Tag Archives: chemical imbalance

Black Friday/Cyber Monday 2018: Prices of my mental health courses reduced by 50% for limited period

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About Black Friday and Cyber Monday:

Traditionally, Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving falls annually on the fourth Thursday in November, and the following day has become widely known as Black Friday.

Being the first day after the last major American holiday before Christmas, Black Friday has unofficially become known as the unofficial beginning of the Christmas shopping season.

The common use of the term ‘Black Friday’ dates back to 1966, when Philadelphia police used this term to describe the major traffic jams and overcrowding in stores that occurred on the day after Thanksgiving. The term ‘Cyber Monday’ was first coined in 2005. It is traditionally the first Monday after Thanksgiving.

In 2018, Black Friday occurs on November 23rd and Cyber Monday happens the following Monday, November 26th.

Traditionally, Black Friday refers to instore prices reductions and Cyber Monday to online reductions.

My courses, 50% price reduction:

In keeping with the spirit of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, all of my courses are available at a 50% price reduction between now and the end of November 2018.

But first, some of my credentials:

 

Official appointments:

 

Some of the talks I have given:

 

 

And some testimonials:

Now, back to my mental health courses:

My courses, 50% price reduction:

30-day no quibble money-back guarantee applies to all courses.

Continuing professional development (CPD) applies to my courses for mental health professionals.

Courses for the general public:

1. Depression: Its True Nature:

This is a comprehensive course on depression, setting out a far more extensive understanding of the experiences and behaviours that come to be collectively referred to as ‘depression’ than the prevailing medical understanding.

Here is a link to the full course information and 50% price reduction: Depression, its true nature (general public). 

Some testimonials from people who have undertaken this course:

Carole: “I am blown away with what I have learned so far.”

John: “Fantastic course, brings enlightenment to a very confused profession!”.

Natalie: “It is the most fruitful course I ever did in my life. Thank you for being honest, you gave me hope for humanity.”

Margaret: “Absolutely superb; really helped me sort out the misinformation I have amassed over the years. I am enjoying your course on depression so much. It is giving me an understanding that I have never had before even with constantly reading and researching on mental ill-health.”

David: This is excellent. Great work Terry, thanks”.

Andrea: “Most interesting”.

Anne: “I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart . . . This course has been tremendously helpful in understanding my child and myself. And I have downloaded it and will refer back to it over time. And treasure the contents of this enlightening and revealing course on this overwhelming condition called ‘depression’.”

Here is a link to the full course information and 50% price reduction: Depression, its true nature (general public). 

2. Bipolar disorder: Cracking the code:

A comprehensive and detailed explanation of bipolar disorder.

Unlike the common understanding of bipolar disorder, in this course I explain the degree to which the prevailing medical understanding is correct, and I provide a comprehensive account of the emotional and psychological aspects (including trauma), aspects that are regularly overlooked within the prevailing approach to bipolar disorder.

Here is a link to the bipolar disorder course for the general public:  Bipolar disorder: Cracking the code (general public).  

Here are some testimonials from people who have undertaken this course:

Doug: “Since watching your Cracking the Code course on Bipolar disorder, I have been able twice to prevent episodes of manic psychosis. The short version is that I was able to recognize that I was using daydreaming/fantasy as an escape from (previously unidentified) anxiety that arose from trauma triggers. So instead of continuing to daydream/fantasize, I applied coping techniques for anxiety (e.g., What’s the worst possible thing that could realistically happen? Plan for that.) Thank you so much for your great, life-saving information!”

Joseph: “I am really enjoying your ‘Bipolar disorder: Cracking the code’ course”

Deirdre: “I am enjoying the course. It is making a lot of sense and helping me to understand things better. I look forward to tuning in for future presentations.”

Antoinette: “Thank you Terry this is a wonderful resource.”

John:“The information and continuing revelations are a blessing.”

Here is a link to the bipolar disorder course for the general public:  Bipolar disorder: Cracking the code (general public).  

Courses for mental health professionals:

1. Working Therapeutically With Clients With A psychiatric Diagnosis:

Currently over 17 hours of audio-visual material, more added several times a month.

There is a considerable amount of misinformation surrounding the psychiatric diagnoses within the training of non-medical mental health professionals. This misinformation is corrected within this course. A comprehensive understanding of the main psychiatric diagnoses – incorporating trauma and the emotional and psychological aspects.

Here is a link to the full course information and 50% price reduction:  Working Therapeutically With Clients With A Psychiatric Diagnosis (for mental health professionals)  

CPD applies.

Certificates of Attendance/Completion issued when required.

Here are some testimonials from mental health professionals who have undertaken this course:

Deborah: “I have found the course very useful and informative. It has given me ideas on how I work with clients, although I have over the last few years I have come to my own understanding of how trauma and challenge in people lives thwarts a healthy sense of self and emotional awareness and regulation. I have long since moved away from the medical model and prefer to support people in their humanity’. Your course has highlighted and reinforced this to me and to be more aligned with my views even though these often go against mainstream opinion including some of those in the mental health professions. Thank you.”

Swee Eng: “The information given is so helpful”.

Margaret: “I am learning so much from your course, thank you. So much of what you are saying I have thought but dismissed as lack of knowledge on my part. I am overwhelmed and shaking from what I have learned, and thirty years in the dark. I now see a chink of light.”

Maria: “This is a very interesting case study” (in relation to one of the many case studies included in this course).

Wanda: “The importance of agency and self-efficacy makes me think of a young client I work with who is v low on both and v depressed. I would love to see an integrated set of services for young people whereby they are assisted in developing their talents or capacity “to do” (manage life) in addition to therapy”.

Margaret: “Thank you for your valuable presentations and research Terry”.

Here is a link to the full course information and 50% price reduction:  Working Therapeutically With Clients With A Psychiatric Diagnosis (for mental health professionals)   

2. Depression: Its True Nature (for mental health professionals)

A comprehensive course on depression for mental health professionals. CPD applies. Over 17 hours of audio-visual material, plus the slides used in the presentations.

Here is a link to the information on this course and the 50% price reduction: Depression: Its True Nature (for mental health professionals)  

Here are some testimonials by mental health professionals who have undertaken this course:

“A ground-breaking new course for all mental health professionals” – Lucy Johnstone, UK clinical psychologist, author and trainer, September 2016, stated in a tweet, @Clinpsychlucy

Robert: “Thanks Terry very insightful and I look forward to revisiting and reflecting over the material in months ahead”.

Yi Ling (Singapore): “Thanks Dr. Lynch. You made the learning easy and the references were very helpful. I have learnt so much and I look forward to other courses.”

Evelyn: “Very informative course and as a psychotherapist, invaluable insight”.

Julie: “I very much enjoyed the course on Depression. For me I found the last sections on Wounding etc very helpful. It has given me an added dimension of understanding and also confidence. I found as I was listening to you speaking I could apply it to certain Clients which has been so helpful. Definitely had some “a ha!” moments! So I just wanted to give you that feedback and thank you for putting together such a comprehensive course on a subject that is so misunderstood. A course like this has been badly needed I feel.”

Thomas: “I just finished the depression course and want to congratulate you on the course, content and delivery. I enjoyed every minute of it and it has been most thought provoking”.

Carole: “Highly recommended course. Transformational and worth every cent. Looking forward to the next one!“

Claire: “. Your work is a massive achievement, a revelation and has personally validated my personal experience of mental emotional distress in the past and provides massive hope for the future and my career”.

Anne: “I finished the ‘True Nature of Depression’ course this evening. To be honest I did not want it to end. I don’t think anything I can say could properly do justice to the mind-boggling breadth of area you cover in the three sections. As someone who has been involved in education for most of my own career I have never come across a better designed course to get across so successfully, such a potentially complex subject.

The truth about the prevailing view that you encapsulate so powerfully is actually quite devastating so it has been greatly appreciated that it is delivered with such true warmth in your face to face delivery.

Thank you so very much for it all.

I do want to go over certain parts again and that is a great thing that I can do that. There is a great deal for me to reflect on both professionally and personally re my own mental health situation in view of what you present.”

Nicole: “Insightful and thought-provoking”.

Kathy: “I finished your course Depression, its true nature about a week ago. I have never come across such a course before and found it excellent. You challenge the prevailing viewpoint repeatedly but always backed up by rigorous and thorough research. You tell the truth but do so in a courageous, respectful and dignified manner. Most of all, you offer real HOPE of recovery to those in mental distress. I respect and admire your work very much and am very glad to know you. I will recommend you (and have already) to anyone interested and open to alternative viewpoints of mental health states”.

Andrew: “A highly worthwhile undertaking! – Thank you very much Terry for an intriguing and insightful course backed up by solid evidence. A huge amount of work obviously went into compiling the course, backed by immense knowledge and experience, and I would recommend it to anyone who is open minded enough to begin to question the medical orthodoxies around depression.”

Anne: “I knew from your previous work that this course would be good but to say it has exceeded any expectations I had is a serious understatement.”

Valerie: ” A highly impressive course”.

Donal: “Terry, I am really enjoying the course. Full of detail and brave argument. As I complete each section there is a sense that no stone is left unturned.”

Patrick: “I’m learning a lot from this course.”

Alastair: “Course is highly interesting”.

Mark: “This was a very comprehensive course, thank you”.

Here is a link to the information on this course and the 50% price reduction: Depression: Its True Nature (for mental health professionals)  

3. Bipolar disorder: Cracking the code:

A comprehensive course on bipolar disorder for mental health professionals. CPD applies. Over 11 hours of audio-visual material, plus the slides used in the presentations. More material added regularly.

Here is a link to the information on this course and the 50% prices reduction: Bipolar Disorder: Cracking The Code (for mental health professionals) 

Here are some testimonials from people who have undertaken this course:

Alastair: “I enjoyed the course immensely. It is a most refreshing mixture of neglected common sense coupled with wisdom. Thank you very much indeed.”

Valerie: “Wow! The course you provided on bi polar was absolutely awesome. It’s really opened my eyes.’

Chris: “Many thanks for providing such an interesting and helpful course. I have found your meticulous unpacking of received medical ideas extremely useful as also your provision of a very important and enjoyable psychological alternative approach.”

Rebecca: “I found your course very thought provocative and useful”. 

Serena: “Loved it. Thank you. What I also love about the course is being able to go over aspects of the course again, whenever I want”.

Anne: “Thank you so very much for producing this course. It is hard to put into words how incredibly useful all your presentations were. You have finally made sense of what bipolar disorder is in a world that has no idea. The title is very apt.”

Claire: “This course is by far the most useful thing I have ever encountered about bipolar disorder in over twenty years.”

Mark: “I am really enjoying your ‘Bipolar disorder: Cracking the code’ course”.

Patricia: “This course is excellent, and I’m finding it both interesting and inspiring”.

Maureen: “A very interesting course”.

Here is a link to the information on this course and the 50% prices reduction: Bipolar Disorder: Cracking The Code (for mental health professionals) 

If you have any questions about any of this, email me at terry@doctorterrylynch.com (copy and paste this email address if emailing me).

 

Understanding the psychiatric diagnoses: Inconsistencies and contradictions abound within the prevailing medical view

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29th August 2018:

The world of mental health is regrettably characterised by the assertion of ‘facts’ by supposedly authoritative sources, many of which are unfounded and unverified scientifically.

The result is the mass misinformation of an unsuspecting public who assume that the words of supposed mental health experts are accurate and trustworthy.

I originally wrote this article five days ago, on 24th August 2018.

Today I came across another blatant example of what I was talking about in this article – a 2018 article on bipolar disorder on the popular Healthline website. Here is an edited screenshot:

As you can see, this article was reviewed by psychologist Timothy J. Legg PhD and passed as correct and accurate.

This experienced psychologist apparently does not know that bipolar disorder is NOT a verified brain disorder. 

It would seem that Dr. Legg has completely bought into what he has heard from his psychiatrist colleagues on this.

Now, read on – everything I have written below in relation to depression applies equally to bipolar disorder.

It really is high time that mental health professionals committed themselves solemnly to truth – to ascertaining the truth, and them passing on (only) truth to the public, who rely so much on the words of mental health professionals.

24th August 2018:

I have been a physician for 35 years, a psychotherapist for 17 years. I have written four mental health books, created a mental health academy. I provide a recovery-oriented mental health service, primarily for people who have been previously given a psychiatric diagnosis.

For the past 30 years I have also been a keen student and observer of all things to do with mental health. My role as a physician facilitated my being in a position to study the medical approach to mental health in great detail. I have long since arrived at the conclusion that the medical approach to mental health – as practiced primarily by psychiatry and GPs/family physicians – is seriously flawed. 

Over the years I have read hundreds of books and articles (and listened to hundreds of radio/TVshows, podcasts etc) on mental health – written by psychiatrists, GPs, other mental health professionals, mental health groups and other individuals -on various aspects of mental health, particularly in relation to the psychiatric diagnoses, including depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, OCD, eating disorders, personality disorders, schizoaffective disorders and other psychiatric disorders.

Perhaps because I have psychologically removed myself from the brotherhood of medicine – within which one does not dare criticise the brotherhood, its ideologies and modus operandi – I can regular see major flaws of logic, untruths, contradictions, inconsistencies and poor/absent science in what I read/listen to that emanates from within the prevailing medical view of emotional and mental health. 

An example:

As illustrated in the following screenshot from a July 2018 article published in Psychiatric Times, according to the prevailing medical view, depression is the world’s largest health problem: 

(here is a link to this article)

Also in the screenshot above, you will see that depression is referred to as a disease. If depression is a disease, what kind of disease or disorder would it be? According to medical sources, depression is a brain disease.

People reading such statements by authoritative medical sources will understandably assume them to be true and accurate.

Let’s see how true and accurate this statement is.

Depression is classified by medical authorities as a ‘mental disorder’

Depression is regularly referred to by doctors and medical authorities as a mental disorder. For example, the American government-backed National Institute of Mental Health, arguably the most influential mental health institute in the world, describes depression as a ‘mental disorder’:

(Here is a link to this article) 

Also according to the National Institute of Mental Health, there is no doubt that all so-called ‘mental disorders’ – of which depression is considered to be one – are brain disorders:  

(here is a link to that article on the website of the National Institute of Mental Health):

Summarising this article thus far:

According to medical authorities, depression is the world’s largest health problem, the most disability-creating disease of all worldwide. Depression is a mental disorder, and since all mental disorders, depression is a brain disorder. 

Testing the ‘depression is a brain disorder’ assertions: 

The American government-back National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) contains the most extensive list of brain disorders I have even seen in 35 years as a medical doctor.  This list contains dozens of brain disorders I have never seen, and many that I have never heard of – but the place of these disorders on this list is justified as they meet the medical criteria for a brain disorder.

The NINDS website contains a user-friendly alphabetically-organised access to their list of brain and neurological disorders:

On their site, I clicked ‘D’ for ‘depression’. Below is a screenshot of some of the brain and neurological disorders that begin with ‘D’: 

If ‘depression’ really is a brain disorder, it would obviously be included in this list (Bipolar disorder doesn’t appear on this list -under ‘B’ – either). Since all brain disorders are listed in alphabetical order, it is easy to identify where depression should be included in this list:

  

Depression is not included anywhere on this list. Depression is not included, because depression is NOT a known brain disorder. This is the plain and simple explanation for the omission of depression on this most extensive list of brain and neurological disorders, on the website of one of the world’s most authoritative neurological institutes, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

Depression does not appear on the list of brain disorders on the website of the Australia-based Brain Foundation  either. Below is an edited screenshot of the ‘brain disorders’ page of the website of the Brain Foundation:

Clicking ‘D’ on this page  on the Brain Foundation website takes us to here (the yellow arrow points to where depression would appear alphabetically (in reverse aphabetical order) if depression really is a known brain disorder): 

Depression does not appear in the list of brain diseases in the WedMD website either. Here is an edited screenshot of the the main ‘Brain Diseases’ section of the WebMD site (WebMD is currently rated the second most popular source of medical information  on the internet):

You will notice that, on the list of brain disease categories on the right hand side of the screenshot above, there is no mention of anything relating to psychiatric/mental disorders (The third heading in this list – trauma – refers to physical brain trauma such as head injuries).

Depression does not feature anywhere within this list of brain disorders, for the simple reason that depression is not a known brain disorder. 

In other words . . . 

The widely-made claims that depression is a brain disorder are untrue. 

Linking this to the beginning of this article . . . 

I began this article with a screenshot and quote from the Psychiatric Times in July 2018. In this article, it was unequivocally stated that (i) ‘depression is the world’s largest health problem’, and (ii) depression accounts ‘for more disability that any other disease worldwide’, a statement that clearly implies that depression too is a brain disease. Here’s that screenshot again:

Where does all this leave us?

Summarising all this: We are repeatedly told by supposedly authoritative medical sources that depression is the worlds largest heath problem, and that depression, like other so-called ‘mental disorders’, is a brain disorder. 

But the truth is that depression is not an established brain disorder, so all such claims are false, regardless of how apparently authoritative the sources of such assertions seem to be.

Depression is not a scientifically verified medical illness either.

What we are left with then is the bizarre situation whereby the so-called ‘disease’ that causes the most health disability of all on a worldwide scale is not actually a disease at all.

How can this be?

This is just one of many bizarre situations that characterise the prevailing medically-dominated global approach to mental health. 

Such bizarre situations occur because, fundamentally, there are many serious fundamental flaws in the ‘logic’ and ideology of psychiatry.

Inconsistencies, contradictions and lack of scientific evidence are frequent occurrences within the prevailing approach to mental health globally.

This is a serious situation. 

(There are no known brain chemical imbalances either, regardless of how many times you may have heard this about depression) 

If you would like to inform yourself about the truth in relation to depression, my 17-hour online course ‘Depression: Its True Nature’   has 3 principle components:

(i) a setting out of the prevailing understanding of depression

(ii) a detailed critique of the prevailing view of depression

(iii) a setting out of an understanding of depression that matches the experiences and behaviours that come to be called ‘depression’, honouring and explaining the strong emotional and psychological aspects.

Here is a link to the course information:- Depression: Its True Nature

Until the end of August 2018, the course is available at a 50% price reduction, as is my bipolar disorder course, Bipolar Disorder: Cracking The Code and my courses for mental health professionals, including Working Therapeutically With Clients With A Psychiatric Diagnosis.  

If you have any questions about the course of feedback about this article, you can email me at terry@doctorterrylynch.com (copy and paste this email address to email me).

Dr. Terry Lynch.

www.doctorterrylynch.com

Keynote Speaker, William Glasser International Biennial Conference, Columbia, June 2018.

Guest Speaker, Irish Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy Annual Conference, October 2018.

Keynote Speaker, Samaritans Annual Conference, 2015.

Mental health professional, physician, psychotherapist, best-selling mental health author, provider of recovery-oriented mental health service.

Member of the Expert Group on Mental Health Policy (formulated A Vision for Change (2006), Ireland’s official mental health policy document).

Member of the Implementation Group for A Vision for Change (2006-9), the Second Monitoring Group for A Vision for Change (2009-12), and the Irish Health Service Executive (HSE) Expert Advisory Group on Mental Health (2006-8).

Just Published – First book in new series – ‘The Systematic Corruption of Global Mental Health’. £0.99 Kindle introductory price

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I am delighted to announce that I have just – within the last 24 hours – published on Kindle the first of a new series of books.

Book title:

‘The Systematic Corruption of Global Mental Health: Book One – Prescribed Drug Dependence’

Price:

Introductory price on Kindle: £0.99.

Book rankings on Amazon:

This morning (02 August 2018) as I write this, a little over 12 hours after becoming available to the public, this book is ranked on Amazon.co.uk at no. 2 in ‘Psychiatry’ category, no. 5 in ‘Medicine’ category and no. 11 in ‘Medical Sciences A-Z’ category. 

On Amazon.com.au (Australia) it is currently ranked no. 1 in ‘Mental Health’ category, no. 2 in ‘Psychiatry’ category, and no. 8 in ‘Medicine and Nursing’ category. 

Links:

Below are links to this book on Amazon sites:

Amazon.co.uk.

Amazon.com.

Amazon.com.au.

Amazon.ca.

Reviews matter

If you do purchase this book, I would be very grateful of you would write a review on Amazon – a sentence or two is enough.

Book Series Title:

The title of this book series is ‘The Systematic Corruption of Global Mental Health’.

I will be working hard on this important project. 

If you have any comments, I’m happy to hear them. You can email me at terry@doctorterrylynch.com 

 

 

Dr. Terry Lynch speaking at the The Health Zone, Limerick, September 2016.

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The Health Zone is a positive health initiative originating from University College, Cork, Ireland. In September 2016, The Health Zone held its first meeting in Limerick, at which I was an invited speaker.

“Towards emotional and psychological maturity” was the theme of the evening. I build my talk around that theme, and around a related and important issue, the need for a new era in mental health.

Ten facts about depression. Some may surprise you.

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Depression is, we are told, one of the commonest medical illnesses globally.

As a medical doctor with over thirty years experience, I am aware that much myth, mystery and misinformation surrounds what we have come to call “depression”.

In the pdf that accompanies this blog, I set out ten facts about depression. Many – perhaps most – of these facts are not commonly understood as facts in relation to depression. This is primarily due to the fact that misinformation has regrettably been regularly churned out regarding depression for over 40 years, a pattern that needs to stop.

By becoming aware of the real facts in relation to depression, you will (a) empower yourself regarding your own understanding, and (b) help towards changing the weight of information regarding depression towards truth, simply be becoming aware of these truth and, if and when feels appropriate, discussing these truths and facts with others.

To access these ten facts about depression, simply sign up to my mental health newsletter (you can unsubscribe any time you wish) through the form below, and you will have immediate access to the “ten facts” pdf.

Depression diagnosis: If you think the diagnosis of depression is scientific, think again

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Many people are under the false impression that the diagnosis of depression is solidly grounded upon scientific principles.

What follows is a passage from my new 2015 book Depression Delusion Volume One: The Myth of the Brain Chemical Imbalance: 

“Science plays no part in the diagnosis of depression. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) lists nine criteria which psychiatrists have decided provide evidence of depression. Neither laboratory investigations nor physical findings specific to depression receive a mention in any of these nine criteria.

Criterion 1 describes the mood in a major Depressive Episode as ‘depressed, sad, hopeless, discouraged’, or ‘down in the dumps’, feeling ‘blah’, having no feelings or feeling anxious, irritability, and bodily experiences such as aches and pains.

Criterion 2 refers to loss of interest or pleasure, including a loss of interest in hobbies.

Criterion 3 describes changes in eating habits, either an increase or a decrease in appetite or weight.

Criterion 4 refers to sleep disturbance such as insomnia or oversleeping.

Criterion 5 describes bodily expressions of distress including ‘agitation, e.g. the  inability to sit still . . . or retardation e.g. slowed speech, thinking or bodily movements’.

Criterion 6 refers to decreased energy, tiredness and fatigue.

Criterion 7 includes a ‘sense of worthlessness or guilt, unrealistic negative evaluations of one’s worth’, and ‘guilty preoccupations or ruminations’ about the past.

Criterion 8 describes people’s reported ‘inability to think, concentrate or make decisions’, appearing ‘easily distracted’, or ‘memory difficulties’.

Criterion 9 speaks of ‘thoughts of death, suicide ideation, or suicide attempts’.

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders asserts that a diagnosis of a Major Depressive Episode can be made when the severity and duration of a person’s mood meets Criterion 1 and the person is experiencing four of the remaining eight criteria.

In my book Beyond Prozac: Healing Mental Distress (2001, 2004 {UK} and 2005), I questioned many aspects of the diagnostic approach to depression, including the following:

Why did the American Psychiatric Association select five criteria as the magic figure? What is the difference between a person who meets six criteria—and is therefore diagnosed as having a Major Depressive Episode and needing antidepressant treatment—and one who meets four criteria, and therefore receives no psychiatric diagnosis or treatment? Why five criteria? Why not three? Or seven? How valid are these criteria? [i]

Nine years later in his 2010 book Unhinged: The Trouble with Psychiatry—A Doctor’s Revelations about a Profession in Crisis, American psychiatrist Daniel Carlat asked similar questions and went one better. Carlat interviewed Robert Spitzer, lead psychiatrist of the DSM-3, the 1980 edition of the DSM in which this approach to depression was first set out as the way to diagnose depression. Here is an extract from that interview: [ii]

Carlat: How did you decide on five criteria as being your minimum threshold for depression?

Spitzer: It was just consensus. We would ask clinicians and researchers, “How many symptoms do you think patients ought to have before you would give them a diagnosis of depression?” And we came up with the arbitrary number of five.

Carlat: But why did you choose five and not four? Or why didn’t you choose six?

Spitzer: Because four just seemed like not enough. And six seemed like too much.

Carlat commented that ‘Spitzer smiles mischievously’ as he uttered the last sentence above. This is the quality of the “science” upon which the diagnosis of depression is based ” (end of quote).

“The arbitrary number of five”, “It was just consensus”, “four seemed like not enough”, “six seemed to much”–does this rationale fall within your definition of science?

Not for one second am I questioning the realness of these experiences and behaviours, but I most certainly am questioning the medical profession’s interpretation of these experiences and behaviours.

[i].   Terry Lynch, Beyond Prozac: Healing Mental Distress, Ross-on-Wye: PCCS Books, 2004, p. 103.

[ii].   Daniel Carlat, Unhinged: The Trouble with Psychiatry—A Doctor’s Revelations about a Profession in Crisis, London: Free Press, 2010, pps. 53-4.

Mental Health & Happiness Summit: all day today

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Every year for the past few years, the William Glasser Institute hold a Mental Health & Happiness Summit on World Mental Health Day, 10th October. This summit consists of a series of hour-long talks and conversations with people in the mental health sphere. The talks occur consecutively throughout the 24-hour period of World Mental Health Day.

Here is a link to the list of speakers and times, including time zone differences. http://www.mentalhealthandhappiness.com/MHHsummit2015-speakers.html

I’ve had a long association with late US psychiatrist William Glasser and the William Glasser Institute. I have been involved in the Mental health & Happiness Summit in 2014 and again in 2015.  My conversation with Nancy Buck was wide-ranging, covering many aspects of emotional and mental health, psychiatric diagnoses, recovery, and happiness.

I believe the system works by clicking the image of the speaker you might like to hear, at the time of that talk. Clicking the speaker before or after that speaker’s appointed time won’t bring you to their talk, as another speaker will be talking at other times.

It is fitting that William Glasser’s wife Carleen is the first speaker.

 

Podcast: Dr. Terry Lynch, guest on The Peter Breggin Hour, 7th Oct 2015.

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For a quarter of a century, I have been a big fan of US psychiatrist Peter Breggin and his tireless work to change global mental health from a system based on falsehoods and flawed science to an approach based on truth, real science, empathy and humanity.

My relationship with Dr. Peter Breggin has grown from first seeing him on Irish television 25 years ago and reading his classic book Toxic Psychiatry to being an ally and comrade in the vitally important struggle to redress the global understanding of and approach to emotional and mental health. I contributed a comment or two and an endorsement to Peter’s important 2012 book Psychiatric Drug Withdrawal: A Guide for Prescribers, Therapists, Patients and Families. Peter wrote a wonderful endorsement of my 2015 book Depression Delusion Volume One: The Myth of the Brain Chemical Imbalance, referring to my book as “an inestimable service to humanity”.

I was pleased to be Peter Breggin’s guest on his weekly radio show, The Peter Breggin Hour, on 7th October 2015. Here is a link to the podcast of our conversation:

http://drpeterbregginshow.podbean.com/e/the-dr-peter-breggin-hour-%E2%80%93-100715/

We discussed many topics including my new book  Depression Delusion Volume One: The Myth of the Brain Chemical Imbalance and why I wrote it; a better way to understand depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), eating disorders; antidepressants and other psychiatric drugs; psychiatry; psychiatric diagnoses; brain chemical imbalances; counselling and psychotherapy; recovery; and many other important themes.

I was previously Peter’s guest in 2012. During our conversation both Peter and I agreed that we would not leave such a long period of time before we chatted again on his show.

 

Antidepressant prescribing is out of control. Why?

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The prescribing of antidepressant drugs is now out of control. Antidepressant drug prescribing has risen year-on-year for two decades or more. Almost 60 million antidepressant prescriptions are now written annually in Britain, equivalent to one prescription a year for every UK man, woman and child. The inexorable rise in antidepressant prescribing has similarly continued in virtually all developed – and many developing – countries.

Counselling and psychotherapy is “prescribed” far less that antidepressants by mental health doctors – psychiatrists and GPs (family physicians) – despite counselling’s proven effectiveness in the treatment of depression (see NICE guidelines).

This major discrepancy cannot be explained by antidepressants perhaps being far more effective treatments for depression than counselling. Studies have found that the difference in effectiveness of antidepressants and active placebo is not clinically significant. (An active placebo is a substance that has no direct effect on the condition itself but does cause some effects, so the person knows they have taken something, as opposed to an inert or inactive placebo, which does not cause any effects at all).

Psychiatrists and GPs repeatedly tell us that the major discrepancy between antidepressant prescribing and other modalities is down to economics – to underfunding. This claim is not the whole story, far from it. The fundamental problem is not a funding issue at all; it is the mindset that drives mental health health services, and the priorities that arise from that mindset.

This mindset is largely the creation of those who lead mental health – psychiatrists and GPs, mental health doctors, society’s appointed foremost experts on depression. These doctors like to see depression as an illness, as fitting primarily into their familiar model of illness. It is therefore second nature for doctors to prescribe, since that is what doctors are trained to do. Their indoctrination into the medical system begins the first day they enter medical school.

This is a deluded view. Depression does not fit into medically-accepted definitions of disease. In his excellent book The Body Keeps the Score, psychiatrist Bessel Van der Kolk correctly states that depression is a form of learned behaviour.

There is an obvious cognitive dissonance about counselling for doctors. Counselling does not easily fit into the disease model as a “treatment”. It is not prescribed as a treatment for medical conditions generally, rather as a support for the person in dealing with their disease, but not as a treatment in itself. Therefore the idea that counselling can actually be a treatment in itself is a great deal more challenging for doctors to get their head around than prescribing.

Many doctors do in time become comfortable with the idea of counselling as a “treatment”, but by then, the horse has bolted. Most doctors have little training in counselling, don’t really understand it, don’t know how to practice it. So counselling remains somewhat “out there” for many doctors, whereas prescribing antidepressants is very much within their worldview, their personal toolkit, their modus operandi.

I have not heard any doctors calling for a cap on antidepressant prescribing in order to make more funding available for other therapies and approaches such as counselling. I am not suggesting that counselling is the only other valid option to antidepressants.

In my next book, working title Depression: Its True Nature (expected publication date April 2016), I will set out a far more accurate way of understanding depression than that provided by the medical model.

This understanding will present quite a challenge to the established medical view.

If you would like to be informed of developments regarding my next book and other updates, you can sign up for updates at my website https://doctorterrylynch.com/ and receive two free chapters, one from each of my two most recent books, Depression Delusion Volume One: The Myth of the Brain Chemical Imbalance and Selfhood: A Key to the Recovery of Emotional Wellbeing, Mental Health and the Prevention of Mental Health Problems.

 

 

Dr. Terry Lynch is Dr. Peter Breggin’s radio show guest on 7th Oct 2015.

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I have had a long association with American psychiatrist and author Peter Breggin. His classic book “Toxic Psychiatry” was transformative for me in my search for truth in mental health, and contributed to my ceasing to work as a typical GP in 2000 to find a better way of understanding and working with people experiencing emotional and mental health problems.

Since then, we have become friends and comrades in the drive for paradigm change in mental health, from a  biologically-dominated paradigm that is severely flawed both logically and scientifically, to a paradigm that is grounded upon people’s experiences (rather than upon doctors’ interpretation of them); that first seeks to make sense of experiences and behaviours rather than reflexly set out to medically pathologize them; that recognises that recovery is not only possible, but a human right.

I will be Peter’s guest on his radio show, The Peter Breggin Hour, on Wednesday 7th October 2015, starting 4 pm Eastern time (9 pm Irish/UK time). Here is a link to the live show:  http://www.breggin.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=285

Among other things, we will be discussing my new book Depression Delusion Volume One: The Myth of the Brain Chemical Imbalance, which Peter has described as “an inestimable service to humanity”. As President John F. Kennedy once said,

“The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie — deliberate, contrived and dishonest, but the myth, persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic. Belief in myths allows the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.”

The show is live, a podcast will be available shortly after the show.

Here is a link to my interview on Peter’s show  on 26th September 2012. This turned out to be an interesting and wide-ranging conversation on mental health, depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, recovery, etc. http://drpeterbregginshow.podbean.com/2012/09/