Robert Whitaker is a medical journalist who used to write articles about the brain chemical imbalance theory, believing it to be true. When the World Health Organisation claimed that living in a developed country was a strong predictor of a poor outcome for those diagnosed with schizophrenia he wanted to know why. Why, if you’re diagnosed with schizophrenia, are you better off coming from Nigeria or India?
Robert also wondered why, despite an increase in antipsychotics, was there a run away increase in people claiming disability due mental health problems? Shouldn’t these figures be falling to reflect the new ‘magic bullet’ drugs that were now widely available on the market?
The work Robert went on to do earned him an award for medical journalism. Reading his books, Mad In America or Anatomy of an Epidemic, is a red pill moment. Once you know what he knows, there is no going back.
I recommend you watch Robert’s talks:
SPOILER ALERT: There is NO evidence for the brain chemical imbalance theory. Not only that, it turns out that the theory itself is a story made up by the drug companies in order to find a market for Chlorpromazine, a drug they discovered. When chlorpromazine was first given to patients, psychiatrists reported that it sedated them, making them less bothered by their symptoms.
But this didn’t stop the drug companies from calling them ‘antipsychotics’ as if they were something that cured psychosis. They were marketed like insulin for diabetes. The drug actually came first and then the theory was invented in order to sell it to the masses. Worse still, psychiatrists were paid to write articles claiming how effective they were. All of this because there was never any brain chemical imbalance ever found.
Related article Are Schizophrenia Outcomes Better in Developing Countries?
