Radio Interview (Robert Miller and Sheldon Brown, of Auckland “Like Minds” team), 27.08.2013.
This interview was part of the weekly radio show (“Take It From Us”) hosted by Sheldon Brown, as one of the activities of the Auckland Like Minds team. the interview starts by discussing the concept of schizophrenia, its strengths and weaknesses as a scientific concept, and ways to make it become a more robust diagnosis, which better serves the proper function of any diagnosis. It then moves to discussing the role of medication, the relation between “psychosis” and “schizophrenia”, and the merits of the “chemical imbalance” notion of mental disorders as applied to schizophrenia and more generally. Depression and bipolar disorder are also touched upon, including the hazards of an “activation syndrome” with some antidepressant medicines. Towards the end of the interview, the discussion moves to the (perhaps) fragmented nature of the mental heath care system in New Zealand at present, and the qualities of leadership needed to make it more coherent. Th audio recording of this interview can be accessed on the Like Minds website (www.likeminds.org.nz/page/5-home). However, the phone line was not good on the day, and some of the words are hard to hear. For this reason, the text of the interview is given here. Musical interludes are excerpts from the first movement of Beethoven’s violin concerto, with Jascha Heifetz as the solo violin, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Charles Munch.
TRANSCRIPT OF INTERVIEW WITH SHELDON BROWN