Mar 19 2011
It’s time for us lunatics to take over the asylum
Provocative title?
Can I ask you to invest 20 minutes of your time to answer a survey that will send loud shockwaves through the mental health policy world. If you can’t spare 20 minutes now, please schedule a time in your diary when you can complete the Holistic Depression Treatment Effectiveness Survey.
Let’s face it; the “experts” have failed badly. Despite endless reports, meetings, and proposed new strategies, the mental health landscape is littered with defeat. Despite increasing spending the World Health Organisation says that depression is now the most disabling illness in the world, and its incidence is climbing rapidly.
The experts and the bureaucrats constantly say they are following “evidence based” medicine when they claim the only effective treatments for depression are antidepressants and psychological counselling. If it is, why are the rates of depression climbing so rapidly. We can only assume they are under informed, underfunded, or incapable of implementation – or perhaps a combination of all three.
Their blinding us with science!!!
The scientific reductionism approach to medicine is highly flawed when it comes to something as complex as human psychology (from Latin word psyche which means “study of the human soul”) Ever see a published psychology study about the soul? It assumes you can find “one silver bullet” that will turn you from despair to wellbeing.
I’m not the only one to doubt the veracity of “evidence based medicine”. In his recent book “WRONG: Why experts keep failing us” David Freedman reveals some startling facts. When examining hundreds of studies from prestigious medical journals, often it was only a matter of months, and at most a few years, before other studies came out to either fully refute the findings or declare that the results were “exaggerated” in the sense that later papers revealed significantly lesser benefits to the treatment under study. This study revealed that there was a TWO OUT OF THREE wrongness rate in published medical research from the most elite medical journals. What is even more worrying in that this “most trusted research” represents only one tenth of one percent of all published medical research. Unfortunately psychological research has a reputation for being the least reliable of all.
The other huge flaw in the “evidence based” approach is that research funds tend to follow the money – huge amounts are spent on “commercially viable intellectual property” e.g. gene therapy or identifying new pharmaceutical compounds, and relatively nothing is spent on lifestyle strategies such as the role that exercise, relationships and good nutrition can play in ones mental wellbeing.
Not all doctors are equal
Can we also assume that doctors and psychologists are following the best “evidence based approach”? Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, not. A recent study published in Discover called “Reckless Medicine” revealed that less than half the surgeries, drugs, and tests that doctors recommend have been proved effective. No wonder healthcare costs are ballooning out of control.
I’m not saying that research is not important, in fact quite the contrary. What I am saying is that we are giving “experts” standing behind “evidence based” research much too much say in how mental health services are run. Text book theory doesn’t translate to good patient care.
Please have your say
Take the survey now: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/DepressionTreatment
It’s time that the real experts – those who have lived with a mental illness, to start telling the leaders of mental health policy and funding what should be done to start improving things. It’s time for us lunatics to start running the asylums.
In collaboration with the Black Dog Institute I have developed a survey designed for us fellow travellers to tell us what works best from MOST THINGS you have tried. It covers lifestyle strategies, psychological counselling, emotional support and pharmaceutical intervention. It also asks what can be done to make the most difference in reducing stigma in the community and the workplace.
It takes about 20minutes to complete, but I believe it is one of the most important things you can do to change a system that is clearly broken. Already 4000 people from around the world have completed the survey and I would like to grow that number to 10,000 so that our voice can no longer be ignored. What those 4000 have already said is vastly different to what is happening now.
Please have your say
Please provide your input by doing the survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/DepressionTreatment
Many thanks.
Approaching Seminars
Sunday March 20, 3.00-5.00pm,
BK Retreat Leura – 1.5 hours west of Sydney – by donation
BEATING DEPRESSION TOGETHER
7 immutable principles for those who wish to overcome depression and the people that love them. In this two hour session Graeme will discuss what advice he would give a best friend if they were beset with depression. It will be practical and eminently implementable.
Wednesday, March 23, 6.00-8:00pm
City Fringe Meditation Space, 99 Crown St, East Sydney – by donation
10 Things Science Says Will Make You Thrive
Many people feel that although they are busy, there is something missing from their life and this only adds to a persistent hollowness. Graeme relates to the true way to thrive is to understand our mood and energy levels and results will take care of themselves by focusing on the process and not on the outcome. But how do you sustain a good mood in a turbulent world? How to know your top 5 strengths and apply them in your personal life and career?
Thursday July 14, 7.00-10.00pm
Relaxation Centre Brisbane
15 South Pine Rd,
Alderley, 4051
BEATING DEPRESSION TOGETHER (same content as above)
Cost $45 per person or $70 for pair
REGISTER BY CALLING 07 3856 3733 or email relaxcentreofqld@powerup.com.au
Back From The Brink Facebook Fanpage
I have created this Fanpage to build a community where we can help each other. You’ll find lots of free resources and videos there. It is also a place where you can make requests to the community. Don’t forget to click the “Like” button.
Virtual Seminars
For a long time I have had requests to speak more frequently around Australia, which unfortunately is very difficult with my current commitments. To help address this, I have created a YouTube Channel called Strive2ThriveTV. If you subscribe to that channel you will be notified of new videos when they are uploaded. You can also put in requests for topics you would like me to cover.
May the best in life and love and happiness be ahead of you.
Kind Regards
Graeme
PS. Only we can refer to each other as lunatics J
