Healy, David

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HEALY, David

PERSONAL: Male. Education: University of Dublin, postdoctoral degree, 1979.

ADDRESSES: Offıce—North Wales Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Wales College of Medicine, Hergest Unit, Bangor, Gwynedd LL57 2PW, North Wales, United Kingdom. E-mail—Healy_ [email protected].

CAREER: University of Cambridge, Cambridge, England, clinical research associate in psychiatry, 1986-1990; University of Wales, College of Medicine, Bangor, North Wales, United Kingdom, director of North Wales Department of Psychological Medicine, 1992—.

MEMBER: British Association for Psychopharmacology (former secretary).

WRITINGS:

The Suspended Revolution: Psychiatry and Psychotherapy Re-Examined, Faber & Faber (Boston, MA), 1990.

Images of Trauma: From Hysteria to Post-TraumaticStress Disorder, Faber & Faber (Boston, MA), 1993.

(Editor) Psychotropic Drug Development, Edward Arnold Publishers (London, England), 1996.

The Psychopharmacologists (Volume 1 of 3), Chapman & Hall (New York, NY), 1996.

The Antidepressant Era, Harvard University Press (Cambridge, MA), 1997.

(Editor, with Thomas A. Ban and Edward Shorter) TheRise of Psychopharmacology and the Story of CINP, Animula (Budapest, Hungary), 1998.

Differential Effects of Antidepressants (textbook), Blackwell Science (Boston, MA), 1999.

The Psychopharmacologists II: Interviews, Chapman & Hall (New York, NY), 1999.

The Psychopharmacologists III: Interviews, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 2000.

Psychiatric Drugs Explained, Churchill Livingstone (London, England), 2001.

The Creation of Psychopharmacology, Harvard University Press (Cambridge, MA), 2002.

Let Them Eat Prozac: The Unhealthy Relationship between the Pharmaceutical Industry and Depression, New York University Press (New York, NY), 2004.

Contributor to journals.

SIDELIGHTS: Considered the leading international authority on the history and science of neurochemistry and psychopharmacology, David Healy has written books focusing on the field of psychiatry, neuroses, and more recently the development of psychopharmacology. One of the author's first books on psychiatry was The Suspended Revolution: Psychiatry and Psychotherapy Re-Examined. The book examines the history and decline of psychopathology, which, in European medical circles, is a study of the signs and symptoms of mental disorders in a systematic, hierarchical approach. For Healy, psychopathology should not be abandoned because it offers a precise approach to identifying mental illnesses and distinguishing them from each other. Throughout the book, Healy argues that the psychiatric establishment, especially in terms of community psychiatry, has failed many of its patients by their lack of insights and irrational approaches to treating mental disorders. "He is less strident than most antipsychiatrists in arguing for patients' rights, but he nevertheless makes several telling points," wrote David Cohen in a review for the Times Literary Supplement.

In his 1993 book, Images of Trauma: From Hysteria to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Healy addresses the issue of how psychiatrists define mental illness and tracks how the medical community's perceptions of mental illness have changed over the years since the late 1800s. The author looks at the early perceptions of neurosis and hysteria, and reviews new insights into the human psyche and the role psychoanalysis has played in developing psychiatry. He also discusses the more modern neurobiological approach to psychiatry and delves into specific illnesses such as multiple personalities and post-traumatic stress disorder. David Cohen, writing in the New Scientist, commented that Healy's book "has many interesting sections" but that "it never manages to develop a coherent account of why traumas take particular shapes." Beverley Raphael and Peter Sheehan, writing in the British Medical Journal, felt the book did not follow through in its explorations "to their conclusions" but added that the book does "challenge and engage the reader intensely."

In the modern of era of psychiatry, psychoanalysis, in many ways, has been largely supplanted by psychopharmacology, that is, the use of drugs to treat depression and numerous other mental disorders. In his books, Healy has delved into the history of psychopharmacology and addressed important social and economic issues connected with its development, such as the impact pharmaceutical companies have had on the perception of psychiatric diseases by both medical professionals and the general public. One of the approaches Healy has taken is to interview the psychopharmacologists themselves. As a result, he has written three volumes of interviews with experts called The Psychopharmacologists. Through the memories and anecdotes of these professionals, Healy has compiled a history of the field encompassing its successes and failures through first-hand personal accounts. Writing in the New England Journal of Medicine, Fritz A. Henn called the first volume "a fascinating and a disturbing book." In the Journal of the American Medical Association, reviewers Mary C. Giesler and Winston W. Shen noted that the personal narratives "are of camaraderie and alienation, mentorship and partnership, generosity and jealousy, passion and disappointment, ambition and curiosity." Volume Three of the series was called "a multifaceted account of the travails and rewards of research in psychopharmacology" by Frances R. Frankenburg in a review in the New England Journal of Medicine.

In 1998, Healy gained widespread recognition for his book The Antidepressant Era, which chronicles psychopharmacology's history. Healy begins with the road leading to the discovery of chlorpromazine in 1951 and follows through to the modern-day controversy over whether or not drugs should replace psychotherapy as the primary approach in treating mental illness. Healy also delves into the role pharmaceutical companies have played in promoting the pharmacological approach to treating mental health problems, including their marketing approaches, which he claims not only seek to sell drugs but to foster psychiatric diagnoses as well. B. C. Stuart, writing in Choice, commented that Healy's book is also "a history of how humans perceive disease." Healy also delves into the power of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the efficacy of clinical trials with humans. In a review in Nature, Leslie Iversen commented, "This book is written in an individual and engaging style and the author reveals a deep knowledge of his subject." Merton Sandler, writing in Science, called Healy "a natural raconteur" and noted that the book is "bursting with amusing anecdotes." He added that the author is "both scathing and understanding about . . . the role of the drug companies in what can only be termed 'the making and marketing of depression.'"

In The Creation of Psychopharmacology, Healy continues to delve into the history of the discovery and development of antipsychotic medication and his theme that treatment options are, for the most part, inextricably tied to the pharmaceutical industry and its financial goals. Healy is less concerned with the view of pharmaceutical drug treatments in psychiatry as a triumph as he is with the many "accidents" within neuroscientific research that led to the development of such drugs as chlorpromazine. He also discuses the competition among competing factions within the field of psychiatry. Healy delves into the factors, primarily the influence of pharmaceutical companies, which have fostered the belief among both the psychiatric community and the general public that almost any mental problem can be cured with drugs, from psychopathic behavior and pedophilia to people who are merely shy or unhappy. "Healy uncovers the interrelated mix of forces that have driven us to look to drugs as the answer to these psychological and social discomforts," wrote David Carter in a review for the New Scientist. Carter also noted, "This is a dense, detailed book, but its message is very important." Mary Ann Hughes, writing in the Library Journal, remarked that The Creation of Psychopharmacology is a "detailed history" and that its look at the "'culture' surrounding" psychopharmacology "makes this book unique."

Healy's view of the relationship between pharmaceutical companies and the development of psychopharmacology has led to a controversy within the realms of academia. In 2000, Healy was offered a position as clinical director of the mood and anxiety disorders program at the University of Toronto's Center for Addiction and Mental Health. However, before his appointment Healy came to Toronto and gave a speech in which he addressed his concerns that pharmaceutical companies can negatively impact research by avoiding investigations that may produce data unfavorable to a specific drug. He also pointed out that a certain antidepressant currently on the market may have been responsible for up to 25,000 suicides. Only a few days after his speech, the center, which is heavily funded by a drug company, rescinded its offer to Healy. As a result, many within the academic community cried foul and said that academic freedom was being usurped. Representatives from the center countered that Healy's comments were so extreme that he had lost the support and confidence of many of the scientists he would be overseeing. Healy's answer to that rationale, as quoted in the Report Newsmagazine, was to call it "completely daft," pointing out that everyone knew beforehand how he felt about this issue. Healy eventually filed a lawsuit against the university and the center, which has been settled with Healy receiving an appointment as visiting professor within the university's medical faculty. "We see this settlement as a complete vindication for Dr. Healy," said Vic Catano, vice president of the Canadian Association of University Teachers, in a news release on the association's web site. He added that the settlement "is a clear acknowledgment of the quality and integrity of Healy's scholarly work."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

British Medical Journal, May 1, 1993, Beverley Rapheal and Peter Sheehan, review of Images of Trauma: From Hysteria to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, p. 1207; September 15, 200, Owen Dryer, "University Accused of Violating Academic Freedom to Safeguard Funding from Drug Companies," p. 591.

Choice, December, 1998, B. C. Stuart, review of TheAntidepressant Era, p. 716.

Isis, December, 2000, Joel Braslow, review of TheRise of Psychopharmacology and the Story of CINP, p. 827.

JAMA: Journal of the American Medical Association, August 20, 1997, Mary C. Giesler and Winston W. Shen, review of The Psychopharmacologists, p. 598.

Library Journal, March 15, 2002, Mary Ann Hughes, review of The Creation of Psychopharmacology, p. 98.

Nature, April 2, 1998, Leslie Iversen, review of TheAntidepressant Era, p. 454.

New England Journal of Medicine, July 10, 1997, Fritz A. Henn, review of The Psychopharmacologists, pp. 135-136; September 27, 2001, Frances R. Frankenburg, review of The Psychopharmacologists III, p. 1002.

New Scientist, March 27, 1993, David Cohen, "Fashionable Disordered Minds," review of Images of Trauma, pp. 38-39; March 30, 2002, David Canter, review of The Creation of Psychopharmacology, p. 50.

Nursing Times, January 12, 1994, review of PsychiatricDrugs Explained, p. 53.

Report Newsmagazine, October 8, 2001, Eli Schuster, "Nipping at the Pharmaceutical Giants: The Scientific Community Sees Corporate Funding Undermining Academic Freedom."

Science, March 7, 1997, Leslie Iversen, review of ThePsychopharmacologists, p. 1438; June 12, 1998, Merton Sandler, review of The Antidepressant Era, p. 1709.

Times Literary Supplement, March 23, 1990, David Cohen, "Back from the Darkness," review of The Suspended Revolution: Psychiatry and Psychotherapy Re-Examined, p. 323. October 30, 1998, Mark S. Micale, "Liberated by Librium," review of The Antidepressant Era, pp. 8-9.