Psychiatry turned to drugs to treat depression to eliminate the competition, Robert Whitaker

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Tuesday, June 21, 2016 8:15 am Email this article

“[T]here is a historical story as to why our country is deluded, our society is deluded, and believes in this chemical imbalance story [of depression]” according to author and journalist Robert Whitaker as he noted in a 2010 interview that he did with Joseph Mercola, DO.

Whitaker noted that in the 1970’s, psychiatry felt like it was under siege because there were non-MD’s — social workers, counselors, psychologists — who were all competing for the same patients.

He also notes that anti-anxiety drugs were seen as addictive and harmful.

So, starting in 1980, they put out the DSM3 — [ Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders ] — “which put psychiatry and psychiatric disorders into a medical model” and they touted using drugs for these conditions because social workers, counselors, psychologists [ non-MD’s ] could not prescribe drugs, so this would eliminate their competition.

Robert Whitaker’s Book

Robert Whitaker is the author of the wonderful book Anatomy of an Epidemic: Magic Bullets, Psychiatric Drugs, and the Astonishing Rise of Mental Illness in America .

Articles on the same subject can be found here:

• Antidepressants

• Depression

• Robert Whitaker (author & journalist)