The following Editorial was published in the British Journal of Psychiatry in February 2014:
The authors declared no competing interests and gave the following biographical details:
Nick Craddock is Professor of Psychiatry at Cardiff University, Director of the National Centre for Mental Health in Wales and Honorary Treasurer of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. His clinical research focus is bipolar disorder. Laurence Mynors-Wallis is a consultant psychiatrist and Medical Director at Dorset Health Care University NHS Foundation Trust, and . His research interests include problem-solving treatment, management and leadership.
The following is a reply to the Editorial by a group of psychiatrists, including James Rodger, Sami Timimi, Joanna Moncrieff, Graham Behr, Carl Beuster, Pat Bracken, Ivor Browne, Chris Evans, Suman Fernando, Rhodri Huws, Bob Johnson, Navjyoat Kingsnorth, Brian Martindale, Hugh Middleton, Derek Summerfield, Philip Thomas, and Jeremy Wallace.
Craddock and Mynors-Wallis, responded as below. I leave you, the reader, to make up your own mind, but in my opinion the aggressive, polarising and stigmatising use of language by Craddock and Mynors-Wallis is defensive and unhelpful. Furthermore such language diverts attention away from our shared aim in reducing patient suffering.
