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Exposing Psychology, Exalting Christ |
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Reader email regarding Bazler response to CT article: Can you point me to the research you are reading that states bipolar isn’t a biologically based disorder? You might want to read some current empirically based research articles before you make such grossly incorrect statements about bi-polar. When was the last time you read research on the topic? Please act responsibly with your information. Unethical representations only harm people who are truly suffering. You irrational and subjective comments are appalling. --M.W., Psy.D., Christian Licensed Clinical Psychologist Bazler response: We believe we have acted very responsibly with our information. Here are a few quotes from psychiatrists in the field that we have used in our book: "In the field of mental health, not a single physical explanation has been confirmed for any of the hundreds of psychiatric 'disorders' listed in the DSM-IV." Psychiatrist Peter R. Breggin, Your Drug May Be Your Problem, 1999, p. 112. "In every instance where such an imbalance was thought to have been found, it was later proven false... A serotonin deficiency for depression has not been found." Psychiatrist and Harvard instructor Joseph Glenmullen, Prozac Backlash, 2000, pp. 196-197. "Nor can one measure serotonin at specific synapses." Psychiatrist and Harvard instructor Joseph Glenmullen, Prozac Backlash, 2000, p. 201. "We have no techniques for measuring the actual levels of neurotransmitters in the synapses between the cells. Thus all the talk about biochemical imbalances is pure guesswork... No biochemical imbalances have ever been documented with certainty in association with any psychiatric diagnosis." Psychiatrist Peter R. Breggin, Your Drug May Be Your Problem, 1999, pp. 7, 35. "Nor do we have a clear idea about the relationship between brain function and mental phenomena such as 'moods' or 'emotions' like depression or anxiety." Psychiatrist Peter R. Breggin, Your Drug May Be Your Problem, 1999, p. 5. "Science understands little about the function of the brain and even less about how the various psychiatric medications affect the brain." Psychiatrist Gary Almy, How Christian is Christian Counseling?, 2000, p. 294. After reviewing the biochemical disease models of depression, the director of the depression research program at the Massachusetts General Hospital confessed in 1997, "The dark side of all of this is that we have many elegant models, but the real fact is that [when it comes to] the exact mechanisms by which these things work, we don't have a clue." Cited in Joseph Glenmullen, Prozac Backlash, 2000, p. 203. Michael, these psychiatrists admit that chemical imbalances and genetics do not cause mental disorders like depression, anxiety, and bipolar. On the contrary, they cite animal-brain research that shows that all psychiatric drugs disrupt and impair normal brain functions and actually cause chemical imbalances. Vast amounts of research and personal testimonies have shown that most psych drugs just plain don't work at best, band-aid your problems, and cause serious side affects, death, homicide or suicide at worst. One of the most popular drugs for bipolar, Zyprexa, has been found to cause diabetes, severe hyperglycemia, and deaths (see http://www.drugawareness.org/Archives/1stQtr_2003/record0005.html). Read the horror stories of people whose lives have been ruined by psychotropic drugs at http://www.drugawareness.org/Archives/Survivors/survivor_index.html. How can we support biological treatment of bipolar after reading stories of such adverse reactions? If harming people and acting unethically is telling them the truth about psych drugs and pointing them to the source of true mental health - the Lord Jesus Christ - then we are guilty. The only irrationality and subjectivity here is the psychology industry using subjective questionnaires to diagnose people with bipolar; prescribing them drugs for chemical imbalances that have never been proven to exist; and then expecting the drugs to work when we know they frequently do not. This is the height of irrationality and subjectivity! As Christians, we should not view human behavior through the distorted, worldly lens of psychology, but through the clear light of Scripture. Someone who psychology classifies as "bipolar" is really just allowing their emotions to control them, and is acting selfish and irresponsible. If we are not under the control of the Spirit (whose fruit is self-control and a sound mind), then we are under the control of the fleshly self (Gal 5:16-25). Christ calls us to deny self, take up our cross, and follow him. He doesn't make an exception for those whom psychology calls bipolar. Rather, he gives us a choice: follow self or follow Christ. No excuses. It's that simple. Ryan and Lisa Bazler
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