Comments on: Reflections on the DSM Process and Academic Freedom

By: David N. Elkins, PhD

David N. Elkins, PhD — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 17:08:59 +0000

It’s called the “corporatization of
American education.” It’s unfortunate that corporations now buy small colleges and universities and convert them into online cash cows. Academic freedom and quality typically go out the window because the name of the game is to make as much money as possible. And if you think this only happens at small, private colleges, there are major universities that have entire wings funded by corporations who pay for the buildings and the faculty — and “all” they ask in return is that the researchers focus on whatever the corporation tells them to focus on. Your university should be ashamed of itself for limiting your freedom to express your views. It has a right to ask that you not represent your views as though they are the university’s views — beyond that, your university is going too far. Whatever happened to the idea that the university is a place that supports the free exchange of ideas — a place where no one decides beforehand what is true and what is not — but encourages dialogue and debate on even the most provocative issues. I hope you find the courage to continue to speak out and I hope your university administrators stop acting like CEOs. University administrators should be there to support faculty and students who are at the center of everything, or should be. However, many administrators now think they are the “big shots” and they increasingly are taking traditional freedoms away from faculty. Stay strong.

By: skillsnotpills

skillsnotpills — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 02:07:56 +0000

Having perused your site tonight, this is my last comment, and it is pretty damn harsh, but needs to be said.

After watching the fiasco of the 1995 elections that narrowly elected Harold Eist over Stephen Sharfstein over managed care issues as the driving theme that divided the candidates, I dropped my membership as I watched 48% of members vote for what was Dr Sharfstein’s unspoken platform of “managed care is here to stay, deal with it.” And now, active membership elected this bozo Dr Schatzberg as president. I do not really care when others will attack me for my Nazi analogies, but this is yet another example of how the ignorance or covert agenda of the masses in our field will feed on the innocence of those who mistakenly look to us as physicians for help and care.

As the issues take shape, the overall direction of psychiatrty is evil to me. I hope and pray someone with significance can expose the APA once and for all as the fairly much criminal element it has degraded to these past 10 years. I know that last statement is harsh and probably out of line.

So has been the leadership of my profession!!!

By: Therapy Patient

Therapy Patient — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 23:18:12 +0000

You are a real hero, Dr. Bremner, for pursuing this and keeping it in the public eye despite the bullies.

By: Marian

Marian — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 17:02:04 +0000

I don’t see, that we ever have had much of a discussion, as you yet would have to come up with some factual arguments. I don’t “discuss” ad hominem.

By: Gina Pera

Gina Pera — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 16:24:02 +0000

Unfortunately, many people are too uneducated to understand the science or too ignorant to accept that other people might just be smarter than they are.

I am polite enough to respond when spoken to, but you are clearly never interested in a discussion, Marian. So, please don’t knock on my door anymore looking for a fight.

By: Marian

Marian — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 15:52:45 +0000

Gina Pera: If the science was hard, what would they have to fear?…

By: Gina Pera

Gina Pera — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 15:36:40 +0000

“By stiffling debate and creating a corporate type approach they are going against the very principles of science and academic freedom. One can only conclude that they feel insecure about the validity of their deliberations.”

—-
Not to defend what is indefensible (and honestly, I just don’t know the history well enough to have an opinion), but I wonder how much the alleged secrecy, etc. springs from the groundswell of anti-psychiatry, anti-medication wingnuts on the Internet.

The vehemence and, frankly, blatant mental illness, behind much of the chatter would be enough to make one paranoid. The simplistic notions, the total rejection of science, the outright pathology in many cases, is enough to make even the most die-hard creationist blanche.

Moreover, when you have “healthcare” reporters such as NYTimes Gardiner Harris denying the existence of bi-polar disorder in children (excuse me…where’s his doctorate in neuroscience?), they can’t trust the media to get it right, either.

Let’s don’t even start with grandstanding politicians like Grassley — the patron saint of the “mental illness is a social construct” crowd.

By: Doug Bremner

Doug Bremner — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 14:42:22 +0000

Hi David, it is actually the Veterans Administration (VA) which is is a federal institution and employs me as a part time physician and also supports part of my research program. Whether they have the legal right to over-ride my rights in the first amendment for free speech is an interesting question. “Academic rights” is also another interesting question which may vary by country (see Dan’s link above).

By: David Colquhoun

David Colquhoun — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 14:25:36 +0000

I’d be very interested to know how many universities demand approval from a PR person(ie specialist in lying) before an academic is allowed to talk to the press. That is not, thank heavens, the case at UCL, and I’m not sure how common it is.

By: Marian

Marian — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 13:17:18 +0000

All this reminds me of a Churchill-quote, someone I know uses as an e-mail signature: “You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.”