Questions, opinions, and all else...

Why do people have an opinion that's for or against psychiatry (i.e. labeling (the depressed, the psychotic, and so on), medications, etc)? What proof is there?

I, personally, am open to all sides of the discussion and would like to improve my own understanding by exposing myself to other peoples opinions (those whom are for or against the existence of mental illness and so on, and why that is so).

My father was diagnosed with clinical depression. He does not take meds, because he doesn't "believe" that he should. He feels that in order to get through this so-called "mental" illness, he has to fight it without the help of any outside substances. He views antidepressants as an unnecessary crutch. He's had experience with all sorts of antidepressants and feels that he's made the most progress without that aid. He says that the mind has unmeasurable control over the brain and that any illness that involves the mind can be controlled by the mind.

Quite frankly, I tend to agree with my father. However, I can't help but still worry that he's not taking his meds. Some days are better then others. When he was on his meds, he was consistent in his wellbeing. In his view, he compares that wellbeing to something fake, sorta like taking heroin and feeling good - the point is, it's not real and he'd have to keep taking those pills in order to feel that way.

Instead, my mom buys healthier groceries (organics and so on) and my father and I lift-weights and play sports (we didn't do those things before he was diagnosed - he was usually busy with work...) together. So far, it's working well.

I've researched this mental illness and others. There are biological factors (obviously), which are somewhat corrected by meds, but to what extent and whose to say that these biological factors aren't created by the mind in the first place. We're constantly bombarded by negative info on the news and exposed to other peoples negativity - it surprises me that not everyone has some form of depression or other - and then we're given prescription meds to help us... for our inability to cope? ...?

I, myself, have been feeling a little down lately, definitely not something I can discuss with my friends... Oh well, life goes on and hopefully I'll never have to take drugs.

Anyways,

What are some of the most important arguments that go against the mental health industry?

Your honest thoughts please?

Regards,

Dave

I enjoyed your post. I have found that a certain percentage of people, maybe one third, do well with antidepressants. However, there are many of us out there in the universe who suffer major side effects (I gained over 100 pounds from my pills) and/or find that our meds (our crutch) stop working. Doctors, the media, and advertisements do not want us to think that there is any other way to deal with depression, except by taking expensive meds.

I am a scientist by training. I have looking at many scientific studies of the pills used for mental illness. In most cases, sugar pills do almost as well as the expensive pills. One recent study used the freedom of information act to obtain studies that were done--but not published--that showed that sugar pills were better than antidepressants. When all the research was looked at, there was absolutely no difference between sugar pills are expensive drugs.

I taught science for many years so I apprecitate the fact that many people do not like and/or believe in science. However, we like to hear people talk, to tell their stories. If you look around on the internet, you will descover others like me who manage our mood swings without meds. How about all the famous people in the past who changed civilization even though they suffered mental illness. Many of these people like Abe Lincoln could not take antidepressants because they had not even been invented.

The pills often do work, but they do make us feel different. On my website, I detail the many things I do to control my mental illness without pills. I also have an article about famous people who have had mental illness.

Jim S