Schizophrenia Prevalence: Fear-Mongering, Fake News & the NIMH

It’s odd what upsets some people. Take E. Fuller Torrey and Elizabeth Sinclair’s recent take on a change in the way a single number — the 12-month prevalence rate of schizophrenia — is displayed on the National Institute of Mental Health’s (NIMH) website. This esoteric number has little impact in most people’s lives. If you live with schizophrenia or know someone who does, they most likely don’t give a hoot about it. Like most people, they probably don’t even know what it means. But these two authors do care, suggesting the number was reduced due to a hypothesized renewed focus on accountability of the NIMH. In their blazing, fear-mongering headline, they boldly claim that “the National Institute of Mental Health Made Two Million People with Schizophrenia Disappear.” So what’s the truth about the numbers with schizophrenia, and what is “fake news?” Let’s find out… Prevalence rates are always estimates — we don’t know with any certainty how many people in a given population actually have a given disease or condition. Researchers generally conduct surveys to find out, most often done by telephone, but sometimes by in-person visits or through analyzing government data. Prevalence rates give researchers a good idea of how prevalent a given disease or condition exists in a country’s population. This can help guide government policy for treatment, whether it be a vaccine for...
Source: World of Psychology - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: General Policy and Advocacy Psychiatry Psychology Research E Fuller Torrey incidence rates of schizophrenia Prevalence Rates prevalence rates of schizophrenia schizophrenia prevalence Treatment Advocacy Center Source Type: blogs