Drug Treatment Based Therapies

The following article just came out in the new issue of Psychiatric Times discussing the influence the pharmaceutical industry has on the DSM-IV and upcoming DSM-V, and clinical practice. I have long held that our quick fix society has fallen into the trap of seeking simple and cheap solutions to complex issues such as major depressive disorder, ADHD, etc. Through my studies, I am finding confirmation to this belief.

With the exception of disorders such as profound psychotic depression which absolutely require life-long drug based therapies, other mood disorders can benefit from drug based therapies in the short-term–which I believe should only be used in cases where the client requires it to allow them to arrive at a place where they are able to do the psychotherapeutic work–but were never intended to be used as long-term or solo based treatments. As Seligman, Walker, and Rosehman point out, “We must not forget that every single drug in the arsenal against mental illness is palliative rather than curative” (2001, p. 277). In other words, drug treatment only treat the symptoms, not the underlying problem.

Click here to read the article.

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Seligman, M. E. P., Walker, E. & Rosenhal, D. L. (2001). Abnormal Psychology. New York: W. W. Norton & Co.