PsyChris

"Robert Whitaker" published this article and then placed it in his book. You will need to submit peer reviewed research. However, you seem to be making an all or nothing assumption about Psychiatry. The standards of care for Schizophrenia are NOT based on keeping patients on neuroleptics. Neuroletpics are given for the first schizophrenic break, and after a set amount of time the patient is taken off them. If they do not relapse, they are not started back on anti-psychotics. Through psychoeducation they are taught how to deal with Schizophrenia, recognize triggers for psychosis and learn more about their disorder. Psychotherapy has shown to be harmful for patients with Schizophrenia. They are particularly vulnerable to therapy that evokes memories of the past or attempts to discern their psychosis. I find it interesting that you seek to remove the institution of psychiatry but have no problem with the psychiatrists who designed the test to validate your "logical thinking" talent. Perhaps you should consider the real reason you are at war with a profession. Psychiatry and Psychology are both still in their infancy. Much of our profession is based off of philosophy and untested clinical opinion. We do the best we can for every patient and rely on our skills as clinicians to interpret data and be willing to change our opinion when the data changes. Your opinion of psychiatry doesn't seem to reflect the reality I know and that is what I find concerning. Where do you propose behavior and mental disorder emanate from if they do not come from the brain? Thank you for your subjective opinion? I disagree.

ArjanD, You mentioned you have no professional relationship with Psychiatry. What clinical experience do you have with psychiatry and psychology? Treatment of psychiatric patients is a private matter. It's conducted behind closed doors and unless you are a mental health professional your subjective view of schizophrenic patients is going to be vastly different. Why do you feel so strongly that psychiatry must be removed and what do you think is a replacement? You advocate Soteria psychotherapy at a successful treatment rate of 90%. Do you contend that every psychiatrist and mental health professional around the globe is ignoring this highly successful practice for one of the most severely debilitating mental pathologies? Your entire theory is based on treating psychiatry as a sociological group. You summarily judge every psychiatrist as being apart of this grand psychiatric conspiracy. That is completely unfair and baseless. If you can present some more convincing data, I will be happy to discuss that. For the time being I have to relegate your opinion to conspiracy.

Pica is normally diagnosed as a disorder in childhood however no disorder can be isolated to an age range. The Gale Encyclopedia of Mental Disorders has this to say about Pica: A few of the posters experiencing symptoms mentioned they are not pregnant now. While pica can begin during pregnancy it also continues to occur intermittently for years after pregnancy. If its a nutritional deficit, it will resolve when the deficit is treatment. Behavioral modification has been minimally effective.