“It (anti-psychiatry) is very dated, dictating what people should do. It’s ultra dated.
It’s a bit like Katie Hopkins giving her horrible opinions on masks/covid/vaccines. She is so safe with her privilege that she isn’t affected by her misinformation, but all the people in the most vulnerable communities will be affected and they’re the ones who will pay for her lies.
Anyone can say that you shouldn’t take meds but ultimately the one that’s at risk from that opinion is the vulnerable mentally ill person being convinced to do something which might be really dangerous to them, not the person who is saying this, whether they are a privileged doctor, or an ex-patient or just some random person who has never even been treated for mental illness and has never needed meds in the first place.
It’s just like Trump. You can say whatever from your position of power because it’s not you who’s affected. That’s why it’s so violent especially when these people have a big platform, because they really have influence and are good at self promotion.”
-Anonymous
@CatholicSat The Spanish royal family is a globalist woke clan of retards, I’m not really sure they’re aware they represent everything antichristian and pro Islamism.
@EdoajoEric@DrAnnieHickox I’ll get crushed but the “I’ve been harmed” crowd is a lot louder but a lot smaller than the “I’ve been helped” crowd. This stuff is completely out of proportion.
@ompsychiatrist The usual moaners in the comments area. These people were born criticising psychiatrists, I do not understand why they even search them when clearly for them all they are is greedy harmful dangerous individual. Yet in my life I have met nothing but well meaning professionals.
@PsyChiGuy@joannamoncrieff They refuse to see the obvious and propose no, absolutely NO absolution, all anti psychiatry do is bitch all day long. Frankly tired of these dangerous people.
St. Carlo Acutis reported last words to his mother were deeply comforting:
“Mom, don’t be afraid. Since Jesus became a man, death has become the passage towards life, and we don’t need to flee it. Let us prepare ourselves to experience something extraordinary in the eternal life.”
More than 25 years in psychiatry has taught me something simple.
I've seen a young mother with severe depression stop eating and become unable to care for her children. A week after starting the right treatment, she was eating again, looking after her family, and beginning to feel like herself.
I've seen a man tormented by hallucinations for years. With the right medication, the voices faded, he returned to work, and rebuilt relationships that had nearly been lost.
Not every patient improves this quickly. Not every treatment works the first time. But in countless cases, medication has been the turning point.
I don't need a debate to convince me of that. I've watched it happen. https://t.co/FwFdgpXiyF
@jaynitx And people take that to be wisdom and intelligence? I’m pretty dumb but 2 minutes thinking about is enough to know it’s a dumb idea that serves zero purpose. The transhumanist utopia of a better humankind at some point. How many million times we need to know ir never ends well?
Dr. Moncrieff, your post is sparking a vital debate, but as a psychiatrist seeing patients climb out of severe depression every single week, I can’t stay silent on the one-sided narrative.
Here’s my perspective point by point:
1. On harms like severe withdrawal and PSSD: Withdrawal is real and can be tough. We urgently need better & slower tapering protocols. PSSD is a rare but acknowledged risk, and we discuss it openly in consent. With careful, patient-led tapering, the vast majority stop without lasting issues.
2. On effectiveness (“not very effective at best”): Large meta-analyses (Cipriani Lancet 2018 and later network studies) show clear & meaningful benefits over placebo for moderate-to-severe depression i.e. real symptom relief, fewer relapses and better daily functioning for many. They shine brightest alongside with therapy.
3. On not targeting an underlying biological abnormality: The old “chemical imbalance” line is a strawman we’ve moved past. Depression involves complex biology involving genetics, stress responses, inflammation and neuroplasticity. Antidepressants help modulate those pathways, much like treatments for other multifactorial conditions.
4. On growing patient voices describing treatment as misleading or disabling: Every voice matters, especially the painful ones. In clinic, however, the majority of patients report getting their lives back i.e. work, relationships & hope. Untreated depression carries its own heavy costs. Online spaces can sometimes amplify one side.
5. On working together to help the harmed and prevent more harm: I am 100% with you on better surveillance, tapering clinics and more research into alternatives. Real collaboration would be powerful. At the same time, broad discouragement risks leaving many who could benefit stuck in suffering.
Thank you for kind attention
@joannamoncrieff
@joannamoncrieff@GeorgeKirov1 With all due respect, the reason you are convinced it’s not a useful effect is because you have probably never been personally submitted to “emotions” so heavy as to want to make you take your own life.
@ompsychiatrist Obviously, Tom Cruise has no idea WHATSOEVER of how it feels to be in the grip of a severe biological depression. Yes, drugs are not the answer. For some, therapy is not answer either. What is the answer, Tom? Joining a paranoid cult? Sometimes you can only aliviate.
@markhoro other hand, if people are really interested in getting people off severe clinical depression, why aren't MAOIs more researched and more widely available when they are clearly VASTLY superior to any SSRI you can think of? It's easy to destroy and difficult to build.
@markhoro If you're in the grips of a severe biological depression, believe you me you will take any help that is offered, I mean ANY. A lot of folks - like RFK - like to talk about it without having experienced what I consider to be worse than cancer in terms of inner suffering. On the..