But poor outcomes for schizophrenia are independently shaped and predicted by parental socioeconomic status, poverty, class, immigration status, living in urban environments, and membership of a racial minority.
As the recent tragedies in Nottingham will surely remind us. And what to do? We could, of course, continue to wage phoney war on status, poverty, class, and the vicissitudes of urban life. That would mean that immigrants and racial minorities had the same outcomes as everyone else.
Or, we could stop importing trouble.
Simon Neale
11 months ago
But poor outcomes for schizophrenia are independently shaped and predicted by parental socioeconomic status, poverty, class, immigration status, living in urban environments, and membership of a racial minority.
As the recent tragedies in Nottingham will surely remind us. And what to do? We could, of course, continue to wage phoney war on status, poverty, class, and the vicissitudes of urban life. That would mean that immigrants and racial minorities had the same outcomes as everyone else.
Or, we could stop importing trouble.
Emil Castelli
11 months ago
I could not fallow what this was about – I kind of got from it that what ever they think they know is likely wrong… But what good is rambling around that? Now I know a lot about the 70s drug scene – and a lot of people fared badly, and some people should NOT take drugs, and LSD especially – but whatever.. the world spins off causalities from a million causes..
What I would look at is the raw Numbers of messed up children today – from what I hear orders of magnitude more than before the 90s and 2000s.
ADHD, autism, learning disabilities, food allergies, all kinds of problems – just messed up children everywhere – and that was Not Normal in Pink Floyd’s days. An epidemic 1000X what covid was.
The good man RFK, now running for President blames the childhood vaccines. Dr Kirsh states that it is FACT that the hundred fold in childhood mental and physical health problems are completely to be blamed on childhood vaccines (in USA children used to get half a dozen, and now get over 50….)
Boys are all hormonally messed up big time – drugs in the water from human excreted hormones that the bio-Pharma have half the women taking – plastics, chemicals – the male frogs turning female, the boys becoming low masculine, fertility dropping like a rock…..unable to sit in class – messing up their lives from some anti-social plague – the Japanese kids not leaving their bedrooms…
I did not get what this article was about – but it seems to be seeing one odd tree, and missing that it is in an entire forest.
Most of this appears to be a plague of middle class neuroses infecting my generation and the next (X and millennials), who have transferred their idiocy to their kids. I see plenty of perfectly functioning children, especially ones from the ‘upper’ or ‘respectable’ cohort of the working class. All this middle class rubbish goes unnoticed.
Plague of middle class but consider childhood nowadays vs. the past?? Where is the basic family stability and protection? They are exposed out of the gate to things far beyond what we were and, I think, far more than what they can cope with….AND: No full-time mothers or carers in the house….how is that for mental health?
Plague of middle class but consider childhood nowadays vs. the past?? Where is the basic family stability and protection? They are exposed out of the gate to things far beyond what we were and, I think, far more than what they can cope with….AND: No full-time mothers or carers in the house….how is that for mental health?
Most of this appears to be a plague of middle class neuroses infecting my generation and the next (X and millennials), who have transferred their idiocy to their kids. I see plenty of perfectly functioning children, especially ones from the ‘upper’ or ‘respectable’ cohort of the working class. All this middle class rubbish goes unnoticed.
Emil Castelli
11 months ago
I could not fallow what this was about – I kind of got from it that what ever they think they know is likely wrong… But what good is rambling around that? Now I know a lot about the 70s drug scene – and a lot of people fared badly, and some people should NOT take drugs, and LSD especially – but whatever.. the world spins off causalities from a million causes..
What I would look at is the raw Numbers of messed up children today – from what I hear orders of magnitude more than before the 90s and 2000s.
ADHD, autism, learning disabilities, food allergies, all kinds of problems – just messed up children everywhere – and that was Not Normal in Pink Floyd’s days. An epidemic 1000X what covid was.
The good man RFK, now running for President blames the childhood vaccines. Dr Kirsh states that it is FACT that the hundred fold in childhood mental and physical health problems are completely to be blamed on childhood vaccines (in USA children used to get half a dozen, and now get over 50….)
Boys are all hormonally messed up big time – drugs in the water from human excreted hormones that the bio-Pharma have half the women taking – plastics, chemicals – the male frogs turning female, the boys becoming low masculine, fertility dropping like a rock…..unable to sit in class – messing up their lives from some anti-social plague – the Japanese kids not leaving their bedrooms…
I did not get what this article was about – but it seems to be seeing one odd tree, and missing that it is in an entire forest.
N Satori
11 months ago
Psychiatry always attempts to remain apolitical.
…and yet there is something of the spirit of that old Marxist psychiatrist R D Laing in this piece. He popularised the idea that schizophrenia was an understandable (even rational) reaction to an absurd world. Of course this was very appealing to the Leftist mindset where nurture is all important and any hint of genetic determinism is alarming.
I would recommend ‘Anatomy of an Epidemic’ by Robert Whitaker. It’s a powerful polemic arguing that a Faustian pact forged by the American Psychiatric Association and big pharma led to the promotion of a flawed biochemical model of mental illness that has done a tremendous amount of harm. There are indeed countries that treat mental illness ‘environmentally’ rather then chemically and there is much evidence to suggest long term outcomes are better, especially in regards to the prevalence of relapse.
Faustian pact? Powerful Polemic? Big Pharma? My alarm bells are ringing. Thanks but I think I’ll pass.
Over the last few weeks I have been reading Crime and Personality by H J Eysenck, The IQ Argument by H J Eysenck and The Inequality of Man by H J Eysenck. Plenty of data built up over a long period by many researchers provides much evidence that the nature/nurture balance is about 80/20 in favour of nature. Not a popular view with the you-can-be-anything-you-wanna-be activists (currently driving us all nuts with their latest iteration: Transgenderism).
Unfortunately, Eysenck has long been out of fashion (and is long dead). I wonder what he’d make of Human Genome studies and DNA research were he still with us.
Naturally there is a concerted attempt to discredit his work as it has always rattled the nurture fixated Left who, let’s face it, now dominate our institutions. The critiques by Roderic Buchanan and David Marks should be treated with scepticism.
The notion popularised by anti-smoking activists, that cigarettes mean certain death should also be treated with scepticism. By the way, I have never smoked so I’ve no vested interest there.
Naturally there is a concerted attempt to discredit his work as it has always rattled the nurture fixated Left who, let’s face it, now dominate our institutions. The critiques by Roderic Buchanan and David Marks should be treated with scepticism.
The notion popularised by anti-smoking activists, that cigarettes mean certain death should also be treated with scepticism. By the way, I have never smoked so I’ve no vested interest there.
Faustian pact? Powerful Polemic? Big Pharma? My alarm bells are ringing. Thanks but I think I’ll pass.
Over the last few weeks I have been reading Crime and Personality by H J Eysenck, The IQ Argument by H J Eysenck and The Inequality of Man by H J Eysenck. Plenty of data built up over a long period by many researchers provides much evidence that the nature/nurture balance is about 80/20 in favour of nature. Not a popular view with the you-can-be-anything-you-wanna-be activists (currently driving us all nuts with their latest iteration: Transgenderism).
Unfortunately, Eysenck has long been out of fashion (and is long dead). I wonder what he’d make of Human Genome studies and DNA research were he still with us.
And without any further curiosity, move on – argument settled. Worth noting that those who are worried by genetics tend to cast the issue in black and white terms the better to discredit the opposition.
And without any further curiosity, move on – argument settled. Worth noting that those who are worried by genetics tend to cast the issue in black and white terms the better to discredit the opposition.
I would recommend ‘Anatomy of an Epidemic’ by Robert Whitaker. It’s a powerful polemic arguing that a Faustian pact forged by the American Psychiatric Association and big pharma led to the promotion of a flawed biochemical model of mental illness that has done a tremendous amount of harm. There are indeed countries that treat mental illness ‘environmentally’ rather then chemically and there is much evidence to suggest long term outcomes are better, especially in regards to the prevalence of relapse.
As the writer observed, evidence for “genetic determinism” is not strong.
N Satori
11 months ago
Psychiatry always attempts to remain apolitical.
…and yet there is something of the spirit of that old Marxist psychiatrist R D Laing in this piece. He popularised the idea that schizophrenia was an understandable (even rational) reaction to an absurd world. Of course this was very appealing to the Leftist mindset where nurture is all important and any hint of genetic determinism is alarming.
Amy Horseman
11 months ago
Great piece. I have witnessed so many lives destroyed by recreational AND prescribed pharmaceutical drug use, both in the short and the long term. There is a chilling resurgence of recreational drug use creeping back. Adherents of “micro-dosing” and “magic mushrooms” are vehemently pushing these activities all over social media (in particular preying on the growing anti-vax community), not to mention all the hype about “Ayahuasca”, enthusiastically endorsed by “Prince” Harry. And Canada is out of control with its decriminalising of all recreational drugs, opening the flood gates for abuse. We have to do more to warn of the dangers of ALL mind-altering drugs. There’s a book by Alex Berenson that made everyone angry (so is probably very good), called “Tell Your Children: The Truth About Marijuana, Violence and Mental Health.” Might be worth a read if you’ve got impressionable young kids.
My brother started smoking marijuana at a very early age. He was a schizophrenic by the time he as 16 and has spent his entire adult life on benefits living alone in a bedsit.
Another close relative (not a blood relation) developed schizophrenia at the age of 39. I was visiting one evening while she was in a secure unit. She was quite coherent by this stage of her treatment and I was sat with her and a group of about 12 patients. The question came up who had smoked marijuana and 11 hands went up. Anecdotal I know but still.
The other point is the sharp divide between the relatives of individuals afflicted with schizophrenia and the doctors/psychiatrists treating them. As a relative you get to realise that doctors/psychiatrists cannot be trusted and you end up loathing them
Let’s not forget….’booze’.
We many of us sit rather smugly, never having taken recreational drugs, with our evening glass of wine or whiskey on the rocks. The danger of too much alcohol should also be acknowledged.
My brother started smoking marijuana at a very early age. He was a schizophrenic by the time he as 16 and has spent his entire adult life on benefits living alone in a bedsit.
Another close relative (not a blood relation) developed schizophrenia at the age of 39. I was visiting one evening while she was in a secure unit. She was quite coherent by this stage of her treatment and I was sat with her and a group of about 12 patients. The question came up who had smoked marijuana and 11 hands went up. Anecdotal I know but still.
The other point is the sharp divide between the relatives of individuals afflicted with schizophrenia and the doctors/psychiatrists treating them. As a relative you get to realise that doctors/psychiatrists cannot be trusted and you end up loathing them
Let’s not forget….’booze’.
We many of us sit rather smugly, never having taken recreational drugs, with our evening glass of wine or whiskey on the rocks. The danger of too much alcohol should also be acknowledged.
Amy Horseman
11 months ago
Great piece. I have witnessed so many lives destroyed by recreational AND prescribed pharmaceutical drug use, both in the short and the long term. There is a chilling resurgence of recreational drug use creeping back. Adherents of “micro-dosing” and “magic mushrooms” are vehemently pushing these activities all over social media (in particular preying on the growing anti-vax community), not to mention all the hype about “Ayahuasca”, enthusiastically endorsed by “Prince” Harry. And Canada is out of control with its decriminalising of all recreational drugs, opening the flood gates for abuse. We have to do more to warn of the dangers of ALL mind-altering drugs. There’s a book by Alex Berenson that made everyone angry (so is probably very good), called “Tell Your Children: The Truth About Marijuana, Violence and Mental Health.” Might be worth a read if you’ve got impressionable young kids.
Simon Blanchard
11 months ago
Enjoyed that. Certainly and with the benefit of hindsight, when I look back at the period in my life when I was prescribed SSRIs (which are no picnic from a side-effect point of view) my work, home and social life was relentlessly dysfunctional and I was deeply and justifiably unhappy. But as my GP said with a shrug “if they give you some quality of life, who’s to say they’re wrong ?” These days it’s about that free wonder drug: diet and exercise.
Simon Blanchard
11 months ago
Enjoyed that. Certainly and with the benefit of hindsight, when I look back at the period in my life when I was prescribed SSRIs (which are no picnic from a side-effect point of view) my work, home and social life was relentlessly dysfunctional and I was deeply and justifiably unhappy. But as my GP said with a shrug “if they give you some quality of life, who’s to say they’re wrong ?” These days it’s about that free wonder drug: diet and exercise.
Marissa M
11 months ago
As someone who suffered from major depression and anxiety disorder, and has a serious family history of it, I read about Sid Barret’s decline years ago with sadness and compassion. The fear, the overreaching, the hype heaped on his shoulders, the confusion….I should think an average person, although glamorizing the music industry, would have similar states of panic, if not actual breakdown. Not a “weakness” but a need for a more peaceful and structured life. He just wasn’t cut out for the jackals in the business.
My father used to tell me that the best thing for mental health is structure, routine, stability and a sense of purpose. How can anyone find that in the music industry? In Hollywood? Sid may be one of the extremes, but look at the divorce rates, the drugs, the suicides….it’s amazing anyone can flourish in that environment! Or, the question should be: Does anyone flourish in it? They all seem to have these blazing glory careers but limp along later in life with few exceptions.
As far as the acid is concerned? Of course it can only be harmful to a vulnerable state! What is the author going on about? Regardless, I never took it, but the search for a release from stress, whether it be alcohol, marijuana, extreme religion, or even excessive exercise…is a constant and familiar one in our western world.
Last edited 11 months ago by Marissa M
Marissa M
11 months ago
As someone who suffered from major depression and anxiety disorder, and has a serious family history of it, I read about Sid Barret’s decline years ago with sadness and compassion. The fear, the overreaching, the hype heaped on his shoulders, the confusion….I should think an average person, although glamorizing the music industry, would have similar states of panic, if not actual breakdown. Not a “weakness” but a need for a more peaceful and structured life. He just wasn’t cut out for the jackals in the business.
My father used to tell me that the best thing for mental health is structure, routine, stability and a sense of purpose. How can anyone find that in the music industry? In Hollywood? Sid may be one of the extremes, but look at the divorce rates, the drugs, the suicides….it’s amazing anyone can flourish in that environment! Or, the question should be: Does anyone flourish in it? They all seem to have these blazing glory careers but limp along later in life with few exceptions.
As far as the acid is concerned? Of course it can only be harmful to a vulnerable state! What is the author going on about? Regardless, I never took it, but the search for a release from stress, whether it be alcohol, marijuana, extreme religion, or even excessive exercise…is a constant and familiar one in our western world.
Last edited 11 months ago by Marissa M
Kirk Susong
11 months ago
The best (i.e., worst) part of this article was where the author says, “Someone else deemed an acid casualty is Brian Jones… On top of the relentless psychoactive effects of fame and public pressure, Jones’s paranoia can be seen a response to prohibitionist drug policies.”
It’s like an M.C. Escher-style stoner argument… the problems associated with this behavior are caused by our response to the problems associated with this behavior.
Kirk Susong
11 months ago
The best (i.e., worst) part of this article was where the author says, “Someone else deemed an acid casualty is Brian Jones… On top of the relentless psychoactive effects of fame and public pressure, Jones’s paranoia can be seen a response to prohibitionist drug policies.”
It’s like an M.C. Escher-style stoner argument… the problems associated with this behavior are caused by our response to the problems associated with this behavior.
Charles Stanhope
11 months ago
Ernst Jünger,*Pour le Mérite 1918, Iron Cross Ist class 1916, a relatively late user of LSD seems to have survived quite well.
Then off course he wasn’t a “pop star”, or whatever they called are in these very feeble times.
(* 1895-1998.)
Charles Stanhope
11 months ago
Ernst Jünger,*Pour le Mérite 1918, Iron Cross Ist class 1916, a relatively late user of LSD seems to have survived quite well.
Then off course he wasn’t a “pop star”, or whatever they called are in these very feeble times.
(* 1895-1998.)
Phillip F
10 months ago
i’m a psychiatrist these many years but once upon a time I hung out with the Laing communities where I saw madness romanticized as a critique of an irrational society. The best clinicians I met with, mostly psychoanalysts, had a nuanced view of mental disturbance. They recognized that psychosis often diagnosed as schizophrenia more likely represented a brain disease–not that there was much we could do about it other than snow them with major tranquilizers that had bad side effects. Reading LSD and other hallucinogens, in the 1970’s we said everyone had a certain number of “tickets”–based on their genetic vulnerabilities, to take a certain number of trips–before they went psychotic. Of the many drugs and addictions I have tried to help people give up, none is more insidious than marijuana–because it is socially sanctioned, now more than ever. And now that psychiatry has embraced the full drug pusher’s satchel of forbidden substances–it is hard not to suspect a financial motive in these re-discoveries of magic potions–all bets are off.
Phillip F
10 months ago
i’m a psychiatrist these many years but once upon a time I hung out with the Laing communities where I saw madness romanticized as a critique of an irrational society. The best clinicians I met with, mostly psychoanalysts, had a nuanced view of mental disturbance. They recognized that psychosis often diagnosed as schizophrenia more likely represented a brain disease–not that there was much we could do about it other than snow them with major tranquilizers that had bad side effects. Reading LSD and other hallucinogens, in the 1970’s we said everyone had a certain number of “tickets”–based on their genetic vulnerabilities, to take a certain number of trips–before they went psychotic. Of the many drugs and addictions I have tried to help people give up, none is more insidious than marijuana–because it is socially sanctioned, now more than ever. And now that psychiatry has embraced the full drug pusher’s satchel of forbidden substances–it is hard not to suspect a financial motive in these re-discoveries of magic potions–all bets are off.
Billy Bob
11 months ago
Probably six of one and half dozen of the other. The people mentioned were probably predisposed for a breakdown, be it from their work, environment or general mental health. However chucking in a load of acid on top of all that certainly wouldn’t have done them any favours. Go too hard on anything and it’ll get you eventually
Billy Bob
11 months ago
Probably six of one and half dozen of the other. The people mentioned were probably predisposed for a breakdown, be it from their work, environment or general mental health. However chucking in a load of acid on top of all that certainly wouldn’t have done them any favours. Go too hard on anything and it’ll get you eventually
Phil Mac
11 months ago
Taking chemicals to affect the functioning of the brain. How the Hell anyone imagines this isn’t stupid just staggers me. It’s worse, it’s depraved, pathetic. And I include alcohol in that.
They are fun though, which is why most people do them. The vast majority will have no long term effects from taking various drugs as they only take them sporadically such as on nights out. The problems arise (and I’ve seen a few people fall into this trap) when they become a regular occurrence, which is when they start to lose grip on reality
They are fun though, which is why most people do them. The vast majority will have no long term effects from taking various drugs as they only take them sporadically such as on nights out. The problems arise (and I’ve seen a few people fall into this trap) when they become a regular occurrence, which is when they start to lose grip on reality
Phil Mac
11 months ago
Taking chemicals to affect the functioning of the brain. How the Hell anyone imagines this isn’t stupid just staggers me. It’s worse, it’s depraved, pathetic. And I include alcohol in that.
As the recent tragedies in Nottingham will surely remind us. And what to do? We could, of course, continue to wage phoney war on status, poverty, class, and the vicissitudes of urban life. That would mean that immigrants and racial minorities had the same outcomes as everyone else.
Or, we could stop importing trouble.
As the recent tragedies in Nottingham will surely remind us. And what to do? We could, of course, continue to wage phoney war on status, poverty, class, and the vicissitudes of urban life. That would mean that immigrants and racial minorities had the same outcomes as everyone else.
Or, we could stop importing trouble.
I could not fallow what this was about – I kind of got from it that what ever they think they know is likely wrong… But what good is rambling around that? Now I know a lot about the 70s drug scene – and a lot of people fared badly, and some people should NOT take drugs, and LSD especially – but whatever.. the world spins off causalities from a million causes..
What I would look at is the raw Numbers of messed up children today – from what I hear orders of magnitude more than before the 90s and 2000s.
ADHD, autism, learning disabilities, food allergies, all kinds of problems – just messed up children everywhere – and that was Not Normal in Pink Floyd’s days. An epidemic 1000X what covid was.
The good man RFK, now running for President blames the childhood vaccines. Dr Kirsh states that it is FACT that the hundred fold in childhood mental and physical health problems are completely to be blamed on childhood vaccines (in USA children used to get half a dozen, and now get over 50….)
Boys are all hormonally messed up big time – drugs in the water from human excreted hormones that the bio-Pharma have half the women taking – plastics, chemicals – the male frogs turning female, the boys becoming low masculine, fertility dropping like a rock…..unable to sit in class – messing up their lives from some anti-social plague – the Japanese kids not leaving their bedrooms…
I did not get what this article was about – but it seems to be seeing one odd tree, and missing that it is in an entire forest.
Thank God for AI!
Most of this appears to be a plague of middle class neuroses infecting my generation and the next (X and millennials), who have transferred their idiocy to their kids. I see plenty of perfectly functioning children, especially ones from the ‘upper’ or ‘respectable’ cohort of the working class. All this middle class rubbish goes unnoticed.
Plague of middle class but consider childhood nowadays vs. the past?? Where is the basic family stability and protection? They are exposed out of the gate to things far beyond what we were and, I think, far more than what they can cope with….AND: No full-time mothers or carers in the house….how is that for mental health?
You are right, Marissa, but that is not sayable nowadays.
You are right, Marissa, but that is not sayable nowadays.
Plague of middle class but consider childhood nowadays vs. the past?? Where is the basic family stability and protection? They are exposed out of the gate to things far beyond what we were and, I think, far more than what they can cope with….AND: No full-time mothers or carers in the house….how is that for mental health?
Thank God for AI!
Most of this appears to be a plague of middle class neuroses infecting my generation and the next (X and millennials), who have transferred their idiocy to their kids. I see plenty of perfectly functioning children, especially ones from the ‘upper’ or ‘respectable’ cohort of the working class. All this middle class rubbish goes unnoticed.
I could not fallow what this was about – I kind of got from it that what ever they think they know is likely wrong… But what good is rambling around that? Now I know a lot about the 70s drug scene – and a lot of people fared badly, and some people should NOT take drugs, and LSD especially – but whatever.. the world spins off causalities from a million causes..
What I would look at is the raw Numbers of messed up children today – from what I hear orders of magnitude more than before the 90s and 2000s.
ADHD, autism, learning disabilities, food allergies, all kinds of problems – just messed up children everywhere – and that was Not Normal in Pink Floyd’s days. An epidemic 1000X what covid was.
The good man RFK, now running for President blames the childhood vaccines. Dr Kirsh states that it is FACT that the hundred fold in childhood mental and physical health problems are completely to be blamed on childhood vaccines (in USA children used to get half a dozen, and now get over 50….)
Boys are all hormonally messed up big time – drugs in the water from human excreted hormones that the bio-Pharma have half the women taking – plastics, chemicals – the male frogs turning female, the boys becoming low masculine, fertility dropping like a rock…..unable to sit in class – messing up their lives from some anti-social plague – the Japanese kids not leaving their bedrooms…
I did not get what this article was about – but it seems to be seeing one odd tree, and missing that it is in an entire forest.
…and yet there is something of the spirit of that old Marxist psychiatrist R D Laing in this piece. He popularised the idea that schizophrenia was an understandable (even rational) reaction to an absurd world. Of course this was very appealing to the Leftist mindset where nurture is all important and any hint of genetic determinism is alarming.
I would recommend ‘Anatomy of an Epidemic’ by Robert Whitaker. It’s a powerful polemic arguing that a Faustian pact forged by the American Psychiatric Association and big pharma led to the promotion of a flawed biochemical model of mental illness that has done a tremendous amount of harm. There are indeed countries that treat mental illness ‘environmentally’ rather then chemically and there is much evidence to suggest long term outcomes are better, especially in regards to the prevalence of relapse.
Faustian pact? Powerful Polemic? Big Pharma? My alarm bells are ringing. Thanks but I think I’ll pass.
Over the last few weeks I have been reading Crime and Personality by H J Eysenck, The IQ Argument by H J Eysenck and The Inequality of Man by H J Eysenck. Plenty of data built up over a long period by many researchers provides much evidence that the nature/nurture balance is about 80/20 in favour of nature. Not a popular view with the you-can-be-anything-you-wanna-be activists (currently driving us all nuts with their latest iteration: Transgenderism).
Unfortunately, Eysenck has long been out of fashion (and is long dead). I wonder what he’d make of Human Genome studies and DNA research were he still with us.
Perhaps rightfully out of fashion….”the cancer-prone personality”…causes cancer vs. cigarettes? He was an extremist….
Naturally there is a concerted attempt to discredit his work as it has always rattled the nurture fixated Left who, let’s face it, now dominate our institutions. The critiques by Roderic Buchanan and David Marks should be treated with scepticism.
The notion popularised by anti-smoking activists, that cigarettes mean certain death should also be treated with scepticism. By the way, I have never smoked so I’ve no vested interest there.
Naturally there is a concerted attempt to discredit his work as it has always rattled the nurture fixated Left who, let’s face it, now dominate our institutions. The critiques by Roderic Buchanan and David Marks should be treated with scepticism.
The notion popularised by anti-smoking activists, that cigarettes mean certain death should also be treated with scepticism. By the way, I have never smoked so I’ve no vested interest there.
Perhaps rightfully out of fashion….”the cancer-prone personality”…causes cancer vs. cigarettes? He was an extremist….
Faustian pact? Powerful Polemic? Big Pharma? My alarm bells are ringing. Thanks but I think I’ll pass.
Over the last few weeks I have been reading Crime and Personality by H J Eysenck, The IQ Argument by H J Eysenck and The Inequality of Man by H J Eysenck. Plenty of data built up over a long period by many researchers provides much evidence that the nature/nurture balance is about 80/20 in favour of nature. Not a popular view with the you-can-be-anything-you-wanna-be activists (currently driving us all nuts with their latest iteration: Transgenderism).
Unfortunately, Eysenck has long been out of fashion (and is long dead). I wonder what he’d make of Human Genome studies and DNA research were he still with us.
As the writer observed, evidence for “genetic determinism” is not strong.
And without any further curiosity, move on – argument settled. Worth noting that those who are worried by genetics tend to cast the issue in black and white terms the better to discredit the opposition.
And without any further curiosity, move on – argument settled. Worth noting that those who are worried by genetics tend to cast the issue in black and white terms the better to discredit the opposition.
I would recommend ‘Anatomy of an Epidemic’ by Robert Whitaker. It’s a powerful polemic arguing that a Faustian pact forged by the American Psychiatric Association and big pharma led to the promotion of a flawed biochemical model of mental illness that has done a tremendous amount of harm. There are indeed countries that treat mental illness ‘environmentally’ rather then chemically and there is much evidence to suggest long term outcomes are better, especially in regards to the prevalence of relapse.
As the writer observed, evidence for “genetic determinism” is not strong.
…and yet there is something of the spirit of that old Marxist psychiatrist R D Laing in this piece. He popularised the idea that schizophrenia was an understandable (even rational) reaction to an absurd world. Of course this was very appealing to the Leftist mindset where nurture is all important and any hint of genetic determinism is alarming.
Great piece. I have witnessed so many lives destroyed by recreational AND prescribed pharmaceutical drug use, both in the short and the long term. There is a chilling resurgence of recreational drug use creeping back. Adherents of “micro-dosing” and “magic mushrooms” are vehemently pushing these activities all over social media (in particular preying on the growing anti-vax community), not to mention all the hype about “Ayahuasca”, enthusiastically endorsed by “Prince” Harry. And Canada is out of control with its decriminalising of all recreational drugs, opening the flood gates for abuse. We have to do more to warn of the dangers of ALL mind-altering drugs. There’s a book by Alex Berenson that made everyone angry (so is probably very good), called “Tell Your Children: The Truth About Marijuana, Violence and Mental Health.” Might be worth a read if you’ve got impressionable young kids.
My brother started smoking marijuana at a very early age. He was a schizophrenic by the time he as 16 and has spent his entire adult life on benefits living alone in a bedsit.
Another close relative (not a blood relation) developed schizophrenia at the age of 39. I was visiting one evening while she was in a secure unit. She was quite coherent by this stage of her treatment and I was sat with her and a group of about 12 patients. The question came up who had smoked marijuana and 11 hands went up. Anecdotal I know but still.
The other point is the sharp divide between the relatives of individuals afflicted with schizophrenia and the doctors/psychiatrists treating them. As a relative you get to realise that doctors/psychiatrists cannot be trusted and you end up loathing them
Let’s not forget….’booze’.
We many of us sit rather smugly, never having taken recreational drugs, with our evening glass of wine or whiskey on the rocks. The danger of too much alcohol should also be acknowledged.
My brother started smoking marijuana at a very early age. He was a schizophrenic by the time he as 16 and has spent his entire adult life on benefits living alone in a bedsit.
Another close relative (not a blood relation) developed schizophrenia at the age of 39. I was visiting one evening while she was in a secure unit. She was quite coherent by this stage of her treatment and I was sat with her and a group of about 12 patients. The question came up who had smoked marijuana and 11 hands went up. Anecdotal I know but still.
The other point is the sharp divide between the relatives of individuals afflicted with schizophrenia and the doctors/psychiatrists treating them. As a relative you get to realise that doctors/psychiatrists cannot be trusted and you end up loathing them
Let’s not forget….’booze’.
We many of us sit rather smugly, never having taken recreational drugs, with our evening glass of wine or whiskey on the rocks. The danger of too much alcohol should also be acknowledged.
Great piece. I have witnessed so many lives destroyed by recreational AND prescribed pharmaceutical drug use, both in the short and the long term. There is a chilling resurgence of recreational drug use creeping back. Adherents of “micro-dosing” and “magic mushrooms” are vehemently pushing these activities all over social media (in particular preying on the growing anti-vax community), not to mention all the hype about “Ayahuasca”, enthusiastically endorsed by “Prince” Harry. And Canada is out of control with its decriminalising of all recreational drugs, opening the flood gates for abuse. We have to do more to warn of the dangers of ALL mind-altering drugs. There’s a book by Alex Berenson that made everyone angry (so is probably very good), called “Tell Your Children: The Truth About Marijuana, Violence and Mental Health.” Might be worth a read if you’ve got impressionable young kids.
Enjoyed that. Certainly and with the benefit of hindsight, when I look back at the period in my life when I was prescribed SSRIs (which are no picnic from a side-effect point of view) my work, home and social life was relentlessly dysfunctional and I was deeply and justifiably unhappy. But as my GP said with a shrug “if they give you some quality of life, who’s to say they’re wrong ?” These days it’s about that free wonder drug: diet and exercise.
Enjoyed that. Certainly and with the benefit of hindsight, when I look back at the period in my life when I was prescribed SSRIs (which are no picnic from a side-effect point of view) my work, home and social life was relentlessly dysfunctional and I was deeply and justifiably unhappy. But as my GP said with a shrug “if they give you some quality of life, who’s to say they’re wrong ?” These days it’s about that free wonder drug: diet and exercise.
As someone who suffered from major depression and anxiety disorder, and has a serious family history of it, I read about Sid Barret’s decline years ago with sadness and compassion. The fear, the overreaching, the hype heaped on his shoulders, the confusion….I should think an average person, although glamorizing the music industry, would have similar states of panic, if not actual breakdown. Not a “weakness” but a need for a more peaceful and structured life. He just wasn’t cut out for the jackals in the business.
My father used to tell me that the best thing for mental health is structure, routine, stability and a sense of purpose. How can anyone find that in the music industry? In Hollywood? Sid may be one of the extremes, but look at the divorce rates, the drugs, the suicides….it’s amazing anyone can flourish in that environment! Or, the question should be: Does anyone flourish in it? They all seem to have these blazing glory careers but limp along later in life with few exceptions.
As far as the acid is concerned? Of course it can only be harmful to a vulnerable state! What is the author going on about? Regardless, I never took it, but the search for a release from stress, whether it be alcohol, marijuana, extreme religion, or even excessive exercise…is a constant and familiar one in our western world.
As someone who suffered from major depression and anxiety disorder, and has a serious family history of it, I read about Sid Barret’s decline years ago with sadness and compassion. The fear, the overreaching, the hype heaped on his shoulders, the confusion….I should think an average person, although glamorizing the music industry, would have similar states of panic, if not actual breakdown. Not a “weakness” but a need for a more peaceful and structured life. He just wasn’t cut out for the jackals in the business.
My father used to tell me that the best thing for mental health is structure, routine, stability and a sense of purpose. How can anyone find that in the music industry? In Hollywood? Sid may be one of the extremes, but look at the divorce rates, the drugs, the suicides….it’s amazing anyone can flourish in that environment! Or, the question should be: Does anyone flourish in it? They all seem to have these blazing glory careers but limp along later in life with few exceptions.
As far as the acid is concerned? Of course it can only be harmful to a vulnerable state! What is the author going on about? Regardless, I never took it, but the search for a release from stress, whether it be alcohol, marijuana, extreme religion, or even excessive exercise…is a constant and familiar one in our western world.
The best (i.e., worst) part of this article was where the author says, “Someone else deemed an acid casualty is Brian Jones… On top of the relentless psychoactive effects of fame and public pressure, Jones’s paranoia can be seen a response to prohibitionist drug policies.”
It’s like an M.C. Escher-style stoner argument… the problems associated with this behavior are caused by our response to the problems associated with this behavior.
The best (i.e., worst) part of this article was where the author says, “Someone else deemed an acid casualty is Brian Jones… On top of the relentless psychoactive effects of fame and public pressure, Jones’s paranoia can be seen a response to prohibitionist drug policies.”
It’s like an M.C. Escher-style stoner argument… the problems associated with this behavior are caused by our response to the problems associated with this behavior.
Ernst Jünger,*Pour le Mérite 1918, Iron Cross Ist class 1916, a relatively late user of LSD seems to have survived quite well.
Then off course he wasn’t a “pop star”, or whatever they called are in these very feeble times.
(* 1895-1998.)
Ernst Jünger,*Pour le Mérite 1918, Iron Cross Ist class 1916, a relatively late user of LSD seems to have survived quite well.
Then off course he wasn’t a “pop star”, or whatever they called are in these very feeble times.
(* 1895-1998.)
i’m a psychiatrist these many years but once upon a time I hung out with the Laing communities where I saw madness romanticized as a critique of an irrational society. The best clinicians I met with, mostly psychoanalysts, had a nuanced view of mental disturbance. They recognized that psychosis often diagnosed as schizophrenia more likely represented a brain disease–not that there was much we could do about it other than snow them with major tranquilizers that had bad side effects. Reading LSD and other hallucinogens, in the 1970’s we said everyone had a certain number of “tickets”–based on their genetic vulnerabilities, to take a certain number of trips–before they went psychotic. Of the many drugs and addictions I have tried to help people give up, none is more insidious than marijuana–because it is socially sanctioned, now more than ever. And now that psychiatry has embraced the full drug pusher’s satchel of forbidden substances–it is hard not to suspect a financial motive in these re-discoveries of magic potions–all bets are off.
i’m a psychiatrist these many years but once upon a time I hung out with the Laing communities where I saw madness romanticized as a critique of an irrational society. The best clinicians I met with, mostly psychoanalysts, had a nuanced view of mental disturbance. They recognized that psychosis often diagnosed as schizophrenia more likely represented a brain disease–not that there was much we could do about it other than snow them with major tranquilizers that had bad side effects. Reading LSD and other hallucinogens, in the 1970’s we said everyone had a certain number of “tickets”–based on their genetic vulnerabilities, to take a certain number of trips–before they went psychotic. Of the many drugs and addictions I have tried to help people give up, none is more insidious than marijuana–because it is socially sanctioned, now more than ever. And now that psychiatry has embraced the full drug pusher’s satchel of forbidden substances–it is hard not to suspect a financial motive in these re-discoveries of magic potions–all bets are off.
Probably six of one and half dozen of the other. The people mentioned were probably predisposed for a breakdown, be it from their work, environment or general mental health. However chucking in a load of acid on top of all that certainly wouldn’t have done them any favours. Go too hard on anything and it’ll get you eventually
Probably six of one and half dozen of the other. The people mentioned were probably predisposed for a breakdown, be it from their work, environment or general mental health. However chucking in a load of acid on top of all that certainly wouldn’t have done them any favours. Go too hard on anything and it’ll get you eventually
Taking chemicals to affect the functioning of the brain. How the Hell anyone imagines this isn’t stupid just staggers me. It’s worse, it’s depraved, pathetic. And I include alcohol in that.
What does chewing on a piece of mint do to your senses ?
Does it affect the way your brain thinks ?
They are fun though, which is why most people do them. The vast majority will have no long term effects from taking various drugs as they only take them sporadically such as on nights out. The problems arise (and I’ve seen a few people fall into this trap) when they become a regular occurrence, which is when they start to lose grip on reality
What does chewing on a piece of mint do to your senses ?
Does it affect the way your brain thinks ?
They are fun though, which is why most people do them. The vast majority will have no long term effects from taking various drugs as they only take them sporadically such as on nights out. The problems arise (and I’ve seen a few people fall into this trap) when they become a regular occurrence, which is when they start to lose grip on reality
Taking chemicals to affect the functioning of the brain. How the Hell anyone imagines this isn’t stupid just staggers me. It’s worse, it’s depraved, pathetic. And I include alcohol in that.