(1-19-18) FROM MY FILES FRIDAY. Written in March 2011, this slightly edited blog about chemical imbalances remains one of my most read. That term was popular back then but now has fallen from favor. What hasn’t changed is that despite the spending of millions of dollars and hundreds and hundreds of hours of research we still don’t understand the causes of serious mental illnesses. Happy to read your comments on my Facebook page about neuroscience progress during the past seven years, about which, I might not be familiar.
Chemical Imbalances: Real or Imagined
One of the first terms that parents and others often hear when someone shows symptoms of having a mental disorder is “chemical imbalance.” It is the catch-all that often is used to explain why someone suddenly shows signs of major depression, bipolar disorder or schizophrenia. I remember being shocked when I used this term in a news article and was later confronted by a self-identified, anti-psychiatry reader who informed me there is absolutely no evidence that mental illnesses are real and/or caused by biological problems inside the brain.
So I was happy when I read: SHRINK RAP: Three Psychiatrist Explain Their Work written by Dinah Miller, M.D. Annette Hanson, M.D. and Steven Roy Daviss, M.D..
The doctors, who write a popular mental health blog offer their take on “chemical imbalances” and I found their comments helpful.