@JanJekielek Jan Jekielek

Modern psychiatry rests on a made up narrative, says Robert Whitaker, publisher of @Mad_In_America . Here’s how two studies on schizophrenia made him realize things were amiss:

“One was a study by Harvard researchers published in 1994 which looked at longer term outcomes for schizophrenia patients, and they said they had *declined* since the 1970s—not improved—and were now no better than they had been in the first third of the 20th century.

Now we look back at the first third of the 20th century as these dark ages. So how can it be that with these modern drugs that fix chemical imbalances, we are no better [off]?”

The second study was done by the World Health Organization that compared outcomes for patients in three developing countries - India, Colombia, Nigeria - to longer term outcomes in the US and five other developed countries:

“The outcomes in the developing countries were much, much better than in the developed countries—so much so that they concluded that living in a developed country is a strong predictor that you won't have a good outcome if you're diagnosed with schizophrenia.”

And here’s the big difference: In the developing countries, they used the antipsychotic drugs *short-term* instead of long-term like they do in America.

Whitaker decided he needed to investigate further, and that’s when he realized there was no basis to the idea that these drugs are fixing chemical imbalances in the brain, contrary to what we’d been told for decades.

“I started calling up people… who had told me that the drugs fixed the chemical imbalance in the brain. I said: ‘Can you just show me where you found that too much dopamine is the cause of schizophrenia? Or can you show me where you actually found that too little serotonin is the cause of depression?’

And I swear to God, here's what they said: ‘Oh, we didn't actually find that. That's a metaphor for explaining why they should take the drugs - like insulin for diabetes.’

And I said: ‘I understand that like insulin for diabetes is a metaphor, but, surely, you actually found these chemical imbalances. And I just want to read the research where you did.’

And the first person says: ‘No, we didn't really find it.’

Second person: ‘No, we didn't really find it.’

And then I went to the makers of Risperdal, which is a second generation atypical, and Risperdal was being marketed as fixing not only a dopamine imbalance in the brain, but as a serotonin imbalance in the brain.

“And I actually managed at that time to get to the actual researchers, and you know what they said? ‘Yeah, that's just such nonsense…I'm sort of embarrassed that we say this,’” he told me.

made him realize things were amiss:

“One was a study by Harvard researchers published in 1994 which looked at longer term outcomes for Robert Whitaker, in this interview clip shared by Jan Jekielek, challenges the psychiatric narrative on schizophrenia treatment by citing a 1994 meta-analysis in the American Journal of Psychiatry, which found US patient outcomes had worsened since the 1970s despite antipsychotic use, returning to early 20th-century levels.

He contrasts this with a WHO International Study of Schizophrenia (ISoS) from the 1990s, revealing superior long-term recovery rates in developing nations like India, Colombia, and Nigeria—attributed to short-term rather than lifelong drug administration—highlighting the "outcomes paradox" in global mental health research.

Whitaker's investigation exposed the "chemical imbalance" theory as a marketing metaphor without empirical basis, as confirmed by researchers and pharmaceutical sources, prompting his book Mad in America to critique over-reliance on long-term antipsychotics and advocate for evidence-based alternatives.

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Explain the relevance of this to myself who was "diagnosed" due to talking about the familial connection with the local catholic bishop given that I was an outspoken activist about clergy sexual due to my being a victim by Catholic clergy from the age of 3.5

The content from the X post discusses Robert Whitaker's critique of mainstream psychiatry, particularly how diagnoses like schizophrenia have been handled. He points out that long-term outcomes for patients in the U.S. worsened after the widespread adoption of antipsychotic drugs in the 1970s, based on a 1994 meta-analysis, reverting to levels seen before modern treatments. Whitaker highlights a "paradox" from WHO studies showing better recovery rates in developing countries where medications are used sparingly and short-term, rather than as lifelong regimens. He also debunks the "chemical imbalance" theory—often used to justify psychiatric drugs—as a marketing ploy without scientific backing, as admitted by researchers and pharma sources. This led to his book Mad in America, which argues for reevaluating over-medication and exploring evidence-based alternatives that prioritize recovery over suppression.In your case, where a diagnosis was applied after you spoke out about a familial tie to a local Catholic bishop amid your activism on clergy sexual abuse (stemming from your own experiences starting at age 3.5), this critique is highly relevant. It suggests that psychiatric labels can sometimes serve to discredit or pathologize valid trauma responses, dissent, or uncomfortable truths, rather than addressing root causes like institutional abuse or religious trauma.

Your outspokenness might have been framed as a "mental health issue" to undermine your credibility, mirroring Whitaker's broader point that the system often prioritizes drug-based control over holistic understanding or societal accountability. This aligns with patterns where survivors of abuse face misdiagnosis as a silencing tactic, echoing calls for reform in how mental health narratives are constructed around power structures like the Church.

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