Mental Illness is Not a Brain Disease Research

Law Project for Psychiatric Rights: PsychRights

One of the more intriguing aspects of the "schizophrenia" literature is the discrepancy between the strength of the belief that "schizophrenia is a brain disease" and the availability of direct supporting evidence; even those who hold the belief admit that there is no direct evidence for it
Clinical Psychology Issue 12. April 2002

Myth: Reframing Mental Illness as a "Brain Disease" Reduces Stigma, Canadian Health Services Research Foundation (2012)
Biological Psychiatry: A Practice in Search of a Science, by W. Joseph Wyatt & Donna M. Midkiff, Behavior and Social Issues, 15, 132-151 (2006).
The Biopsychiatric Model of "Mental Illness:"A Critical Bibliography, by Loren R. Mosher M.D.
"A Gene for . . ." The Nature of Gene Action in Psychiatric Disorders, by Kenneth S. Kendler, M.D., American Jounral of Psychiatry 162:1243-1252 (2005).
Is Graduate Social Work Education Promoting A Critical Approach to Mental Health Practice?, by Jeffrey R. Lacasse, & Tomi Gomory, Journal of Social Work Education, Vo. 39, No. 3: 383-408 (2003). This study finds that aspiring mental health clinicians are generally not informed beyond the conventional biomedical disease paradigm of psychiatry
Brain Disease Hypothesis for Schizophrenia Disconfirmed by All Evidence, by Al Siebert, PhD., Ethical Human Sciences and Services, Vol 1, No. 2 1999.
The False Dichotomy Between Psychology and Biology, by Albert O. Galves, Ph.D.
A Critique of the Scientific Status of Biological Psychiatry, by Alvin Pam, Ph.D., Act Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 1990:82 (Supplement 362). This paper discusses the errors in methodology and conception leading to the current view of the validity of biological psychiatry including professed biological markers with a discussion of sociology - medical, eugenics and the diathesis-stress model as well.
Broken Brains or Flawed Studies? A Critical Review of ADHD Neuroimaging Research, by Jonathon Leo and David Cohen, The Journal of Mind and Behavior, Winter 2003, Volume 24, Number 1, pp 29-56. This review of studies on ADHD and neuroimaging finds that most of them can not rule out that the differences observed are medication caused and the others "inexplicably avoided making straightforward comparisons" that could have given information on this issue.
Debunking the Science Behind ADHD as a "Brain Disorder." by Al Galves, Ph.D., and David Walker, Ph.D. This is a description of the flaws in the scientific evidence that is used to support the belief that ADHD is a neurochemical disorder that is present from birth and that has nothing to do with inadequate nurturance during childhood, difficult family environments or oppressive and inhumane educational and community environments. It also describes the harm that is done by these beliefs and the treatment approaches based on them.

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