Martha Rosenberg: Sinaikin, M.D., 'Psychiatryland' Author, Explains How Psychiatry Is Broken

[Guest guest]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/martha-rosenberg/phillip-sinaikin-psychiatryland_b\

_884863.html

Sinaikin, M.D., 'Psychiatryland' Author, Explains How Psychiatry Is

Broken

Posted: 7/1/11 12:12 PM ET



Amazing

Inspiring

Funny

Scary

Hot

Crazy

Important

Weird



 

Mental Health , Sinaikin , Sinaikin Psychiatryland , Psychiatry

, Psychiatryland Sinaikin , Healthy Living News

..

D. is a Florida psychiatrist who has been in practice for 25 years. Author of

" Get Smart About Weight Control " and co-author of " Fat Madness: How to Stop the

Diet Cycle and Achieve Permanent Well-Being, " his new book focuses on excesses

and industry influence in the field of psychiatry.

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Martha Rosenberg: Your new book " Psychiatryland " traces how deception, conflicts

of interest, medical enabling and direct-to-consumer advertising have resulted

in millions being on psychiatric drugs they don't need. One patient you describe

has legitimate mourning and grief work to do after his wife leaves him for his

own cousin. But his grief is pathologized into " bipolar disorder " by the system,

including his own mother.

Sinaikin: By the time I saw this patient, he was on Wellbutrin and

another antidepressant, the mood stabilizers Eskaltih and Keppra, the

antipyschotic Abilify, the tranquilizer Klonopin and Adderall for ADD. Calling

grief a psychiatric disorder deflates and dishonors the spiritual dimension of

loss and grief and the sadness which is a marker of the lost love. By the time

this patient came under my care -- three years after the loss of his wife -- his

" case " had become such a jumbled, incomprehensible and irrational mess of

overdiagnosis and overmedication that the only word I can use to describe it is

criminal.

MR: Can you explain the popularity of such drug cocktails? The drugs haven't

been tested together, so the patient is a guinea pig. And their total cost can

exceed $1,000 per month, often shuttled onto taxpayers because the people are

considered disabled under federal entitlement programs.

PS: Psychiatry mimics science but is not a real science. The symptoms it treats

are subjective and have not been demonstrated and cannot be demonstrated at the

cellular level. That gives psychiatrists free rein to just experiment and

symptom-chase, often insanely chasing the side effects and negative interactions

of the current drug regimen with more and more drugs. Polypharmacy is also a way

psychiatrists can distinguish themselves in an increasingly competitive market.

No one believes you need a specialist for one drug -- any primary care physician

can give you Zoloft -- but for multi-drug therapy, you do. If you don't write a

prescription as a psychiatrist, you won't work these days. It is like being a

pacifist and having no choice but working in a bullet factory.

MR: A lot of this trial-and-error polypharmacy is buttressed by the concept of

" treatment resistance " and " Prozac poop-out. "

PS: I write in the book that an antidepressant not working anymore is no

different from getting used to anything that used to thrill us. We buy our dream

house with two bedrooms and a garage, and after a while it doesn't make us happy

anymore, and we are eyeing the house with three bedrooms and a pool. Another

example, of course, is falling in and out of love.

MR: You document in " Psychiatryland " the creation of new diseases to sell drugs,

including adults now diagnosed with childhood disorders like ADD, and children

with adult disorders like bipolar and depression.

PS: One scientific article I read about the new childhood disorders sounds like

a satire. Two well-respected " thought leaders " in psychiatry were debating the

underlying pathology of a 3-year-old girl who ran out in traffic. The first

doctor believed her dangerous behavior was indicative of an Oppositional-Defiant

disorder. The other doctor argued her impulsive act represented grandiose

delusions where this girl believed she was special and cars could not harm her.

She was, therefore, bipolar.

MR: Another shocker in your book is how everyday drug and alcohol addicts were

recast as having psychiatric conditions for money.

PS: The insurance companies told the rehabs they would no longer pay for

inpatient rehab for heroin, cocaine or alcohol unless there was also another

Axis 1 psychiatric disorder like bipolar disorder or major depression. I was

working in a drug treatment facility when the change happened. Since addicts

typically complain of anxiety and depression, a completely understandable

emotional response to their toxic lifestyles, it was " no problem " to add a new

label and throw a few psychiatric drugs at their now relabeled " dual diagnosis. "

Of course, the central tenet of recovery, taking personal responsibility, was

buried by the new victim narrative of self-medicating a previously undiagnosed

mental illness.

MR: Treating addiction with psychiatric drugs before or instead of seeking a

higher power is antithetical to the 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous.

PS: As I say throughout my book, human beings are indescribably complex. There

are times when the dual-diagnosis concept is necessary and helpful but clearly

not applicable to 100 percent of the cases of addiction as it is now applied. I

believe that the 12-step model is an ideal model of recovery. Patients can have

the help whenever they are truly ready, not just when someone decides to foist

it on them. Most importantly, the addicts helping other addicts are doing it to

facilitate their own recovery and not for ulterior motives, such as money.

Amazingly, in a world gone profit crazy, 12-step recovery programs are still

free. I conceptualize the 12 steps as a distillation of the spiritual principles

of the world's great religions, but no one is forced to believe in anything,

including God.

MR: Given conflicts of interest at the American Psychiatric Association, which

drives psychiatric diagnoses, in the FDA drug approval process itself and the

legions of doctors willing to huckster for pharma as thought leaders or Key

Opinion Leaders (KOLs), do you see any hope of rescuing people from

Psychiatryland?

PS: The system is unbelievably bad and even worse than it looks. But, I think a

goal that could be achieved would be a repeal of direct-to-consumer advertising.

Patients now come into my office asking me if they have ADD or bipolar disorder

or if they can have Cymbalta. When I began practicing psychiatry, long before

direct-to-consumer advertising, this would never have happened.

Sent via BlackBerry by AT & T

[Guest guest]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/martha-rosenberg/phillip-sinaikin-psychiatryland_b\

_884863.html

Sinaikin, M.D., 'Psychiatryland' Author, Explains How Psychiatry Is

Broken

Posted: 7/1/11 12:12 PM ET



Amazing

Inspiring

Funny

Scary

Hot

Crazy

Important

Weird



 

Mental Health , Sinaikin , Sinaikin Psychiatryland , Psychiatry

, Psychiatryland Sinaikin , Healthy Living News

..

D. is a Florida psychiatrist who has been in practice for 25 years. Author of

" Get Smart About Weight Control " and co-author of " Fat Madness: How to Stop the

Diet Cycle and Achieve Permanent Well-Being, " his new book focuses on excesses

and industry influence in the field of psychiatry.

share this story

Get Healthy Living Alerts



Sign Up

Submit this story

Martha Rosenberg: Your new book " Psychiatryland " traces how deception, conflicts

of interest, medical enabling and direct-to-consumer advertising have resulted

in millions being on psychiatric drugs they don't need. One patient you describe

has legitimate mourning and grief work to do after his wife leaves him for his

own cousin. But his grief is pathologized into " bipolar disorder " by the system,

including his own mother.

Sinaikin: By the time I saw this patient, he was on Wellbutrin and

another antidepressant, the mood stabilizers Eskaltih and Keppra, the

antipyschotic Abilify, the tranquilizer Klonopin and Adderall for ADD. Calling

grief a psychiatric disorder deflates and dishonors the spiritual dimension of

loss and grief and the sadness which is a marker of the lost love. By the time

this patient came under my care -- three years after the loss of his wife -- his

" case " had become such a jumbled, incomprehensible and irrational mess of

overdiagnosis and overmedication that the only word I can use to describe it is

criminal.

MR: Can you explain the popularity of such drug cocktails? The drugs haven't

been tested together, so the patient is a guinea pig. And their total cost can

exceed $1,000 per month, often shuttled onto taxpayers because the people are

considered disabled under federal entitlement programs.

PS: Psychiatry mimics science but is not a real science. The symptoms it treats

are subjective and have not been demonstrated and cannot be demonstrated at the

cellular level. That gives psychiatrists free rein to just experiment and

symptom-chase, often insanely chasing the side effects and negative interactions

of the current drug regimen with more and more drugs. Polypharmacy is also a way

psychiatrists can distinguish themselves in an increasingly competitive market.

No one believes you need a specialist for one drug -- any primary care physician

can give you Zoloft -- but for multi-drug therapy, you do. If you don't write a

prescription as a psychiatrist, you won't work these days. It is like being a

pacifist and having no choice but working in a bullet factory.

MR: A lot of this trial-and-error polypharmacy is buttressed by the concept of

" treatment resistance " and " Prozac poop-out. "

PS: I write in the book that an antidepressant not working anymore is no

different from getting used to anything that used to thrill us. We buy our dream

house with two bedrooms and a garage, and after a while it doesn't make us happy

anymore, and we are eyeing the house with three bedrooms and a pool. Another

example, of course, is falling in and out of love.

MR: You document in " Psychiatryland " the creation of new diseases to sell drugs,

including adults now diagnosed with childhood disorders like ADD, and children

with adult disorders like bipolar and depression.

PS: One scientific article I read about the new childhood disorders sounds like

a satire. Two well-respected " thought leaders " in psychiatry were debating the

underlying pathology of a 3-year-old girl who ran out in traffic. The first

doctor believed her dangerous behavior was indicative of an Oppositional-Defiant

disorder. The other doctor argued her impulsive act represented grandiose

delusions where this girl believed she was special and cars could not harm her.

She was, therefore, bipolar.

MR: Another shocker in your book is how everyday drug and alcohol addicts were

recast as having psychiatric conditions for money.

PS: The insurance companies told the rehabs they would no longer pay for

inpatient rehab for heroin, cocaine or alcohol unless there was also another

Axis 1 psychiatric disorder like bipolar disorder or major depression. I was

working in a drug treatment facility when the change happened. Since addicts

typically complain of anxiety and depression, a completely understandable

emotional response to their toxic lifestyles, it was " no problem " to add a new

label and throw a few psychiatric drugs at their now relabeled " dual diagnosis. "

Of course, the central tenet of recovery, taking personal responsibility, was

buried by the new victim narrative of self-medicating a previously undiagnosed

mental illness.

MR: Treating addiction with psychiatric drugs before or instead of seeking a

higher power is antithetical to the 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous.

PS: As I say throughout my book, human beings are indescribably complex. There

are times when the dual-diagnosis concept is necessary and helpful but clearly

not applicable to 100 percent of the cases of addiction as it is now applied. I

believe that the 12-step model is an ideal model of recovery. Patients can have

the help whenever they are truly ready, not just when someone decides to foist

it on them. Most importantly, the addicts helping other addicts are doing it to

facilitate their own recovery and not for ulterior motives, such as money.

Amazingly, in a world gone profit crazy, 12-step recovery programs are still

free. I conceptualize the 12 steps as a distillation of the spiritual principles

of the world's great religions, but no one is forced to believe in anything,

including God.

MR: Given conflicts of interest at the American Psychiatric Association, which

drives psychiatric diagnoses, in the FDA drug approval process itself and the

legions of doctors willing to huckster for pharma as thought leaders or Key

Opinion Leaders (KOLs), do you see any hope of rescuing people from

Psychiatryland?

PS: The system is unbelievably bad and even worse than it looks. But, I think a

goal that could be achieved would be a repeal of direct-to-consumer advertising.

Patients now come into my office asking me if they have ADD or bipolar disorder

or if they can have Cymbalta. When I began practicing psychiatry, long before

direct-to-consumer advertising, this would never have happened.

Sent via BlackBerry by AT & T

[Guest guest]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/martha-rosenberg/phillip-sinaikin-psychiatryland_b\

_884863.html

Sinaikin, M.D., 'Psychiatryland' Author, Explains How Psychiatry Is

Broken

Posted: 7/1/11 12:12 PM ET



Amazing

Inspiring

Funny

Scary

Hot

Crazy

Important

Weird



 

Mental Health , Sinaikin , Sinaikin Psychiatryland , Psychiatry

, Psychiatryland Sinaikin , Healthy Living News

..

D. is a Florida psychiatrist who has been in practice for 25 years. Author of

" Get Smart About Weight Control " and co-author of " Fat Madness: How to Stop the

Diet Cycle and Achieve Permanent Well-Being, " his new book focuses on excesses

and industry influence in the field of psychiatry.

share this story

Get Healthy Living Alerts



Sign Up

Submit this story

Martha Rosenberg: Your new book " Psychiatryland " traces how deception, conflicts

of interest, medical enabling and direct-to-consumer advertising have resulted

in millions being on psychiatric drugs they don't need. One patient you describe

has legitimate mourning and grief work to do after his wife leaves him for his

own cousin. But his grief is pathologized into " bipolar disorder " by the system,

including his own mother.

Sinaikin: By the time I saw this patient, he was on Wellbutrin and

another antidepressant, the mood stabilizers Eskaltih and Keppra, the

antipyschotic Abilify, the tranquilizer Klonopin and Adderall for ADD. Calling

grief a psychiatric disorder deflates and dishonors the spiritual dimension of

loss and grief and the sadness which is a marker of the lost love. By the time

this patient came under my care -- three years after the loss of his wife -- his

" case " had become such a jumbled, incomprehensible and irrational mess of

overdiagnosis and overmedication that the only word I can use to describe it is

criminal.

MR: Can you explain the popularity of such drug cocktails? The drugs haven't

been tested together, so the patient is a guinea pig. And their total cost can

exceed $1,000 per month, often shuttled onto taxpayers because the people are

considered disabled under federal entitlement programs.

PS: Psychiatry mimics science but is not a real science. The symptoms it treats

are subjective and have not been demonstrated and cannot be demonstrated at the

cellular level. That gives psychiatrists free rein to just experiment and

symptom-chase, often insanely chasing the side effects and negative interactions

of the current drug regimen with more and more drugs. Polypharmacy is also a way

psychiatrists can distinguish themselves in an increasingly competitive market.

No one believes you need a specialist for one drug -- any primary care physician

can give you Zoloft -- but for multi-drug therapy, you do. If you don't write a

prescription as a psychiatrist, you won't work these days. It is like being a

pacifist and having no choice but working in a bullet factory.

MR: A lot of this trial-and-error polypharmacy is buttressed by the concept of

" treatment resistance " and " Prozac poop-out. "

PS: I write in the book that an antidepressant not working anymore is no

different from getting used to anything that used to thrill us. We buy our dream

house with two bedrooms and a garage, and after a while it doesn't make us happy

anymore, and we are eyeing the house with three bedrooms and a pool. Another

example, of course, is falling in and out of love.

MR: You document in " Psychiatryland " the creation of new diseases to sell drugs,

including adults now diagnosed with childhood disorders like ADD, and children

with adult disorders like bipolar and depression.

PS: One scientific article I read about the new childhood disorders sounds like

a satire. Two well-respected " thought leaders " in psychiatry were debating the

underlying pathology of a 3-year-old girl who ran out in traffic. The first

doctor believed her dangerous behavior was indicative of an Oppositional-Defiant

disorder. The other doctor argued her impulsive act represented grandiose

delusions where this girl believed she was special and cars could not harm her.

She was, therefore, bipolar.

MR: Another shocker in your book is how everyday drug and alcohol addicts were

recast as having psychiatric conditions for money.

PS: The insurance companies told the rehabs they would no longer pay for

inpatient rehab for heroin, cocaine or alcohol unless there was also another

Axis 1 psychiatric disorder like bipolar disorder or major depression. I was

working in a drug treatment facility when the change happened. Since addicts

typically complain of anxiety and depression, a completely understandable

emotional response to their toxic lifestyles, it was " no problem " to add a new

label and throw a few psychiatric drugs at their now relabeled " dual diagnosis. "

Of course, the central tenet of recovery, taking personal responsibility, was

buried by the new victim narrative of self-medicating a previously undiagnosed

mental illness.

MR: Treating addiction with psychiatric drugs before or instead of seeking a

higher power is antithetical to the 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous.

PS: As I say throughout my book, human beings are indescribably complex. There

are times when the dual-diagnosis concept is necessary and helpful but clearly

not applicable to 100 percent of the cases of addiction as it is now applied. I

believe that the 12-step model is an ideal model of recovery. Patients can have

the help whenever they are truly ready, not just when someone decides to foist

it on them. Most importantly, the addicts helping other addicts are doing it to

facilitate their own recovery and not for ulterior motives, such as money.

Amazingly, in a world gone profit crazy, 12-step recovery programs are still

free. I conceptualize the 12 steps as a distillation of the spiritual principles

of the world's great religions, but no one is forced to believe in anything,

including God.

MR: Given conflicts of interest at the American Psychiatric Association, which

drives psychiatric diagnoses, in the FDA drug approval process itself and the

legions of doctors willing to huckster for pharma as thought leaders or Key

Opinion Leaders (KOLs), do you see any hope of rescuing people from

Psychiatryland?

PS: The system is unbelievably bad and even worse than it looks. But, I think a

goal that could be achieved would be a repeal of direct-to-consumer advertising.

Patients now come into my office asking me if they have ADD or bipolar disorder

or if they can have Cymbalta. When I began practicing psychiatry, long before

direct-to-consumer advertising, this would never have happened.

Sent via BlackBerry by AT & T

[Guest guest]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/martha-rosenberg/phillip-sinaikin-psychiatryland_b\

_884863.html

Sinaikin, M.D., 'Psychiatryland' Author, Explains How Psychiatry Is

Broken

Posted: 7/1/11 12:12 PM ET



Amazing

Inspiring

Funny

Scary

Hot

Crazy

Important

Weird



 

Mental Health , Sinaikin , Sinaikin Psychiatryland , Psychiatry

, Psychiatryland Sinaikin , Healthy Living News

..

D. is a Florida psychiatrist who has been in practice for 25 years. Author of

" Get Smart About Weight Control " and co-author of " Fat Madness: How to Stop the

Diet Cycle and Achieve Permanent Well-Being, " his new book focuses on excesses

and industry influence in the field of psychiatry.

share this story

Get Healthy Living Alerts



Sign Up

Submit this story

Martha Rosenberg: Your new book " Psychiatryland " traces how deception, conflicts

of interest, medical enabling and direct-to-consumer advertising have resulted

in millions being on psychiatric drugs they don't need. One patient you describe

has legitimate mourning and grief work to do after his wife leaves him for his

own cousin. But his grief is pathologized into " bipolar disorder " by the system,

including his own mother.

Sinaikin: By the time I saw this patient, he was on Wellbutrin and

another antidepressant, the mood stabilizers Eskaltih and Keppra, the

antipyschotic Abilify, the tranquilizer Klonopin and Adderall for ADD. Calling

grief a psychiatric disorder deflates and dishonors the spiritual dimension of

loss and grief and the sadness which is a marker of the lost love. By the time

this patient came under my care -- three years after the loss of his wife -- his

" case " had become such a jumbled, incomprehensible and irrational mess of

overdiagnosis and overmedication that the only word I can use to describe it is

criminal.

MR: Can you explain the popularity of such drug cocktails? The drugs haven't

been tested together, so the patient is a guinea pig. And their total cost can

exceed $1,000 per month, often shuttled onto taxpayers because the people are

considered disabled under federal entitlement programs.

PS: Psychiatry mimics science but is not a real science. The symptoms it treats

are subjective and have not been demonstrated and cannot be demonstrated at the

cellular level. That gives psychiatrists free rein to just experiment and

symptom-chase, often insanely chasing the side effects and negative interactions

of the current drug regimen with more and more drugs. Polypharmacy is also a way

psychiatrists can distinguish themselves in an increasingly competitive market.

No one believes you need a specialist for one drug -- any primary care physician

can give you Zoloft -- but for multi-drug therapy, you do. If you don't write a

prescription as a psychiatrist, you won't work these days. It is like being a

pacifist and having no choice but working in a bullet factory.

MR: A lot of this trial-and-error polypharmacy is buttressed by the concept of

" treatment resistance " and " Prozac poop-out. "

PS: I write in the book that an antidepressant not working anymore is no

different from getting used to anything that used to thrill us. We buy our dream

house with two bedrooms and a garage, and after a while it doesn't make us happy

anymore, and we are eyeing the house with three bedrooms and a pool. Another

example, of course, is falling in and out of love.

MR: You document in " Psychiatryland " the creation of new diseases to sell drugs,

including adults now diagnosed with childhood disorders like ADD, and children

with adult disorders like bipolar and depression.

PS: One scientific article I read about the new childhood disorders sounds like

a satire. Two well-respected " thought leaders " in psychiatry were debating the

underlying pathology of a 3-year-old girl who ran out in traffic. The first

doctor believed her dangerous behavior was indicative of an Oppositional-Defiant

disorder. The other doctor argued her impulsive act represented grandiose

delusions where this girl believed she was special and cars could not harm her.

She was, therefore, bipolar.

MR: Another shocker in your book is how everyday drug and alcohol addicts were

recast as having psychiatric conditions for money.

PS: The insurance companies told the rehabs they would no longer pay for

inpatient rehab for heroin, cocaine or alcohol unless there was also another

Axis 1 psychiatric disorder like bipolar disorder or major depression. I was

working in a drug treatment facility when the change happened. Since addicts

typically complain of anxiety and depression, a completely understandable

emotional response to their toxic lifestyles, it was " no problem " to add a new

label and throw a few psychiatric drugs at their now relabeled " dual diagnosis. "

Of course, the central tenet of recovery, taking personal responsibility, was

buried by the new victim narrative of self-medicating a previously undiagnosed

mental illness.

MR: Treating addiction with psychiatric drugs before or instead of seeking a

higher power is antithetical to the 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous.

PS: As I say throughout my book, human beings are indescribably complex. There

are times when the dual-diagnosis concept is necessary and helpful but clearly

not applicable to 100 percent of the cases of addiction as it is now applied. I

believe that the 12-step model is an ideal model of recovery. Patients can have

the help whenever they are truly ready, not just when someone decides to foist

it on them. Most importantly, the addicts helping other addicts are doing it to

facilitate their own recovery and not for ulterior motives, such as money.

Amazingly, in a world gone profit crazy, 12-step recovery programs are still

free. I conceptualize the 12 steps as a distillation of the spiritual principles

of the world's great religions, but no one is forced to believe in anything,

including God.

MR: Given conflicts of interest at the American Psychiatric Association, which

drives psychiatric diagnoses, in the FDA drug approval process itself and the

legions of doctors willing to huckster for pharma as thought leaders or Key

Opinion Leaders (KOLs), do you see any hope of rescuing people from

Psychiatryland?

PS: The system is unbelievably bad and even worse than it looks. But, I think a

goal that could be achieved would be a repeal of direct-to-consumer advertising.

Patients now come into my office asking me if they have ADD or bipolar disorder

or if they can have Cymbalta. When I began practicing psychiatry, long before

direct-to-consumer advertising, this would never have happened.

Sent via BlackBerry by AT & T