Robert Whitaker - Rethinking Psychiatric Care

Rethinking Psychiatric Care: If We Follow the Scientific Evidence, What Must We Do To Better Promote Long-term Recovery?

During the past 20 years, the number of adults in the United States on federal disability rolls due to mental illness has more than tripled, rising from 1.25 million people in 1987 to more than four million in 2007. The number of children receiving a federal disability check due to severe mental illness increased 35-fold during this period, rising from 16,200 to 561,569.

This disability data necessarily begs a question, one that our society desperately needs to investigate. Could our drug-based paradigm of care, in some unforeseen way, be fueling this epidemic of disabling illness? What does the scientific literature show? Do psychiatric medications improve or worsen long-term outcomes? Does their use decrease or increase the risk of long-term disability? And what is happening to children prescribed
psychiatric medications over the long-term? Are they faring well?

The disability numbers also tell us that we need to look to develop new solutions. In Europe, there are providers of psychiatric services that have begun using psychiatric medications in a selective, limited manner and are now reporting very good outcomes. How can we adopt these methods here?

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Psychiatric Care
• Depression
• Bipolar
• Mental Illness
• Psychiatry
• Univeristy at Buffalo
• Social Work
• Robert Whitaker

[winstono75]

There has been NO progress in psychiatry ever. It's always been total bullshit. It's gonna be very tough to get rid of it, with so many egos invested in mastering nonsense. Real progress would be to relinquish the idea of mental illness as biological illness and start working with the psyche instead of repressing its functioning with your moneymaking drugs.

[murmur5555]

Our psychiatric system is a complete disgrace: ineffective, inefficient and extremely abusive. I hope that more light is shed on our malignant health care system and that people will stop paying exorbitant amounts of money for fraud, waste and abuse.

[Alchemy0109]

If you want to herd the mentality then drug them all!

[Alchemy0109]

@winstono75 Very well said "Egos invested in mastering nonsense." Just look at the choas and nonsense invested in the TSA and now Red Light Cameras if you want a quick fix Americas got it.

[LexeconKiddo]

Thank you for posting this, and thank you Robert Whitaker.

[kevinphilipmiller]

One of the most credible journalists in America today. Thankfully, he appeared in my film GENERATION RX.

[M1thotyn]

@maryellen728 It's available on their website.

[M1thotyn]

Best speech he's ever given. Quick and concise.

[maryellen728]

Please post the rest of this discussion.