No test for "chemical imbalance"???

What on earth are doctors doing, doling out millions of prescriptions per year for something that can't even be found in a test? This is nuts...

APA Admits there is no test for "chemical imbalance"

CCHR
7/2/2005 1:33:48 AM

In an explosive admission, American psychiatric Association President Steven Sharfstein did a 180-degree turnaround from his TODAY show interview (June 27) and admitted that there is no way to test for a “chemical imbalance” as the cause for mental disorders. PEOPLE magazine (July 11), quoted Dr. Sharfstein conceding, “We do not have a clean-cut lab test.”


Dr. Sharfstein is not alone. Elliot Valenstein, Ph.D. says, “[T]here are no tests available for assessing the chemical status of a living person’s brain.” The late Dr. Loren Mosher stated, “…there are no external validating criteria for psychiatric diagnoses.”


In 2004, psychiatrist M. Douglas Mar debunked the theory that brain scans can help diagnose mental diseases stating, “There is no scientific basis for these claims [of using brain scans for psychiatric diagnosis].”


Harvard University professor, Joseph Glenmullen, author of “Prozac Backlash,” said the questionnaires of symptoms used to “diagnose” depression “may look scientific,” but “are utterly subjective measures.”


“But unfortunately, the tragedy in this misinformation campaign has been the children who have been pegged with these invented illnesses and given life-destroying drugs,” said Marla Filidei, VP of CCHR International. “We’ve seen hundreds of cases where children’s lives have been destroyed as a result of these labels.”


Ten-year-old Shaina Dunkle collapsed and died from toxic levels of the psychiatric drug she was prescribed. “Shaina looked into my eyes as her life ended and I could do nothing to save her. It’s been two years and I relive those last few minutes every day. Believe me, it is a nightmare no parent should ever have to live with, said Mrs. Vicki Dunkle.

Antidepressants and "Chemical Imbalance