The Recommended Dose: Episode 2 with Dr Allen Frances

Leading US psychiatrist Dr Allen Frances today warns of the increasing dangers of  over-medicalisation and overdiagnosis in Australia and around the world, saying ‘people are way too frightened of disease, and way too little frightened of the treatments for disease.’Described as one of world ' s most prominent psychiatrists, Dr Allen Frances recently made headlines for the controversial claim that ' Donald Trump isn ' t mad, we are ' . In a new episode of Australian podcast  The Recommended Dose with Ray Moynihan, he shares the thinking behind this now infamous statement and goes on to look at the increasingly critical area of overdiagnosis and labelling of everyday life experiences such as grief and loss as mental illness.  In recent years, Allen Frances  headed the Taskforce which wrote the 4th edition of the  influential psychiatric manual of mental disorders, the DSM. But now, he ' s become one of its loudest critics.  ‘We ' re takingevery day experiences that are part of the human condition and we ' re overdiagnosing them as mental disorders, and way too often providing a pill when there ' s not really a pill solution for every problem in life, ’Dr Frances says.In the interview, Allen Frances also talks candidly about the time when he was the recipient of pharmaceutical company generosity - explaining his feeling now of regret and cautioning young doctors to avoid all financial ties with the industry.And in an analogy that will resonate in Australia - where...
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