NewYorkTimes

His work consists of asking patients a series of questions about their symptoms to see whether they match up with any of the disorders in the DSM. This matching exercise, he writes, provides “the illusion that we understand our patients when all we are doing is assigning them labels.” Often patients meet criteria for more than one diagnosis because there is overlap in symptoms. For example, difficulty concentrating is a criterion for more than one disorder. One of Carlat’s patients ended up with seven separate diagnoses. “We target discrete symptoms with treatments, and other drugs are piled on top to treat side effects.” A typical patient, he says, might be taking Celexa for depression, Ativan for anxiety, Ambien for insomnia, Provigil for fatigue (a side effect of Celexa), and Viagra for impotence (another side effect of Celexa).

As damning as this is, it’s true. This article is probably one of the most accurate descriptions of an industry that has so much respect in our society it almost could be described as a second priesthood.

Yet, the reality of it is that the practitioners rarely do any actual therapy. They simply read a description of symptoms (often written by drug company shills) that are then matched to a set of drugs (for which the basic equivalent of a kickback is often paid to the Doctor) and then prescribe such to eliminate symptoms.

At some level, the practice is critical and essential for some symptoms NEED to be erased. Yet, when this model is applied to the rank and file of broken hearts and troubled minds, the practitioners of such become drug pushers rather than therapists.

Addiction is about numbing pain that needs to be dealt with at a heart level. It makes no difference at all whether the numbing of such is prescribed or purchased on the street.