ADHD is 'genetic', honest guv

Back in September, a shrink from Cardiff University in Wales, United Kingdom, shouted all over the media that ADHD is genetic. Professor Anita Thapar said, "Now we can say with confidence that ADHD is a genetic disease." How d'you know that then? Yes, there's probably a bubbly-babbly sickly-psycho answer that's supposed to wash over me and people like me, so we don't keep asking how d'you know that then?

But I don't buy the bubbly-babbly sickly-psycho answer. In fact, I thought the doc's nemesis Oliver James had a pretty good argument when he said in the Guardian, "Although she claimed to have proved that ADHD is a "genetic disease", if anything, she proved the opposite."

Fergus Walsh, the BBC's medical correspondent, waded in to the argument as well. He said of Prof Thapar's statement, "...those bold claims do not seem to be borne out by the actual research paper." And after doing his sums, he concluded, "That also means that seven out of eight of the ADHD group did not have the genetic variant - which hardly justifies Professor Thapar's confident assertion that ADHD is a genetic disease."

ADHD isn't scientific. It's a psychiatric obsession about badly behaved kids, based on the psycho-bubbly-babbly 'chemical imbalance' theory. There's no way to measure an imbalance, so the rug that ADHD is sitting on gets pulled every time someone says it's an imbalance in the brain. Or am I being unfair? There are parents out there who'd probably like to ask me whether I've ever had to live with a kid with ADHD. I'd say with complete confidence, no I haven't, because ADHD doesn't exist!

I'd follow that by saying I have lived with a kid who's badly behaved and yes, I know what that's like. It's tough and I couldn't wait to leave home. The badly behaved kid though didn't get drugs stuffed down his throat and now he's doing pretty good, thank you very much. I'm proud to call him my brother.

Doc Thapar should be ashamed of herself. I'm going to answer the question posed to her: she doesn't know it's genetic, and she can't prove it's genetic, but I'll bet she made a bucket load of cash from it.

Blood on their hands

The sad case of the divorce barrister Mark Saunders caught my attention this week. It sounds like he was a really troubled man; booze, depression, and drugs.

A report in the Daily Telegraph stated Mr Saunders had seen a psychiatrist in 2006. I've taken this paragraph from that article to point out something:

"A psychiatrist who examined him in 2006 warned that if he did not “abstain completely from all mind-altering substances” he risked being killed in a pub fight. Doctors were also concerned he would commit suicide if a period of depression and an alcohol binge coincided. To stabilise his mood swings, he was prescribed the antidepressant Prozac. "

If he was told to abstain completely from all mind-altering substances, why was he given antidepressants? The last time I checked, antidepressants were mind-altering, with a list of side effects as long as my arm, including violence.

I expect there's some psychobabbly answer, that 's supposed to satisfy the lemmings' curiosity, but I really don't care what the psychobabblists say. They have blood on their hands and it's time they answered up.

The wrong 'pillar of strength'

Why do these gentleman of the psychiatric persuasion think it's acceptable to, put rather bluntly, have sex with their patients?

I've witnessed the problems that go hand-in-hand for a friend who experienced and continues to experience mental illness. I've seen that person cling on to the tiniest possible scrap of hope, I've seen the desperation, I've seen the hopelessness, and I've felt the inadequacy of not being a pillar of strength at a time when I needed to be. That's me.

But what about a psychiatrist? Before I knew any better, I had them tagged as intelligent and caring individuals, who had the patience of Job and who had the answers for people going round the bend.

I was wrong. It's a crude euphemism, but the 'pillar of strength' that this psychiatrist was thinking of was the wrong kind. Thedore Soutzos who worked in Harley Street, London, had sex with three of his patients. He wasn't content with one. He had three. I keep having to remind myself of what this psychiatrist's position entails, what he's supposed to do according to his job description. Sex with patients aint part of it.

Bearing in mind the fragility of those who go to see a psychiatrist, and my friend is a good example, I was floored by the report in the Daily Mail. Following shenanigans with one of the ladies, Doc Soutzos was asked if he and the lady were in a relationship. Doc Soutzos was reported as having replied, "How can we be? I am a doctor and you are my patient."

What did Doc Soutzos think his words would do to his patient? I would put it to the doc that he knew very well what his words would do to his patient. If he's someone who's looking after the mental condition of people, having sex with them and then telling them there's no relationship is an open invitation to experience the consequences of a woman scorned.

I guess the doc wasn't thinking. No, I'll correct myself. He was thinking, but he was thinking with his 'pillar of strength' and we've all read where that leads in the tawdry headlines of the red tops.

For anyone reading this who needs a helping hand, go see your mates or your girlfriends, talk to them or go down the pub with them for a beer or go somewhere different for a change. Do something with someone you trust rather than with a shrink you don't know from Adam.

Seeing is believing, unless you're a psychiatrist

I've just stumbled across something the Yorkshire Ripper's shrink said earlier this year, and it begs a blog entry along with my fave question, 'How d'you know that then?'

The shrink, Dr Kevin Murray believes Peter Sutcliffe should never have been convicted of murder because Sutcliffe was too ill to know what he was doing and that he was suffering from diminished responsibility. Doc, I'm all ears: "How d'you know that then?" Doc Murray was also backing Sutcliffe's application to be released. As I'm writing this, I'm aware Sutcliffe didn't get released. The High Court Judge wasn't hoodwinked by Doc Murray and his beliefs. Talking of beliefs, I find it hard to believe Doc Murray thought Sutcliffe's release would really happen.

Michael Bilton, the author of the piece published in the Daily Mail, makes a damn good observation. He says, "...if Sutcliffe's doctors have successfully treated his claimed mental sickness, as they seem to suggest, I can't work out why Sutcliffe has not been sent back to serve his sentence in a maximum-security prison."

So here we are, 27 August 2010, about six weeks down the road from the decision to prevent Sutcliffe's release. Despite all the publicity, I'll bet Sutcliffe is still in Broadmoor Hospital right now and Mr Bilton's observation stands up even more robustly.

In summary then:

1) According to Doc Murray, Sutcliffe was well enough to be released

2) The Judge, As far as I know, didn't miraculously metamorphose into a psychiatrist and usurp Doc Murray's belief that Sutcliffe was well enough to be released

3) The decision not to release Sutcliffe, as far as I know, did not result in his contracting a new mental illness

4) Sutcliffe, as far as I know, returned to Broadmoor Hospital following his Court Hearing

Are you following my thought pattern here? How come Sutcliffe hasn't gone to prison? It's not as though it's because he might get hurt in prison. He was attacked in Broadmoor and got pretty mashed up by the look of it.

Might try to get hold of Mr Bilton to ask him for his thoughts on the matter.

Is investment in Big Pharma a mental illness?

I get the idea that while there's been all sorts of criticisms aimed at the authors of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders for suggesting that temper tantrums or binge eating may be included as a mental disorder, or that eccentricity might result in you lying down on the shrink couch, there are those among us who'd like to see the new book put into practice, if only for the utterly ridiculous factor.

Reading the stories, it got me thinking. It's so ridiculous, I wanted to see how far it could go. I started making a list of things that I didn't like about other people's behaviour, things I objected to, and so on. I basically settled on one thing and it's the reason for this blog. It's the person who asserts something is so with no shed of evidence to back it up. Weapons of mass destruction is an example. So it's not just psychiatrists who blast out hot air.

Shrink says temper tantrums are a mental illness or disorder or whatever. "How d'you know that then?" Are temper tantrums actually a mental illness, or are they so disliked by many, that psychiatrists are about to give parents the day off with a drug nanny?

As for eccentricity, I think my name could be in the hat. My words here could be psychiatrically reinterpreted as being that of a slightly unhinged individual who has a particular eccentricity about psychiatry, where his or her idiosyncracies could impact upon their well being taking over their life, leading to mental this and that. But that would only be because a shrink said so. If he or she were asked, "how d'you know that then?", there'd be even more hot air.

If it weren't for the complete nuttiness of this whole thing, I don't think the DSM would see the light of day. The fact it's so stupid, seems to blind people to the point they think there might be something in it.

But there is something in it: money. If you're a shareholder in Big Pharma, then it's not so ridiculous, stupid, or nutty.

Perhaps there should be a tag for those who invest in Big Pharma.

Definitely not a shrinking violet

Since when has a psychiatrist been in the position to decide whether another psychiatrist was sexually harassing a junior doctor or not?

Consultant psychiatrist Dr Stephen McMillan Arnott, described as an expert witness in the Derby Telegraph, was giving evidence at a hearing into Dr Andrew Clayton's conduct. It is alleged Dr Clayton behaved in a sexually motivated way towards two female patients and two trainee members of staff. He allegedly "fondled patient's breasts and tapped bottom."

I'd live to know what makes Dr Arnott an expert witness on the subject. I expect he did what anyone else would have done; ask the person bringing the allegations what happened. It doesn't take a rocket scientist or for that matter a psychiatrist, to ask those kinds of questions.

After all's been said and done, I reckon the shrink did it, and I've never met him. In May 2009, he was found guilty of possessing child pornography, while in 1990 and 1998, he had faced allegations of "inappropriate sexual behaviour towards patients."

Could have saved a shedload of money instead of paying a shrink.

Centre for the Resolution of Addiction to Psychiatry (CRAP)

The docs in white coats like categorising what we do, the way we behave, what we say, blah blah blah, and the lemmings among us say "Wow! Science!"

Are we 'addicted' to the internet? If so, stop reading this now! The point is, psychiatrists are highly paid men in white coats pointing out the bleedin' obvious. For example:

Person: "Doc, I have problems leaving the internet alone at night."

Doc: "When did this start?"

Person: "About six months ago when I got a computer."

Doc: "How do you feel at night when this happens?"

Person: "Knackered cos I don't go to bed."

Doc: "In my learned opinion, I think you have problems leaving the internet alone at night."

Here's a test I've formulated for all you psychiatrists out there. I'm not assuming you're going to read this blog, but there might come a day when you can laugh at yourselves. I hope I'm around to see it.

If you answer 'yes' to five or more of these questions below, you may have a psychiatric thingymabob, whatsit, some mindset that needs a name... All suggestions for a name by email to howdoyouknowthatthen@gmail.com

Here we go:

1) Do you feel preoccupied with other people's behaviour? (Think about your consulting room or your next appointment.)

2) Do you need increasing amounts of time to convince your patient of their illness to achieve personal satisfaction?

3) Have you repeatedly made unsuccessful efforts to control, cut back or stop thinking about making up new disorders?

4) Do you feel restless, moody, depressed, or irritable when attempting to cut down or stop thinking of making up new disorders?

5) Do you ponder on other people's behaviour longer than originally intended?

6) Have you jeopardised or risked the loss of a significant relationship, job, educational or career opportunity because of thinking up new disorders no one else has thought of?

7) Have you lied to family members, a colleague or others to conceal the extent of your involvement with other people's behaviour?

8) Do you tell other people they're ill to escape from your own problems (eg, feelings of helplessness, guilt, anxiety, depression)?

If you answered yes to 5 or more of the questions, you may be suffering from a sense of humour.

Source: Centre for the Resolution of Addiction to Psychiatry (CRAP)