Antidepressants to treat grief? Psychiatry panelists with ties to drug industry say yes

[gulliver]

242. I highly recommend "Demystifying Psychiatry"

It is by Washington University Psychiatrists Dr. Charles F. Zorumski and Dr. Eugene H. Rubin. That book explains the field of Psychiatry and the various mental health trends in an extremely easy-to-understand, balanced way.

I also recommend Unhinged by Dr. Daniel J. Carlat. Tom Cruise and Scientology do a disservice to the criticism of Psychiatry, but people who think Tom Cruise and Scientology are the only ones leveling criticism have another think coming.

From my family's experiences with the mental health system, I think psycho-pharmaceuticals can be very good things, even lifesavers. I also think they can be extremely bad things, not just because of short- and long-term side effects, but because they may delay and distract from other treatments and efforts on the part of patients and their families. Therapy and lifestyle change are also very good things and should not be shortchanged. Getting the balance right is critical in my opinion.

That is why I think the profit motive should be completely erased from the equation through single payer insurance and even nationalization. Big Pharma and Big Healthcare are broken dinosaurs that contribute less and less to the benefit of patients and more and more to healthcare system failure. They advertise, they lobby, and they dictate the evolution of medicine with an eye to expediency and profit. If they can't somehow reform themselves and find some way to stay in business that is not in conflict with the well being of patients, they need to go.