Multiple Personality Disorder was virtually unheard of in medical history until the second half of the 20th century when, after the release of several popular films, including "The Three Faces of Eve" and "Sybil," the number of people diagnosed with this disorder dramatically increased. Between 1985 and 1995, 40,000 cases of MPD were diagnosed in the United States. But in the last few years, skeptics have regained ground and now nearly all psychology textbooks refer to the disease as a rarity, and most usually a hoax.
This example demonstrates that disease, especially mental disease, can often be as socially constructed as it is scientifically verified. Rather than a medical discovery, MPD seems to have been a social fad. Often, the societal reaction toward a disease can be even more significant than its physical ramifications.
Doesn't seem like such a big deal, does it? But consider the example of Generalized Anxiety Disorder.
On April 16, 2001, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the antidepressant Paxil, made by British pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline, for the treatment of GAD. But GAD was an obscure illness; according to a 1989 study, as few as 1.2 percent of the population merited the diagnosis in any given year. "If GlaxoSmithKline hoped to capitalize on Paxil's new indication, it would have to raise GAD's public profile," writes Brendan I. Koerner in a 2002 article in Mother Jones titled "Disorders Made to Order."
In the following months, GlaxoSmithKline bombarded the public with messages everywhere raising the fear of GAD. The company hired a public relations firm and began spreading a "video news release" to TV stations around the country, warning of a hidden epidemic. It claimed that as many as 10 million Americans suffered from an unrecognized disease. Meanwhile, GAD "sufferers," paid and trained on how to act in front of camera, made rounds on news shows warning of the devastating affects of GAD. and paid physicians provided "expert testimony" to the medical value of Paxil.
This is just one example of some drug makers' new strategy - instead of selling drugs to cure illnesses, they are marketing diseases to sell drugs. Pharmaceutical companies have discovered the effect the media can have on medical matters and have learned to profit from it. Koerner says that this "strategy has enabled the pharmaceutical industry to squeeze millions in additional revenue."
Aside from the sinister business aspect of it, the social trends are worrying. Our pill-popping culture is one that deifies doctors as heroes who can prescribe their way out of any illness. We believe, as a society, that we can beat nature with pills.
There are pills for practically everything, from regulating moodiness to helping sleeplessness. In one particularly creepy television advertisement, people are told about a brand new savior to all our problems and told to "ask your doctor about the purple pill." Does anyone even know what these purple pills are for?
And now, the drug-happy attitude is spreading to children.
Many parents and even pediatricians have turned to using powerful adult drugs, such as Prilosec and Prevacid, on children, even though these drugs are not FDA-approved for pediatric use. According to an article in the October issue of Mother Jones, "Children's use of prescription drugs has risen by one-third since 1997."
Our drug-crazed society is normalizing the use of drugs as self-improvement tools.
There are some promising prospects in the future. Alternative medical practices such as the use of homeopathic and holistic medicine have gained popularity in recent years, and are needed to counter the business interests that currently dominate the pharmaceutical industry.
Drugs, when used properly, are important to properly treat illnesses. But we must remember the risks involved, and that drugs are just a tool - not the solution to everything.
Ishtiaque Masud is an economics junior. Reach him at ishtiaque.masud@asu.edu.
