'One of the major criticisms is that the number of new psychiatric diagnoses added to it is rising exponentially. In 1952, the manual was 130 pages long. The fifth edition has 992 pages. And this latest edition has controversially added new diagnoses such as 'Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder', which essentially makes children's temper tantrums a mental illness.

Critics believe the manuals are "disease mongering" - inventing labels for conditions that don't really exist, but are normal, albeit difficult, facets of human nature.'

Read more...

Editor's Note: Gotta love this shrink! Dr. Marijuana, do you make international house calls? It's about time mainstream Doctors started using REAL medicine.

'A Chilean psychiatrist known as "Dr. Marijuana" has earned notoriety in his South American nation for his crusade to legalize cannabis.

Dr. Milton Flores, 58, describes cannabis as "a tool and a medicine," reports Rafael Romo at CNN. He says he's used cannabis for years to treat patients with conditions including depression and anxiety -- and he's also smoked pot himself, for 44 years.

Flores is considered Chile's main advocate for cannabis legalization. He also favors legalization of other "entheogens" (psychoactive plants), including peyote, ayahuasca and San Pedro cactus. All were used by local shamans and healers well before the arrival of Europeans in the 16th century.'

Read more... 

 
Photo Credit:digboston.com

Dr. Sanjay Gupta Now Supports Medical Marijuana

He apologizes for 'misleading' public in speaking out against it.

'CNN's chief medical expert Dr. Sanjay Gupta has done an about-face on weed, and he now backs using the drug for medical conditions. On Piers Morgan's Wednesday night show, Gupta he announced that he's changed his mind, and he apologized for 'misleading' the public by opposing the drug in the past.'

Read more...

Depression is Not A Serotonin Deficiency


Thanks to direct-to-consumer advertising and complicit FDA endorsement of evidence-less claims, the public has been sold an insultingly oversimplified tale about the underlying driver of depression. Here's how we know depression is not a serotonin deficiency corrected by Zoloft:

You might wonder: Well, then how is it that antidepressants are a billion dollar industry and I have all these friends who are so much better on them? 

Some pioneering individuals have investigated the data supporting antidepressant efficacy and have made compelling arguments for what is called the "active placebo" effect accounting for "breaking blind" in placebo-controlled trials. 

In short, the expectation of relief and subsequent change in symptoms experienced by "responders" is related to perception of side effects. This analysis suggests that antidepressants may only have 10% efficacy above and beyond the placebo effect. 

Read more...