DIAGNOSING MENTAL AND EMOTIONAL DISORDERS

by Dr. Pamela A. Popper

The prescribing of more and more drugs to treat an increasing number of questionable mental and emotional disorders should concern all of us. There are no firm diagnoses for bipolar disorder, social anxiety disorder, generalized anxiety, or even depression. The diagnoses are completely subjective and based on observations and often prejudices of the practitioners performing the evaluation; or self-diagnosis based on advertising messages or questionnaires circulated through consumer publications or the internet.

This is considerably different than diagnosing physical diseases like diabetes or heart disease. You either do or you do not have these conditions. Once diagnosed, there can be considerable disagreement about how to treat the condition, but at least there is a firm diagnosis.

Every year, more and more conditions are added to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, which has grown to a book that is 886 pages and includes 374 disorders. Shyness is now treated as Social Anxiety Disorder, mood swings are now categorized as Bipolar Disorder, and there is talk of creating a new disease called "Mathematical Learning Disorder." Drug companies love when mental health professionals make up new diseases, because this requires new drugs, or allows companies to repackage their existing drugs for additional uses. Seraphim, which is used to treat Pre-Menstrual Dysphoric Disorder, is really Prozac packaged differently - in a pink pill!

There is little evidence that any of these drugs are effective - you may have noticed a large advertising campaign to market a new drug called Abilify, for which the target market is depressed people who are not helped by drugs. It must be a large population of people in order to justify the huge investment in advertising this drug! An additional major concern is that the drugs are all addictive within a very short period of time.

At one time, I recommended drugs for those who were suicidal or who simply could not manage their lives at all, but have changed that recommendation based on overwhelming evidence that the diagnoses are usually wrong; the drugs are ineffective, the drugs increase the risk of suicide, and they are addictive. I now know that people should never take them, even for a short period of time.

I am one of the health care professionals featured in a documentary about this issue called Making a Killing. The movie provides a history of the psychiatric profession, addresses the controversy over diagnosis, covers the massive advertising campaign that the health care profession and the drug companies have used to convince people that there is something wrong with them, and the dangers of using these drugs for any purpose.

This film recently won The Telly Award for best television documentary, the Accolades Award for best documentary, and is getting a lot of positive attention internationally. It is being shown on Sky Television in Europe.

The producers of the film have posted a great, easy-to-understand spot on YouTube about the diagnostics issue, which you can view by using the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3JQ8OVHVWA

You can obtain copies of Making a Killing from The Wellness Forum. 100 million people in the world are currently medicated for mythological conditions with health-destroying drugs. Help to educate them by getting the word out about this film!

Article printed with permission from Dr. Pamela A. Popper and taken from Newsletters Vol 7 Issue 18 May 4, 2009. Dr. Popper is the founder and Executive Director of The Wellness Forum, a chain of health and wellness centers located throughout the United States and the Far East.