HLTHAGE 1CC3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 11: Medicalization, Shyness, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
27 Jun 2018
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11- The Psychopharmaceutical Revolution: Past and Present
Chlorpromazine
oEarly 1950s
oLaborit discovers “chemical lobotomy”- psychiatry’s penicillin
Trying to find new anesthetics after the war, this drug wasn’t the best for
surgery
Surgeon, not psychiatrist- gives substance to psychiatrists who prescribe it to
patients
People become calm after taking them- miracle drug
oEnd to massive instituions
oEnd to custodians
Psychiatrist’s main domain was the massive assylums
Care in the community becomes possible- out patients
oEnd of psychoanalytic dominance
Was in an abstract nebulise called the mind- suddenly med model gets huge
upswing of attention
Talk therapy takes a back seat- no longer caused by people with conflicts in life
and with people, it is changed to be seen as a biological process
oEnd of therapeutic nihilism
No longer a dead end job for psychiatrists- we have our own meds to improve
people
oStart
Better Living Through Chemistry
oExplosion of curiosity in biology of mental illness in the 1950s
Lithium- first mood stabilizer
Imipramine- first antidepressant
LSD- not street drug at this time, used among doctors to experience what their
patients do
Now being usedto change the way terminal people think about death
oMiltown extends beyond psych circles
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Industry and pharmacies could not keep up with demand
Prescriptions rose through the roof
“Mother’s Little Helpers”- the thing that gets house wives through the day
A drug for ladies?
oEmotional problems, like woman’s frigidity, bride’s uncertainty, and wife’s infidelity
When woman doesn’t enjoy sex, bride is nervous, etc- framed ass medical
problems
Wheres the intersection of medical science with the social world
oKeeping women in place- ie. Those who wanted to keep wartime jobs, education,
singledom, etc.
Era of second wave feminism
Women have to fill men’s roles- many women didn’t want to return to the
housewife role
Women are beginning to educate themselves more and these things get
reframed as medical problems
Ex. If you have a marriage and wife doesn’t want to be at home anymore. Leads
to conflict and frustration. Sent to the physician and he doesn’t pay attention to
social theories, its all medical terms- tense, stressed, angry- youre mentally ill
Minor tranquilizers
oNot just treating women’s symptoms (men used it too), but treating the symptoms of a
middle-class American culture
A social problem we are responding to on an individual basis with medication
oEventual fears over “zombie nation” led to backlash. New drugs, cycle repeats (valium,
to Prozac, and so on)
Sometimes drug name changes but we repeat this over and over
No longer drugged up women- drugged up children
Psychopharmacology as Big Business
oNew industry driven by private companies, not public universities
oOn back of SSRI boom, antidepressants and anti-psychotics pulled in $15-20 billion
dollars annually
o> GDP for Lebanon, Bosnia, Uruguay, Kenya, Iceland, Estonia, Montenegro, Costa Rica,
etc...
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Basic principles
oCritics: although drug companies compete, share common interests
Greater the number of mental disorders, wider their product possibilities
The higher the rate of mental disorders, the larger the market
The more severe an illness is considered, the more a treatment is needed
S.A.D- life threatening disease? Pressure to treat
The more biologically driven, the greater the potential for drug treatment
Disease Mongering
oDisease mongering- extending boundaries of treatable illness to expand markets for
new products
Mongering is someone who sells something
Tries to make the disease more public, seem like a greater threat etc, making
more symptoms makes more people “mentally ill”
oSocial construction of illness- corporate construction of disease
Psychosis is strange and easily identifiable- early understanding as a disorder
We decide what counts as a symptom and what doesn’t
oDisease awareness campaigns linked to companies’ marketing strategies
Seems like a good thing- directing people to resources etc
More complex than a universal good- something else is going on here, not only
about getting people better but spreading that it’s more common etc.
None of it suggests that depression is not an actual problem
oAlliance of drug companies, patient groups promote their particular condition as
widespread, serious, treatable.
Types of disease Mongering
oOrdinary life processes turned into medical problems- medicalization
Shyness reconceptualised into social anxiety disorder- reframed as a disease
oMild symptoms portrayed as serious, life threatening diseases
Potential threat is blown up- hyperactivity threat is very minimal but seen as
something that parents MUST intervein so their kid doesn’t fail
oPersonal or social problems recast as medical ones (Thomas Szazs approach)
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Chlorpromazine: early 1950s, laborit discovers chemical lobotomy - psychiatry"s penicillin. Trying to find new anesthetics after the war, this drug wasn"t the best for surgery. Surgeon, not psychiatrist- gives substance to psychiatrists who prescribe it to patients. People become calm after taking them- miracle drug: end to massive instituions, end to custodians. Care in the community becomes possible- out patients: end of psychoanalytic dominance. Was in an abstract nebulise called the mind- suddenly med model gets huge upswing of attention. Talk therapy takes a back seat- no longer caused by people with conflicts in life and with people, it is changed to be seen as a biological process: end of therapeutic nihilism. No longer a dead end job for psychiatrists- we have our own meds to improve people: start. Better living through chemistry: explosion of curiosity in biology of mental illness in the 1950s. Lsd- not street drug at this time, used among doctors to experience what their patients do.
