The June 23 issue of the New York Review of Books has a fascinating review (first of two parts) of books exploring the surge in mental illness in the United States. The problem is serious, and the causes are quite clear.
- A large survey of randomly selected adults, sponsored by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and conducted between 2001 and 2003, found that an astonishing 46 percent met criteria established by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) for having had at least one mental illness within four broad categories at some time in their lives.
- Prozac came to market in 1987 and was intensively promoted as a corrective for a deficiency of serotonin in the brain. The number of people treated for depression tripled in the following ten years, and about 10 percent of Americans over age six now take antidepressants. The increased use of drugs to treat psychosis is even more dramatic. The new generation of antipsychotics, such as Risperdal, Zyprexa, and Seroquel, has replaced cholesterol-lowering agents as the top-selling class of drugs in the US.
The books being reviewed in the article present strong evidence that the drugs are driving the diagnoses, not the other way around; that placebos are almost as effective, without side effects; and that the drugs themselves cause long-term damage to the brain.