Cracked: Why Psychiatry is Doing More Harm Than Good

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I also didn't really find any plausible evidence for the author's statement that drugs have horrible side effects - his examples were all symptoms of the diseases the drugs are meant to treat, so how does he know they're caused by the drugs, but not by the illness that is basically left untreated if, as he suggests, the drugs aren't actually effective in curing the person?

Cracked: Why Psychiatry is Doing More Harm than Good

Filled with sensationalist statements and hyperbole, Davies tries to expose the darker side of psychiatry and big pharma. Although he frequently references the literature, he only very briefly mentions their findings. The structure of the book is also somewhat confusing, as it is repetitive at times. The book is littered with several spelling and grammar errors. 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). This citation seems academically sloppy and perhaps shows that Davies seeks to oversimplify a complex and murky issue into a one-sided story (though this also might reflect my innate bias against pop-science books). 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.After decades of trying to prove [the chemical imbalance theory], researchers have still come up empty-handed.’ The DSM has gone through a number of editions and each time numbers of "new" mental illnesses have been added to the book (82 new illnesses from DSM3 to DSM4). So what are all these "new" mental illnesses. Everytime we take a pill for something there will be consequences of some sort as it is not a natural way to treat our bodies. Our job is to determine whether the consequence of the drug is worse than the initial problem. The scandal is that we are often not informed about the potential consequence or alternative approaches which may be more effective and less harmful.

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

Dr Davies said, “by sedating people to the causes and solutions for their socially rooted distress – both literally and ideologically – our mental health sector has stilled the impulse for social reform, which has distracted people from the real origins of their despair, and has favoured results that are primarily economic while presiding over the worst outcomes in our health care system”. 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. This is an excellent book...(it) careens, almost literally, from one psychiatric outrage to the next...I strongly recommend this book."First of all, let me say that I completely agree that overmedicalisation is a big problem. Okay, now for the real review. The most frustrating book I have read in a long time. I am interested in the sociology of mental illness, and believe that critical approaches to psychiatry and the medicalisation of conditions have a place in modern treatment of mental illness. I began reading this book in an attempt to understand my own extremely painful experiences in the mental-health services. However, it has given me as an activist a clear understanding of why the very system we live in will work to hamper any sense of well-being we may seek. The book helps to explain why, if left unrestrained, the system threatens the survival of us all. Capitalism is bad for our health To save this article to your Dropbox account, please select one or more formats and confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you used this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your Dropbox account.

James Davies publishes new book “Sedated: How Modern Dr James Davies publishes new book “Sedated: How Modern

To save this article to your Google Drive account, please select one or more formats and confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you used this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your Google Drive account. As a scientific venture, the theory that low serotonin causes depression appears to be on the verge of collapse. This is as it should be; the nature of science is ultimately to be selfcorrecting. Exposé of the practices of contemporary psychiatry and its uncomfortable, perhaps even dangerous, relationship with pharmaceutical companies who profit from an increasingly medicated public. 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

Dr James Davies publishes new book “Sedated: How Modern Capitalism Created our Mental Health Crisis” I can't believe that drug companies can have this type of relationship with health professionals--effectively paying them to use and aggressively promote their products to patients. Of course, the professionals are then going to prescribe these drugs, no one is immune to this kind of monetary temptation. A well-written book...a positive contribution to the debate about whether psychiatry can become a more open practice." This is a very well-written book-intellectually sound, but written in an accessible way...It should be read by all mental health professionals, by all politicians and policy makers charged with shaping future mental health provision"