Rethinking Psychiatry:
How the Failure to Identify the Biological Causes of Major Mental Disorders Opens Up New Possibilities for Long-term Recovery

Join us for a special in person lecture featuring Robert Whitaker, author of five books, three of which tell of the history of psychiatry. In 2010, his Anatomy of an Epidemic: Magic Bullets, Psychiatric Drugs, and the Astonishing Rise of Mental Illness won the U.S. Investigative Reporters and Editors book award for best investigative journalism.

Despite decades of research, the biology of major psychiatric disorders remains unknown. There are no findings that people so diagnosed necessarily suffer from a persistent biological abnormality. The understanding today is that the causes of psychiatric symptoms—psychosis, mania, depression and so forth—are varied, with life events, such as trauma, being common risk factors.

In the absence of regular drug treatment, many people so diagnosed suffer an “episode” of the “illness,” which remits over time. This understanding opens up new avenues for promoting robust recovery: what therapies can help maximize the possibility that a person will suffer an “episode” of illness, rather than suffer from a “chronic” condition?

November 10, 7:00pm
In person at Oscar Peterson Concert Hall, 7141 Sherbrooke West, Montreal
We encourage you to wear masks and to sit distanced in the theatre. 
Free admission, no need to register in advance.
Lecture will be presented in English.
Call 514-486-1448 for more information