by Brent Robbins
Journal of Psychological Issues in Organizational Culture, 1(4), 2-79.
The pharmaceutical industry, especially the sale of psychiatric drugs, is one of the most profitable businesses in the... more
The pharmaceutical industry, especially the sale of psychiatric drugs, is one of the most profitable businesses in the world. Because of its large profits, these companies find themselves in a position to invest enormous amounts of resources into the sale and marketing of their products. At times, their intense marketing tactics exert an economic influence on the research and practice of psychiatry that threatens to have a deleterious effect on the credibility and validity of psychiatric interventions. The loss of credibility and validity in psychiatric science may undermine public trust in psychiatry’s ability to meet the medical and psychological needs of patients with mental disorders. By investigating the conflicts of interest in the research of psychiatric medications and exploring the recent past in which the efficacy of antidepressants has been called into question, the logic of this analysis leads us to caution psychiatric consumers about the efficacy and safety of atypical
antipsychotic medications, especially when used for psychiatric treatment of vulnerable populations such as children and the
elderly. These cautions extend also to the decision of the DSM-5 task force to consider the inclusion of pediatric bipolar disorder, attenuated psychotic symptoms syndrome (also known as psychotic risk syndrome), and temper dysregulation disorder for the forthcoming fith edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. The investigation into conflicts of interest between the pharmaceutical industry and medical research in psychiatry leads us to the tentative conclusion that the DSM-5 task force should place a moratorium on consideration of any new diagnostic category that would promote the prescription of antipsychotic medications to children or other vulnerable populations, such as the elderly.
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