It isn’t just GlaxoSmithKline (who called Emory professor Charles “Disgraced” Nemeroff “a recognized world leader in the field of psychiatry”). It’s also the Emory University administration. According to a presumably well-thought-out statement:
Dr. Nemeroff is recognized internationally as a leader in psychiatric research, education and practice. He has made fundamental contributions to the field over many years.
What this says about the moral compass of the Emory administration is clear — that they are unable to grasp the awfulness of what Nemeroff did. (As Emory dean Claudia Adkinson revealed in spades.) If they did, they wouldn’t spend a millisecond defending him. The harder question is: What does this say about psychiatry?
Fifteen years ago, I attended a conference about a new antidepressant. The Harvard equivalents of Nemeroff were stroking their beards while they pontificated about “Type I” and “Type II” depression. The former needed hospitalization and the latter treated as outpatients.
Puckishly, I suggested that actually Type I had insurance and Type II did not.
It is disheartening that the treatments research shows to be the most effective and longest lasting for depression and anxiety — cognitive and other talk therapies — are underpresecribed and not considered primary treatments by many doctors. It is further disheartening that research into the role of nutrition in mental health is underfunded — which seems to be because there is no way to patent nutritional interventions, so no motive for private research funding. Some of Seth’s self-experiments on Omega 3 here, as well as other research support the merit of more research into nutrition for health, as does the intervention proposed by Truehope, which has not been properly researched, but should be given startling evidence of a relationship between nutrition and bipolar, ADHD, and possibly other mental health issues.
Things are indeed seriously awry in psychiatric research.