The latest area of controversy focuses on the proposed revision of the definition "behavioral addiction disorder" extending the addiction diagnosis to include drug, alcohol and gambling. It is estimated that the change would expand the number of people labeled as "addicts" by 20 to 30 million who would be entitled to treatment and disability payments costing taxpayers many hundreds of millions of dollars.
Following our March 15 Infomail/ post, "Inside Psychiatry’s Battle to Define Mental Illness," we received an e-mail from Dr. Allen Frances, objecting–in essence retracting his statements in an article in WIRED magazine by Gary Greenverg. Our response to Dr. Frances follows his communication.
The authoritative expert who chaired the DSM-IV revision has become a formidable critic whose publicly expressed views about psychiatry’s diagnostic assessments and prescribed treatments–mostly chemical interventions–validate the criticism expressed by the Alliance for Human Research Protection for more than a dozen years.
The pharmaceutical industry’s dilemma: there are few volunteers in the drug-consuming prosperous countries–so they have taken half their business to underdeveloped countries.
