In the article, “The Crazy State of Psychiatry,” writer Marcia Angell, concludes, that psychoactive drugs are not as good as the pharmaceutical companies make them appear to be. She also tries to convince the reader that mental illness is not caused by chemical imbalances. Conversely many doctors believe that the use of drugs for treatment is dependent upon the patient. There is not a single cause for mental disorders; they can be initiated by a biological, psychological and environmental factors or a combination of them ("Mental Health Problem Symptoms, Causes and Effects"). Drugs may be a key role in treating the chemical imbalance. Drugs and therapy work well together to help people with mental illness.
There are no cures for mental…show more content… There have been many studies done on the effects of drugs to treat mental disorders. There has been much controversy regarding claims by drug companies only publishing the positive studies in medical journals. (Angell, ) This may be true but you must look at the patient and what works for him/her. Not all medication has the same effect on everyone; therefore studies are going to reveal both positives and negatives. This means that medication may work miracles on one person and may have no effect on another. The National Institute of Mental Health warns people that drug therapy can improve your quality of life; medication can’t “cure” a mental illness. The purpose of medication is to regulate the symptoms of the disorder ("The Use of Medications for Treating a Mental Health Disorder | Dual Diagnosis"). Research on depression has shown that drug treatment and therapy used apart from one another, helps approximately 60% of the patients. However, medication and therapy together are proven to help about 75% of patients with mental illnesses (DeAngelis, 2008). The most…show more content… There is absolutely nothing wrong with this approach since it has been proven effective ("Depression Treatment: Psychotherapy, Medication or Both?"). In the article “The Crazy State of Psychiatry” Angell states that the use of placebos is an effective treatment which leads to improvement of certain mental health conditions. Most studies have proven this true with patients who have anxiety, not an anxiety disorder per se, but just some symptoms of anxiety. However, patients who have other mental illnesses such as an actual anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and psychosis are less likely to show a response to the placebos. This clearly shows that the placebo response is not strong in general, and there is a need for psychoactive medication ("Understanding and Using the Placebo Effect"). Drugs and therapy help many with mental disorders, even though it is not a cure it helps them cope with everyday life. There are many benefits of cognitive and dialectical behavior therapy paired with the use of psychoactive medication. Therapy helps patients learn the skills to help them in their daily lives. Through cognitive and dialectical behavior therapy the patients learn how to handle strong emotions and
