Science Over Stigma: Education and Advocacy for Mental Health

218 Pages·2021·2.675 MB·English

by  Daniel B. Morehead M.D.

SCIENCE
OVER STIGMA
Education and Advocacy
for Mental Health
Daniel B. Morehead, M.D.
SCIENCE OVER
STIGMA
Education and Advocacy for
Mental Health

SCIENCE OVER
STIGMA
Education and Advocacy for
Mental Health
Daniel B. Morehead, M.D.
Note: The authors have worked to ensure that all information in this book is
accurate at the time of publication and consistent with general psychiatric and
medical standards, and that information concerning drug dosages, schedules,
and routes of administration is accurate at the time of publication and consis-
tent with standards set by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the gen-
eral medical community. As medical research and practice continue to advance,
however, therapeutic standards may change. Moreover, specific situations may
require a specific therapeutic response not included in this book. For these rea-
sons and because human and mechanical errors sometimes occur, we recom-
mend that readers follow the advice of physicians directly involved in their care
or the care of a member of their family.
Books published by American Psychiatric Association Publishing represent the
findings, conclusions, and views of the individual authors and do not necessar-
ily represent the policies and opinions of American Psychiatric Association
Publishing or the American Psychiatric Association.
If you wish to buy 50 or more copies of the same title, please go to www.appi.org/
specialdiscounts for more information.
Copyright © 2021 American Psychiatric Association Publishing
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
First Edition
Manufactured in the United States of America on acid-free paper
25 24 23 22 21 5 4 3 2 1
American Psychiatric Association Publishing
800 Maine Avenue SW
Suite 900
Washington, DC 20024-2812
www.appi.org
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Morehead, Daniel B., author. | American Psychiatric Association Publishing,
issuing body.
Title: Science over stigma : education and advocacy for mental health / Daniel B.
Morehead.
Description: First edition. | Washington, DC : American Psychiatric Association
Publishing, [2021] | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2021003320 (print) | LCCN 2021003321 (ebook) | ISBN
9781615373079 (paperback ; alk. paper) | ISBN 9781615373819 (ebook)
Subjects: MESH: Mental Disorders | Mental Health Services | Social Stigma |
Patient Advocacy
Classification: LCC RC454 (print) | LCC RC454 (ebook) | NLM WM 140 |
DDC 616.89—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021003320
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021003321
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A CIP record is available from the British Library.
Contents
About the Author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .vii
Acknowledgments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi
Daniel H. Gillison Jr.
1
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
2
What Is Mental Illness? . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27
3
Mental Illness Is Common . . . . . . . . . . . .37
4
Is Mental Illness a Myth? . . . . . . . . . . . . .55
5
Mental Illness Is Real . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .73
6
Mental Illness Is Serious. . . . . . . . . . . . . .95
7
Mental Illness Is Nobody’s Fault . . . . . .117
8
Mental Illness Is Treatable . . . . . . . . . . .137
9
Mental Illness Is Our Teacher. . . . . . . . .165
10
Afterword: A Vision of Unity . . . . . . . .185
Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .191

About the
Author
Daniel B. Morehead, M.D., is a psychiatrist in private practice in Austin,
Texas, and Boston, Massachusetts. He speaks regularly for mental health
advocacy and is clinical assistant professor of psychiatry at Tufts University
Medical Center. He is also former assistant residency director at the Men-
ninger Clinic, where he received the William C. Menninger Teaching
Award. He is board certified in General Psychiatry and Neuropsychiatry
and maintains interests in brain science, psychotherapy, and spirituality.
vii

Acknowledgments
This book began many years ago with a talk for a local faith community (re-
quested by my wife, who happened to be a minister there). Four people at-
tended. The next occasion occurred at a community mental health conference,
where organizers were surprised to receive a capacity crowd of 800 attendees.
And so I would first like to thank Rev. Carol Morehead and Fonda Latham,
M.S.W., the accomplished leaders who initiated my participation in their
advocacy programs. In a similar way, I am grateful to Karen Ranus of NAMI,
Kay Warren of Saddleback Church, Barbara Johnson, John McFarland,
J.D., Carol and Don Hollins, Douglas Brown, Dan Chun, M.Div., Laura
Roberts M.D., and many others for taking a chance on my ability to advocate
and giving me opportunities to do so.
The generous people who reviewed the manuscript for this book surely
deserve some special (yet to be specified) reward: JT. Kittridge, Charles
Morehead, David Morehead, M.D., Marcia Morehead, M.S.W., Andy
Montgomery, Manley Clodfelter, M.D., Kim Paffenroth, Ph.D., Don
Stephenson, Lisa Madsen, M.D., Allan Cole, Ph.D., Steve Sonnenberg, M.D.,
and Paul Summergrad, M.D. The later two, along with Glen Gabbard, M.D.,
have offered vital mentoring and encouragement along the way, for which
I will always be grateful. Doug Beach of NAMI has been especially energetic
in his support and encouragement, and for me represents the tireless efforts
of so many advocates over so many years, efforts that continue to bear fruit.
All advocacy springs from the work of those who have gone before us:
Those who have experienced mental illness, their families, advocates, and
helpers and treaters of all kinds (from caretakers to doctors and nurses). All
of us who care about mental health owe them a profound debt. Personally,
I will be forever indebted to my own patients, who have been the most pa-
tient and humble of teachers. Most of all, I want to acknowledge the scien-
tists whose work provides the foundation for this book. Nothing in the text
that follows is truly original; everything is drawn from the patient and pain-
staking work of numberless researchers in the fields of psychiatry, medi-
cine, psychology, sociology, and spirituality. A few of them are famous, but
we owe just as much to those whose names we will never know. All of them
ix