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Criticisms of Psychiatry

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Revision as of 08:15, 6 September 2022 by Amicchan (talk | contribs) (Use less assertive wording and generalize criticisms.)

Critics of Psychiatry have many criticisms of the field of Psychiatry.

Scientific Review

Validity of Psychiatry as a Science

Some critics argue that, while the majority of Psychiatry research lacks much scientific evidence, Psychiatry is still a science.

Anti-psychiatry advocates argue that Psychiatry is a pseudoscience; as the fundamental basis for Psychiatry (mental disorders) lack biological testing.

Psychiatric Diagnoses

Critics of Psychiatric diagnoses argue that Psychiatric diagnoses:

  1. Do not use and require any objective analysis.
  2. Lack scientific research to justify the criteria for the disorders
  3. Do not hold discernible consistent criteria.
  4. Most psychiatric disorders are diagnosed through subjective analysis by a psychiatrist.

Psychiatric Drugs

Critics of Psychiatric drugs argue that the efficacy of psychiatric drugs are equivalent to a placebo; and that psychiatric drugs are more harmful due to side effects. This criticism aligns with some studies that argue psychiatric drugs lack long-term studies and a control group.[1][2][3]

Chemical Imbalance Theory

The chemical imbalance theory is a theory which suggested that a lack of serotonin causes Major Depression Disorder. It was generated by pharmaceutical marketing campaigns for antidepressants around the 1970s. The chemical imbalance theory has since been disproved.[4] Major Depression Disorder has also been found to have scare objective biomarkers and biological models.[5]

In response to Psychiatry critics, Psychiatrists Andrew McIntosh[6], Christopher Davey[7], and Genetic Epidemiologist Cathryn Lewis[6] have responded to the study by claiming that antidepressants still work regardless if the chemical imbalance theory is wrong.

References

  1. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named mdd-treatments-uneffective
  2. Andrea Cipriani, Toshi A Furukawa (2018). Comparative efficacy and acceptability of 21 antidepressant drugs for the acute treatment of adults with major depressive disorder: a systematic review and network meta-analysis. Lancet. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(17)32802-7 [HUB]
  3. Arif Khan, Walter A. Brown (2015). Antidepressants versus placebo in major depression: an overview. World Psychiatry. doi: 10.1002/wps.20241 [HUB]
  4. Joanna Moncrieff, Ruth E. Cooper, Tom Stockmann (2022). The serotonin theory of depression: a systematic umbrella review of the evidence.. [PDF] Molecular Psychiatry. doi: 10.1038/s41380-022-01661-0 [HUB]
  5. Mark Horowitz, Joanna Moncrieff. Prospective biomarkers of major depressive disorder: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Molecular Psychiatry. doi: 10.1038/s41380-019-0585-z [HUB]
  6. 6.0 6.1 Andrew M McIntosh, Cathryn Lewis (2022-07-22). "Depression: low serotonin may not be the cause – but antidepressants still work" The Conversation.
  7. Christopher Davey (2022-08-02). "The chemical imbalance theory of depression is dead, but that doesn’t mean antidepressants don’t work" The Conversation.