Misrepresenting Drug Efficacy in Psychiatry

I've often been asked about the use of medication in treating emotional and behavioral disorders and my standard response is that one should use medication to make it possibl to work in psychotherapy. The idea that drugs are going to resolve emotional challenges without any need to explore these problems consciously and modify ones thinking and other behavior is hard to fathom at best. I've become involved with the use of nondrug noninvasive methods of treatment for the simple reason that they work and have little to no side effects and are cost effective by orders of magnitude especically when considering them being used by the general population. This doesn't mean that I don't include psychotherapeutic work both cognitive and affective in the course of my working with people. I think it is important to educate teh public  as to the corporate drug industry marketing mythology regarding the idea that psychiatric disorders are brain illnesses and can be 'cured' or 'treated' with specialized medications. The Harvard Psychiatry review paper linked here outlines the realities of this myth making effort over the last 30+ years. I'm pleased to see this finally being articulated in an esteemed journal and hope that it has broad impact on the clinicians and those seeking relief from emotional pain that can manifest as physical symptoms. I also hope we can begin to discriminate symptoms born of real biophysical disorders, e.g., traumatic brain injury, heavy metal or mold toxicity, Lyme disease and/or other tick-born illnesses that can cause neuropsychiatric symptoms of almost any that are outlined in the DSMV.  We need to get smarter about all this especially now with all the consequences that will result from millions of people having had COVID 19 infection. It is delusional to think there won't be longer term consequences for our society especially as the evidence becomes available regarding the downstream neurological consequences from COVID 19. 

https://journals.lww.com/hrpjournal/fulltext/2020/11000/messaging_in_biological_psychiatry_.4.aspx