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The Etiology of Mental Illness Is Now Known

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Abstract

It is easy to detail our society’s expectations of a medical specialty. We expect that the field will put the interests of patients—and thus of society—first. This public interest should trump the field’s interests as a guild. As such, we expect that the leaders of the specialty will provide the public with accurate information about the nature of the disorders they treat, and about the risks and benefits of treatments. We also expect that the profession will conduct research designed to improve the care it is able to provide, and that it will follow the dictates of good science as it pursues that goal.

Health care workers are obliged to use the best medical science to relieve suffering and pain, treat illness, and address risks to health. The institutional corruption of health care consists of deviations from these principles.

—Donald Light, 20131

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Authors
  1. Robert Whitaker
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  2. Lisa Cosgrove
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© 2015 Robert Whitaker and Lisa Cosgrove

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Whitaker, R., Cosgrove, L. (2015). The Etiology of Mental Illness Is Now Known. In: Psychiatry Under the Influence. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137516022_4

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