Tag Archives: mental health education

Depression is well established within the public mind as a reality

Depression is now well established within the public lexicon and the public mind as a reality, a real thing. A Google search for depression yields over a billion results. More than one million Google searches for depression are carried out each month. Articles on depression regularly appear in the media. It might therefore seem strange to even question the assertion that depression is real. 

Many celebrities now talk openly about their personal experience of depression. For example, actress Kristen Bell has spoken publicly about her depression. She has publicly stated that a brain chemical imbalance runs in her family, and that this is why she developed depression:

Medical authorities uniformly assert that depression is real – a legitimate medical illness

Medical sources that are widely assumed to be trustworthy and authoritative consistently claim that depression is real, a real medical illness. Here are some examples of this:

The World Health organisation:

 

The American Psychiatric Association:

The Royal College of Psychiatrists (UK):

The  National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH, USA):

 

Mental Health America:

 

Trusting these seemingly authoritative sources, mental health professionals and the public understandably assume these and similar assertions to be true, and operate from that position.

However, something does not exist simply because people and/or groups say it does, no matter how apparently authoritative and trustworthy they are believe to be. 

Claiming that something is real does not make it so: Evidence is required – evidence-based

As a general rule, asserting that something exists does not of itself demonstrate that it exists. In order for something to be accepted as real, as a fact, confirmatory evidence is required.

This is perhaps even more relevant in situations where there is considerable trust, since high levels of trust can lull us into complacency regarding our instinctive need to check things out, to be sure that what we are being told is indeed correct.

High levels of trust – the medical profession are one of the most highly trusted professions worldwide – can also lead us to assume that those we trust have no vested interest, objective, and that their words can be taken as correct and true without a need to test their veracity.

I learned years ago that these were risky assumptions to make, particularly in relation to psychiatry. As I discuss elsewhere, psychiatry is far from objective, being heavily invested in its own priorities. For example, the repeatedly-stated assertion that so-called psychiatric disorders are fundamentally biological in nature is based not on the fact that such claims are true – they are not. 

So, to check the veracity to mainstream psychiatry claims that depression is a real medical illness, it is better to look to objective sources, that have no gain from and no vested interest in claiming depression to be a medical illness.

Since the type of illness that depression is most commonly claimed to be is a brain disorder, let us check with sources that are authoritative and reliable regarding brain disorders – neurology sources.

What do objective authoritative medical sources say?

1. The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (USA)

The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke is, as the name implies, America’s national institute of neurological disorders, officially backed by the American government. 

Prominent on this Institute’s website is the most comprehensive list of brain and neurological disorders I have ever seen in 35 years as a physician.

So comprehensive is this list that it contains dozens of brain disorders so rare that I have never seen a case, and many others than I have never heard of. Rare those these brain disorders are, their place on this list is justified, since they meet the criteria for a brain disorder. That’s why they are on this list.

Depression – claimed to be a very common medical condition – is not included in this list.

Why? Simple really. What doctors refer to as depression does not meet long-established medical criteria for a brain disorder or a medical illness.

In the screenshot below of brain and neurological disorders on the neurological disorders list on the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke website, the yellow arrow indicates where depression would be listed:

2. The WebMD website:

The WebMD website is a trusted source of medical information worldwide, consistently ranking in the top three most trusted sites for medical advice.

As the following diagram illustrates, the webMD website contains a  list of brain diseases: 

On the left hand side of the above image, several known brain diseases are mentioned – infections, trauma (physical brain trauma), strokes, seizures and tumours as ‘some of the main categories of brain diseases’.

Although depression – a claimed brain disorder – is asserted to be far more common than any of these brain diseases, there is no mention of depression here – or any other psychiatric diagnosis – as a brain disease. This is because depression is not a known and scientifically verified brain disorder.

On the right hand side of the above diagram, there are seven categories of brain disease: infections; seizures; trauma (physical brain trauma resulting from physical brain injury); tumours, masses and increased intracranial pressure; vascular conditions; autoimmune conditions’ and neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimers disease.

Given that, according to proponents of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders – the DSM, the foremost psychiatric diagnostic guide book, often referred to as ‘the psychiatrist’s bible’ – approximately 50% of the population would be diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder of the DSM was fully implemented, psychiatric diagnoses are made far more frequently than any of the seven diagnostic categories listed on this diagram of the WebMD website brain disease list. 

Yet there is no category for mental illness with the WedMD list of brain diseases. Nor is there a single reference to depression or any other psychiatric diagnosis as being a brain disease. Because they are not known verified brain diseases/disorders.

3. The Brain Foundation (Australia):

As the following statements from their website affirm,  The Brain Foundation is an independent objective organisation:

The (Australian) Brain Foundation explicitly focuses on neurological disorders, brain disease and brain injuries, as the diagram above clearly illustrates. 

The Brain Foundation website contains a list of brain diseases and disorders, organised in user-friendly fashion in alphabetical order. If depression is a known and scientifically verified brain disease/disorder, then of course depression would be included in this list. 

The following screenshot from the Brain Foundation website includes brain diseases/disorders beginning with the letters ‘B’ through to ‘F’. No mention of depression under ‘d’ here. Several of the conditions listed under ‘d’ occur far less commonly than depression is claimed to occur. 

Depression is not included in this list because it is not a known and verified medical brain disorder.

Depression is real, but not as we know it

Depression is not real, in the sense that what doctors refer to as depression does not meet the medical criteria for a medical illness or brain disorder.

The experiences, beliefs and behaviours that are regularly re-framed by doctors as ‘depression’ are very real,and often excruciating. 

These experiences should be addressed in their own right, rather than being erroneously lumped together as a medical illness that does not exist. 

Depression is real – that is, the underlying experiences, beliefs and behaviours are very real

The following are some of the experiences, beliefs and behaviours that are commonly present within people who become diagnosed as having depression:

Wounded sense of self; hopelessness; powerlessness; much wounding, and many consequences of wounding including various defense mechanisms such as hyper-vigilance and avoidance; great fearfulness; many needs not met in their life, with little confidence that they can get their needs met; unfinished emotional business; easily hurt; much emotion and distress; frequent overwhelm; greatly reduced sense of self, including self-confidence; self-expression; self-belief; self-generated security; great self-doubt, that permeated across most areas of their life; fear of risk, including fear of risking taking the steps they meed to make to progress their life.

Conclusion:

As a medical illness, depression is not real. Depression is not a thing. It is not a known and verified medical illness.

However, the individual experiences, beliefs and behaviours themselves – that doctors collectively refer to as depression – these are very real and often excruciating and highly problematic.

A way forward:

Since what is referred to as depression is not a real medical illness, acting as if it is a real medical illness has many obvious limitations.

A way forward involves working with the individual experiences, beliefs and behaviours, not with the notion of ‘depression’. 

I have been working in this way for twenty years. Working in this way opens up many avenues of potential within the work that cannot become available when seeking to address something that does not actually exist – ‘depression’ – as if it does exist.

Regularly getting it wrong at first base in this manner, it is not surprising that the potential within mainstream mental health services for progress and recovery can become significantly limited. 

Depression: Its True Nature

If you would like to delve deeper into what depression really is – as opposed to what ‘depression’ is regularly asserted to be – my online course for mental health professionals – Depression: Its True Nature – for mental health professionals may be of interest to you. 

I also have a course on depression for non-professionals – including people diagnosed with depression – which you can access at Depression: Its True Nature – for the general public.

Depression is real – but not as we know it

As I have set out within this article, depression is real, but not in the way in which it is commonly understood. 

The experiences, beliefs and behaviours are real, valid and often very distressing. However there is no scientific basis for extrapolating that these experiences, beliefs and behaviours constitute a thing called ‘depression’.

The media – and the public – must apply a critical approach to mental health information

 

The high public trust in the medical profession carries risks

In surveys, the medical profession is consistently in the top 5 most trusted professions. Most people instinctively trust doctors, with good reason. It is nevertheless important for the public and the media to maintain a critical and questioning approach to information conveyed by the medical profession into the public arena.

Being too trusting can result in important issues not being noticed or addressed.

Here is just one of hundreds of examples I have encountered where a more critical approach might have painted a more comprehensive picture.

 

A Guardian article from July 2019

On 12th July 2019, the UK Guardian newspaper published an article entitled ‘Ketamine-like drug for depression could get UK licence within the year’.

While the author of this Guardian article did attempt to include some balance in this article – including a comment from a Harvard psychiatry professor that ‘the upshot is that the drug is an over-hyped ripoff’, no references were made to a factor that should always be taken into account – potential conflicts of interest.

The several million daily readers of the Guardian might have been in a better position to come to an informed conclusion about this article if the author had included the fact that one of the interviewed psychiatrists who enthused about this substance receives consultancy fees from Janssen, the manufacturer of this substance, and received funding worth £163,635.00 from Janssen in 2016:  

(link to this tweet – click here)

The Council for Evidence-based Psychiatry  – CEP, who issued the above tweet – did some further investigative work, and found that a second psychiatrist who was enthusiastic about this substance in the article was a listed co-inventor on a patent application for the use of ketamine in depression, thereby having a serious vested interest in relation to potential mega-royalties:

(to access this tweet, click here)

The media have a responsibility to provide the public with the information necessary to make an informed opinion/conclusion. Failing to include potential conflicts of interests – as this Guardian article was guilty of – means that the public are deprived of potentially highly relevant information.

During my 35 years a medical doctor with a special interest in emotional and mental health, it has become clear to me that the medical approach to mental health is seriously biased and off track, realities that I discuss in detail within my ‘Depression: Its True Nature online courses.

The medical approach to mental health is fundamentally biased, because it consistently favours a biological approach and understanding –  regardless of the fact that there is very little evidence to support such a stance. 

The medical approach is seriously off track, because it systematically fails to appreciate the place of emotionality, psychology, trauma and its consequences within the experiences and behaviours that become categorised as various ‘mental illnesses’.  

Psychiatric enthusiasm in relation to ketamine is based far more upon the fact that this fits within its ideological preferences, than on an objective commitment to the public interest.

Over the years, I have encountered hundreds – possibly thousands – of psychiatrists. There have been few psychiatrists that I can say I truly respect. American psychiatrist Paul Minot MD is an exception to this. In a Twitter thread following the publication of this article, Paul Minot wrote in concerned tongue-in-cheek fashion;  

(to access this tweet, click here)

In the same Twitter thread, Paul Minot MD added;

(to access this tweet, click here)

At both the individual and collective level, mental health is far too important to allow vested interests to influence the direction of mental health globally.

One might reasonably have expected the two psychiatrists – referred to within the tweets included here – to have volunteered any potential conflict of interest to the Guardian journalist, in the public interest.

Failing that, it is regrettable that the Guardian author of this article or the Guardian editors overlooked the issue of potential conflicts of interests.

The public deserve better.

Dr. Terry Lynch online courses:

For mental health professionals:

Depression: Its True Nature.

Working Therapeutically With Clients With A Psychiatric Diagnosis.

Bipolar Disorder: Cracking The Code.

For the general public:

Depression: Its True Nature.

Bipolar Disorder: Cracking The Code.

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).

 

Prescribed drug dependence: psychiatry’s appalling response to alarming research findings

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(NB: This article cannot be seen as giving specific medical advice to any individual.This article should not be taken as advising any person to make any change in their psychiatric medication.)

For three decades, it has been clear to me that governments and the public alike have made – and continue to make – a very serious error in trusting mainstream psychiatry with the emotional and mental health care of the general public. 

Mainstream psychiatry has fooled the public – and perhaps themselves – into believing that (a) they are the most expert professionals in mental health, and (b) their primary interest is the public good. 

Neither of the above is true.

Most mainstream psychiatrists have a grossly inadequate understanding of the emotional and psychological worlds of the masses of people they claim to understand, in addition to their exaggerated and frequently deluded view of the brain and claimed (but scientifically unverified) brain abnormalities.

MAINSTREAM PSYCHIATRY IS NOT TO BE TRUSTED.

THE MAIN PRIORITY OF MAINSTREAM PSYCHIATRY IS NOT THE PUBLIC WELLBEING. 

THE MAIN PRIORITY OF MAINSTREAM PSYCHIATRY IS MAINTAINING AND ENHANCING ITS OWN POSITION AT THE PINNACLE OF THE GLOBAL MENTAL HEALTH PYRAMID.

GOVERNMENTS OWE IT TO THE PUBLIC TO INITIATE INDEPENDENT INQUIRIES INTO MENTAL HEALTH, INCLUDING THE WIDESPEAD ASSUMPTION THAT PSYCHIATRY SHOULD LEAD THE WAY IN GLOBAL MENTAL HEALTH.  

IT IS HIGH TIME THAT GOVERNMENTS THAT BACK PSYCHIATRY’S DOMINANT POSITION IN GLOBAL MENTAL HEALTH WOKE UP TO THESE REALITIES. 

Over the years, I have come across dozens of examples of psychiatry’s incompetence, ignorance, bias, delusional thinking, and cunning.

Yet another classic example of this occurred in October 2018.

 

Background:

As I described in my 2018 Kindle book publication ‘Prescribed Drug Dependence’, mainstream psychiatry has systematically underplayed the drug-dependency potential of the substances they prescribe so frequently and with such enthusiasm and conviction.

Based on people’s experiences of taking the substances, it has been clear to me for the past twenty years that the much-promoted SSRI antidepressants frequently cause drug dependence and withdrawal problems.

Because it would reflect very badly on psychiatry to be seen as prescribing substances that – like illicit street drugs – regularly cause drug dependence and withdrawal problems, mainstream psychiatry has vehemently and consistently resisted significant withdrawal problems being associated with the substances we call SSRI antidepressants. 

 

New research

Research on antidepressant drug withdrawal effects was published in October 2018 by British psychologists John Read and James Davies: Read-Davies research 

 

These were the key findings of this research:

More than half experiencing withdrawal effects; almost half of those experiencing withdrawal describing them as ‘severe; withdrawal effects commonly lasting several weeks or months.

These are very significant findings.

To those of us who have been honest about the withdrawal problems caused by antidepressants, these findings come as no surprise. 

The media reaction to this research:

Because these results are so signficant – and perhaps because the vast majority of psychiatrists and GPs have been rubbishing people’s concerns about antidepressant drug dependence and withdrawal problems for three decades – these research were picked up by mainstream media:

 The Mail:

The Guardian:

The Times:

The Independent:

Sky News:

BBC News:

News of this research reached Denmark:

So, the mainstream media rightly took this research very seriously. 

 

What about mainstream psychiatry? What was psychiatry’s reaction to this research?

 Wendy Burn, President of the Royal College tweeted, ‘Good to see more research in this important area’, a rather underwhelming reponse to the Mail’s headline, ‘Doctors must wake up to patients hooked on depression pills’:

Wendy Burn’s comment – ‘Good to see research in this important area’ seemed disingenuous to me.

I replied directly to Royal College of Psychiatrist’s President Wendy Burn.  In my tweet, I ensured that the Royal College of Psychiatrists, Simon Wessely (the previous President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists) and Carmine Pariante, a prominent spokesman for the Royal College of Psychiatrists were notified about my tweet:

In my tweet, I was making the point that this research came not from the prescribers of these substances – psychiatrists and GPs – but from two very conscientious psychologists.

I was also asking an important if rather obvious question: Why were psychiatrists not undertaking such research, given that drug prescribing comes under their remit and responsibility?

Wendy Burn is quite active on Twitter, generally posting tweets and retweeting many times a day. So is Carmine Pariante and the Royal College of Psychiatrists. Simon Wessely is also quite active on Twitter. Though notified about my tweet by me, not one of them bothered to reply.

I looked through the tweets and replies sent by Dr. Wendy Burn over the following days. I found just two tweets – or rather, retweets; Wendy Burn apparently did not see this research as important enough to comment further.

I believe that Wendy Burn’s true position – and the position of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, of which she is currently president, the college’s most senior representative – reveals itself in the two tweets – out of the hundreds of tweets about this antidepressant withdrawal research – that she chose to retweet.

Wendy Burn’s first retweet, in which the author plays down the signficance of antidepressant withdrawal and dependence, instead using the favoured medical term, ‘discontinuation syndrome’ rather than the more truthful ‘withdrawal syndrome’:

Wendy Burn’s second retweet was of a tweet in which antidepressant drug dependence is downplayed: 

 

The President of the Royal College of Psychiatry’s ambivalent reaction to these research findings – findings that essentially point to a major public health issue of doctor-initiated prescribed drug dependence – contrasts sharply with her often-expressed enthusiasm for ideas and notions that coincide with the ideology of psychiatry, the hoped-for desire of mainstream psychiatry for mental health problems to be fundamentally seen as biological, such as this one: 

There is no indication to suggest that the Royal College of Psychiatrists intend to take this research seriously.

The American Psychiatric Assocation’s reponse:

News of this research spread to the UK National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE). This was picked up by the American Psychiatric Association , who tweeted:

UK psychologist John Read, one of the two main of this research, was magnanimous in his response to this tweet by the American Psychiatric Association:

Within hours however, the American Psychiatric Association deleted their own tweet:  Some people on Twitter had the foresight to take screenshots of the American Psychiatric Association’s tweet:

 

This screenshot illustrates that the American Psychiatric Association’s tweet is now unavailable:

John Read then asked the American Psychiatric Association directly why they removed their tweet:

The American Psychiatric Association did not reply to John Read.

Nor did they reply to others who also asked the American Psychiatric Association to explain why they deleted their own tweet hours after publishing it:

A survivor of psychiatry – Twitter handle @angpeacock1111 – correctly describes how important this sequence of events is:

 

Why would the American Psychiatric Association delete this tweet and refuse to explain why?

This is an example of the duplicity and cunning that is endemic within mainsteam psychiatry globally. 

Clearly, someone within the American Psychiatric Association felt it approriate to respond and tweet about this important research.

It would appear that this decision to flag this decision was subsequently – a few hours later – overrided by more powerful voices within the American Psychiatrric Association, arrogant and poweful voices that also felt that the public did not deserve an explanation for their radical change of mind in relation to their tweet about this research.

Agreeing with this research – as they did in their tweet – would raise serious questions about the correctness of prescribing these substances to vast numbers of people. 

The unexplained removal of this tweet had nothing to do with the public interest, and everything to do with prioritising the image of psychiatry and the American Psychiatric Association. 

Prescribed drug dependence: such a major issue, consistently swept under the carpet by psychiatric drug prescribers

Why did it take two psychologists – John Read and James Davies – to carry out this research?

Where are the prescribers of these SSRI antidepressant substances – psychiatrists and GPs – doctors who have reassured the public for decades that there are no signficant withdrawal problems associated with these substances?

Why have the enthusiastic prescribers of these substances – psychiatrists and GPs – who have continually informed the public that there is no need to worry about withdrawal problems, not carried out research such as this decades ago, before these drugs were unleashed upon an unsuspecting and trusting international public?  

Why are the prescribers not on top of this issue, taking the lead – as any responsible profession would – in relation to the substances they prescribe so widely? 

Why do the prescribers seem to want to know little or nothing about the major issue of prescribed drug dependence, as evidenced by the underwhelming response of the Royal College of Psychiatrists and the American Psychiatric Association to this important new research?

Mainstream psychiatry’s refusal to take such findings seriously and address the issues that arise inevitably leaves the vast numbers of people who experience severe antidepressant withdrawal problems alone, unsupported, virtual outcasts, leaving these people with little option but to support each other as best they can, through internet and other groups.

This is yet another scandal.

How many more scandals will mainstream psychiatry be allowed to get away with by our governments, who have ultimate responsibility for the health and welfare of nations’ citizens?

When will governments do what they should have done decades ago – initiated an independent inquiry into mental health, including the practice and ideology of psychiatry, which falsely informs the public that its practices are scientifically valid and trustworthy??? 

Or will governments merely continue to wrongly assume that psychiatry is the ultimate source of mental health knowledge, wisdom and leadership, a deluded position that bears no relation to the facts?

Thirty years in this field has taught me that it is a waste of time trying to encourage mainstream psychiatry to drop its biases.

Change will only come when forces outside of mainstream psychiatry join and insist upon an independent review of how emotional and mental health is understood and addressed. 

Dr. Terry Lynch.

https://doctorterrylynch.com/courses/

All of my mental health courses at 50 per cent price reduction until end August 2018

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Updating all courses and creating more:

I began creating mental health courses for the general public and for mental health professionals in 2016. To date, I have created five detailed and comprehensive courses.

My intentions in creating these courses are:

1. To provide a clear picture of the current prevailing approach to the psychiatric diagnoses

2. To critique the current prevailing approach to mental health and the psychiatric diagnoses

3. To provide an understanding that honours the emotional and psychological aspects of the psychiatric diagnoses to a far greater extent than the current prevailing approach includes.

I have just begun to review the material on these courses and to update the course material as appropriate.

Over the coming 6-12 months I intend to create further courses on aspects of the psychiatric diagnoses.

Fifty per cent reduction on all courses until end August 2018:

From now until the end of August 2018, all of my online courses are available at a 50% price reduction. This includes all updates and further material that may be added to these courses. My courses and how to access the course information and prices reduction are detailed below:

Courses for the general public:

Depression: Its true nature:

Link to course information and price reduction:- Depression: Its true nature – general public, end summer 2018 sale.

Bipolar disorder: Cracking the code:

Link to course information and price reduction:- Bipolar disorder: Cracking the code, general public, end summer 2018 sale.

Courses for mental health therapists:

Working Therapeutically With Clients With A Psychiatric Diagnosis:

Link to course information and price reduction:- Working Therapeutically With Clients With A Psychiatric Diagnosis course, end summer 2018 sale.

Depression: Its True Nature :

Link to course information and price reduction: Depression: Its True Nature – mental health professionals, end summer 2018 sale.

Bipolar disorder – Cracking the code:

link to course information and price reduction:- Bipolar disorder: Cracking the code – mental health practitioners. end summer 2018 sale

Email me at terry@doctorterrylynch.com if you need any further information.

As a general rule, when psychiatrists say ‘we know’, read ‘we believe, and we want you to believe’. No. 1. – ‘brain disorders’

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When psychiatrist say ‘We know that . . .’, as a general rule, take this to mean ‘we believe that . . .’ 

Of the many problems that exist within mental health globally, one of the most significant and pernicious is one that most people do not even realise exists.

Presenting itself as the major source of solutions to emotional and mental health problems, mainstream psychiatry is in fact a creator of many of the problems within global mental health. 

While working as a GP over twenty years ago, it gradually dawned on me that, generally, when psychiatrists stated ‘we know‘, they often didn’t know – they believed.  

Here is one such example:

‘We know that mental disorders are brain disorders’

The American Government-backed National Institute of Mental Health is arguably the most powerful and influential mental health institution in the world. On their website, this institute unequivocally (mis)informs the public that ‘mental disorders are disorders of the brain’, and ‘Through research, we know that mental disorders are brain disorders’. Here is an edited screenshot from their website:  

 The National Institute of Mental Health does not know that mental disorders are brain disorders; they believe this, and they want you and everyone else to believe this too.  

The truth: Psychiatric diagnoses are not known brain disorders

Psychiatric diagnoses are not known brain disorders – and that is the simple truth. If they were known brain disorders, they would come under the remit of the acknowledged medical brain disorder experts – neurologists.

Brain disorders – such as multiple sclerosis, dementia, brain tumours, Parkinson’s Disease – have identified brain pathology that is specific to that disorder. No such brain pathology has been identified in relation to any psychiatric diagnosis – including depression; bipolar disorder; schizophrenia; obsessive compulsive disorder; schizoaffective disorder; personality disorder; eating disorders; anxiety disorders. 

There are no characteristic physical findings in any psychiatric diagnoses, as there is in, for example, Parkinson’s Disease, where people develop a characteristic tremor and their way of walking, known as a “shuffling gait” 

There are no brain or other tests that can be carried out that confirm the presence of a brain disorder in relation to any psychiatric diagnosis, as there are in multiple sclerosis, brain cancer and the majority of brain disorders.

There are no specific findings upon examination of the brain at post-mortem, as there is in dementia, for example.

The truth is therefore simple and straightforward: Psychiatric diagnoses – also referred to as so-called mental illnesses or mental disorders – are not known brain disorders.

Psychiatric diagnoses are not included in comprehensive lists of brain disorders

A reliable way of checking whether or not psychiatric diagnoses are known brain disorders is to examine authoritative sources that contain comprehensive lists of brain disorders. If psychiatric diagnoses were known brain disorders, then obviously they would be included in comprehensive lists of brain disorders.

So I checked out the website of the American National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS). The NINDS website contains an extensive list of neurological and brain disorders, the most comprehensive such list that I have seen in 35 years as a medical doctor.

As the following screenshot shows, pretty much the first thing you see when you access their website is their list of brain disorders:  

 Clicking on the ‘Disorders’ tab on the NINDS website opening page takes us  here: 

On the lower left hand side of the above screenshot, you can see a whole series of links in alphabetical order – links to the list of known brain disorders that begin with each letter of the alphabet. 

Of the main psychiatric diagnoses, schizophrenia would generally be considered to be towards  the most severe end of the spectrum. The experiences and behaviours that are collectively referred to as ‘schizophrenia’ are widely believed to be a known brain disorder.

Many authoritative medical sources unequivocally assert that schizophrenia is a brain disorder. The following screenshot from the website of the American Psychiatric Association is just one of many such examples:

According to the American Psychiatric Association, as illustrated in the first line of the above screenshot, it is a known fact: ‘Schizophrenia is a chronic brain disorder’.

Given that the medical profession is one of the most trusted professions in the world, one might reasonably assume that these words of the American Psychiatric Association must be true, must be based on solid facts. Surely if the American Psychiatric Association says that ‘schizophrenia is a chronic brain disorder’, this must be an established fact, right?

And if this is indeed an established fact, one should fully expect to see schizophrenia listed as a brain disorder in the extensive list of brain disorders on the website to the National Institute of Mental Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) I mentioned earlier.

So let’s check this out. Here is that screenshot of that extensive brain disorder list again, from the NINDS website ;-

I clicked the ‘S’, for schizophrenia. I arrived at the following page:

This is just a screenshot of the top of this webpage, which includes all known brain disorders beginning with ‘S’. There are 41 known disorders beginning with ‘S’ on this page. Since disorders are listed in alphabetical order, it is easy to identify where schizophrenia should appear on this list. Here’s the relevant screenshot:

If schizophrenia really is a known brain disorder, then it would definitely appear here, between the sixth entry, ‘schizoencephaly’ and the following entry, ‘Seitelberger Disease’. But there is no mention whatsoever of schizophrenia. 

This is the most extensive list of brain disorders I have ever seen. It contains many hundred brain disorders so rare that I have not heard of them in 35 years as a medical doctor – including seven of those listed in the above screenshot alone. Yet schizophrenia is not referred to at all, despite assertions that schizophrenia is not uncommon, affecting 1% of the population.

How can this be?

How can we make sense of this apparent contradiction – the American Psychiatric Association asserting unequivocally that ‘schizophrenia is a chronic brain disorder’, the National Institute of Mental Health stating that ‘mental disorders are brain disorders’, while its sister’s organisation – the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke – does not include schizophrenia or any other psychiatric diagnosis in its very comprehensive list of mental disorders?

Squaring this circle

The answer is simple: schizophrenia is not a known brain disorder, and this is why schizophrenia does not appear on this extensive list – and why there is no mention on this brain disorder list of depression; bipolar disorder/manic depression; obsessive compulsive disorder; eating disorders; anxiety; or any other so called mental disorder.

How about other lists of brain disorders?

Other lists of brain disorders similarly make no reference to schizophrenia or other so called mental illnesses. 

WebMD is a respected medical site, providing information for the public on a wide range of medical problems. The WebMD website includes a list of brain diseases, within which there is no mention of schizophrenia or any other so called mental illness.

The Australian Brain Foundation website also contains an extensive list of brain disorders – no mention of schizophrenia or any other so-called mental illness there either.

So what’s going on?

The medical profession want you – and everyone else – to believe that the experiences and behaviours that come to be collectively described as so-called mental illnesses are brain disorders.

They want you to believe this, not because it is true – it isn’t true – but because you and everyone else believing this strengthens their position at the top of the global mental health pyramid. 

Major benefits accrue to psychiatry as a consequence of being widely seen as the most expert mental group.

Psychiatry wants their dominant position in global mental health to continue. And this is why so many supposedly authoritative medical sources like those I have referred to here – the American National Institute of Mental Health and the American Psychiatric Association – are willing to misinform the public, asserting unequivocally that so-called mental disorders are known to be brain disorders, when the facts clearly state otherwise. 

Why this matters

Clearly it is wrong that the medical profession would misinform the public it serves in this manner. This systematic misinforming has resulted in the widespread misunderstanding of the experiences and behaviours of people who become diagnoses with various so-called mental illnesses.

A serious consequence of this misinformation is the failure of health authorities to adequately consider other ways of understanding these experiences and behaviours and the people who experience them.

Thus, millions of people around the world are deprived of opportunities to heal, to progress through their difficulties rather than having to settle for a compromised life, with much distress and despair. 

It is scandalous that they get away with this, but this is what happens when no one polices authority, when authorities – including medical authorities – are not held accountable, as they clearly should be, in the public interest.

 

Dr. Terry Lynch mental health courses:

Online courses for the general public:

Depression: Its True Nature – for the general public: 30% price reduction for limited period

Bipolar Disorder: Cracking the Code – for the general public. 30% price reduction for a limited period

Online courses for mental health professionals:

Working Therapeutically With Clients With A Psychiatric Diagnosis – online. 30% price reduction for a limited period

Depression: Its True Nature – for mental health professionals. 30% price reduction for a limited period

Bipolar Disorder: Cracking the Code – for mental health professionals. 30% price reduction for a limited period

Dr. Terry Lynch Books:     

  Click here for information about my books

Selfhood: A Key to the Recovery of Emotional Health, Mental Wellbeing and the Prevention of Mental Health Problems (2011) – 23 Five-star reviews on www.amazon.co.uk

Depression Delusion: The Myth of the Brain Chemical Imbalance (2015) – Foreword by Robert Whitaker, author of Anatomy of an Epidemic.

Beyond Prozac: Healing Mental Distress (2004) – Best seller in Ireland in 2001, reaching no. 3 in non-fiction best sellers.

 

Testimonials from inaugural 2017-2018 “Working Therapeutically With Clients With A Psychiatric Diagnosis” course

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Blended learning course – day attendances and online learning

Next intake: September 2018 – email terry@doctorterrylynch.com for details

60-plus CPD hours

David Shannon, C. Psychol. Ps.S.I., Chartered Senior Counselling Psychologist:

‘This course has given me much more confidence in working psychotherapeutically with people with a diagnosis of mental disorder. For this alone the course has been money well spent. Terry’s pragmatic, human and very sensitive way of working with and thinking about ‘mental disorder’ has been very reassuring. Terry’s model of fundamentally seeing ‘wounding’ and distress in its many forms as at the core of human distress is something I know I will return to as a compass bearing again and again in my own professional work. I heartily commend anyone who is interested in learning more about the DSM diagnoses and lacking confidence in working with some of the more ‘severe’ or intractable diagnoses to take this course. Terry’s generosity in sharing his wealth of knowledge and experience, and willingness to continue to do so, has been exceptional in my experience of learning.’

John Woulfe, BSc. Counselling & Psychotherapy Psychotherapist, Pieta House:

‘I thoroughly enjoyed this course; everything from the high quality of research and information provided, to the breadth of knowledge and insight shared by our course tutor Dr Lynch, the experiences shared by fellow professionals whom attended this course, right down to the comfort of the setting where our classes took place. Dr Lynch’s approach to facilitation lends itself to very interesting and engaged discussion on psychiatric diagnoses and the course does well to help expand the remit of a therapist’s role in working with clients with a psychiatric diagnosis. The dominant medical view of labels such as Schizophrenia, Bipolar, and Personality Disorder would lead clients and counsellors alike to believe that the greatest outcome for treatment is simply a “management” of symptoms. However having attended Dr Lynch’s course, I now feel more confident and well equipped to work with diagnosed clients in a much more recovery oriented manner and I see that my clients are feeling the benefits too.’

Ciaran Whyte, BSc (Hnrs), Counsellor and Psychotherapist::

‘Dr Terry Lynch’s work in the field of working with clients with a psychiatric diagnosis is absolutely fascinating. For me personally this course represents a groundbreaking cornerstone of change within the world of integrative psychotherapeutic care. I have been following Dr Lynch’s work for quite a few years now and I strongly recommend this course to anyone who is feeling a little sceptical as to the depth of their own personal psychotherapeutic skills. This course will not only teach you new insights and skills but will also put you in touch with your own personal psychotherapeutic skills that you may not have discovered beforehand. This learning is also strengthened by experiential feedback from other students’. 

Marie Crean, Counsellor:

‘This training course is a must for all professionals who wish to gain more in-depth insights to the therapeutic processes when working therapeutically with clients diagnosed with a psychiatric diagnosis. I have gained more confidence and feel more competence since completing this training as Dr Terry Lynch presents and delivers this training course in such a novel way that holds one’s concentration and enthusiasm and thirst for learning’ 

A.P. Coffey:

“This course allows you to invest in hope for people because it systematically demystifies the myth of the fixed diagnoses and instead highlights the continuum of trauma. Terry respects each individual as a sovereign being who has the capacity to work towards healing by investing in time helping people to understand their wounding and then focusing on necessary skill development. Terry acknowledges the use of medication as a sometimes necessary part of an holistic therapeutic approach towards recovery. This course is for anybody who engages with people who are mentally vulnerable either as health professional because it is honest and truly evidence based. Thank you Terry.”

Desera McCabe, psychotherapist:

‘As an accredited psychotherapist I enrolled on this course to fill what I felt was a big gap in my training to date.  I was not disappointed. Terry displayed enthusiasm and motivation in delivering a high quality course which has positively changed how I view working with clients whom have a psychiatric diagnosis.’

Joanne Hanrahan, psychotherapist:

‘For me, this course really uncovered many of the truths and myths about Psychiatric Diagnoses.  After completing the course I have a much greater understanding of how such diagnoses are made, and, as a result, have much more confidence in working with this cohort of clients.’