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| Patrick McGorry, "false prophet." |
i·ron·ic - Happening in the opposite way to what is expected, thus typically causing wry amusement.
An article appeared in Psychology Today at the end of May that should raise a few eyebrows within the circles of psychiatry, particularly the Australian community.
Ironically, the article was penned by a psychiatrist who was chair of the DSM-IV Task Force.
Allen Frances, M.D assesses Australian psychiatrist Patrick McGorry, more importantly he questions McGorry's early intervention program and ethics. The first two paragraphs set the tone for what is a pretty accurate assessment of Patrick McGorry:
"Patrick McGorry is a charismatic psychiatrist who has recently gained heroic status. First he was chosen to be Australia's Man Of The Year. Now, he has convinced the Australian government to spend more than $400 million over five years to fund his plan for a nationwide system of Early Psychosis Prevention and Intervention Centres. McGorry is the visionary prophet and pied piper of preventive psychiatry. His goal is to diagnose mental disorders early and treat them expectantly- before they can do their worst damage.
"McGorry's goal is certainly great. But its current achievement is simply impossible and Australia's plans are patently premature. Early intervention to prevent psychosis requires first that there be an accurate tool to identify who will later become psychotic and who will not. Unfortunately, no such accurate tool exists. The false positive rate in selecting prepsychosis is at least about 60-70% in the very best of hands and may be as high as 90% in general practice. That's right, folks, nine misidentified non patients for one accurately identified truly prepsychotic patient. Those are totally unacceptable odds."
The whole article smacks of irony considering it was written by a former chair of The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders [DSM], nonetheless its author pulls no punches when describing McGorry as a "false prophet" and a "pied piper of preventive psychiatry."
Frances calls into account the Australian governments $400 million expenditure on McGorry's early intervention program and adds that it is "likely to be a failure."
So, it's not only me and the likes of CCHR and Western Australian MP Martin Whitely who think McGorry's program lacks any real scientific evidence.
I can't wait to see the spin from McGorry & Co on this latest opposition to his sideshow. It will be a first if a former author of the DSM is labelled a Scientologist! - Now that would be irony.
Your move McGorry.
Full article HERE.
Hat-tip: CCHR International
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