Recovery from "schizophrenia" and other "psychotic disorders"

In the mental health field currently, when people experience intense anxiety and depression, and when they experience mania and/or psychosis, the experience is understood to be a “disorder” or a “biological dysfunction” that is of no use and should “corrected” by any means that might be effective in doing so.  The most straightforward way of doing this is conceived to be a drug that might directly reverse the theorized “biochemical imbalance” though other methods are tried, particularly when drugs don’t work.

The primary opposition to this point of view in our culture comes from those who deny the existence of mental disorders at all:  they see “diagnosis” in the mental health field as being an illegitimate enterprise, and the DSM as a work of quackery designed to make money for drug companies and for “mental health professionals.”  It is noted that there is no physical test for any sort of “mental disorder” and no objective way of determining what should be called a disorder.  It is then imagined that people would do fine if saved from those in the mental health field who attempt to diagnose and then “help” them.

A middle ground between these two extreme views is however emerging.  In this view, the mental states that get diagnosed as “disorders” tend to be specialized states of mind which do tend to cause trouble for people, but which can also be seen as part of an evolved, problem solving strategy used by the mind.  That is, while these mental states may not be consciously chosen by the person and may cause problems, they also may solve important problems, and so in any given case it may be unclear whether they are doing more harm than good.

An example of a “biological” evolved problem solving strategy that both causes problems but also potentially solves problems is that of a fever.  Fevers cause many problems, and if quite high may cause brain damage or even death, yet we have evolved to have fevers because they often help solve the problem of infections. More »

People diagnosed with schizophrenia are commonly told that their problem is due to their genes, or to their “genetic vulnerability.”  This is often done as part of an effort to convey the notion that their genes are defective and therefore the person can expect to have a lifelong mental illness, with the best hope being to take drugs for the rest of the person’s life in order to deal with it.  While this viewpoint is often presented as though it is a logical perspective based on evidence, it is actually full of holes and inconsistent with the evidence.

First, while there is evidence suggesting (not fully proving) that such a thing as an increased genetic vulnerability to having “schizophrenia” exists, there is zero evidence demonstrating that such increased vulnerability MUST be present in order to create the problems that get diagnosed as schizophrenia.  In other words, no study has ever shown that there is a genetic subtype of human beings who have zero vulnerability to schizophrenia, regardless of level of trauma, stresss, etc.  More »

“You have a biochemical imbalance in your brain.  This medication will help correct that imbalance.”  This is what most people diagnosed with a “mental disorder” will hear in the USA.  Yet, there is no solid evidence of any such imbalance, no brain test, and most of the theories about particular imbalances have been actually disproven.  Nevertheless, the mantra about imbalances is still chanted – because even though it is wrong and even though it robs people of hope of ever recoverying without drugs, it does help get people to “take their meds” and that is what our current mental health system is designed to do.

While there is no specific “chemical imbalance” that can be reliably found in people with a particular diagnosis, and no medication that restores a particular balance, there is lots of evidence that brain differences of various sorts play a role in mental problems.  Does this mean that mental and emotional problems are sometimes “hard wired in” and full recovery is impossible?  No, because modern science is showing how the brain itself is constantly being rewired, reorganizing itself, and this reorganization can lead to recovery.  A very good and remarkably coherent summary of this reality is posted at http://bipolarblast.wordpress.com/2009/08/31/neuroplasticity-of-the-brain-2/