Amazing Victory for Mental Health Activists: NIMH Director Accepts Ideas Once Seen as Radical

Bruce Levine, Ph.D.

It is an amazing victory for mental health treatment reform activists and Robert Whitaker. On August 28, 2013, National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) director, Thomas Insel, announced that psychiatry’s standard treatment for people diagnosed with schizophrenia and other psychoses needs to change.

After examining two long-term studies on schizophrenia and psychoses, Insel has come to what was previously considered a radical conclusion: in the long-term, some individuals with a history of psychosis do better off medication.

Insel finally recognizes what mental health treatment reform activists and investigative reporter Robert Whitaker have been talking about for years—the research shows that American psychiatry’s standard treatment protocol has hurt many people who could have been helped by a more selective and limited use of drugs, and a more diverse approach such as the one utilized in Finland, which has produced the best long-term outcomes in the developed world.

Like many treatment reform activists and Whitaker, Insel does not completely reject the use of medications, but instead calls for a more judicious use of them. Insel concludes:                                    >Complete Report<

Taking “Anti-Psychotics” When You Are Not Psychotic

Sandra Steingard, M.D.

September 8, 2013

The Wunderink study has been discussed here in other blogs (here,  here, and here). In brief, using a randomized control design, Wunderink found that in adults diagnosed with a psychotic disorder continuous use of neuroleptics was associated with worse functional outcomes than  intermittent use.  Higher doses were associated with worse outcomes than lower ones.

These days neuroleptic drugs are widely promoted to treat depression and they are often used “off-label” to treat behavioral problems in children.   They are among the most widely prescribed drugs; given that “schizophrenia” affects 1% of the population, it is clear that many individuals – adults and children – who do not have this diagnosis are prescribed these drugs.

Is the Wunderink study relevant to those who do not experience psychosis?                                                                                                    >More of Dr.Sandra Steingard's report<

Angel of Mercy

An angel of mercy or angel of death is a rare type of criminal offender (often a type of serial killer) who is usually employed as a caregiver and intentionally harms or kills persons under their care The angel of mercy is often in a position of power and may decide the victim would be better off if they no longer suffered from whatever severe illness is plaguing them. This person then uses their knowledge to manufacture the death of the victim. As time goes on, this behavior escalates to encapsulate the healthy and the easily treated

One theory to explain this particular type of serial killer is the Neutralization theory. Developed by sociologists Gresham Sykes and David Matza, it explains that criminals understand right from wrong. In order to neutralize their actions, criminals will develop new perceptions to mitigate the circumstances of their crimes.In this case, the killer might claim that he or she was helping the victim by easing their pain.