Biological psychiatry, sometimes referred to as bio-psychiatry, is a term used mainly by critics of mainstream mental health orthodoxy to describe what some believe are unproven and subjective diagnostic and treatment practices in the mental health field. References to biological psychiatry are used specifically by critics to denote the biological model of mental health, based generally upon the chemical imbalance theory, which they believe places undue emphasis upon biological theories and drug treatment, rather than objective diagnosis of medical pathologies and psychological counseling. This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Chemical imbalance is a term used by drug companies in the United States in advertising and consumer literature for psychoactive drugs after deregulation of pharmaceutical advertising. ...

Two of the most lucrative markets for psychotropic drugs are based on biological theories of mental illness, namely the dopamine theory of schizophrenia and the serotonin-norepinephrine theory of depression, according to many critics. The same can be said of the market for ADHD drugs. Biological psychiatry has yet to describe the pharmacodynamics of the anti-psychotic compounds, benzodiazepines, Prozac, and lithium. A psychoactive drug or psychotropic substance is a chemical that alters brain function, resulting in temporary changes in perception, mood, consciousness, or behaviour. ... Dopamine is a chemical naturally produced in the body. ... Serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, or 5-HT) is a monoamine neurotransmitter synthesised in serotonergic neurons in the central nervous system and enterochromaffin cells in the gastrointestinal tract. ... Norepinephrine, known as noradrenaline outside the USA, is a catecholamine and a phenethylamine with chemical formula C8H11NO3. ... Clinical depression is a health condition of depression with mental and physical components reaching criteria generally accepted by clinicians. ... DISCLAIMER Please remember that Wikipedia is offered for informational use only. ... Pharmacodynamics is the study of the biochemical and physiological effects of drugs and the mechanisms of drug action and the relationship between drug concentration and effect. ... The term antipsychotic is applied to a group of drugs used to treat psychosis. ... Benzodiazepine tablets The benzodiazepines are a class of drugs with hypnotic, anxiolytic, anticonvulsant, amnestic and muscle relaxant properties. ... Background Fluoxetine hydrochloride (brand names include Prozac®, Symbyax® (compounded with olanzapine), Sarafem®, Fontex® (Sweden), Fluctine (Austria, Germany), Prodep (India), Fludac (India)) is an antidepressant drug used medically in the treatment of depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, bulimia nervosa, premenstrual dysphoric disorder, and many other disorders. ... General Name, Symbol, Number lithium, Li, 3 Chemical series alkali metals Group, Period, Block 1, 2, s Appearance silvery white/gray Atomic mass 6. ...

Much of the criticism centers on the fact objectively defined pathological conditions have been found for only a select few mental illnesses. The diagnosis of conditions such as Alzheimer's, for example, where the effects of disease are readily evident, yet the underlying pathology that triggers the condition still has not been adequately explained. Alzheimers disease (AD) or senile dementia of Alzheimers type is a neurodegenerative disease which results in a loss of mental functions due to the deterioration of brain tissue. ...

Criticisms of mental health marketing practices and pharmaceutical treatments have seemingly had little impact on the growing solidarity between the pharmaceutical industry and the mental health professions. Instead, the influence of 'biological psychiatry' appears to actually be strengthening, as evidenced by of the growing political and economic clout of the industry. Pharmacology (in Greek: pharmacon is drug, and logos is science) is the study of how chemical substances interfere with living systems. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ...

Dr. Peter Breggin, a leading critic of biological psychiatry, has written several books in which he attempts to demonstrate the brain-damaging effects of "anti-psychotic medication," and the generally iatrogenic effects of subjecting children and adolescents to psychiatric drugs. Peter R. Breggin is a prominent and controversial psychiatrist from the United States. ... An iatrogenic (pronounced , IPA) condition is a state of ill health or adverse effect caused by medical treatment, usually due to mistakes made in treatment. ...

Biological Psychiatry is also the name of scientific journal Nature. ...

See also

• Anti-psychiatry
• Bruce Levine
• David Healy
• Douglas C. Smith
• Elliott Valenstein
• Evidence-based medicine
• Medical algorithm
• New Freedom Commission on Mental Health
• Sally Satel
• Texas Medication Algorithm Project

Beginning in the 1960s, a movement called anti-psychiatry claimed that psychiatric patients are not ill but are individuals that do not share the same consensus reality as most people in society. ... Bruce E. Levine, PhD, is a clinical psychologist in private practice in Cincinnati, Ohio for nearly two decades. ... David Healy is an Irish psychiatrist who is currently Reader in Psychological Medicine at Cardiff University College of Medicine. ... Douglas C. Smith, M.D. is a psychiatrist and mental health consultant who currently lives and practices in Juneau, Alaska. ... Elliott Valenstein, Ph. ... Evidence-based medicine is a medical movement based upon the application of the scientific method to medical practice, including long-established existing medical traditions not yet subjected to adequate scientific scrutiny. ... A medical algorithm is any computation, formula, survey, or look-up table, useful in healthcare. ... President George W. Bush established the controversial President’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health in April, 2002, to conduct a comprehensive study of the United States mental health service delivery system and make recommendations based on their findings. ... Sally Satel, M.D., is a practicing psychiatrist, a lecturer at Yale University School of Medicine, the W.H. Brady Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, and author of (2001) and Drug Treatment: The Case for Coercion (1999). ... The Texas Medication Algorithm Project (TMAP) is a controversial corporate-sponsored set of psychiatric management guidelines designed to enable doctors to systematically screen and treat patients for diagnosed mental disorders within Texas publicly-funded mental health care system. ...

External links

• ADHD-Report.com - Resignation letter of Loren R. Mosher, M.D. President of the American Psychiatric Association (APA)
• AntiPsychiatry.org - The Antipsychiatry Coalition
• BioPsychiatry.com - The Responsible parent's Guide to Healthy Mood-Boosters
• Breggin.com - Peter Breggin's home page
• NewMediaExplorer.org - 'Washington "under the Pharma Lilly"', Sepp Hasslberger (September 10, 2003)
• NewMediaExplorer.org - 'FDA Covers Up Report - Mosholder: 'Antidepressants Double Suicides in Children', Sepp Hasslberger (August 12, 2004)