The Resignation of Dr. Loren Mosher 

Loren R. Mosher, M.D., Former official of National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

Letter of Resignation to the American Psychiatric Association (excerpts):

"There is neither a blood test nor specific anatomic lesions for any major psychiatric disorder... Is psychiatry a hoax - as practiced today? Unfortunately, the answer is mostly yes."

Letter to the President of the American Psychiatric Association:

"After nearly three decades as a member it is with a mixture of pleasure and disappointment that I submit this letter of resignation from the American Psychiatric Association. The major reason for this action is my belief that I am actually resigning from the American Psychopharmacological Association...

At this point in history, in my view, psychiatry has been almost completely bought out by the drug companies. The APA could not continue without the pharmaceutical company support of meetings, symposia, workshops, journal advertising, grand rounds luncheons, unrestricted grants etc. etc. Psychiatrists have become the minions of drug company promotions....

Psychiatric training reflects their influence as well; i.e., the most important part of a resident's curriculum is the art and quasi-science of dealing drugs, i.e., prescription writing...We condone and promote the widespread overuse and misuse of toxic chemicals that we know have serious long term effects -- tardive dyskinesia, tardive dementia and serious withdrawal syndromes....

Finally, why must the APA pretend to know more than it does? DSM IV [Diagnostic and Statistical Manual] is the fabrication upon which psychiatry seeks acceptance by medicine in general. Insiders know it is more a political than a scientific document... The issue is what do the categories [diagnoses] tell us? Do they in fact accurately represent the person with a problem? They don't, and can't, because there are no external validation criteria for psychiatric diagnoses. There is neither a blood test nor specific anatomic lesions for any major psychiatric disorder. So where are we? APA as an organization has implicitly (sometimes explicitly as well) bought into a theoretical hoax. Is psychiatry a hoax - as practiced today? Unfortunately, the answer is mostly yes...."

Loren R. Mosher, M.D.