Comments from Brian Maurer and David Elpern:
Ivan Illich, in the introduction to Medical Nemesis, tells us: "The medical establishment has become a major threat to health. The disabling impact of professional control over medicine has reached the proportions of an epidemic. Thoughtful public discussion of the iatrogenic pandemic, beginning with an insistence upon demystification of all medical matters, will not be dangerous to the commonweal. Indeed, what is dangerous is a passive public that has come to rely on superficial medical housecleaning. My argument is that the layman and not the physician has the potential perspective and effective power to stop the current iatrogenic pandemic."
To us, Illich's observations ring true in our modern approach to the treatment of mental illness. Patients suffering from psychiatric maladies often receive fractured care from a variety of clinical professionals who rarely take time to view them from a holistic perspective -- or to communicate with one another in an attempt to improve quality of care.
Psychiatrists -- more properly known these days as "psychopharmacologists" -- seem to have sold their birthright in the medical marketplace. In our opinion, these clinicians have compromised many marginalized people in our society through the widespread practice of prescribing of largely ineffective drug cocktails that rarely contribute to the betterment of the patient. With less medication and a bit more caring and compassion, any number of these patients might enjoy more productive lives.
Elyn Saks shines a light in the darkness with her memoir, "The Center Cannot Hold." This remarkable woman documented her life with schizophrenia and the message is that psychotherapy (sometimes six days a week) plus a few drugs work in concert to keep her productive and sometimes happy. Also, a recent article in the NY Times "A High Profile Executive Job as Defense Against Mental Ills" is a valuable addition to the literature on patient-centered care for persons with mental illness.
Synchronistically, a recent submission to Cell 2 Soul, "A Patient Request," covers similar terrain.
All of these pieces are a beacons of help for patients with mental illness and their families.
