Cracked: Why Psychiatry is Doing More Harm Than Good

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It has taken me a while to get around to writing this review because I felt that I needed time to do it justice. In many ways this is a scary book and I feel that I might need to read something that puts the other side of the story to really feel that I have a reasonable grasp of the issues.

Cracked: The Unhappy Truth about Psychiatry by James Davies Cracked: The Unhappy Truth about Psychiatry by James Davies

Psychiatry does not operate in a manner similar to any other field of medicine. Namely, diagnoses are granted based solely on symptomatic presentation, and not on objective biological testing. Davies writes: Although this review has criticised the use of psychiatric drugs, I myself and many others have taken these medications for years. They are not easy to withdraw from, and anyone who wants to stop taking medications should approach doing so with extreme caution and preferably professional support. But there is an array of information out there on how to approach withdrawing. James is also a psychotherapist, who started working for the NHS in 2004. He is the co-founder of the Council for Evidence-based Psychiatry (CEP), which is secretariat to the All Party Parliamentary Group for Prescribed Drug Dependence. This is important on a number of levels, because the claim of medication (my doctor's term) or drugs (mine, which I use for diabetes pills) is crucial to the claims of the various anti-depressants. Davies points out that published research shows that effectiveness of these products isn't all that much different from a placebo, which invites an interesting discussion on how people might be "cured" and that these drugs can have dangerous side-effects. He also points to the selective publication of research in that unfavourable studies are excluded. None of this is new, really, but it's very well presented.

What we expected to find’, said Kirsch lowering his teacup, ‘was that people who took the antidepressant would do far better than those taking the placebo, the sugar pill. We couldn’t have been more wrong.’ And if you look at the graph below you’ll see exactly what Kirsch means.3

Cracked: Why Psychiatry is Doing More Harm Than Good Cracked: Why Psychiatry is Doing More Harm Than Good

I found this explanation helpful as I’ve process through the idea that the that chemical imbalance theory has yet to be proved. (“After nearly 50 years of investigation into the chemical imbalance theory, there is not one piece of convincing evidence that the theory is actually correct” (129).) If this theory were true, then chemical imbalances could be cured by intaking the right amount of chemicals (via medication). Davies’ view instead is that pills “don’t cure us - they simply change us” (99). He offers, they are “just providing a temporary and superficial distraction” (100).At what point does the medicalization begin to undermine the health of the population? At what point does it begin to turn what should be a matter for spiritual, philosophical or political understanding and action into an issue that can be managed by medicine alone?’ (p.43).