April 2011

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Preview to next week’s Blog (Wednesday 4 May 2011)

Next week’s blog details how 2010 Australian of the Year Professor Patrick McGorry and his close colleagues have dominated the long overdue debate about the future of mental health services in Australia. It outlines how their claims of massive unmet need and proven 21st century solutions have been accepted almost without question by the Gillard Government, the Abbott Opposition, the independents, the media and therefore the public.

In March Professor McGorry and fellow members of the Independent Mental Health Reform Group released their blueprint for the future of Australian mental health. The blueprint, Including, Connecting, Contributing: A Blueprint to Transform Mental Health and Social Participation in Australia, outlines $3.5b expenditure over 5 years on ‘transformational’ programs that are identified as mental health ‘best buys’.[1] However, serious questions remain unasked, including:

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By guest blogger Dr Bob Jacobs, Pys. D

Forward by Martin Whitely 

Dr Bob Jacobs, a US trained psychologist now working in Queensland, originally wrote this piece for the Youth affairs Network of Queensland in 2005.[1] It highlights some of the tricks used by the ADHD Industry to justify the long term drugging of children with amphetamines and other psychotropic drugs.

When evaluating ADHD research Bob warns us to;

1. Watch out for bad science- like failing to disclose if “ADHD” research subjects have been previously “medicated” and thereby confusing the damage done by prescription amphetamines with the subjects “ADHD”.

2. Watch out for bias-  including who paid for the research and have the researchers disclosed any past dealings with commercial interests who may benefit from the research.

3. Think which came first: the chicken or the egg?- are the researchers confusing cause and effect?

4. Look for the false underlying premise- including how the ADHD Industry turns (healthy, normal, human) difference into disease.

Bob’s plain language blog is worth reading and filing for reference when you next consume supposedly ‘independent’ scientific research on the safety and efficacy of ‘ADHD’ drugs.

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