Executive Dysfunction Disorder

another psych disease which is more than likely a failure to grow up. As seen in this report in the Scotsman

Badly organised? Lacking in direction? Bad at planning your finances? Don’t despair, a cure to your ‘disease’ is at hand. American academics have labelled these common so-called symptoms ‘Executive Dysfunction’. The term is the latest to result from an American trend for naming apparently common human behaviour as a specific medical condition. [...]

Neurologist Dr Martha Bridge Denckla, of John Hopkins School of Medicine, treats children and teenagers with Executive Dysfunction. It refers to higher brain processes, and was previously used to describe patients with serious learning and other mental disabilities. But in recent years it has been taken up by teachers and parents seeking to explain under-performance at school or hyperactivity. [...]

She said: "What fascinates me is kids who attend good schools, go off to college with perfect Standard Assessment Tests and then flunk out in their first year because there is too little structure for their scattered minds. Being ‘on your own’ is a death knell for these kids."


If you never learn to make plans in your life, then you never develop the skills. You expect kids who never learned the skills to pick them up in just a few days when they go to college?

I can't be the only one who thinks that this is a failure in the education system, and in certain modern parenting philosophies.

Ineffective Psychiatric Prison Rehab Programs

found this article on the probably ineffectiveness of psychiatirc rehab programs in prison

Prison probably hasn't changed the killer or child molester who just left a cell block and moved onto your block. There's a 40 to 50 percent chance the ex-convict down the street will cause trouble again, experts say. The ex-cons agree.

Of course, the argument is made that they need more shrinks and more money for shrinks in Minnesota.

But even as seen in this earlier story, even just changing the television shows available in prison will have a dramatic result.

But this wouldn't cost all that much. And conditions are the same or worse in many states around the USA

If they want to spend more money, they might want to look at this experimental program being tried in Mexico. here's an interesting statistic:

The 400 inmates who have been registered in the program were the base for the statistic for this study. The objective of the study was measure the rehabilitation success and the reduction of the recidivism was valid.

When the results were analyzed it was found that the recidivism rate in the inmates who did the drug-free withdrawal and any of the other courses is very low (10.24%).

Normally, according to the State data, recidivism due to robbery is 70%. From the 192, who were released, 124 had been arrested because of robbery. At the normal 70% rate of recidivism we would expect 87 persons from the 124 would have returned to prison. Instead only 10 have returned to prison.

With this rehabilitation treatment, the recidivism rate for robbery has reduced from 70% to 8.06%

But notably, this is not a psychiatric program. Which will surpise some people thoroughly.

No proof mental illness rooted in biology

Here's an interesting column entitled "No proof mental illness rooted in biology"

The largest lay group is the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI). The media routinely refer to NAMI as advocates for the mentally ill, although its membership consists almost entirely of family members and not the mentally ill themselves. NAMI ascribes to the "biological basis of mental illness," and endorses forced treatment of the mentally ill.

The movement's major source of funding is the highly profitable pharmaceutical industry, which funds the drug research; which funds psychiatric journals, and even the American Psychiatric Association itself; which funds advertising to doctors and the public; and even funds lay groups such as NAMI (at least $11 million) and Children and Adults with Attention Deficit Disorder (at least $1 million).

Yet many professionals claim that the mental health movement is not a legitimate medical or scientific endeavor, let alone a civil rights movement, but a political ideology of intolerance and inhumanity. Numerous psychiatrists and psychologists have examined the psychiatric research literature and found it to range from smoke and mirrors to quackery.

Psychiatrists have yet to conclusively prove that a single mental illness has a biological or physical cause, or a genetic origin. Psychiatry has yet to develop a single physical test that can determine that an individual actually has a particular mental illness. Indeed, The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders uses behavior, not physical symptoms, to diagnose mental illness, and it lacks both scientific reliability and validity.

worthy read

Girls get extra school help while boys get Ritalin

This editorial in USA Today notes: "Girls get extra school help while boys get Ritalin"


At last June's graduation at Franklin High School just outside of Milwaukee, three of the four students who tied for valedictorian were girls. Among the National Honor Society members, 76% were girls. And girls comprised 85% of the students on Franklin's 4.0 honor roll.

The superintendent of schools for this upper-middle-class suburb, Gerald Freitag, investigated those numbers after the parents of a boy filed a complaint. He found that the skewed performances by gender at Franklin pretty much mirror the imbalances across the state — and the nation.

[...]

Most startling is that little is being done to correct the imbalances. All of the major players — schools, education colleges and researchers — largely ignore the gender gap. Instead of pursuing sound solutions, many educators merely advocate prescribing more attention-focusing Ritalin for the boys, who receive the drug at four to eight times the rate of girls, according to different estimates. "Too often the first reaction to an attention problem is 'Let's medicate,' " says Rockville, Md., child psychologist Neil Hoffman. "Some schools are quick to recommend solutions before they've fully evaluated the problem."

[...]

Last April, when Kenneth Dragseth, superintendent of schools in Edina, Minn., presented a paper describing his district's gender gap at the American Educational Research Association's annual meeting in Chicago, he says the reception ranged from chilly to hostile. Female education researchers in the audience questioned whether helping boys would mean hurting girls.

There is so much wrong here that I do not even know where to begin

Georgia psych facility to close down

The board of directors for University Hospital in Georgia has voted to stop taking psychiatric inpatients Sept. 12 and to close the Behavioral Health Center on Sept. 30.

The move follows a steady decline in the number of mental health patients and services at University, which stopped offering outpatient services in October 2001 and has been unable to recruit psychiatrists to replace those who have retired, officials said.

The unit has gone from having an average of 19 patients a day in 2000 to only 1 or 2 on some days recently, said Jason Moore, the chief operating officer for University.

Another place that is going under.

Forgotten Psychiatric Cemeteries in New York State

The Arts Center of the Capitol Region in Troy, New York will be running a number of Photo and Art exhibitions this fall.

One that is of interest is "Here Lies? Abandoned Asylum Cemeteries in New York" curated by Darby Penney and Mary Zwolinski. More than 50,000 people are buried anonymously in abandoned cemeteries at state-run psychiatric hospitals in New York state. On display through Nov. 23.

The Arts Center of the Capitol Region,
265 River St., Troy. (New York)
273-0552.

Opening reception for fall exhibitions: 5:30 to 8 p.m. Sept. 12, free

As seen in this listing in the Troy Record

Another Psych Hospital is shutting down

The Culpeper Regional Hospital in Virginia has announced that it will close Pinebrooke Psychiatric Center on October 31. As the hospital noted in a news release:

"The board [of trustees] has agreed that while acute psychiatric care is important, it is not financially viable in the current healthcare economic climate ..."

The review also found that psychiatrists have become harder to recruit.

Virginia Psychiatric Medicine, which is owned by Culpeper Regional Hospital and provides psychiatrists and other mental-health staff members for Pinebrooke, will also close Oct. 31.

[which I note that the facilities will be closing on Halloween.]

Ironic

Problems with Teachers Diagnosis of ADD in Canada

As seen in this report on Canada.com

A study of schoolchildren diagnosed with attention deficit disorder found more than half were first diagnosed by their teachers, with some physicians pressured to "rubber stamp" the finding and put the student on medication.

"In the great majority of cases, teachers were the first to suggest the diagnosis. Doctors are busy; they've got a room full of patients. And very seldom do they do their own investigation. They just take a paper from the school saying, 'We think Justin has ADD would you please prescribe Ritalin' and doctors do it. The doctors are acting as a rubber stamp for teachers," Dr. Sax said.

After he interviewed the doctors for his study, many sent comments expanding on their experience.

"One said he did do an evaluation and concluded the child did not have attention deficit disorder [but] the principal of the school then called his superior, angry, and said how dare the doctor question the school's diagnosis, and said the doctor should be disciplined," Dr. Sax said. "He was actually called into his medical director's office to defend his action."

Dr. Sax said half a dozen physicians described similar incidents.

In contrast, in a number of states in the US, teachers have been prohibited from recommending a diagnosis of ADD following concerns children are being over-medicated to control their behaviour.

American Psychiatrists the Butt of Jokes at International Conferance

As reported in this Turkish newspaper

Fear of flying has spread to American psychiatrists after the September 11th attacks and the Iraq war. Invited to the 15th International Group Therapies Congress, 40 American psychiatrists out of 60 could not come to Turkey because of the flying phobia they have. Nearly 700 psychiatrists from around the world were invited to the Congress. The Americans' phobia was the butt of many a joke.

The Psychiatry Congress, held in Lutfu Kirdar Congress Centre, is discussing various topics such as human rights, suicide, sexuality, and domestic violence. During a coffee break after one-hour sessions, experts joked about their peers with the phobia.

physician, can't you heal yourself?

Case Worker Fired in case of death of Linda Padilla

Galveston County Children's Protective Services has fired the caseworker who dismissed a call that reported a bruise under the eye of 2-year-old Linda Padilla. Some background on the Texas case.

A pizza delivery man called an abuse hotline after noticing a bruise under the eye of the 2- year-old at a League City apartment on June 8. The call was taken by the unnamed hotline worker and marked "informational/referral" instead of "abuse and neglect." Padilla was taken to Christus St. John hospital in Nassau Bay on Aug. 8 with a skull fracture, black eyes, broken ribs, a broken pelvis, brain swelling and tears in her rectum and vagina. She died on Aug. 13 after being taken off life support.

The story goes on at some length to detail the extensive qualifications of the staff in Galveston County:

The 222 caseworkers and 31 supervisors who staff the hotline have at least a bachelor's degree, usually in psychology or social work, if not a master's degree in social work. "We subsidize their (master's in social work) through our stipend program," said Olguin. Intake workers, the ones who take calls and reports, undergo six weeks of classroom and on-the-job training. Senior workers then mentor the new one and listen to the telephone conversations and judge how calls are assessed, classified and routed.

It sounds like they do protest too much, and are trying to sell people on their qualifications.

When these might be lacking, despite all of the fancy diplomas and titles.

Looking for Objectivity in a Salesman

A recently published study funded by Pfizer Inc., which makes Zoloft, states that Zoloft has been found safe and effective in children. You could call this an adventure in being objective in science. There are too many conflicting interests, and obviously it was a PR move.

For a second opinion, you should probably take a look at The International Coalition For Drug Awareness, and check out their opinion on what SSRI's can do to your child. See also this BBC story from last year

Is ugliness a disease?

Came across this decent article in the Guardian on the new trends in American medicine:

Something strange is happening in American medicine. No longer is it being used merely to cure illness. Medicine is now being used in the pursuit of happiness. In America, we take Viagra at bedtime and Ritalin before work. We inject Botox into ourwrinkled brows and rub Rogaine on our balding heads. We swallow Paxil for shyness, Prozac for grief, and Buspar for anxiety. For stage fright we use beta blockers; for excessive blushing and sweating, we get endoscopic surgery. We ask surgeons to trim down our noses, suck fat from our thighs, transform us from men to women, even amputate our healthy arms and legs in the pursuit of what some people believe to be their true selves. Twenty years ago, most doctors said no. Now many have changed their minds. [...]

In the 1999-2000 election cycle, the drug industry spent more money on political lobbying than any other industry, more than the oil and gas industry, more than tobacco, more than the insurance or automobile industry. The drug industry has also ratcheted up its spending on doctors. The number of drug representatives employed to make promotional pitches directly to doctors rose by 57% in the 1990s to a total of 88,000 by the end of the decade. Perhaps most remarkably, the drug industry now funds 40% of continuing medical education in American medical schools.

Because "enhancement technologies" are usually medical interventions, they must be prescribed or performed by a doctor, not as "enhancements", but as "treatments" for psychological or physical suffering. As drug industry profits have increased, so have the number of new medical disorders, from social anxiety disorder and premenstrual dysphoric disorder to erectile dysfunction and irritable bowel syndrome. The industry sells drugs by selling the illnesses they treat.

Recommended Reading

They finally say they're sorry - an apology for a death in psych ward

It took four years, but a british woman has won a battle for an apology from health trust bosses after her brother's death. They admitted failing to properly care for Reginald Varney, who died on a psychiatric ward run by Notts Healthcare NHS Trust at the Queen's Medical Centre. The 51-year-old was being treated for manic depression but died of heart failure 48 hours after being admitted. Mr Varney's sister, Christine Bradshaw, 51, of Trowell Park, believed he had not been properly cared for. She said staff did not contact her to say her brother was seriously ill and he died alone with no family to comfort him. Mrs Bradshaw had asked for an independent inquiry but was refused.

Another Psych practicing without a license

As reported in the Oakland Tribune

Prominent East Bay psychologist Rita Lynne -- who until last month was board chairwoman of ValleyCare Health System in Pleasanton -- is under investigation for practicing psychology without a license. [...] Lynne served on the ValleyCare board of directors for six years, and was named chairwoman in July 2002. She has a psychology practice at 699 Peters Drive in Pleasanton, and was until last month a longtime member of that city's Economic Vitality Committee, which advises the city council.

Lynne has said in past interviews that she received her master's degree and doctorate in psychology at University of Colorado, Boulder, and a bachelor's degree from Wayne State University in Detroit. Calls to those universities showed no record of a Rita Lynne, though it is possible she earned both degrees under another name.

The California state Board of Psychology does not comment on active investigations but confirmed that Lynne is not licensed to practice psychology or marriage counseling. Practicing psychology without a license is a civil offense, but Lynne could also face criminal penalties if there is evidence of fraud.

Promoting mental illness for profit

As Seen in this article in Forbes Magazine:

What makes some products irresistible? Neuroscientists are racing to find the answer to that question--and to pass it along to consumer marketers.

We also have this recent article on how being a shopaholic may be a new mental disease.

So we now have the situation of some mental health professionals being paid to promote or create something that they have declared to be a mental illness.

Psychs promoting or learning to create mental illness for profit?

Oh, the marvels of modern science, and what you can do when you leave out logic and a sense of ethics.

Just Too Strange

As reported in this article from Birmingham, England, a middle-aged psychology student is dedicating her life to helping notorious child killers, sex offenders and murderers - by falling in LOVE with them. "Sally", 56, sees nothing wrong in the bizarre relationships. She claims instead that they could help the rehabilitation of the monsters behind bars.

“I was sexually abused by a serious sex offender as a child over a number of years,” she explained. “He was in a position of authority and I was assaulted within what I would call a loving environment.

“When he dumped me several years later, I thought if I couldn’t love him, I would love men like him. I began to write to some of Britain’s most violent sex offenders.”

Needless to say, the approach has been controversial.

And I would not say that the original decision was all that rational.

Psych Drugs as the "emperor's new clothes"

As seen in the Sydney Morning Herald

Anti-depressant medications may be a case of the "emperor's new clothes", according to studies that show that, in banishing the blues, drugs are only marginally better than a sugar pill. Debate about the value of anti-depressants has spilled into the latest issue of the British Journal of Psychiatry (BJP), which highlights a recent US survey of the results of 19 anti-depressant drug trials. The analysis found that placebos duplicated 80 per cent of the effects of anti-depressants.

"In this analogy, psychiatry is the emperor, drug trials are the fraudsters," according to the BJP.

"The deception is being revealed by a growing body of critical opinion proposing that ... anti-depressants either don't work at all or have an effect that is so small as to be clinically unimportant."

Psychiatrists are defending themselves by saying that just because they are ineffective doesn't mean they don't work.

let's try that again ...

Investigating a Psychiatric Hospital After Child's Suicide

Authorities are investigating a Champaign, Illinois psychiatric hospital where a 12-year-old hanged himself last week, about two months after he was taken into protective custody because welfare officials feared for his safety at home. The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services is looking into whether The Pavilion properly monitored Ronald Hamilton of Bloomington, Ill., who was under a suicide watch when he hanged himself with bed linen on Aug. 11. He died four days later after being removed from life support.

Psychiatric Patient Found Dead

Ireland's Health Board has begun an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of a psychiatric patient after he had gone missing while under the care of two nurses in County Roscommon. He has been named as 40-year-old John Gallagher of Cresslough, Letterkenny, County Donegal. The man's body was recovered from the River Shannon near Rooskey last night.

Convicted Psych Loses Appeal

Convicted Fall River psychiatrist Kennard C. Kobrin of Barrington, Rhode Island has lost an appeal for a stay of sentence. He was convicted in December of illegally prescribing the tranquilizer Klonopin and defrauding the state Medicaid system