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The “Chemical imbalance” theory

What follows is a selection of a selection of a selection of printed media reports on the so-called “chemical imbalance theory”. Almost without exception the word “theory” was not included:


A number of Psychiatrists, who have a prominent social media presence, have robustly argued that this was a “theory that never was” and  that it had little to do with psychiatry and psychiatrists. As an NHS psychiatrist of over 25 years my experience was quite the opposite of this and I am left fearful about how powerful voices are attempting to re-write the past:

In the UK, a number of senior psychiatrists have also challenged the role that the ‘chemical imbalance theory’ had in informing and guiding the prescribing of psychiatric drugs. However, the President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists said on 10 August 2019 “it hasn’t actually been disproven, we won’t know til we can actually measure the chemicals in the brain”.

In the novel ‘Metroland’ by Julian Barnes, a question was asked:

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