The Myth of the Chemical Cure: A Critique of Psychiatric Drug Treatment

It is time we face the facts and start tossing our Zoloft more frequently into the wastebasket and less into our mouths; for the promises of contemporary psychopharmacology have failed to deliver. At least, that is how Joanna Moncrieff sees it in her book The Myth of the Chemical Cure--the more than one in ten Americans taking antidepressants notwithstanding.In this book, currently in its second edition, Moncrieff takes serious objection to contemporary psychiatric treatment as it involves the use of medication. This level of antagonism is only natural given that she sees the standard framework of understanding drug treatment as off base. The typical disease-centered (her term) account of drug action borrows unjustifiably from medicine: just as cephalexin assaults a particular problem-causing agent like streptococcal bacteria, Prozac assaults a particular problem-causing agent too--a chemical imbalance.But this is too much a stretch for the author, who proposes that we are on much stronger ground in looking at psychoactive medication through the lens of a drug-centered model (again, her term): just as ethyl alcohol consumption beyond a threshold produces brain-wide effects often adverse (decreased cognitive ability) and sometimes--in certain contexts and settings--desirable (social disinhibition), Prozac places the user under an altered brain state that may be theoretically desirable (increased mood; diminished anxiety) though with significant adverse effects (decreased libido; suicidal ideation).Just about everywhere Moncrieff directs our attention, the story looks pretty much the same. There are reports that the drugs seem to help a certain proportion of the population who takes them, amidst a torrent of unenviable side effects upon all who do. Antidepressants, neuroleptics, and stimulants are leaving in their wake a host of drug-dependent, libido-less, emotionally detached zombie-patients. Even where there appears to be some effectiveness, it is hard to shake the specter of placebo.Moncrieff is no mere contrarian pundit, and her report is not new. Rather she joins those who have already been questioning psychopharmacology for a few years now. A group represented by the voices of Irving Kirsch and Robert Whitaker. Certainly, with the poor results the aforementioned researchers have produced concerning antidepressants and antipsychotics, along with what Moncrieff herself brings to the table, her case for skepticism today is sound.I am not so ready, however, to abandon the psychopharmacological ship so completely. For one, nothing that might be said about drugs today implies anything about the drugs of tomorrow. And even if every new generation of drugs has come with the recognition that the prior generation was not the final answer as was thought or hoped, why must this require a deeply negative assessment of the motives behind all (or even most) who created and prescribed them to patients? Progress is the natural course of all science; and we can expect this to be the case with psychiatric medication as it is with non-psychiatric medication.Furthermore, I find Moncrieff--with her binary drug-centered versus disease-centered constructs--more framework-driven than those who make up the psychiatric establishment. Whatever their script-writing inclinations, I don't believe I've met a single psychiatrist or doctor who looks at psychiatric medication as the seamless shoring up of a faulty neurological disorder such that treatment ever comes without side effects. Moreover, the implication that real drugs made to combat real diseases meet such a standard is simply not true. The most novel of cancer and HIV/AIDS drugs are notorious for the side effects they can impart when taken. But this doesn't signify the illegitimacy of the disease concept or the drugs, does it? It's not even completely true that Moncrieff's own paradigm case for a "disease-centered" model of drug action--insulin for diabetes--comes without side effects, since those receiving insulin treatment occasionally report fatigue, tremors, hunger, and anxiety. Suffice it to say, the criticisms at times seem based on straw men.Still, if one can get past the framework mentality of Moncrieff's book, it makes for an informative read. At the very least, it contains considerations that any potential or current psychiatric medication patient will want to consider as they evaluate or re-evaluate their own treatment.

So far I am happy with the book it came in reasonable time. It was heavily underlined but that is part of being a used book. The physical book is in good shape. Its a good investment and gives the English version of the Myth of mental illness and is right to the point. It follows some of the approach of Robert Whitaker which I see as a plus and the authors source material is vast. This is a book to read for all those with family members with mental illness or in the field of Psychology.

So much information about the benefits of drug treatment for mental health problems comes from people who have a financial motive to sell drugs. It is worthwhile to look at the downside of drug treatment. This book does a good job of exposing the reader to the disadvantages of relying to much on chemical and electroconvulsant treatment. Helpful for consumers, their loved ones, and mental health professionals.

This has become a classic. I had a copy before, but it has gone missing and so bought another.

The book is a very clear and readable in-depth review of the profound deceptions, self and otherwise, of today's clinical psychopharmacology. As a psychiatrist and Harvard researcher, I am in full agreement with Dr. Moncrieff who has done a very courageous and thorough description of how and why great harm is being done to so many patients seeking help through many drug treatments.

This book provides a well balanced critique of psychiatric drugs. While those who prescribe these drugs claim that they know a lot about them, the reality is, that there is much that they don't know. It is very well written. The author is to be congratualted for her research.

This is a scholarly work and hard to follow.

Excellent. Carefully argued, research based, important information

This is an excellent book which anyone with an academic or professional interest in mental health should read. Well written and comprehensive and convincing throughout, this book is written with experience and professionalism and with a direction towards dignity of medicated people. Works like these will be fundamental in exploring the philosophy of mental illness and modern western medical approaches. Definitely worth reading and directs you to lots more studies and examples to look into if this is something you are passionate about. I’m a student nurse with an interest in mental health and this has opened my mind to thinking about how and way we practice the way we do, and the role society has on our treatment and conceptualisation of mental illness. I will continue to read further into this, thanks to the detailed awareness this book offers.

Let’s not beat about the bush – psychiatry has nothing to do with science, and even less to do with patient care. Long ago, that so-called ‘profession’ made a Faustian pact with Big Pharma to push their products, in return for ‘benefits’ of every possible kind. Decades on, the corruption is now endemic, and is so deep-seated that many practitioners have become immune to any possible consideration of wrongdoing.But in every morass, there are safe places, where one may find solid ground and sure footing. And Dr Joanna Moncrieff is one of those places. As a psychiatrist with a conscience, she has ripped open the ‘can of worms’ which conceals much of her profession. There was a time when the whole panoply of psychiatric drugs was considered for exactly what they were – a temporary relief from the distressing symptoms of emotional anxiety or distress.But fast-forward from that scenario by 30 years, and we now have psychiatry pushing crude chemicals made in a factory as a permanent ‘cure’ for depression – how ludicrous is that proposition, with the immense complexity of the human brain being reduced to a series of chemical reactions?In great detail, Joanna analyses the development and propagation of the range of psychiatric drugs, and by rigorous analysis, highlights the deficiencies, drawbacks, and plain fabrications attributed to these drugs, with wholly inadequate oversight by the relevant authorities.Anyone who is uncertain about whether or not to ingest these drugs needs to read this book: to accept what Big Pharma and chemical psychiatry claim is to subject oneself to a very unpredictable and risky chemical experiment. You only have one brain and one body, and no-one will accept any responsibility for harm induced upon you by powerful drugs which give very dubious and uncertain benefits.If a patient gets better while on SSRIs, the drugs are credited with a positive outcome (notwithstanding the fact that most people will naturally recover from depression in about 6 months if they are not medicated). If they don’t get better quickly, then another toxic drug is added to the mix, and then another one, ad infinitum. Having converted the patient into a walking chemistry set, and zombified them along the way, so that they no longer show symptoms of distress, the chemical psychiatrist then claims ‘success’. But would these men ‘take their own medicine’? Not very likely – they know too much about them.The ‘disconnect’ between Big Pharma’s claims about ‘side effects’; and those suffered by patients is absolutely vast. Multiple internet forums attest to lives ruined by this unnecessary SSRI proliferation. Like many others, I knew nothing about these drugs until my ex-partner started ‘treatment’ at a provincial private UK hospital, ostensibly for 12 months of psychotherapy. At her very first one-hour session, she gave her life story, was diagnosed as ‘severely depressed’ (utter bollocks), and her SSRI prescription was immediately raised to the maximum possible dosage.Within days, she became intensely ill with anxiety and agitation, as the hideous neurological condition ‘akathisia’ took a grip upon her. She should have been taken off the drugs then, but she was not. Within three weeks, she had been ‘zombified’, and had turned cold and hostile towards me, ending our relationship. Over 8 months after her so-called ‘treatment’ ended, she remains utterly indifferent towards me, and I believe that the expensive psychotherapy never happened; her ‘very experienced’ doctor fraudulently substituting the sedative effect of cheap pills, as a ‘rapid chemical cure’, with built-in ongoing dependency.If you think the worst excesses of psychiatry are confined to the USA, then you had better reconsider. And if you doubt me about the effects of psychoactive drugs upon intimacy between loving partners, then please google ‘relationships destroyed by SSRIs’ (373,000 hits!).Am I ‘anti-psychiatry’? Dead right I am, and I will stand with Joanna and anyone else who considers these toxic and pointless drugs to be an abusive and barbaric affront to sentient humanity.Mark Fletcher

Joanna Moncrieff's The Myth of the Chemical Cure is a ground breaking book and to me, is the clearest ever condemnation of psychiatric drugs. It is extremely well written and easy to absorb and the referencing is excellent. I did not want to put the book down once I'd started to read it. I've always wanted to find a book like this; a book which would confirm my own long held belief that psychiatrists have it all wrong about mental illness and that it is not the result of a chemical imbalance. Psychiatric drugs harm the body and often have horrendous side effects; it is important that everyone realises that drugs are not the only answer for mental health problems. Joanna Moncrieff has spoken out and spoken out loudly and her book is essential reading for everyone.

Trust nature not big pharmaceutical companies that have only been around 100 years nature millions

This compelling and invaluable scientific analysis, is written with the precision of a scalpel. It is courageous, objecive and essential reading for all who are seeking insight and reality. Thank you Dr. Moncrieff.