Dr. Healy - works "coalface in a District General Hospital setting managing psychoses" i.e psych drugs & ECT !!

[2002] Prozac, Suicide and Dr. Healy By Rick Giombetti



In the case of Thomas Szasz he was arguing that it was unreasonable to say that psychoneuroses were diseases. I agree with him. However I have not been a psychotherapist earning my living out of treating minor mental disorders. I'm at the coalface in a District General Hospital setting managing psychoses. Many of these patients can end up in states of rigid immobility that we know can last for months or years if left untreated. Others are consumed by nihilistic delusions of various sorts. Yet others have thought disorder of a kind that most clinical observers looking at it have said indicates frontal lobe dysfunction. It is these states that I am happy to say look like real diseases.

Saying that these look like real diseases does not mean that they have to be treated with physical means. I am happy to respect a person or their families wish to leave the state untreated. I also believe that when we finally understand the biological underpinnings of things this will put us in a better position to know how to handle many of these states by non-physical means. Genetic testing for disorders like phenylketonuria makes it possible to avoid the damage that this illness causes by simply managing your diet properly.