Dr. Breggin interview; Depression not a disease

[angela bischoff]

1.
Below is a link for an excellent audio interview 
with Peter Breggin on the Nobody Show, WEOS 
89.7FM Geneva, NY taped on 1/24/96:

http://www.math.missouri.edu/~rich/psych/breggin.mp3

(transcript at http://www.math.missouri.edu/~rich/psych/breggin.txt)

In this interview, he deals with the dangers of 
antidepressant drugs, ritalin, electro shock, the 
profession of psychiatry, as well as the 
profession's role in the Holocaust.

Peter Breggin is a doctor, teacher, therapist and 
author of many books including Toxic Psychiatry, 
The Antidepressant Fact Book, Your Drug May Be 
Your Problem, and Talking Back to Ritalin: What 
Doctors Aren't Telling You About Stimulants for 
Children.

Dr. Breggin argues that society is becoming 
increasingly dependent on prescription drugs to 
solve psychological and social problems, and that 
this move towards a biomedical model of treatment 
is a dangerous trend, disabling and damaging the 
brains of children and adults.

For more on Breggin's work see http://www.breggin.com/


------------
2.
Doctors argue that depression 'should not be seen as a disease'

Wednesday November 30th 2005

Eilish O'Regan

Health Correspondent

DEPRESSION should be viewed as an emotion rather 
than a disease, according to the authors of a 
controversial new book.

Consultant psychiatrist Dr Michael Corry of Clane 
General Hospital and Dublin psychotherapist Dr 
Aine Tubridy question the widespread use of drugs 
to treat depression, saying it is more "band-aid" 
than cure.

One in five of the population was prescribed 
anti-depressants last year at a cost of *100m.

However, while these can give a "short uplift to 
mood", they can mask the underlying cause and 
lead to relapse on withdrawal, the medics insist.

The doctors make the claims in their book, 
'Depression: An Emotion not a Disease', and call 
for more emphasis on psychotherapy to provide 
insights into problems and behavioural changes.

Commenting on the book, Dr Siobhan Barry, 
spokesperson for the Irish Psychiatric 
Association, said the views expressed would not 
be termed unorthodox.

"What would be unorthodox is if they were saying 
that antidepressant medication never had a place 
in the treatment of depression," she said.

Options

Dr Barry said that different kinds of treatment 
were needed for various types of depression which 
varY in severity, and some people on 
anti-depressants might benefit from having them 
reviewed, with other options considered by their 
doctor.

Growing numbers of antidepressants were being 
prescribed but it was open to question if more 
people were depressed, she added.

The authors emphasize the need to look at a range 
of treatments for depression -- such as sleep, 
exercise, nutrition, acupuncture, yoga, massage 
and psychotherapy.

They appeal to their colleagues to join them in 
seeking better ways to help vulnerable people 
suffering from depression.

They said it was impossible to separate 
depression from its causes -- such as sexual 
abuse, bullying, dysfunctional relationships, 
poverty, panic, broken hearts and the increasing 
demands on everyone to "have a life" and make 
ends meet.

If people saw depression as an emotion it could 
be viewed as empowering, optimistic and 
liberating, putting the sufferer back at the helm 
rather than at the the mercy of disease.

They argue: "If we stand back and look at 
depression, it has few of the characteristics of 
a disease.

"If, for example, you lose your job or your lover 
rejects you and you become depressed, would your 
depression not immediately lift if your job was 
reinstated and your lover returned? This would 
not be the case if you had renal illness, cancer, 
diabetes or any other disease.

"Many a depression would be lifted instantly by a 
Lotto win or the departure of an abusive spouse."

Dr Barry pointed out one of the problems with 
psychiatrists working in the public system is 
that they can have a case list of up to 400 
patients.

This means the amount of time they can devote to 
the individual patient is curtailed even though 
they would benefit from being able to talk more.

"If you threw out the disease label it would 
probably not make a whit of difference to how 
depression is treated," she added.

© Irish Independent
http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/ & http://www.unison.ie/



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