Consequences of Psychiatric Drug Labeling
Over 15 years ago, the NY Times referred to Dr. Allen Frances as "PERHAPS the most powerful psychiatrist in America".
Today, Dr. Frances has come out in the public eye to warn us about fraudulent practices in psychiatry.
Psychiatry relies heavily on a book called the "Diagnostic Statistical Manual (DSM)". This book contains hundreds of terms that are considered mental illnesses. Most of us are familiar with the term "Attention Deficit Disorder". "Wired" Magazine reported on Dec. 27, 2010, that Dr. Allen Frances, the lead editor of the fourth edition of the DSM is openly criticizing his colleagues as they draw up the next edition of the DSM. One of the primary criticisms has been stated for countless years, by advocacy groups, scientists and leaders in the medical field. Now, one of psychiatry's leaders is stating it, as well. Referring to psychiatric diagnoses, Frances, is stating that these diagnoses lack science and are making diseases out of "everyday suffering".
The "Wired" Magazine article quotes Frances as saying, “We made mistakes that had terrible consequences”.
In the article it explains that "Diagnoses of autism, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, and bipolar disorder skyrocketed, and Frances thinks his manual inadvertently facilitated these epidemics—and, in the bargain, fostered an increasing tendency to chalk up life’s difficulties to mental illness and then treat them with psychiatric drugs."1
In a paper, titled "A Warning Sign on the Road to DSM‐5: Beware of its Unintended Consequences", Frances issues some of the primary concerns he has regarding psychiatry's diagnosing and labeling of our culture. He writes, "There can be no dramatic improvements in psychiatric diagnosis until we make a fundamental leap in our understanding of what causes mental disorders...The clearest evidence supporting this disappointing fact is that not even one biological test is ready for inclusion in the criteria sets for DSM‐5."
If this was not warning enough, Frances continues by stating,
"In order to promote drug sales, the companies may well sponsor expensive ‘education’ campaigns focusing on the diagnostic changes that most enhance the rate of diagnosis for those disorders that will lead to the increased writing of prescriptions. It should, therefore, be no surprise if there are many new ‘epidemics’ based on changes in DSM‐V.
“The result would be a wholesale imperial medicalization of normality that will trivialize mental disorder and lead to a deluge of unneeded medication treatments‐‐a bonanza for the pharmaceutical industry but at a huge cost to the new false positive "patients" caught in the excessively wide DSM‐V net. They will pay a high price in side effects, dollars, and stigma, not to [mention] the unpredictable impact on insurability, disability, and forensics."2
*Definition-False Positive- A test result that is incorrect because the test indicated a condition or finding that does not exist.
SOURCES:
1. http://www.wired.com/magazine/2010/12/ff_dsmv/
2. http://www.beforeyoutakethatpill.com/2009/6/Frances_DSM-5.pdf