A RESPONSE TO DIAGNOSING MENTAL AND EMOTIONAL DISORDERS

by Dr. Pamela A. Popper

I try to print not only communications I receive from fans, but also from those who are not so fond of me and my stance on many issues. This letter is from a drug rep who receives my newsletter.

Pam, I was deeply disturbed by your recent "NEWS YOU CAN USE" article "Diagnosing Mental and Emotional Disorders."

One in four Americans will suffer from a mental illness at some time in their lifetime. Mental and emotional disorders can be life-threatening.

The individual suffering and the entire family are greatly impacted when a loved one is suffering from a mental illness. These illnesses are extremely difficult to diagnose. The waiting list for a psychiatric consultation can be six months or more.

The response to one medication may prove ineffective and yet something else may provide significant benefits. There is a great deal of trial and error with medications. Most positive outcomes do involve: pharmaceuticals, cognitive behavioral therapy, and a complete wellness approach including nutrition.

I believe you do a tremendous disservice to those suffering when you completely discount the role of pharmaceuticals in a comprehensive plan to recovery for those suffering.

Where do you get the statement, "there is little evidence that any of these drugs are effective."? I can tell you from firsthand experience I have seen these drugs bring someone back from deep clinical depression to a fully functioning capability.

I also question your classification that these drugs are, "addictive." The definition of addiction is as follows: a primary, chronic, neurobiologic disease, with genetic, psychosocial, and environmental factors influencing its development and manifestations. It is characterized by behviors that include one or more of the following: impaired control over drug use, compulsive use, continued use despite harm & craving."

I sincerely doubt that anyone is seeking antipsychotics -- there is no high, no euphoria, and undoubtedly no continued use despite harm & craving.

These drugs have saved lives. They have been researched extensively. Yes, there are risks as stated in package inserts. In most cases the benefit far outweighs the risks.

I have witnessed first-hand the benefits of Zyprexa in a severely, clinically depressed individual. This person is functioning today in a highly productive, life-saving capacity. I thank God for the medication that saved his life. Were there side effects from the drug? Yes, there were some unpleasant side effects but they were manageable and worth the positive outcome.

May you never have to experience a serious mental illness with someone close to you. It is devastating on every level.

Your continued vilification of pharmaceutical companies is unfair to say the least. Pharmaceuticals save millions of lives every day in many disease states. Are there bad clinical trials, bad drugs, bad researchers, bad pharma co's -- yes, probably. Are there bad doctors, bad wellness professionals and bad advice from chiropractors, nutrition experts -- certainly. But this doesn't make everybody and every therapy evil.

I would like to see you publish this response in your next News You Can Use because NO ONE should discount any potential means of regaining their mental and emotional health -- based on one person's opinions.

My response:

Thank you for your thoughtful letter. I agree that medical decisions should be made based on one person's opinion; in fact they should not be made based on opinions at all. The proper way to evaluate medical choices is to look at the scientific evidence.

Watching the documentary Making a Killing will provide some of the documentation you are seeking - this is why I agreed to allow myself to be interviewed for this film. Reading the scientific literature is helpful too, since the studies that lead to approval of these and most other drugs do not follow patients for long periods of time, and in many instance show little absolute benefit to the patient (results are usually reported in relative terms, which are virtually meaningless to the patient taking the drug).

Another great resource for information is Artificial Happiness by Ronald Dworkin, a well-referenced book that deals with how family practice physicians started prescribing these drugs, which grew the size of the market for them significantly. In these situations, patients usually have very short visits with their physicians, and the mention of any negative life event is often followed by a prescription. Dworkin cites studies in which people posing as patients visited doctors' offices documenting how easy it is to get drugs. This misdiagnosis also takes place in the offices of mental health professionals as well.

I'd also suggest that you look into some of the scandals that are currently taking place in terms of medicating children - Dr. Beiderman at Harvard, along with several other doctors at other universities, have taken millions of dollars, most of which was not disclosed to the universities, to conduct "research" that showed the increased incidence of conditions like bipolar disease in children. Millions of children have been diagnosed and medicated, some have died, and as it turns out, these docs promised the drug companies the results they delivered in slide presentations (now in the possession of state attorneys general) delivered before their research began. This has called into question much of the treatment offered to children offered by mental health professionals during the last several years.

You may also want to talk to patients who have decided to stop taking these drugs. These people have decided to stop being numbed out, start dealing with their issues, and improve their physical and mental health, and realized that they cannot do it while taking these drugs. The withdrawal is awful, and the depression and anxiety are exponentially worse than the conditions for which they ultimately sought treatment. Some good resources to investigate would be Dr. Neal Nedley in Oklahoma, who operates a 10-day program to help people safely withdraw from these meds or to eliminate the need for them before taking them; and John McDougall who also offers a residential program which helps people to eliminate meds for many conditions, including mental and emotional disorders.

Perhaps the most important point issue is that sometimes these drugs, or combinations of them do "work." They allow people to feel better, but they are not getting better. This approach to mental and emotional disorders is the same as using statin drugs to lower cholesterol and beta blockers to lower blood pressure. Biomarkers get better, but patients get sicker. Many times they die with great blood work (this is what happened to Tim Russert, the NBC news reporter last year).

Last but not least, we refer people who have real emotional and mental issues to a great Cognitive Behavioral Therapist locally, and recommend that people in other areas find a similar professional. William does not recommend drugs EVER and has incredible success with everyone who shows up wanting to get well. I am sure I can arrange for him to spend some time with you if you like.

I have spent a considerable amount of time reading research and books on this topic, talking to mental health professionals who are successful in dealing with these conditions consistently without drugs, and listening to person after person for many years describe the horrible experience of withdrawing from these drugs (which is why they are willing to spend thousands of dollars and 10 days in a facility for assistance). Please review all of the above, and then we can continue this discussion.

By the way, several people VERY close to me have had mental and emotional disorders, and have recovered without drugs.

Again, thank you for writing and expressing your concerns.

Article printed with permission from Dr. Pamela A. Popper and taken from Newsletters Vol 7 Issue 20 May 18, 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.