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Low expectations
in the mental health system are both a cause and an
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effect of decades
of low results. If less than 1% of
clients are actually
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recovering from
their alleged ‘illnesses,’ then we must begin to examine
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both the
theories upon which their treatment is based and the actual effects
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of the
treatment. The treatment of mental
and emotional difficulties is based
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upon the theory
that such problems are the result of chemical imbalance in
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the brain. Hence psychiatric drug treatment forms
the core of all treatment
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programs. But if psychotropic drugs really do
correct the chemical
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imbalance that is
the source of the problem, why are so few recovering?
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The answer is
twofold. First, there is no proof
that those who have been
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labeled mentally
ill are actually suffering from a chemical imbalance. An
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increasing
number of psychiatrists and neuroscientists are now arguing that
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the “chemical
imbalance’’ theory is scientifically unsound. Second, the
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cornerstone of
psychiatry’s medical model of the human condition has not
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been proven and
the evidence for it is very weak. In
essence, clients of the
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mental health
system are receiving ‘treatment’ for a condition they do not
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have, while the
actual sources of their problems are largely ignored.
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