalyst. He also makes mention of the other types of professionals that work in the field of mental health. There are a wide variety of professionals that you could end up coming into contact with if you are a person who is seeking help regarding mental health. 

Chapter 1 takes us to 1954, when the author was a young student visiting the nearby mental health facility at the request of one of his friends. Although the chapter is short, it sets a solid base for the rest of the book. You start to get an idea as to why the author is so opposed to the use of medication to treat mental health issues, and his preference for conversation and loving care.