- Messages
- 66
The Concept of Schizophrenia Is Coming to an End – Here's Why
I'm not saying the BPS crowd are holding a significant part of the puzzle for ME/CFS. But it's interesting to note that they have their oar in many other waters too, some of which seem unexpected at first glance. But, nowhere else does it -- the BPS ideology and 'behavioural activation' -- have such downside potential to do harm than in ME/CFS, in my opinion - something that proponents fail to acknowledge and are in denial about.
I'm not sure if this will turn out to be the case for ME/CFS or not, for a major subgroup. If it did, then I think that would help legitimise the condition, and make it possible to explain in a few sentences. I don't agree that finding a final common pathway would make investigating different causes academic, though the powers that be controlling health budgets might favour that argument.
Yes... sounds about right, I think we can all relate to that one!
"The concept of schizophrenia is dying. Harried for decades by psychology, it now appears to have been fatally wounded by psychiatry, the very profession that once sustained it."
"Either way, it turns out that the two extreme camps in the schizophrenia wars – those who view it as a genetically-based neurodevelopmental disorder and those who view it as a response to psychosocial factors, such as adversity – both had parts of the puzzle."
I'm not saying the BPS crowd are holding a significant part of the puzzle for ME/CFS. But it's interesting to note that they have their oar in many other waters too, some of which seem unexpected at first glance. But, nowhere else does it -- the BPS ideology and 'behavioural activation' -- have such downside potential to do harm than in ME/CFS, in my opinion - something that proponents fail to acknowledge and are in denial about.
"Many medical conditions, such as diabetes and hypertension, can be reached by multiple routes that nevertheless impact the same biological pathways and respond to the same treatment."
I'm not sure if this will turn out to be the case for ME/CFS or not, for a major subgroup. If it did, then I think that would help legitimise the condition, and make it possible to explain in a few sentences. I don't agree that finding a final common pathway would make investigating different causes academic, though the powers that be controlling health budgets might favour that argument.
"It has also been suggested that if some cases of schizophrenia are actually a form of autoimmune encephalitis, then the most effective treatment could be immunotherapy (such as corticosteroids) and plasma exchange (washing of the blood)."
"The potential for different treatments to work for different people further explains the schizophrenia wars. The psychiatrist, patient or family who see dramatic beneficial effects of antipsychotic drugs naturally evangelically advocate for this approach.
The psychiatrist, patient or family who see drugs not working, but alternative approaches appearing to help, laud these. Each group sees the other as denying an approach that they have experienced to work."
"None of this is to say the concept of schizophrenia has no use. Many psychiatrists still see it as a useful clinical syndrome that helps define a group of people with clear health needs.
Here it is viewed as defining a biology that is not yet understood but which shares a common and substantial genetic basis across many patients.
Some people who receive a diagnosis of schizophrenia will find it helpful. It can help them access treatment. It can enhance support from family and friends.
It can give a name to the problems they have. It can indicate they are experiencing an illness and not a personal failing. Of course, many do not find this diagnosis helpful."
"However, historically, the classification of diseases in psychiatry has been argued to be the outcome of a struggle in which "the most famous and articulate professor won"."
Yes... sounds about right, I think we can all relate to that one!