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Nautilus has an interesting rundown on how scientific fraud happens and what could possibly be done to correct it written in comic book form. It's a fun little read and oh so true.
The book that it is based on, Science Fictions: How Fraud, Bias, Negligence and Hype Undermine the Search for Truth, is worth reading as well.
Stuart Ritchie is a Lecturer in the Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre at King's College London. His new book, Science Fictions: How Fraud, Bias, Negligence and Hype Undermine the Search for Truth, explains the ideas in this comic, by Zach Weinersmith, in more detail, telling shocking stories of scientific error and misconduct. It also proposes an abundance of ideas for how to rescue science from its current malaise.
How many Soylentils here are in academia? Have you felt the pressure of "publish or perish"?
(Score: 1, Flamebait) by Bot on Saturday August 01 2020, @05:44AM (20 children)
>Stuart Ritchie is a Lecturer in the Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre
So, very well in contact with pseudoscience. A guru basically.
Account abandoned.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Saturday August 01 2020, @06:00AM (19 children)
Psychiatry is flooded with charlatans, that much is true. But, maybe if all the frauds were banished, psychiatry might make some meaningful advances? The author does seem to be asking that scientists get back to science. Do YOU know why crazies are crazy? Wouldn't it be a good thing if we could figure that shit out, and uncrazy the crazies? And, it would be double-plus-good if we figured some of it out, WITHOUT THE USE OF PSYCHOACTIVE DRUGS THAT MAKE THE CRAZIES EVEN CRAZIER!
For instance - I've read a large number of articles that claim that virtually all of the mass shooters have been prescribed drugs for depression and similar. How true is that claim? Well - no one publishes those numbers, that I know of. I don't think anyone actually does the research into it. Real, genuine research. All I have to go on are the claims.
Someone needs to confirm, or refute, the claims. Seriously, if it were found that 68% of all mass shooters were either using, or withdrawing from, these psychoactive drugs - maybe we would decide that the drugs aren't worthwhile? But, we need hard data to come to any conclusions. NOT data supplied by the pharmaceutical companies!
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 01 2020, @08:02AM
IIRC, what raised the alarm was that mass killings went from around once per decade to monthly around a month after these drugs were introduced, and every investigation showed that the perpetrator had been on these drugs but quit cold turkey about three weeks before. The worst part is that the murderous phase is entirely curable if caught in time, with no chance of relapse if the problem drugs aren't taken again. There has been a concerted effort to bury the story for some time now.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by Opportunist on Saturday August 01 2020, @09:39AM (5 children)
It is more likely that the drugs are not the reason but the catalyst. What you have here is a drug that is supposed to help someone get out of the depression slump. How does it does that? By improving the mood and drive.
Now let's ponder what a suicidal murderer might be doing if he had some more drive.
The alternative is to have a suicidal murderer that is just not properly motivated to actually grab a gun and kill people. Sure, it is better than the alternative of a motivated suicidal murderer, but I guess the more worthwhile goal would be to figure out what made him angry enough at society that he wants to kill his fellow people. Because there's one thing that's curious about most of these murder sprees, especially the shootings happening at schools: They happen at schools. Not malls on a Black Friday or before Christmas when you could get a way higher tally.
This ain't murder sprees. These people don't just kill anyone, they pick their targets very specifically.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 01 2020, @02:09PM
2) The kids are pretty much forced to attend those schools.
3) In the USA kids can easily get guns.
4) There's plenty of media coverage of such incidents, so the kids don't have to think of such options by themselves.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 01 2020, @04:57PM (3 children)
Well... Maybe you should read more about how antidepressants actually work. Hint: not like you think. The publicly stated withdrawal symptoms adequately explain the incidents that occur. Many commit suicide, some commit murder, most make it through relatively intact.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 01 2020, @05:43PM
So much this, and if the mental health industry had the mandate and funding to provide the necessary supervision and follow-up, even just weekly scheduled contact with mandatory intervention when problems are detected, the problem could largely be eliminated. But that doesn't give political hacks their talking points, so it will never be done.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 02 2020, @04:35AM
And yet psilocybin is Schedule 1 and banned even for consideration as a therapeutic.
(Score: 2) by Opportunist on Monday August 03 2020, @01:13PM
Trust me. I know how they work. I have a wide spectrum first hand experience of their effects, side effects, withdrawal effects, perceived effects, adverse effects and paradoxical effects.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 01 2020, @11:02AM (1 child)
It was when Tom Cruise and Runaway1955 started bashing psychiatry that I began to thing there was something to it, given how the crazies were getting all "panties up in a bunch" about it. Hmmm, Redneck Hillbilly Scientology, with Guns. Got to be a profitable business plan there, if they can get it away from Florida.
(Score: 2) by Bot on Monday August 03 2020, @02:47PM
Friendly reminder that the socially adjusted citizen, the one who does not need shrinks, believes:
- fiat money printed at debt by private entities is OK
- intellectual property is OK
- microsoft, oracle, and systemd are OK
- Bill Gates is a benefactor
- banks want your well being
- the government wants your well being
- corporations want your well being
- the current pope is catholic
- Israel : palestinians != Nazis : jews
- social services have more rights on a minor than the parents (in absence of past criminal behavior)
If psych* were science, the average guy above would be a lobotomy candidate (we try lobotomizing him to see if it makes any difference).
Therefore it is not science.
Account abandoned.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Gaaark on Saturday August 01 2020, @01:46PM (3 children)
I'm a believer in food allergies causing psych problems.
When I eat dairy, I can feel my brain/emotions changing: I get angry and pissy and hard to live with.
I've heard that studies are being done looking at food allergies for schizophrenia.
I'd love to see more studies in this area.
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 02 2020, @03:35AM (1 child)
Schizophrenia highly correlates with the various gluten digestive disorders. Similarly, idiopathic anger after eating dairy is also strongly correlated with lactose intolerance (in fact it is one of the main diagnostic signs for infants and toddlers). There are other tenuous connections to food and mood disorders. There is also conditioning that can occur and be treated with CBT. Even so, I think it is a large stretch to blame it all on food allergies like some out there would like to do.
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Tuesday August 04 2020, @04:36PM
I think, though, if I had a mental health problem that one of the first things I'd do is get a food allergy test!
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 02 2020, @04:37AM
Maybe your a fucking soyboy and need your avocado toast gluten free.
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 01 2020, @02:35PM
> Psychiatry is flooded with charlatans, that much is true. ....
I think you may want to look at Psychology to deal with your brain-related problems (grin).
(Score: 4, Informative) by pdfernhout on Sunday August 02 2020, @12:46AM (4 children)
by Peter C. Gotzsche: https://www.amazon.com/Deadly-Psychiatry-Organised-Denial-Gotzsche-ebook/dp/B014SO7GHS [amazon.com]
"DEADLY PSYCHIATRY AND ORGANISED DENIAL explains in evidence-based detail why the way we currently use psychiatric drugs does far more harm than good. Professor, Doctor of Medical Science, Peter C. Gøtzsche documents that psychiatric drugs kill more than half a million people every year among those aged 65 and above in the United States and Europe. This makes psychiatric drugs the third leading cause of death, after heart disease and cancer. Gøtzsche explains that we could reduce our current usage of psychotropic drugs by 98% and at the same time improve patients' mental and physical health and survival. It can be difficult, however, to come off the drugs, as many people become dependent on them. As the withdrawal symptoms can be severe, long-lasting and even dangerous, slow tapering is usually necessary.
In his book, Gøtzsche debunks the many myths that leading psychiatrists - very often on drug industry payroll - have created and nurtured over decades in order to conceal the fact that biological psychiatry has generally been a failure. Biological psychiatry sees drugs as the "solution" for virtually all problems, in marked contrast to the patients' views. Most patients don't respond to the drugs they receive but, unfortunately, the psychiatrists' frustrations over the lack of progress often lead to more diagnoses, more drugs and higher doses, harming the patients further."
Pushback on that book got him fired from his job and removed from his position as a co-founder of the Cochrane Collaboration:
https://www.amazon.com/Death-whistleblower-Cochranes-moral-collapse-ebook/dp/B07N927GXC/ [amazon.com]
"Professor Peter C. Gøtzsche co-founded the Cochrane Collaboration in 1993 and has become one of the most respected academics of his time. His career has exposed malfeasance in the pharmaceutical industry, human clinical trials and drug regulatory agencies, empowering Cochrane to evolve into one of the world’s most trusted scientific institutions. However, in September 2018, he was unceremoniously expelled after what can only be described as a show trial that left the rest of the world wondering what happened.
Gøtzsche fought to uphold Cochrane’s original values of transparency, rigorous science, free scientific debates, and collaboration. But instead of maintaining scientific integrity, Cochrane’s leadership had become consumed with managing the charity like a business, promoting its brand and products and demanding the censorship of dissenting views.
For the first time, Gøtzsche pulls back the covers on this unscrupulous process, giving us all access to secret recordings, which reveal how his own organisation betrayed him and mislead millions of people after Cochrane cowered to the threats and intimidation from his critics.
This is the fascinating story about institutional corruption in one of the world’s most venerated charities, which ultimately led to the worst show trial in academia you can imagine."
I donated 1000kr (~US$150) to his effort here:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/scientific-freedom [gofundme.com]
I added the comment: "Donated in memory of Robin Rochlin Cooperman, M.D. in Psychiatry (October 7, 1963 - June 2, 2010). Thank you Peter for your work to make medicine more evidence-based and more humane. It is too late to help Robin, but I can hope your continued work will help many others. You may find the idea of visualizing discussions using argument mapping with IBIS (Issue-Based Information System) useful as you continue to move forward, and I would be happy to discuss that with you if you wanted."
The biggest challenge of the 21st century: the irony of technologies of abundance used by scarcity-minded people.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Sunday August 02 2020, @03:12AM (3 children)
That deserves a +50 informative mod. Seriously, as you point out, dissenting voices are smothered. Big Pharma has far too much influence in all of medicine, and psychiatry/psychology seems to be hardest hit.
I have some rather intimate experience with ADD/ADHD. Asked "How does it affect you? What do you like or don't like?" Answer was, "It just makes me mad all the time. I'm always pissed off, thinking that people are out to get me, so I want to fight." At the same time, the drug obviously robbed the boy of motivation - turning him into a passive zombie.
THAT is what kids deserve, because they are "overly active"????
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 02 2020, @03:42AM
Psychiatry is the easy target in the medical field. It is complex, most of the symptoms are subjective, many medical doctors don't take it seriously, many psychologists don't take it seriously, and patients/guardians want a quick fix.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 02 2020, @04:45AM (1 child)
Not to mention, without studious effort, professors develop a highly inflated sense of their own opinion. *You* work for weeks on a project and *I* give you a few minutes of whatever I can think of off the top of my head. And take 50% of the credit.
This is literally how entire departments work.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Sunday August 02 2020, @05:18AM
That's life in the work place, as well. You can spend months trying to bludgeon an idea into a thick skull, and when it FINALLY sinks in, the boss takes full credit. I mean, it's OBVIOUS that you're a moron peasant, and the idea couldn't have been yours.