In Traverse City this weekend, an award-winning author will be speaking about his newest book. The book, "Anatomy of an Epidemic" by Robert Whitaker, is getting attention for promoting ideas that fly in the face of conventional wisdom about an issue that affects millions of people.
The book explores how the medicines that we as a society take for mental illnesses- things like depression and even schizophrenia - may be actually making the problems worse.
Whitaker says his book is based on research compiled over the last half-century -but viewed through a different lens. "What's new about this book is looking at long term outcomes. Medications get approved for their use based on their short term efficacy. Do they knock down a target system of a disorder better then a placebo, and the drugs do that. And you know, there are some people who fair well in the medication long term too and that needs to be acknowledged and be a part of the story. But what I'm really looking at is how medication shape long term outcomes in the advocate and there you find a pretty grim picture told in this scientific literature time and time again."
Whitaker says one of the problems with the common belief system today with mental illness is that it's inevitably assumed to have a biological genesis- often compared with diseases like diabetes,"Unfortunately that is a false metaphor. What you find when you research that, you find that there was a hypothesis that was raised in the 1960's, that people with mental disorders had these chemical imbalances. The hypothesis arose from the understanding on how the drugs acted on the brain. But when they looked to see if people actually had such characteristic chemical imbalances didn't seem to be so. So, that metaphor in which we think the drugs are fixing some known pathology is a false one. And what you really find when you look in the science is that the drugs quote work by perturbing neuro transmitter systems in the brain. The brain goes through these compensatory adaptations in response. So your brain is modified by the drug. But it's not a normal dizing preordain. That is the first thing I think they need to understand. And once you do understand that's when the drugs might be problematic for some people"
Whitaker's book was released just over a year ago. He says the reception has been mixed. The drug industry continues to support the efficacy of psychotropic medications in the treatment of mental illness. However Whitaker says his claims are beginning to gain traction within the professional community, "You find this time and time again where researchers away from the public headline say, I think something is going wrong here, I think that say anti-depressants while they may be effective over the short term are actually depressive-genic agents over the long term."
Whitaker says still, his theory is a tough sell to psychiatrists and to the public - people who suffer from mental illnesses,who may feel that medication is their best hope, "there really is a sense of, what do we grab onto then? What can you offer us? I do think science is telling us some things that can be developed. You can have thoughtful effective response systems. But are they in place now, nope. So that is a real problem. I'll tell you this too. I've had psychiatrists come up to me read the book. In positions of authority and say, okay I think your right. I've read this and I've looked back at your citations. Now you have to tell me two things. You have to tell me how I can look back at the last 20 years and still feel good about that, and you have to tell me how I go to work tomorrow. So it's almost like, if they're really going to accept this literature its a real existential crisis for them. So that's a real problem".
Whitaker will discuss his book and his beliefs from 2-4 tomorrow at Horizon Books in Traverse City. The event was planned by community members. His presentation is open to the public.
The book explores how the medicines that we as a society take for mental illnesses- things like depression and even schizophrenia - may be actually making the problems worse.
Whitaker says his book is based on research compiled over the last half-century -but viewed through a different lens. "What's new about this book is looking at long term outcomes. Medications get approved for their use based on their short term efficacy. Do they knock down a target system of a disorder better then a placebo, and the drugs do that. And you know, there are some people who fair well in the medication long term too and that needs to be acknowledged and be a part of the story. But what I'm really looking at is how medication shape long term outcomes in the advocate and there you find a pretty grim picture told in this scientific literature time and time again."
Whitaker says one of the problems with the common belief system today with mental illness is that it's inevitably assumed to have a biological genesis- often compared with diseases like diabetes,"Unfortunately that is a false metaphor. What you find when you research that, you find that there was a hypothesis that was raised in the 1960's, that people with mental disorders had these chemical imbalances. The hypothesis arose from the understanding on how the drugs acted on the brain. But when they looked to see if people actually had such characteristic chemical imbalances didn't seem to be so. So, that metaphor in which we think the drugs are fixing some known pathology is a false one. And what you really find when you look in the science is that the drugs quote work by perturbing neuro transmitter systems in the brain. The brain goes through these compensatory adaptations in response. So your brain is modified by the drug. But it's not a normal dizing preordain. That is the first thing I think they need to understand. And once you do understand that's when the drugs might be problematic for some people"
Whitaker's book was released just over a year ago. He says the reception has been mixed. The drug industry continues to support the efficacy of psychotropic medications in the treatment of mental illness. However Whitaker says his claims are beginning to gain traction within the professional community, "You find this time and time again where researchers away from the public headline say, I think something is going wrong here, I think that say anti-depressants while they may be effective over the short term are actually depressive-genic agents over the long term."
Whitaker says still, his theory is a tough sell to psychiatrists and to the public - people who suffer from mental illnesses,who may feel that medication is their best hope, "there really is a sense of, what do we grab onto then? What can you offer us? I do think science is telling us some things that can be developed. You can have thoughtful effective response systems. But are they in place now, nope. So that is a real problem. I'll tell you this too. I've had psychiatrists come up to me read the book. In positions of authority and say, okay I think your right. I've read this and I've looked back at your citations. Now you have to tell me two things. You have to tell me how I can look back at the last 20 years and still feel good about that, and you have to tell me how I go to work tomorrow. So it's almost like, if they're really going to accept this literature its a real existential crisis for them. So that's a real problem".
Whitaker will discuss his book and his beliefs from 2-4 tomorrow at Horizon Books in Traverse City. The event was planned by community members. His presentation is open to the public.
