134. Dr. Joanna Moncrieff: Debunking the Chemical Imbalance Theory

Today the fabulous Dr. Joanna Moncrieff is hanging out with us to help me create a conversation about all things psychiatric medications. If you’re on meds or are considering getting on meds, this episode is a must-listen.

Dr. Moncrieff is a psychiatrist, researcher, professor, and best-selling author. She is a professor of Critical and Social Psychiatry at University College London and works as a consultant psychiatrist in the NHS in London.

Dr. Moncrieff researches the rational use and understanding of psychiatric drugs and the history, politics, and philosophy of psychiatry more generally. Her books include The Bitterest Pills, The Myth of the Chemical Cure, and A Straight Talking Introduction to Psychiatric Drugs. She is also co-founder of the Critical Psychiatry Network, which consists of a group of psychiatrists from around the world who are skeptical of the idea that mental disorders are simply brain diseases and of the dominance of the pharmaceutical industry.

In today's episode, we talk about... 

- What Dr. Moncrieff believes is the problem with drug treatment for mental health problems

- How the chemical imbalance theory was turned into a marketing message

- The downside to believing in the chemical imbalance theory

- How antidepressants change your brain chemistry

- The implications of using antidepressants longterm

- How improvement after someone starts taking a psych med is due to a placebo effect

- How antipsychotics help people who are acutely psychotic

- How we should approach psychosis

- What you need to know about stopping your mental health medications

- Why stopping a benzodiazepine can leave you even more anxious than before you started the med

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