Madam, - I strongly support the views of the six professors of psychiatry regarding the statement by the Minister of State in the Department of Health on mental illness.
Had the Minister consulted the website regarding the credentials and publications of these colleagues he would have found that they are internationally recognised experts in the fields of social psychiatry, psychopharmagolocy, psychoendocrinology, psychogeriatrics, psychogenetics and brain imaging.
Even the briefiest consideration of the impact of these fields of expertise on our understanding of the pathology of mental illness, and how psychotropic drugs act to treat such conditions, would persuade any fair- minded person of the pathophysiological basis of mental illness.
While no professional person, least of all professors of psychiatry, underestimate the role that non-pharmacological methods play in the treatment of mental illness, the fact remains that drug treatments for severe depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and the anxiety disorders have revolutionised psychiatric practice for the good of the patients and their families.
One does not need to be a mental health professional to appreciate the impact of drug treatments in changing mental hospitals from long-term custodial institutions for the mentally ill to their widespread closure today because of the effective treatment of the severely mentally ill.
It seems as though it is not only the general public that needs education in how the brain works in health and disease! - Yours, etc,
BRIAN E. LEONARD, Emeritus Professor of Pharmacology, NUI Galway, Immediate Past resident, International College of Neuropsychopharmacology.
Madam, - Breda O'Brien's column of November 25th presented a largely uncontroversial, relatively balanced summary of the recent dispute on psychiatry and the use of medication, which was precipitated by the insightful remarks of Minister of State Tim O'Malley.
However, in Ms O'Brien's piece, and in other comment on the issue, the matter is presented largely as a theoretical debate. The vital message that I fear is not getting across is that people's lives are being blighted by mistreatment by psychiatrists and their inappropriate prescription of powerful drugs. What Patricia Casey or others may or may not write in academic journals is of no consequence to the poor souls who continue to suffer from maltreatment at the hands of the dozens of misguided psychiatrists who are simply following the handbook.
If Mr O'Malley can help rescue these helpless unfortunates from psychiatry, then I for one will welcome it. - Yours, etc,
NORMAN STEWART, Malahide, Co Dublin.
Madam, - I appreciate Brenda O'Brien's summary of the position of those who question the direction taken by modern psychiatry, with its emphasis on the medicalisation of human problems.
She has clearly listened to those who disagree with her, which is an admirable quality.
However, when she says she is "fascinated by those who refuse to countenance that there could be any underlying physical causes for depression", I suggest she is misreading the position of many. I am opposed to the treatment of psychological or psychosocial problems as though they had an identified pathology. Nevertheless, I must of course be open to the possibility that such pathology may be discovered some time in the future, however much I may doubt such a development.
My problem is with the certainty of a psychiatric profession which prescribes drugs with significant negative side-effects, both physical and psychological, on the assumption, or under the illusion, that such pathology is scientifically established, when clearly it is not.
William Glassner, the psychiatrist and founder of Reality Therapy, has been an advocate of positive, non-medical approaches to mental health for the past 40 years.
I would like to put on record the support of the William Glasser Institute for Tim O'Malley's initiation of a debate on this issue. - Yours, etc,
ARTHUR DUNNE, National Executive, William Glasser Institute Ireland, c/o The Crook, Mornington, Co Meath.