Fred Ernst
@fredernst.bsky.social
Retired Clinical Psychologist and Professor; proud dad of four and grandad of many. Owned by two crazy whippets.
Reposted by Fred Ernst
A downside of the consistanly 'validating' therapist: they invariably collude & rarely challenge reinforcing biases, blind-spots, harmful beliefs/behaviours. By putting feeling-states above facts, they foster dependency, a victim mentality & reality avoidance. All inhibit change
May 2, 2025 at 7:30 AM
A downside of the consistanly 'validating' therapist: they invariably collude & rarely challenge reinforcing biases, blind-spots, harmful beliefs/behaviours. By putting feeling-states above facts, they foster dependency, a victim mentality & reality avoidance. All inhibit change
Reposted by Fred Ernst
Looking forward to this event
This June, we'll be joined by @joannamoncrieff.bsky.social at Berwins Salon North. She'll take us on a deep dive into the serotonin theory of depression, shedding light on the forces that shape the way we perceive and treat depression today.
Find out more: bit.ly/BSNJune
@berwins.bsky.social
Find out more: bit.ly/BSNJune
@berwins.bsky.social
May 2, 2025 at 12:00 PM
Looking forward to this event
Reposted by Fred Ernst
"When patients...being ‘treated’ by psychiatric services are then informed that the drugs they took [for years] in the hope of recovery, were exactly what robbed them of the chance to lead their best life, their pain & loss becomes unbearable".
www.madintheuk.com/2023/03/pate...
www.madintheuk.com/2023/03/pate...
Paternalism and psychiatry - Mad in the UK
It seems to me that many doctors who self-select to do postgraduate training in psychiatry are attracted to the profession largely in a quest for self-realisation. Once trained, they pride themselves ...
www.madintheuk.com
April 26, 2025 at 7:29 AM
"When patients...being ‘treated’ by psychiatric services are then informed that the drugs they took [for years] in the hope of recovery, were exactly what robbed them of the chance to lead their best life, their pain & loss becomes unbearable".
www.madintheuk.com/2023/03/pate...
www.madintheuk.com/2023/03/pate...
Reposted by Fred Ernst
When the right complains about 'over-diagnosis' they really mean people aren't suffering at all & so don't warrent support. For the left that's disengenious, as people's suffering is real, but rather points to psycho-social problems that over-medicalisation mistreats & ignores.
April 24, 2025 at 7:58 PM
When the right complains about 'over-diagnosis' they really mean people aren't suffering at all & so don't warrent support. For the left that's disengenious, as people's suffering is real, but rather points to psycho-social problems that over-medicalisation mistreats & ignores.
Reposted by Fred Ernst
As bogus race science gains influence, two relevant 2023 Twitter threads I posted on the faulty within- and between-group "IQ heritability" evidence cited in "The Bell Curve."
🧵Within-group IQ heritability:
x.com/jayjoseph22/...
🧵Between-group IQ genetic differences:
x.com/jayjoseph22/...
🧵Within-group IQ heritability:
x.com/jayjoseph22/...
🧵Between-group IQ genetic differences:
x.com/jayjoseph22/...
April 19, 2025 at 4:26 PM
As bogus race science gains influence, two relevant 2023 Twitter threads I posted on the faulty within- and between-group "IQ heritability" evidence cited in "The Bell Curve."
🧵Within-group IQ heritability:
x.com/jayjoseph22/...
🧵Between-group IQ genetic differences:
x.com/jayjoseph22/...
🧵Within-group IQ heritability:
x.com/jayjoseph22/...
🧵Between-group IQ genetic differences:
x.com/jayjoseph22/...
Reposted by Fred Ernst
We are just standing back and allowing the minds of our young people to be poisoned. It’s not the phone, it’s the content. Social media providers *have* to be made accountable for the content on their platforms. #AntiSocialMedia
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
Barking at female staff and blocking doorways: teachers warn of rise in misogyny and racism in UK schools
Survey finds social media main cause of poor behaviour, with pupils mimicking Donald Trump and Andrew Tate
www.theguardian.com
April 19, 2025 at 10:21 AM
We are just standing back and allowing the minds of our young people to be poisoned. It’s not the phone, it’s the content. Social media providers *have* to be made accountable for the content on their platforms. #AntiSocialMedia
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
Reposted by Fred Ernst
If anyone is reconsidering taking antidepressants after watching my @channel4news.bsky.social #WaysToChangeTheWorld podcast, this blog may be useful joannamoncrieff.com/2022/07/24/h...
How to take the news that depression has not been shown to be caused by a chemical imbalance
Summary TL;DR For decades people have been told that depression is caused by a serotonin deficiency. This was the rationale behind the introduction of the SSRI (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibit…
joannamoncrieff.com
April 18, 2025 at 11:46 AM
If anyone is reconsidering taking antidepressants after watching my @channel4news.bsky.social #WaysToChangeTheWorld podcast, this blog may be useful joannamoncrieff.com/2022/07/24/h...
Reposted by Fred Ernst
The idea that depression is in the brain stops us fixing the social problems that cause it in the first place. Honoured to be interviewed by @krishgm.bsky.social
on #WaysToChangeTheWorld. A tough conversation. #ChemicallyImbalanced #depression www.youtube.com/watch?v=BR_S...
on #WaysToChangeTheWorld. A tough conversation. #ChemicallyImbalanced #depression www.youtube.com/watch?v=BR_S...
'Antidepressants are like alcohol or cannabis' | Joanna Moncrieff
YouTube video by Channel 4 News
www.youtube.com
April 16, 2025 at 2:13 PM
The idea that depression is in the brain stops us fixing the social problems that cause it in the first place. Honoured to be interviewed by @krishgm.bsky.social
on #WaysToChangeTheWorld. A tough conversation. #ChemicallyImbalanced #depression www.youtube.com/watch?v=BR_S...
on #WaysToChangeTheWorld. A tough conversation. #ChemicallyImbalanced #depression www.youtube.com/watch?v=BR_S...
Reposted by Fred Ernst
The idea ADHD is a neurologically fixed & unchanging disability is scientifically unsupported. It's also sowing demoralisation in the younger generation, who, believing this, fear personal change is not possible. Useful NYT article exploring these themes👇
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/13/m...
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/13/m...
Have We Been Thinking About A.D.H.D. All Wrong?
With diagnoses at a record high, some experts have begun to question our assumptions about the condition — and how to treat it.
www.nytimes.com
April 14, 2025 at 7:15 AM
The idea ADHD is a neurologically fixed & unchanging disability is scientifically unsupported. It's also sowing demoralisation in the younger generation, who, believing this, fear personal change is not possible. Useful NYT article exploring these themes👇
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/13/m...
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/13/m...
Reposted by Fred Ernst
Review of Chemically Imbalanced: 'How can it be that one in 5 of us is ingesting a substance that 1. Purports to treat a disease for which there is no proof 2. Doesn’t do “what it says on the tin” 3. Gives rise to dependence & significant side effects.. www.amazon.co.uk/Chemically-I...
April 1, 2025 at 12:20 PM
Review of Chemically Imbalanced: 'How can it be that one in 5 of us is ingesting a substance that 1. Purports to treat a disease for which there is no proof 2. Doesn’t do “what it says on the tin” 3. Gives rise to dependence & significant side effects.. www.amazon.co.uk/Chemically-I...
Reposted by Fred Ernst
Not just history: Sargant's central idea that emotional difficulties can be pinpointed to a brain mechanism is alive and well. It continues to blind psychiatrists to the harmful effects of using drugs and other things to mess with the brain www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
‘He still features in my nightmares’: how a sinister psychiatrist put hundreds of women in deep, drug-induced comas
In the 1960s, William Sargant used a combination of narcosis and ECT to ‘reprogram’ troubled young women. Now his patients, including the actor Celia Imrie and the former model Linda Keith, are trying...
www.theguardian.com
March 30, 2025 at 11:43 AM
Not just history: Sargant's central idea that emotional difficulties can be pinpointed to a brain mechanism is alive and well. It continues to blind psychiatrists to the harmful effects of using drugs and other things to mess with the brain www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
Reposted by Fred Ernst
OK, let's start with these examples of turning biological psychiatry papers into comics. (Non-existent "genetic predispositions" should be added as a soil layer.)
March 30, 2025 at 2:23 PM
OK, let's start with these examples of turning biological psychiatry papers into comics. (Non-existent "genetic predispositions" should be added as a soil layer.)
Reposted by Fred Ernst
'A mental health diagnosis is just a label – and usually an unhelpful one'. I discuss the issue of overdiagnosis with Prof Susan McPherson in @theconversation.com theconversation.com/are-mental-h...
Are mental health conditions overdiagnosed in the UK? Two experts go head to head
Experts challenge Streeting’s claim about ‘over-diagnosis’, and bring some nuance to the debate.
theconversation.com
March 19, 2025 at 5:57 PM
'A mental health diagnosis is just a label – and usually an unhelpful one'. I discuss the issue of overdiagnosis with Prof Susan McPherson in @theconversation.com theconversation.com/are-mental-h...
Reposted by Fred Ernst
This map of psych-drug consumption was published in the Lancet Psych, 2021. The authors conclude, in so many words, that we should aim to turn the entire map closer to red, as though such unashamed psychotropic imperialism would enable a better world.... What say you?
February 24, 2025 at 8:44 AM
This map of psych-drug consumption was published in the Lancet Psych, 2021. The authors conclude, in so many words, that we should aim to turn the entire map closer to red, as though such unashamed psychotropic imperialism would enable a better world.... What say you?
Reposted by Fred Ernst
Aftab misses the point in this review. Psychiatry and Pharma have constructed and promoted the medical framework that was so misleading to the author and many others and leads to the cascade of pointless and harmful interventions she endured www.psychiatrymargins.com/p/a-memoir-f...
A Memoir For the Iatrogenic Age
A Review of Laura Delano's "Unshrunk"
www.psychiatrymargins.com
February 25, 2025 at 12:08 PM
Aftab misses the point in this review. Psychiatry and Pharma have constructed and promoted the medical framework that was so misleading to the author and many others and leads to the cascade of pointless and harmful interventions she endured www.psychiatrymargins.com/p/a-memoir-f...
Reposted by Fred Ernst
"'Distilling years of significant research, studies and academic papers into an easily understood and readable investigation and analysis, directed at average people who want to understand the broader subject of 'depression'" www.amazon.co.uk/Chemically-I...
Chemically Imbalanced: The Making and Unmaking of the Serotonin Myth
Buy Chemically Imbalanced: The Making and Unmaking of the Serotonin Myth by Joanna Moncrieff (ISBN: 9781803996790) from Amazon's Book Store. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders.
www.amazon.co.uk
February 25, 2025 at 12:10 PM
"'Distilling years of significant research, studies and academic papers into an easily understood and readable investigation and analysis, directed at average people who want to understand the broader subject of 'depression'" www.amazon.co.uk/Chemically-I...
Reposted by Fred Ernst
"Whatever your disposition is to the subject of 'depression', its cause or possible best 'cure' - READ THIS BOOK. Reading it ought to be the first prescription given to patients before ever thinking of taking a pill" www.amazon.co.uk/Chemically-I...
Chemically Imbalanced: The Making and Unmaking of the Serotonin Myth
Buy Chemically Imbalanced: The Making and Unmaking of the Serotonin Myth by Joanna Moncrieff (ISBN: 9781803996790) from Amazon's Book Store. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders.
www.amazon.co.uk
February 25, 2025 at 12:12 PM
"Whatever your disposition is to the subject of 'depression', its cause or possible best 'cure' - READ THIS BOOK. Reading it ought to be the first prescription given to patients before ever thinking of taking a pill" www.amazon.co.uk/Chemically-I...
Reposted by Fred Ernst
Psychiatric Drug Approvals Questioned by Researchers
Drugs were approved by the FDA based on flimsy evidence and against the recommendations of medical reviewers.
By Peter Simons
Drugs were approved by the FDA based on flimsy evidence and against the recommendations of medical reviewers.
By Peter Simons
Psychiatric Drug Approvals Questioned by Researchers
Drugs were approved by the FDA based on flimsy evidence and against the recommendations of medical reviewers.
buff.ly
February 17, 2025 at 2:41 PM
Psychiatric Drug Approvals Questioned by Researchers
Drugs were approved by the FDA based on flimsy evidence and against the recommendations of medical reviewers.
By Peter Simons
Drugs were approved by the FDA based on flimsy evidence and against the recommendations of medical reviewers.
By Peter Simons
Reposted by Fred Ernst
A very enjoyable event with a great audience! Thank you for inviting me
We had a great evening with Joanna Moncrieff last night. A very interesting talk about her new book 'Chemically Imbalanced' which details her many years of research challenging the serotonin theory of depression. We finished with a great Q&A and it left our audience with a lot to think about.
February 12, 2025 at 7:01 PM
A very enjoyable event with a great audience! Thank you for inviting me
Reposted by Fred Ernst
I am looking forward to @lauradelano.bsky.social 's new book to be published soon. Early review describes it as: 'A courageous, insightful, beautifully written book challenging major tenets of Big Pharma and mainstream psychiatry' www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews...
UNSHRUNK | Kirkus Reviews
Finding herself—off of meds.
www.kirkusreviews.com
February 12, 2025 at 7:12 PM
I am looking forward to @lauradelano.bsky.social 's new book to be published soon. Early review describes it as: 'A courageous, insightful, beautifully written book challenging major tenets of Big Pharma and mainstream psychiatry' www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews...
Reposted by Fred Ernst
In case you missed it, my reply to @awaisaftab.bsky.social is reposted here www.madintheuk.com/2025/02/wish...
Wishful thinking dressed up in scientific terminology: a reply to Awais Aftab - Mad in the UK
Professor Joanna Moncrieff replies to the criticism levelled at her new book Chemically Imbalanced by Awais Aftab
www.madintheuk.com
February 12, 2025 at 7:13 PM
In case you missed it, my reply to @awaisaftab.bsky.social is reposted here www.madintheuk.com/2025/02/wish...
Reposted by Fred Ernst
Exercise for Depression: Better Than Antidepressants
With a number needed to treat (NNT) of 2, exercise looks much better than psychiatric drugs for depression.
By Peter Simons
With a number needed to treat (NNT) of 2, exercise looks much better than psychiatric drugs for depression.
By Peter Simons
Exercise for Depression: Better Than Antidepressants
With a number needed to treat (NNT) of 2, exercise looks much better than psychiatric drugs for depression.
buff.ly
February 10, 2025 at 12:27 PM
Exercise for Depression: Better Than Antidepressants
With a number needed to treat (NNT) of 2, exercise looks much better than psychiatric drugs for depression.
By Peter Simons
With a number needed to treat (NNT) of 2, exercise looks much better than psychiatric drugs for depression.
By Peter Simons
Reposted by Fred Ernst
This is a brilliant peice on how the pro-diagnosis & pro-psychiatry left, are letting the left down more broadly: "When [left-wing] activists talk uncritically about depression, they breathe life into a construct thoroughly shaped by capitalist imperatives.'
www.madintheuk.com/2025/02/what...
www.madintheuk.com/2025/02/what...
What if being miserable isn’t an illness? - Mad in the UK
John Cromby discusses alternative perspectives to the psychiatric reification of ‘depression’ which medicalises distress
www.madintheuk.com
February 10, 2025 at 11:14 AM
This is a brilliant peice on how the pro-diagnosis & pro-psychiatry left, are letting the left down more broadly: "When [left-wing] activists talk uncritically about depression, they breathe life into a construct thoroughly shaped by capitalist imperatives.'
www.madintheuk.com/2025/02/what...
www.madintheuk.com/2025/02/what...
Reposted by Fred Ernst
'Chemically Imbalanced is a brave, fearless and comprehensive demolition of the Big Pharma narrative that depression has a biological cause' review by author Jon Stock www.amazon.co.uk/Chemically-I...
www.amazon.co.uk
February 9, 2025 at 7:39 PM
'Chemically Imbalanced is a brave, fearless and comprehensive demolition of the Big Pharma narrative that depression has a biological cause' review by author Jon Stock www.amazon.co.uk/Chemically-I...
Reposted by Fred Ernst
The dominance of the medical model in mental health provision has driven & exacerbated mental health disability, which is why I'm bemused by disability activists who ardently support it....
February 9, 2025 at 8:14 AM
The dominance of the medical model in mental health provision has driven & exacerbated mental health disability, which is why I'm bemused by disability activists who ardently support it....