People Are More Important Than Pills In Recovery From Mental Disorder

Abstract

Long-term research has shown that many people diagnosed with schizophrenia fully recover. Helping relationships, including psychotherapy, play a much more important role than medications in recovery. This vital information, which could bring hope to countless millions, is routinely suppressed by the pharmaceutical industry. The industry's control of psychiatric research, publications, and training has insured the dominance of the unfounded assertion that all mental illnesses are due to biological brain disorder. Instead, research conducted at the National Empowerment Center (NEC) has emphasized the importance of hope, self-determination, and assistance from people who believe in you. Recovery is facilitated by helping relationships based on trust, understanding, and safety. NEC has developed a new training program, Personal Assistance in Community Existence (PACE), which is based on these principles. PACE is designed to shift the culture of mental health care from an overreliance on pills. People, not pills, are crucial to recovery.