Review by The Cochrane Collaboration cautions about vested interests as possible source of bias in McGorry studies

"However, as with the Australian studies, many of the trials were undertaken by leading figures in the world of early intervention who could have a vested interest in the findings - just as industry has in the outcomes for the drugs they manufacture."

All but one of the many "Australian studies" referred to here have Professor Patrick McGorry as a co-author. It seems clear that former Australian of the Year Prof. McGorry is one of the "leading figures" referred to here as having a potential conflict of interest. I'd say that is an understatement.

If you are going to click on one of the links and have a look at the review, you might wish to check the summary of the main results in the abstract of the systematic review. You'll see that there is very little to get excited about among the results of trials of various early or preemptive interventions for psychosis. The whole idea of preventively treating people who appear to be at risk of developing schizophrenia/psychosis, people with "prodromal symptoms", is not supported by this systematic review:

"At the moment it is not clear whether treating people presenting with prodromal symptoms of schizophrenia provides benefits. There is inconclusive evidence on the personal and social consequences of providing treatment to people who will not necessarily become unwell. Further evidence is needed before recommendations can be given."

This is one type of mental health service that has been most assertively advocated by Professor McGorry. It appears that there is no reason to believe that it is effective, or more beneficial than harmful, but the Gillard Government has committed to spending hundreds of millions of dollars on McGorry's new EPPIC centres that have been promoted as having psychosis prevention and treatment of "prodromal" youth as a major element of their services.

Perhaps you are not familiar with the Cochrane Collaboration, the organization that is behind these systematic reviews. It is probably the world's most respected source of information in medicine. It is my understanding that it doesn't do medical research, but it judges the worth of medical research trials (published or not) and compiles systematic reviews of studies of various medical interventions and drugs, based on only studies that meet certain standards, and if this evidence is searched for but simply doesn't exist, the Cochrane Collaboration makes it clear that no conclusions can be made. The Cochrane Collaboration are like the great big rubbish filter of medical science, and my oh my, there is so much rubbish research published in medical journals.

Sources:

Marshall, M. and Rathbone, J. Early intervention for psychosis. The Cochrane Library. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2011 Issue 6. page 24.
Art. No.: CD004718. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD004718.pub3.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/o/cochrane/clsysrev/articles/CD004718/pdf_fs.html

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/o/cochrane/clsysrev/articles/CD004718/frame.html

Schism opens over ills of the mind.
Sue Dunlevy
The Australian.
June 16, 2011.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/features/schism-opens-over-ills-of-the-mind/story-e6frg6z6-1226075910650

June 20th World Refugee Day

"Each year the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) celebrates World Refugee Day on 20 June. The global theme for World Refugee Day in 2011 is “1 refugee without hope is too many.”"

UNHCR
World Refugee Day 2011
http://www.unhcr.org.au/unhcr/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=216&Itemid=95

Protest rallies are planned to mark this occasion in cities around Australia on various dates:

Socialist Alternative
World Refugee Day rallies
http://www.sa.org.au/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=6888:world-refugee-day-rallies&Itemid=396

Today's political quote

"Look, I think everyone needs to pop a Mogadon."

- Foreign Minister and former ALP Prime Minister of Australia Kevin Rudd, responding to reporters' questions on a day in which there was more speculation that Rudd might have aspirations to re-take the top job, and there was reportedly a shouting match between Rudd and the current ALP PM Julia Gillard during discussions of a foreign affairs matter.

McGorry has his critics ....

Ahmed, Tanveer (2010) Mental health claims overblown. Sydney Morning Herald. smh.com.au August 12, 2010.
http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/mental-health-claims-overblown-20100811-11zoj.html

Attard, Monica (2010) Professor Patrick McGorry, 2010 Australian of the Year. Sunday Profile. ABC Radio National. January 31st 2010.
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/sundayprofile/stories/2010/2806382.htm

Dunleavy, Sue (2011) Schism opens over ills of the mind. Australian. June 16th 2011.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/features/schism-opens-over-ills-of-the-mind/story-e6frg6z6-1226075910650

Dunleavy, Sue (2011) US expert slams Patrick McGorry's psychosis model. Australian. June 14, 2011.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/us-expert-slams-patrick-mcgorrys-psychosis-model/story-fn59niix-1226074544901

Frances, Allen J. (2011) Continuing Controversy On Australia's Mental Health Experiment: Seven questions for Dr McGorry. Psychology Today Blogs. June 13th 2011.
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/dsm5-in-distress/201106/continuing-controversy-australias-mental-health-experiment

Frances, Allen J. (2011) Australia's Reckless Experiment In Early Intervention: prevention that will do more harm than good. Psychology Today Blogs. May 31st 2011.
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/dsm5-in-distress/201105/australias-reckless-experiment-in-early-intervention

Frances, Allen J. (2010) DSM5 'Psychosis Risk Syndrome'--Far Too Risky. Psychology Today. March 18, 2010.
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/dsm5-in-distress/201003/dsm5-psychosis-risk-syndrome-far-too-risky

McGorry's early intervention model slammed. Australian Doctor. June 14th 2011.
http://www.australiandoctor.com.au/thisWeek.asp

Marshall, M. and Rathbone, J. Early intervention for psychosis. The Cochrane Library. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2011 Issue 6. page 24.
Art. No.: CD004718. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD004718.pub3.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/o/cochrane/clsysrev/articles/CD004718/pdf_fs.html
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/o/cochrane/clsysrev/articles/CD004718/frame.html
[see "Other potential sources of bias" in the summary of findings]

Raven, Melissa and Jureidini, Jon (2010) Misleading claims in the mental health reform debate. On Line Opinion. August 9th 2010.
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=10793
["...we also believe it matters that high-profile mental health advocates are able to mislead by proclaiming authoritative-sounding statistics that almost no one bothers to check, and that misleading claims are incorporated into health policy. This uncritical acceptance is an impediment to evidence-based policy. Worse, when the inaccuracies of claims are pointed out, there is often reluctance to acknowledge the misinformation and attempt to rectify it, as is the case with GetUp." ]

Speed Up & Sit Still (blog of Martin Whitely MLA)
http://speedupsitstill.com/

Webb, David and Raven, Melissa (2010) McGorry's 'early intervention' in mental health: a prescription for disaster. On Line Opinion. April 6th 2010.
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=10267

Weber, David (2011) Mental health centres under attack. ABC News. May 12, 2011.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/05/12/3215323.htm

Weber, David (2011) Professor McGorry hits back at critics. The World Today. ABC Radio National. May 20 2011.
Audio:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/audio/2011/05/20/3222359.htm
Transcript:
http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2011/s3222359.htm

Williams, Daniel (2006) Drugs before diagnosis? Time. June 18th 2006.
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1205408,00.html

McGorry hits back in The Australian

US no model for mental health
Patrick McGorry and Alison Yung
The Australian.
June 15, 2011.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/commentary/us-no-model-for-mental-health/story-e6frgd0x-1226075227181

Patrick McGorry returns fire in psychosis dispute.
Sue Dunlevy
The Australian.
June 15, 2011.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/patrick-mcgorry-returns-fire-in-psychosis-dispute/story-fn59niix-1226075253784

Prof. McGorry has written that "The $400m focused on youth mental health and early psychosis has little to do with prevention and nothing to do with the "psychosis risk" windmill that Frances attacks." Well, if it is true that McGorry's services are little concerned with prevention and not concerned with identifying risk, why does the "about us" page at the website of EPPIC say this: "EPPIC also has a dedicated service for people thought to be at risk of developing a psychotic disorder, the PACE team." and why does it say this in the EPPIC clinical guidelines: "All individuals assessed as having an ‘at risk’ mental state are referred to the PACE clinic at EPPIC"? Seems to me that you lie like a rug, professor.

I thought it was a great joke that McGorry has tried to paint his critics as deniers with "vested interests" in the same league as climate change deniers and tobacco industry supporters. My readers should be very clear about who it is that has the vested interests and the beneficial relationship with powerful corporations. We're looking at you, doc.

References

EPPIC About Us
http://www.eppic.org.au/about-us

EPPIC Clinical Guidelines
http://www.eppic.org.au/eppic-clinical-guidelines

On the front page of today's Australian .....

US expert slams Patrick McGorry's psychosis model
EXCLUSIVE: Sue Dunlevy
The Australian
June 14, 2011.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/us-expert-slams-patrick-mcgorrys-psychosis-model/story-fn59niix-1226074544901

and there is also this very recent article in an Australian medical professional magazine which apparently includes a critical quote form the former president of the Royal Australian College of Psychiatrists, Louise Newman, but unfortunately is only available for doctors to read:

McGorry's early intervention model slammed.
Australian Doctor.
June 14th 2011.
http://www.australiandoctor.com.au/thisWeek.asp

and there's also these:

"On the face of it, Australia's sudden and massive investment in the EPPIC program seems far excessive and decades premature. EPPIC may indeed work, but it represents a huge and reckless bet seemingly based more on blind faith in one man than on a substantial foundation of research and experience."
- Dr Allen J. Frances

"Clearly pre-emptive/preventive treatment is an important component of the EPPIC model, and potential recipients are being actively recruited."
- Melissa Raven, psychiatric epidemiologist and member of Healthy Skepticism, in comments on the article by Dr Frances in Psychology Today

Continuing Controversy On Australia's Mental Health Experiment: Seven questions for Dr McGorry.
Allen J. Frances
Psychology Today Blogs.
June 13, 2011
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/dsm5-in-distress/201106/continuing-controversy-australias-mental-health-experiment
[with most interesting comments from Prof. Henry Jackson and Melissa Raven]

Australia's Reckless Experiment In Early Intervention: prevention that will do more harm than good.
Allen J. Frances
Psychology Today Blogs.
May 31, 2011
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/dsm5-in-distress/201105/australias-reckless-experiment-in-early-intervention

Some quotes about Australian politics from this week

OK, so, one year on almost from the killing Kevin episode Julia Gillard’s net satisfaction rating is precisely where his was before he was knifed.

- Lenore Taylor, from the Sydney Morning Herald speaking on Insiders TV show broadcast on ABC1 June 5th 2011



I don’t accept that my country is a pissant country.

- Professor Ross Garnaut speaking at the launch of the updated Garnaut Review of climate change at the National Press Club, May 31st 2011.



Order, order, ORDER!, order, order......

- Harry Jenkins, Speaker of the House of Representatives, who came close to resigning this week following a failure to win a vote to have a backbencher suspended for alleged rowdy behaviour

Prof. Pat McGorry and the disclosure of conflicts of interest - what a friggin' joke!

I had to laugh out loud today when I noticed the disclosure statement next to an article written by the Australian psychiatrist, former Australian of the Year and influencer of politicians Professor Patrick McGorry about suicide that was published on April 15th 2011 at a website titled The Conversation beta, which looks like something from Australia that has aspirations to seriousness. The blurb next to the disclosure statement says:

"Our goal is to ensure the content is not compromised in any way. We therefore ask all authors to disclose any potential conflicts of interest before publication."

Well, the folks at The Conversation can ask all they like, but the prof only disclosed this much:

"Pat McGorry receives funding from the NHMRC."

I have serious doubts that this statement covered everything. This online article was published in April 2011 only a month after the publication in March 2011 of a piece by Prof. McGorry and another author was published in the medical journal Australian Family Physician, which included this rather fuller disclosure statement:

"Funding and support: Professor McGorry receives funding from the
Colonial Foundation, and from a program grant and a Clinical Centre
Research Excellence Grant from the National Health and Medical
Research Council of Australia. He has also received research grant
support from Janssen Cilag, Eli Lilly, Pfizer, Novartis and Astra Zeneca."

I guess someone might try to pose the question of how long does it take for a medical researcher to live down a professional conflict of interest. I'd say it would have to be a lot longer than a month, and I'm sure that some would say that there is no "use by" date for conflicts of interest.


References

McGorry, Patrick (2011)
The sort of conversation we should be having about suicide. The Conversation (beta). April 15th 2011.
http://theconversation.edu.au/the-sort-of-conversation-we-should-be-having-about-suicide-663

McGorry, Patrick D. and Goldstone, Sherilyn (2011) Is this normal? Assessing mental health in young people. Australian Family Physician. March 2011 Vol 40, (3) 94-97.
http://www.racgp.org.au/afp/201103/41499

Rudd at the Club

Today an edited version of an address to the National Press Club by Kevin Rudd was broadcast. His speech was delivered in a brisk pace and it was followed by an attentive question session. Kevin Rudd quoted many impressive-sounding statistics. He counted things out on his fingers, for added visual impact. He pointed at something that wasn't there. He employed some favourite phrases, such as "in due season". In a mood that looked like defiance Rudd refused to apologise for something, as is his habit. He used a word that was possibly his own invention, and doesn't pass my spellchecker unnoticed ("thugged"). Rudd interrogated himself and gave some sensible-sounding answers to his own probing questions. He adjusted his glasses, even though they had looked perfectly straight. He made his case energetically, confidently and convincingly, and all is right in the world.

The Hon Kevin Rudd MP
Minister For Foreign Affairs
National Press Club of Australia
June 1, 2011
"Australia's United Nations Security Council bid: Why it matters"
http://www.npc.org.au/speakerarchive/kevin-rudd-010611.html

June 24th 2011?

So, is anything planned to commemorate that day? Not that I'm advocating or suggesting in any way that anything of an illegal nature should happen on that day, but surely someone should do or say something? I guess some print journos will write pieces arguing that Gillard has been a pathetic disappointment as a leader and as Australia's first female Prime Minister, and that the Gillard Government has been pragmatic but gutless and uninspired, but wouldn't that just be stating the obvious?

I used to date this boy who had an absolute gift for thinking up practical jokes. The things that you can do with a dead kangaroo, or a set of "Detour" signs!

Why do I bother?

A Tasmanian could count on all of his fingers and toes the number of people who look at this blog in a week. Why do I bother?

If you like this blog, please tell all your friends about it.

Professor Patrick McGorry - too influential and too much influenced?

Are the ideas of early intervention in general and the idea of proactive and interventionist treatment of mental illness two incredibly popular intellectual fads in Australia? Yes.

Has the former Australian of the Year Professor Patrick McGorry received support from pharmaceutical companies that produce drugs used for mental illnessess for which Prof. McGorry advocates a greater level of diagnosis? Yes, he has.

Does Prof. Patrick McGorry have many conflicting interests? Yes.

Has Prof. Patrick McGorry many times failed to declare conflicting interests in journal papers in which he is a co-author? It appears that the answer is yes.

Is that shonky? Well, what do you think? There are very good reasons why medical journals ask their authors to declare conflicting interests.

Has there been serious criticism of the idea of early or preemptive identification of psychosis/schizophrenia in youth from psychiatric professionals from around the world, an idea advocated emphatically and repeatedly by Prof. McGorry? YES.

Was the Rudd Government right to refuse some of the funding sought by Prof. McGorry for his empire of clinics for the preemptive and early identification of psychosis in youth? Yes.

Was the Gillard Government wrong to cave-in to pressure to meet Prof. McGorry's well-publicised and emotive demands? Yes.

Why is a suburban housewife writing about this? Because Australian journalists aren't.

Why aren't Australian journalists covering this issue? You tell me! Maybe Australian journalists are clueless or useless.

A list of drug companies from which Prof. Patrick McGorry has received a research grant

Janssen - Cilag - producer of the drugs:

Concerta which is prescribed for ADHD

Haldol which is prescribed for Schizophrenia

Invega Sustenna which is prescribed for Schizophrenia

Invega which is prescribed for Schizophrenia

Risperdal Costa which is prescribed for Schizophrenia

Risperdal & Quicklet which is prescribed for Schizophrenia

Eli Lilly - producer of the drugs:

Cymbalta which is prescribed for Depression and Anxiety

Prozac which is prescribed for Depression, OCD and "premenstrual dysphoric disorder"

Strattera which is prescribed for ADHD

Zyprexa which is prescribed for Schizophrenia and Bipolar

Zyprexa Relprevv which is prescribed for Schizophrenia

Zyprexa IM which is prescribed for Schizophrenia and Bipolar

Bristol-Myers Squibb - producer of the drug:

Abilify which is prescribed for Schizophrenia, Bipolar, Depression and bothersome behaviour in autistic people

AstraZeneca - producer of the drugs:

Seroquel which is prescribed for Schizophrenia, Bipolar and Depression

Seroquel XR which is prescribed for Schizophrenia and Bipolar

Pfizer - producer of the drugs:

Geodon which is prescribed for Schizophrenia and Bipolar

Zoloft which is prescribed for Depression

Novartis - producer of the drugs:

Ritalin which is prescribed for ADHD

Ritalin LA which is prescribed for ADHD

Tofranil which is prescribed for Depression

"He has acted as a paid consultant for, and has received speaker’s fees and travel reimbursement from, all or most of these companies."

Sources:
McGorry, Patrick (2008) Is early intervention in the major psychiatric disorders justified? Yes. British Medical Journal. August 4th 2008. 337:a695. http://www.bmj.com/content/337/bmj.a695.full

I have also taken information about the products from the websites of the pharmaceutical companies and from the Wikipedia.


An incomplete list of medical journal papers in which Prof. Patrick D McGorry was an author and failed to disclose competing interests
(check it yourself - papers available to read free in full text)

Alexandra G Parker, Sarah E Hetrick, Anthony F Jorm, Alison R Yung, Patrick D McGorry, Andrew Mackinnon, Bridget Moller, and Rosemary Purcell (2011) The effectiveness of simple psychological and exercise interventions for high prevalence mental health problems in young people: a factorial randomised controlled trial. Trials. 2011; 12: 76. Published online 2011 March 13.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3061928/?tool=pmcentrez#__sec22

Amresh Shrivastava, P. D. McGorry, Ming Tsuang, Scott W. Woods, Barbara A. Cornblatt, Cheryl Corcoran and William Carpenter (2011) “Attenuated psychotic symptoms syndrome” as a risk syndrome of psychosis, diagnosis in DSM-V: The debate. Indian Journal of Psychiatry. 2011 Jan-Mar; 53(1): 57–65. doi: 10.4103/0019-5545.75560.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3056191/

Takahashi T, Wood SJ, Yung AR, Walterfang M, Phillips LJ, Soulsby B, Kawasaki Y, McGorry PD, Suzuki M, Velakoulis D, Pantelis C. (2010) Superior temporal gyrus volume in antipsychotic-naive people at risk of psychosis. British Journal of Psychiatry. March 2010 196: 206-211. doi: 10.1192/bjp.bp.109.069732
http://bjp.rcpsych.org/cgi/content/full/196/3/206

Jo Robinson, Sarah Hetrick, Sara Gook, Elizabeth Cosgrave, Hok Pan Yuen, Patrick McGorry and Alison Yung (2009) Study protocol: the development of a randomised controlled trial testing a postcard intervention designed to reduce suicide risk among young help-seekers. BMC Psychiatry. 2009; 9: 59. Published online 2009 September 23. doi: 10.1186/1471-244X-9-59.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2759913/

Jo Robinson, Sara Gook, Hok Pan Yuen, Patrick D McGorry and Alison R Yung (2008) Managing deliberate self-harm in young people: An evaluation of a training program developed for school welfare staff using a longitudinal research design. BMC Psychiatry. 2008; 8: 75. Published online 2008 September 15. doi: 10.1186/1471-244X-8-75.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2564929/

Patrick D McGorry, Eóin Killackey and Alison R Yung (2007) Early intervention in psychotic disorders: detection and treatment of the first episode and the critical early stages. Medical Journal of Australia. 2007; 187 (7 Suppl): S8-S10.
http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/187_07_011007/mcg10314_fm.html

Michael Berk, Karen Hallam, Nellie Lucas, Melissa Hasty, Craig A McNeil, Philippe Conus, Linda Kader and Patrick D McGorry (2007) Early intervention in bipolar disorders: opportunities and pitfalls. Medical Journal of Australia. 2007; 187 (7 Suppl): S11-S14.
http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/187_07_011007/ber10341_fm.html#0_elementId-1094133

Andrew M Chanen, Louise K McCutcheon, Martina Jovev, Henry J Jackson and Patrick D McGorry (2007) Prevention and early intervention for borderline personality disorder. Medical Journal of Australia. 2007; 187 (7 Suppl): S18-S21.
http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/187_07_011007/cha10304_fm.html

Patrick D McGorry, Rosemary Purcell, Ian B Hickie, Alison R Yung, Christos Pantelis and Henry J Jackson (2007) Clinical staging: a heuristic model for psychiatry and youth mental health. Medical Journal of Australia. 2007; 187 (7 Suppl): S40-S42.
http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/187_07_011007/mcg10315_fm.html#0_elementId-1093800

Alison R Yung, Patrick D McGorry, Shona M Francey, Barnaby Nelson, Kathryn Baker, Lisa J Phillips, Gregor Berger and G Paul Amminger (2007) PACE: a specialised service for young people at risk of psychotic disorders. Medical Journal of Australia. 2007; 187 (7 Suppl): S43-S46. http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/187_07_011007/yun10343_fm.html#0_elementId-1093889

Patrick D McGorry (2007) The specialist youth mental health model: strengthening the weakest link in the public mental health system. Medical Journal of Australia. 2007; 187 (7 Suppl): S53-S56.
http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/187_07_011007/mcg10311_fm.html

Patrick D McGorry, Chris Tanti, Ryan Stokes, Ian B Hickie, Kate Carnell, Lyndel K Littlefield and John Moran (2007) Headspace: Australia’s National Youth Mental Health Foundation — where young minds come first. Medical Journal of Australia. 2007; 187 (7 Suppl): S68-S70.
http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/187_07_011007/mcg10346_fm.html

Annemarie Wright, Patrick D McGorry, Meredith G Harris, Anthony F Jorm and Kerryn Pennell (2006) Development and evaluation of a youth mental health community awareness campaign – The Compass Strategy. BMC Public Health. 2006; 6: 215.
Published online 2006 August 22. doi: 10.1186/1471-2458-6-215.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1564138/

Berger, Gregor, Fraser, Richard, Carbone, Stephen & McGorry, Patrick (2006) Emerging psychosis in young people - part 1. Australian Family Physician. Vol. 35, No. 5, May 2006. p. 315-321.
http://www.racgp.org.au/afp/200605/200605berger.pdf


And some journal papers in which Prof. McGorry did disclose conflicting interests

Patrick D McGorry, Sherilyn Goldstone (2011) Is this normal? Assessing mental health in young people. Australian Family Physician. March 2011 Vol 40, (3) 94-97.
http://www.racgp.org.au/afp/201103/41499

McGorry, Patrick (2008) Is early intervention in the major psychiatric disorders justified? Yes. British Medical Journal. August 4th 2008. 337:a695.
http://www.bmj.com/content/337/bmj.a695.full

Patrick D McGorry (2005) Evidence based reform of mental health care
Early, intensive, and home based treatments are the answer. British Medical Journal. 2005 September 17; 331(7517): 586–587.
doi: 10.1136/bmj.331.7517.586.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1215539/

Yucel, Murat et al (2003) Morphology of the anterior cingulate cortex in young men at ultra-high risk of developing a psychotic illness. British Journal of Psychiatry. (2003) 182: 518-524.
http://bjp.rcpsych.org/cgi/content/full/182/6/518


Further Reading

Ahmed, Tanveer (2010) Mental health claims overblown. Sydney Morning Herald. smh.com.au August 12, 2010.
http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/mental-health-claims-overblown-20100811-11zoj.html

APANA Autistic People Against Neuroleptic Abuse
http://www.dinahm.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/

Attard, Monica (2010) Professor Patrick McGorry, 2010 Australian of the Year. Sunday Profile. ABC Radio National. January 31st 2010.
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/sundayprofile/stories/2010/2806382.htm

Dunleavy, Sue (2011) Schism opens over ills of the mind. Australian. June 16th 2011.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/features/schism-opens-over-ills-of-the-mind/story-e6frg6z6-1226075910650

Dunleavy, Sue (2011) US expert slams Patrick McGorry's psychosis model. Australian. June 14, 2011.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/us-expert-slams-patrick-mcgorrys-psychosis-model/story-fn59niix-1226074544901

Fitzsimmons, Hamish (2011) Mental health experts disagree on future of care. Lateline. ABCTV. August 18th 2011.
http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2011/s3297038.htm

Francis, Allen J. (2011) Continuing Controversy On Australia's Mental Health Experiment: Seven questions for Dr McGorry. Psychology Today Blogs. June 13th 2011.
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/dsm5-in-distress/201106/continuing-controversy-australias-mental-health-experiment

Francis, Allen J. (2011) Australia's Reckless Experiment In Early Intervention: prevention that will do more harm than good. Psychology Today Blogs. May 31st 2011.
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/dsm5-in-distress/201105/australias-reckless-experiment-in-early-intervention

Frances, Allen J. (2010) DSM5 'Psychosis Risk Syndrome'--Far Too Risky. Psychology Today. March 18, 2010.
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/dsm5-in-distress/201003/dsm5-psychosis-risk-syndrome-far-too-risky

McGorry's early intervention model slammed. Australian Doctor. June 14th 2011.
http://www.australiandoctor.com.au/thisWeek.asp

Marshall, M. and Rathbone, J. Early intervention for psychosis. The Cochrane Library. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2011 Issue 6. page 24.
Art. No.: CD004718. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD004718.pub3.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/o/cochrane/clsysrev/articles/CD004718/pdf_fs.html
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/o/cochrane/clsysrev/articles/CD004718/frame.html
[see "Other potential sources of bias" in the summary of findings]

Raven, Melissa and Jureidini, Jon (2010) Misleading claims in the mental health reform debate. On Line Opinion. August 9th 2010.
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=10793

Speed Up & Sit Still (blog of Martin Whitely MLA)
http://speedupsitstill.com/

Stark, Jill (2011) Drug trial scrapped amid outcry. The Age. theage.com.au August 21, 2011.
http://www.theage.com.au/national/drug-trial-scrapped-amid-outcry-20110820-1j3vy.html#ixzz1VduAfoTT

Stark, Jill (2011) McGorry accused of conflict of interest. Sydney Morning Herald.August 7th 2011
http://www.smh.com.au/national/mcgorry-accused-of-conflict-of-interest-20110806-1igxd.html
http://m.theage.com.au/national/mcgorry-accused-of-conflict-of-interest-20110806-1igxd.html

Stark, Jill (2011) Doctors in different headspace on suicide. Sydney Morning Herald. August 7th 2011
http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/doctors-in-different-headspace-on-suicide-20110806-1igk0.html

Webb, David and Raven, Melissa (2010) McGorry's 'early intervention' in mental health: a prescription for disaster. On Line Opinion. April 6th 2010.
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=10267

Weber, David (2011) Mental health centres under attack. ABC News. May 12, 2011.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/05/12/3215323.htm

Weber, David (2011) Professor McGorry hits back at critics. The World Today. ABC Radio National. May 20 2011.
Audio:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/audio/2011/05/20/3222359.htm
Transcript:
http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2011/s3222359.htm

Whitaker, Robert (2010) Anatomy of an Epidemic: Magic Bullets, Psychiatric Drugs, and the Astonishing Rise of Mental Illness in America. Crown, 2010.
http://www.madinamerica.com/madinamerica.com/Anatomy%20of%20an%20Epidemic.html

Williams, Daniel (2006) Drugs before diagnosis? Time. June 18th 2006.
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1205408,00.html

The Most Dangerous Man in the World worth a read

I haven’t been able to find the time to read Andrew Fowler’s new biography of Wikileaks creator Julian Assange from cover to cover, but the stuff that I have read has impressed me. It appears that Fowler has been able to draw from many important sources, including the man himself, for his book. The events in Assange’s life outlined in this book and also in the interview with Fowler by Paul Barclay give many clues about the possible origins of Assange’s attitudes towards the state, feminism and women. The book also gives an IQ score for Assange, and in my opinion one shouldn’t underestimate how much having such a high level of intellectual functioning can alienate a person from society in general. It is my opinion that Assange is a fine example of a famous person who appears to have a number of autistic traits, but whose life story is such that it is not possible to determine whether it is an essentially autistic neurology or a high IQ combined and an isolated childhood that made the person a definite outsider.

An amusing quote referring to Julian Assange by Fowler in an interview broadcast on Big Ideas:
“I like him at the moment - I haven’t spent enough time with him, quite clearly.”

Fowler, Andrew (2011) The Most Dangerous Man in the World: The inside story on Julian Assange and the WikiLeaks secrets. Melbourne Universty Press, 2011.
http://catalogue.mup.com.au/978-0-522-85866-2.html

Barclay, Paul (2011) The Most Dangerous Man In The World. Big Ideas. Radio National ABC. April 14th 2011.
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/bigideas/stories/2011/3190587.htm
[an interview with Andrew Fowler about his book about Julian Assange, audio can be downloaded]

You're kidding me!

I've just been told the most amazingly bad thing about Tony Abbott, second-hand, but told in all seriousness. I have always found the leader of the opposition to be profoundly creepy, in his dismal politics, his strange-looking head, the peculiar way he moves (his weird walk, his tongue), and in the way he smirks while bending the truth. But after hearing what I've just been told about Mr Abbott, I'm pretty amazed that someone would go around saying this stuff. I'm not making reference to that rot from a few years ago about the son who wasn't, I'm referring to something else supposedly from his past. If this story is true, Abbott doesn't have a skeleton in the closet, he has a department of bloody paleontology in his closet. If this is true, and it gets out, I'd say it's goodbye career, but is it true?