Overview

"Whereas the diagnosis, explanation, and treatment of physical illness are scientifically sound, this is not true of psychiatric care of mental disorder. Depression, the #1 psychiatric diagnosis, illustrates this failure and it is the subject of Grifting Depression: Psychiatry’s Failure as a Medical Science. Psychiatry’s current form of medicalization began in 1980 with publication of DSM-III, the diagnostic manual that became the basis for the chemical imbalance theory, psychiatry’s explanation for depression, and for reliance on antidepressant drugs to treat depression, ""revolutionizing psychiatric care."" DSM-III became the model for all the DSM manuals that followed. However, unlike other medical diagnostic manuals, the DSM fails to meet scientific and medical standards of reliability and validity. The chemical imbalance theory is based on research that violates basic tenets of the scientific method. Tests of the theory contradict it. In addition, tests of treatment effectiveness find antidepressant drugs to be no better than placebo. Studies show that the benefit attributed to antidepressant drugs is a placebo effect, but unlike placebos, the chemicals in these drugs are harmful to many. Research strongly supports an alternative theory, a behavioral explanation (psychological rather than biological) for most of the mental disorders listed in the DSM, including most cases of depression. Moreover, although it has not been recognized as the treatment of choice for depression, outcome studies convincingly show behavior therapy is more effective than drug treatment and it is safe. Conflict of interest, not science, is determining psychiatric care."

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9781433192838

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Grifting Depression by Dr. Allan Leventhal smacks you in the face and tries to wake you up. The book systematically dismantles the 'con' that is promoted by the drug industry and organized psychiatry to push medications we call antidepressants. Reading the book is like someone telling you how a magic trick is done. Once you know how the trick is done you will never be able to see the trick in the same way. Your new amazement will be about how you could have been fooled for so long. -David Antonuccio, Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine In Grifting Depression, clinical psychologist Dr. Allan Leventhal has written an exceptionally clear and persuasive critique of the use of antidepressant drugs to treat depression, as well as a cogent exploration of psychological alternatives. -Irving Kirsch, Aauthor of The Emperor's New Drugs and Associate Director of the Program in Placebo Studies, Harvard Medical School

Grifting Depression by Dr. Allan Leventhal smacks you in the face and tries to wake you up. The book systematically dismantles the 'con' that is promoted by the drug industry and organized psychiatry to push medications we call antidepressants. Reading the book is like someone telling you how a magic trick is done. Once you know how the trick is done you will never be able to see the trick in the same way. Your new amazement will be about how you could have been fooled for so long. -David Antonuccio, Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine

Author Information

Allan M. Leventhal, PhD, is a Diplomate in Clinical Psychology. He is Professor Emeritus at American University, where he also was Director of the University Counseling Center. His forty-year career as a practitioner included being a founding member of the Washington Psychological Center, which is an outpatient treatment facility in Washington, DC. Dr. Leventhal served as President of the Maryland Psychological Association and was the Representative from Maryland to the American Psychological Association’s Council of Representatives. Governor Harry Hughes of Maryland appointed him to the Maryland State Board of Examiners of Psychologists, where he was elected its chairman. He is a recipient of an Outstanding Contribution Award from the Maryland Psychological Association for having led the two-year successful effort that resulted in the Maryland General Assembly passing a privileged communication law that protects the confi dentiality of patients in psychotherapy. He is Consultant Emeritus at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, a recipient of Recognition for his service as a psychological consultant to the National Security Agency, and is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association.

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