RESPONSE TO SCRANTON TIMES

am responding to the letters of James Scott, Debby Rabold, and Kelly Bentler of January 1, 2007. First, the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, in which Mr. Scott is a Board Member, like psychiatry receives much of its funding from the pharmaceutical industry, thus it is not suprising that there would be the promotion of the 'chemical imbalance' theory in regards to emotional distress. Each era of psychiatry has given us a new conception, each often as oppressive as the first. Biological determinism and the theory of distress arising from so-called chemical imbalances is a popular and majority idea in the mental health field today. However, there is no evidence to support such a concept. Such an idea helps to further the profits of the pharmaceutical industry who are able to make lifelong mental patients in need of their products through the promulgation of such chemical imbalance concepts. The President of the American Psychiatric Association recently stated that there is no 'clear cut test" to demonstrate chemical imbalances. Elliot Valenstein, Ph.D. says, “[T]here are no tests available for assessing the chemical status of a living person’s brain.” The late Dr. Loren Mosher who had headed Schizophrenia research for the National Institutes of Mental Health stated, “…there are no external validating criteria for psychiatric diagnoses.”
As there is no demonstrable physical abnormality, there is no disease. What is termend mental illness are not diseases but experiences in reaction to many challenging factors. Thus, psychiatric 'medications' are not addressing any core emotional issue but merely subduing behaviors and it comes with a price in terms of adverse effects. Drugs do not teach people new skills, people do. I was a friend of the late Dr. Loren Mosher, head of Schizophrenia research for NIMH in the 70's. Mosher found with his Soteria project that simply having a support network of caring, compassionate individuals was deemed more effiective than the traditional 'methods'. This is what the mental health system must return to- to truly seeking to understand the experiences of individuals, to listen, and not to force unwanted 'treatments' on the vulnerable. I received my Doctorate of Education in Community Counseling and am proud to be a professional who is a vocal critic of bio-psychiatry and to also to be a supporter of the many psychiatric survivors.
If Mrs. Bentler chooses to take psychiatric drugs, that is her choice, but individuals need informed consent and to be fully aware of the risks involved and that there do exist more humane and dignified psychosocial approaches