Charlie Rose

jpke  08/21/2012 03:46 PM Report

Mr (Charlie)Rose,

You've had a series on the brain, brain "science" and psychiatry with various guests discussing developments and "discoveries" in their field(s). How about doing a show (or even a series) on a growing number of groups and activists in the field of "mental health" and psychiatric reform? I (and a growing number of others) believe it would be of great public service to broadcast in the "mainstream" media the views and work of individuals such as Peter Breggin, MD(author,psychiatrist), Jim Gottstein (atty, mental health activist), Robert Whitaker(psychiatric researcher and author), David Healy MD (author, psychiatrist), Ann Blake-Tracy(International Coalition for Drug Awareness), and others.

There is increasing, documented evidence on the harm done by the use of psychotropic drugs which should be made more "public".

There are also mental health/ psychiatric consumer (and "insider expert") voices rising on issues related to: Informed consent, coercion, disclosure, misrepresentation, false claims, conflict of interest, corruption, ghostwriting, fraudulent practice, physical/mental abuse, and professional ethics and standards issues in the psychiatric and mental health field.

Your response would be appreciated.

Sincerely, Jim Keiser

PS: I'm adding the following statements (by others) for your consideration and comment:

RE. DIFFERENTIAL DIAGNOSIS: "The thing that bothers me the most about psychiatry (outside of the harm done by its so-called "treatments") is the fact that psychiatrists almost NEVER look for underlying medical disorders. They just use their "Bible," the DSM, which is merely a collection of symptoms that could be caused by MANY THINGS. By not using differential diagnosis, psychiatrists are failing to practice actual medicine. Joe Blow off the street, with no medical training, could come up with a diagnosis after listening to someone describe their symptoms once he has flipped through the pages of the DSM. If I can accomplish one thing (and I have no idea of how to do this), I would like to create a standard that forces psychiatrists to do a thorough battery of medical tests before any medications are prescribed or labels given."~unk

___________________________________

STANDARD PRACTICE IN PSYCHIATRIC "DIAGNOSIS" AND TREATMENT (valid from my, and others' experiences):

"...Most people would agree that people need to (be) told accurate information about the validity of a diagnosis; including whether or not it is Biological in nature; or if this is a belief based on nothing more than a yet to be validated Hypothesis. Saying that a psychiatric diagnosis is a disease/chemical imbalance/neuro-biological in nature is a story told to 'bust the stigma' and to get people to take their meds; not because it is based on fact.

...Fraud is a crime, and also a civil law violation. Defrauding people or entities of money or valuables is a common purpose of fraud, but there have also been fraudulent 'discoveries', e.g., in science, to gain prestige rather than immediate monetary gain. ...

...Most people would agree that people need to given accurate, unbiased information about the drugs prescribed to them and their children. Most of us would agree it would be wrong to tell people that they in fact have a disease/chemical imbalance or a neuro-biological condition requiring drugs to treat it; when no imbalance, disease, defect or neuro-biological condition has been identified. These claims are being made without any physical, neurological or medical examination taking place. A conversation with the person and gathering information from others about their personal opinions and subjective observation of the patient or 'client' is not an examination; and even a consensus of informed opinions does not make the weakest of 'evidence' scientific or valid; it does not make the psychiatric diagnosis a medical condition either. ...

The fact is: no genetic condition, chemical imbalance, or neuro-biological pathology has been identified ever--in any human being alive or dead; that causes any mental illness, or psychiatric diagnosis. ...

...Failing to give people the very information which is necessary to protect their children and themselves is particularly heinous; despicable really, all things considered. ...

...For professionals to ignore their ethical duty to fully inform patients and parents of children about the nature of psychiatric diagnoses, about the potential for harm involved in taking psychiatric drugs is criminal; not just 'unethical.' It is, in reality fraud...

...This being the case, it is an unethical claim for any psychiatrist or mental health professional to make. It is dishonest, it is disrespectful and it is evidence of an utter lack of professional integrity. ...

...Many believe the drugs are treating a disease, because of the erroneous belief that doctors don't lie to patients. People take neurotoxic drugs believing that the drugs treat a brain disease they have. The drugs cause iatrogenic, or 'physician caused' diseases, neurological impairments, and can disable them; and even cause their untimely death. ...

...It is fraud. It is Standard Practice. It is criminal. "~from article in Systems of Care Yakima

shannon  01/23/2011 06:55 AM Report

Three week unconsciousness gave rise to mnemonic discovery during studies at TX A&M. Left hemisphere: language/logic, coupled with 2ea BAs after unconsciousness resulted in WORLDLY recognized mnemonic technique [vowels:mathematical operations] For televised sight of this author, www.mandwinc.net => MW (hole may be viewed in head)

exCePT i buiLD rabbiTS 4 caTS oN 2 HaTS ,= acronym for quadratic equation. CAPITAL LETTERS= ADDITIONAL EXTRANEOUS CONSONANTS

c824767  08/25/2010 08:54 PM Report

hahah !

decision making.

do i want to be a cheating scumbag with an ever growing bank account in the bahamas !

looks like a lot of people do want that , hence the problems in the USA

c824767  08/25/2010 08:45 PM Report

could athletes use the brain = robot thing for training, their bodies would then not get tired.injured. i.e. ice dancing, slalom skiing etc.

c824767  08/25/2010 06:26 PM Report

we localize function but brain can re=assign function to new areas so what the heck

Natural  07/31/2010 11:58 AM Report

This was a fascinating program. It gives much hope to those who are suffering. I also appreciate the idea of bringing together people from different disciplines to find more answers. These therapies can really create miracles in many lives.

However, one thing puzzles me. I have to say that I was dismayed by the lack of attention paid to what is going on in the rest of the body. One of my favorite expressions from a holistic physician is, "I've never seen a brain without a body, nor a body without a brain." One must evaluate the processes of the entire body - brain and all - to better understand disease and treatment. This is also true in mental illness. Often it is dysfunction in some other part of the body that is negatively affecting brain function. Nutrition, toxic exposures, and stress can also be factors.

Thank you to these very dedicated research scientists for their incredible contributions. I am sure their work will advance and help countless people.

Vazrakapars  07/30/2010 03:26 PM Report

As always is your brain series weary educational please continue whit this kind of work in the future as well in purpose to in light your viewers about all the different impacts that the brain has on the human action as well as its anatomy.

Quote lll many thanks to Dr Eric Kandel as well for investing his time for all the episodes that I have watched on your show

doodah  07/26/2010 06:13 PM Report

so uh,.. what's everybody trying to tell me?

robdverity  07/23/2010 10:20 PM Report

"He made Man in His Image," disorders my brain something awful. Particularly re a science program. Scientific proof abounds, eh? Wonder how many on the show would cringe at that assertion?

Ego trumps insult! Our ego, god's insult. Or actually our ego and our insult of the concept-of-god.

If god gets-off on killing as much as we do then he deserves the insulting comparison. Some believe he martyred his own son, which has to be one of the more degrading insults to anyone, regardless of whose image is ascribed.

BENEZRAA  07/23/2010 06:30 PM Report

SPELLING CORRECTIONS TO PREVIOUS POSTING:

ALZHEIMERS (not Alzeheimers)

GREEK philosopher (not Greed philosopher)

BENEZRAA  07/23/2010 06:27 PM Report

EXCELLENT PROGRAM REPORTING PROFOUND AND OPTIMISTIC ADVANCES IN NEUROSCIENCE AND NEUROENGINEERING AS PERTAIN TO BRAIN-COMPUTER-ROBOT INTERFACE TECHNOLOGY. I agree with Dr. Kandel that there is a need to apply such technology to treat a variety of "psychological" problems that with sufficient science may be better understood and treated along the various neural pathways by engineering advances. As far as more determined brain ailments are concerned, it has been shown on this program that such aliments as Alzeheimers and Stroke and Spinal Pathway Disruption may be treated or aided with advanced localized electrical brain stimulation or even with thought-to-computer-to-robot interface technology. With regards to the latter -- have experiments yet been conducted on patients suffering from Multiple Schlerosis? I have a close friend, an MS paraplegic, who painstakingly uses an extension device from his mouth to operate his computer keyboard and has no independent control of his wheelchair. MS sufferers might benefit greatly from thought-to-computer-to-robot technology.

Thank you to all these scientists, whose work is so little appreciated by so many, people who have no concept as to the painstaking work required to move science from hypothesis to thesis. From the philosophic concept of the atom by a pre-Socratic Greed philosopher to the achievement of the first atomic tables of the elements in the mid-19th century, humble humanity slowly advances it's discoveries into the realm of God's Physical Laws. May these great scientists continue to probe and advance humanity into His Realm, as He made Man in His Image.

robdverity  07/23/2010 04:28 PM Report

With increasing amputees, prosthetics, PTSD, suicides, etc being prodigiously produced daily by our jingoistic political minds, there will be no shortage of material to apply these demonstrated talents.

Perhaps a more meaningful area of the mind ripe for exploration and manipulation is the area that foments war and more wars, preemptive or otherwise. Its moral acreage so-to-speak. The need for brain trauma therapies and prosthetics (at least) would decrease.

Or are they considered fodder?

PeterMelzer  07/23/2010 02:47 PM Report

I enjoyed watching this show very much. The positive effects of subthalamic electrical stimulation on functionality in Parkinson's disease are impressive, though we do not seem to understand precisely why the stimulus works.

The potential of brain-controlled prostheses is fantastic. Temporary prostheses may help improve recovery of function after stroke. I am confident that robotic prostheses will thrive. We are very good at making our tools part of our mind. One day, we may even succeed in controlling machines through nerve cell endings directly (more here: http://brainmindinst.blogspot.com/2008/01/man-machine.html).

The understanding of gene function in neurodegenerative diseases is yet another avenue that will provide useful therapies. Surprisingly, the stem cell therapies were not discussed.

However, despite the enormous progress in research and medicine, the treatments presented in this show remain symptomatic, and I agree with Prof. Mahlon-DeLong that we may only be able to develop the most effective treatments, if we uncover the molecular and neurophysiological mechanisms engaged in the disease process and in recovery.

In his concluding remarks, Prof. Kandel laments that only recently psychologists and psychiatrists have warmed up to the advances made in neuroscience. He suggests they should learn from the neurologists. The reason may be that we still understand little of the complex nerve cell interactions that underlie the disorders of the mind. It has been simpler and more practical in the past to develop hypotheses and theories of the mind without digging too deeply into the brain. We are only at the beginning of a new era in which our knowledge of the brain will be integrated with our ideas of the mind. Perhaps, we need to develop a novel philosophy of mind that combines the thoughts of Heidegger and Gadamer with our latest insights into brain function.

REMant  07/23/2010 01:40 PM Report

Instead of what was promised last month, all there was here, aside from relieving symptoms of clearly physical ailments, was plain old-fashioned behavior mod, which we've practiced for 50 yrs with absolutely no ethical justification. The two are not, as was suggested (actually pushed) by Dr Kandel, in any way connected. It is in no way science, but plain old-fashioned Whig or Progressive reform that skips over and ignores science, as much as it does dignity, privacy and freedom. I think as did Erving Goffman, R D Laing, Thomas Szasz, Michel Foucault, Philip Rieff, Christopher Lasch, Aldous Huxley, Anthony Burgess, Ken Kesey, et al, and Alexis de Tocqueville before them, that it is extremely dangerous. I challenge Dr Kandel to produce an episode on this question.