Psychiatric drugs are a huge money-maker
Last year, $27.4 Billion was spent on these medications worldwide
and that number only continues to grow
The question is: why?
Here's a little-known history of the industry that all of you should know about
THREAD
Mental Illness is not a new thing
Ancient Indian texts describe centers to take care of people with these disorders
In Greece and Rome, Mental health issues were connected to the paranormal
It wasn't until the 19th century where psychiatry became a recognized specialty
For over 150 years, the psychiatric field had no progress
The only solution to help these patients was to put them into wards and observe them
Often to be left there for the rest of their lives
Many unethical procedures were done to these people
Truly unacceptable
Psychiatry did evolve in the 20th century
Patients were able to meet their psychiatrists
sit on their infamous leather couch
and pour their hearts out
Some would feel better but not much good came out of it
The first edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental disorders was released in 1952
This tool was used by psychiatrists to classify all the mental disorders they were presented with
The number of diagnoses increased as the years passed
In the 1960s, Psychiatry as a profession was failing
The American Psychiatric Association was crumbling
Psychiatrists were going out of business
Alternative options to deal with mental health through the Anti-psychiatry movement challenged the status quo
But in the 1970s, a deal was struck to save the psychiatric profession
Big Ph@rma was now a flourishing industry with a ton of capital
but they wanted more...
So they decided it was time to monetize the field of psychiatry
and bankroll all the research in the field
They made the claim that all psychiatric disorders were the result of a chemical imbalance in the brain
And that correcting the imbalance would solve the problem
The truth of the matter is
No one knows exactly what the baseline of a chemically healthy brain looks like
There's NO diagnostic test that's ever been created to determine brain chemistry
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental disorders is nothing more than an accumulation of subjective observations
Research paper after research paper created the narrative that psychiatric meds
were the ONLY solution to helping patients with their mental health
all of this without a single diagnostic test to prove any of it
This has gone for far too long
The reason I am bringing this historical fact to light is to spark some curiosity in all of you
We can change the way things are done
but only if we ask questions
We need to stop relying on a pill to solve our issues
and truly get the medical community to dig deeper into how to solve our mental health crisis
The more you ask questions
The faster we can get answers
Share this Scrolly Tale with your friends.
A Scrolly Tale is a new way to read Twitter threads with a more visually immersive experience.
Discover more beautiful Scrolly Tales like this.