Comments: Two Psychiatrists On Newsweek's Bipolar Child
Is BP in kids caused by additives in drinks and food? Red food coloring in candy bars, caffeine, MSG, aspartame and additives in everything mean kids are already drugged from what they eat.
But NAMI doesn't pay anyone for telling us that.
Posted by Lilly NC at May 29, 2008 12:50 AM
Breggin's tone can be a little emotional at times, but he is a real champion, possibly the greatest for the vulnerable when it comes to psychiatry. He has written a lot, and what most people don't recognize is that none of his major writing ever becomers dated. His theorizing and understanding of things is as valid and relevant as it was 20, 30, years ago. On the other hand, all the writing of biological psychiatry has become quickly dated ( think Nancy Andreasen's The Broken Brain). People love to roll their eyes at Breggin, but he is possibly one of the sharest and most compassionate advocates for the emotionally distressed. We might not be anywhere at this point if it were not for him. Hegardless of what others say, he has had major, direct influence in mitigating the spread and fervor of some of the most dangerous treatments like shock and psychosurgery. In addition, Dr. Breggin has worked clinically in private practice for a long time. He has had a lot of experience with children like Max. I for one, feel extremely grateful, that one psychiatrist out of a bunch is as solid as he is.
Posted by JC at May 29, 2008 03:39 AM
Thanks for including the link to John McManamy at Health Central. It is good for me to read people who I disagree with. As I was reading the comments, I wondered about the people whose children do have "something" wrong. I know they are in pain.
Posted by NaturalGal at May 29, 2008 06:10 AM
Great post. I've been working on a post for my site that actually uses all of the links you reference but I swear I'm NOT copying you! (Thank Google Alerts.)
Posted by Marissa at May 29, 2008 06:30 AM
He only used "war".
It's not a big deal
The right word is crime.
I keep asking myself why psychiatrists keep on silent about these crimes.
Posted by Ana at May 29, 2008 11:32 AM
Today I read a book, written by a doctor, on how to help children who are acting out in certain ways.
Many of the behaviors described in this book resembled the labels of "bipolar" and "ADHS."
I guess even people who've never taken any kind of medications for mental illness are now conditioned to expect them, because I kept waiting for the doctor to mention meds for those behaviors.
No mention of meds. Or of labels.
Instead, I found TONS of practical, very helpful advice and reasons why kids often act this way. Reasons that, invariably, had nothing to do with mental illness.
Curious I turned back to the first page.
Copyright: 1970
Moral of the story: If you're looking for unadulterated common sense, you better be prepared to go way back.
Posted by Amanda at May 29, 2008 01:08 PM
This is the source from where John McManamy gets his support:
Worth Quoting
"Although anhedonia is considered to be a cardinal symptom of depression under current diagnostic criteria, it is only recently that this symptom and models of it have received major attention within the context of antidepressant drug development."
Gary Evoniu, PhD of GSK Research & Development in an article on Medscape
http://www.mcmanweb.com/dopamine.html
Posted by Ana at May 29, 2008 02:19 PM