Today's date is
Robert Whitaker summarizes his research of the devastating effects of psychiatric medication of non-existent diseases
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Excerpts from the Sept. 2007 AFFIDAVIT OF ROBERT WHITAKER
Excerpts from the Sept. 2007 AFFIDAVIT OF ROBERT WHITAKER
while writing a series for the Boston Globe during the summer of 1998, I came upon two studies that looked at longterm
outcomes for schizophrenia patients that raised questions about this model of care. First, in 1994, Harvard
researchers reported that outcomes for schizophrenia patients in the United States had declined in the past 20 years
and were now no better than they had been in 1900.
4. I wrote Mad in America, in large part, to investigate why schizophrenia patients in the U.S. and other developed
countries fare so poorly. A primary part of that task was researching the scientific literature on schizophrenia and
antipsychotic drugs.
II. Overview of Research Literature on Schizophrenia and Standard Antipsychotic Medications
5. Although the public has often been told that people with schizophrenia suffer from too much “dopamine” in the
brain, researchers who investigated this hypothesis during the 1970s and 1980s were unable to find evidence that
people so diagnosed have, in fact, overactive dopamine systems. Within the psychiatric research community, thisof psychopharmacology, confessed in 1990: “The dopaminergic theory of . . .
outcomes for schizophrenia patients that raised questions about this model of care. First, in 1994, Harvard
researchers reported that outcomes for schizophrenia patients in the United States had declined in the past 20 years
and were now no better than they had been in 1900.
4. I wrote Mad in America, in large part, to investigate why schizophrenia patients in the U.S. and other developed
countries fare so poorly. A primary part of that task was researching the scientific literature on schizophrenia and
antipsychotic drugs.
II. Overview of Research Literature on Schizophrenia and Standard Antipsychotic Medications
5. Although the public has often been told that people with schizophrenia suffer from too much “dopamine” in the
brain, researchers who investigated this hypothesis during the 1970s and 1980s were unable to find evidence that
people so diagnosed have, in fact, overactive dopamine systems. Within the psychiatric research community, thisof psychopharmacology, confessed in 1990: “The dopaminergic theory of . . .