Reporters Fake 'Chemical Imbalance' Story Date: Sat, 22 Mar 2008 14:34:24 -0500 (CDT) The Anchorage Daily News says they have a small staff and a lot of stories to cover so they can't cover every bit of the Alaska Zyprexa trial but they said next week they will be covering the closing arguments and also certainly - the verdict. Help us get to 26,000 signatures on the TeenScreen petition, We now have 25,589: http://www.petitiononline.com/TScreen/petition.html Information provided by Florida State University gives you good ammunition anytime you catch a journalist use "chemical imbalance" as if it were fact: Florida State University Study: Media perpetuates unsubstantiated chemical imbalance theory of depression Tallahassee, Florida . BY JILL ELISH March 3, 2008 Stock Photo titled: Westcott Building And Ruby Diamond Auditorium Florida State University Campus Tallahassee Florida FL Seminoles, USE OF THIS IMAGE WITHOUT PERMISSION IS PROHIBITED Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida The theory that depression is caused by a chemical imbalance is often presented in the media as fact even though there is little scientific evidence to support it, according to a new study co-authored by a Florida State University visiting lecturer. Jeffrey Lacasse, an FSU doctoral candidate and visiting lecturer in the College of Social Work, and Jonathan Leo, a neuroanatomy professor at Lincoln Memorial University in Tennessee, found that reporters who included statements in news articles about depression being caused by a chemical imbalance, or a lack of serotonin in the brain, were unable to provide scientific evidence to support those statements. Lacasse and Leo spent about a year in late 2006 and 2007 monitoring the daily news for articles that included statements about chemical imbalances and contacting the authors to request evidence that supported their statements. Several reporters, psychiatrists and a drug company responded to the researchers' requests, but Lacasse and Leo said they did not provide documentation that supported the chemical imbalance theory. Their findings were published in the journal Society. "The media's presentation of the theory as fact is troublesome because it misrepresents the current status of the theory," Lacasse said. "For instance, there are few scientists who will rise to its defense, and some prominent psychiatrists publicly acknowledge that the serotonin hypothesis is more metaphor than fact. As the current study documents, when asked for evidence, reporters were unable to cite peer-reviewed primary articles in support of the theory." Moreover, the researchers said, several of the responses received from reporters seem to suggest a fundamental misunderstanding of the theory's scientific status. The "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders," which almost all psychiatrists use to diagnose and treat their patients, clearly states that the cause of depression and anxiety is unknown, according to Lacasse and Leo. More here: http://www.fsu.com/pages/2008/03/03/depression.html Videos: The Kathy Fountain show, a Tampa TV talk show, discusses chemical imbalance: Part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWE3UGl7KFk Part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzDv6Cublaw Part 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fw0PxgTIT4k _____ 25,589 Signatures Against TeenScreen. Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfU9puZQKBY Petition: English http://www.petitiononline.com/TScreen/petition.html Spanish http://www.psychsearch.net/votos.html Italian http://www.psychsearch.net/italiani.html French http://www.enfantshyperactifs.com/petition-a-signer/ If you would rather not receive the latest news via this e-mail line, please send a message to parents_against_teenscreen@earthlink.net with "UNSUBSCRIBE ME" in the subject line.