According to a new report from the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), marijuana use can worsen depression and lead to more serious mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, anxiety, and even suicide.
Because The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders, 4th Edition (DSM-IV), published by the American Psychiatric Association (APA), is used by psychiatrists to diagnose disorders and derive treatment, a real danger for misdiagnosis and mistreatment exists.
In the absence of a known physical cause, a group of symptoms seen in many different patients is called a disorder or syndrome. Harvard Medical School psychiatrist Joseph Glenmullen says that in psychiatry, “all of its diagnoses are merely syndromes [or disorders], clusters of symptoms presumed to be related, not diseases.” Dr. Thomas Szasz, professor of psychiatry emeritus from the State University, Syracuse, New York, observes, “There is no blood or other biological test to ascertain the presence or absence of a mental illness, as there is for most bodily diseases.” Bipolar (previously known as manic depression), schizophrenia, attention deficit hyperactivity, depression, etc., are disorders, not diseases or illnesses.
There are, however, medical tests for marijuana use; but how many psychiatrists give drug tests to their patients before prescribing mind-altering psychiatric drugs for symptoms of depression or other so-called mental disorders?
While medicine has established causes and cures, leading psychiatric agencies such as the World Psychiatric Association and the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health admit that psychiatrists do not know the causes of or cures for any mental disorder or what their treatments specifically do to the patient. They have theories and conflicting opinions about their diagnoses and methods, and lack a scientific basis for them.
What’s more, medical studies clearly show that psychiatric drugs not “mental disorders” cause violent, hostile and suicidal behavior, exacerbating the problems that may be caused by marijuana or other illicit drug use.
Any medical doctor who takes the time to conduct a thorough physical examination of a child or adult exhibiting signs of what psychiatrists say are “mental disorders,” can find un-diagnosed, untreated physical conditions, including drug use that may be causing those mental disorders.
Any person labeled with a so-called psychiatric disorder needs to receive a thorough physical examination by a competent medical – not psychiatric – doctor to determine what underlying physical condition is causing the manifestation, including, but not limited to testing for:
drug use
lead- or pesticide-poisoning
thyroid conditions
early-onset diabetes
heart disease
worms
viral or bacterial infections
malnutrition
injuries or tumors
allergies
vitamin and/or mineral deficiencies
mercury exposure
all of which can cause mental symptoms.
For more information, visit http://www.cchrstl.org/.