Mental Disorders as Brain Disorders: Thomas Insel at TEDxCaltech
Thomas R. lnsel, M.D. is director of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), the component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) charged with generating knowledge needed to understand, treat, and prevent mental disorders. Prior to his appointment as NIMH Director in 2002, Tom was professor of psychiatry at Emory University where he was founding director of the NSF Center for Behavioral Neuroscience and director of an NIH-funded Center for Autism Research. He has published over 250 scientific articles and four books and has served on numerous academic, scientific, and professional committees and boards. He is a member of the Institute of Medicine, a fellow of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, and a recipient of the Outstanding Service Award from the U.S. Public Health Service and the 2010 La Fondation IPSEN Neuronal Plasticity Prize. No endorsement of this event by NIMH/NIH is intended.
In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)
On January 18, 2013, Caltech hosted TEDxCaltech: The Brain, a forward-looking celebration of humankind’s quest to understand the brain, by exploring the past, present and future of neuroscience. Visit TEDxCaltech.com for more details.
25 Comments
Yes, dear, I think it's important to map the brain regions that can influence each group of behaviours (for instance, prefontal coxtex and reactive response, or medial prefrontal cortex and prosocial behaviour). This can help both : psychologist to identify behaviour that modulates brain activity and psychiatrists to target specific areas of the brain.
One of the best ted talks I've ever heard on mental health / brain disorders. It makes so much sense.
Mental problems are not brain disorders this is a deliberate lie. There is no scientific evidence to prove this.
Could Psychedelics also help in this field?
Early detection sounds great but we don’t have anything to treat depression, anxiety, or schizophrenia with medically. Antidepressant and Anti-psychotic medicine show worsening outcomes in long term therapy.
What does it mean when we say that 6.000 less people died with leukemia? The population of the earth has increased. Are these numbers global or about the U.S? Do these numbers mean that we have 6.000 people less than before dying? Because if the population has increased, that number on its own is biased, since given an increase in population and an increase in the number of available medical resources would always result in an increase in the averted cases.
What I am more interested in is the percentage of the people whose lives has been saved compared to the total cases. Numbers and statistics make it easy to lie.
Stay strong stay positive stay safe everyone I have hypoxia brain injury I died 26minutes spent weeks months in coma rehab hospital learning talk walk again been a recovery massive discovery never ever give up on yourself many will never yourselves keep going doing amazing things sending luck hugs prayers most of all love from headway Nottingham UK takecare great speech well done x
Speak out dont suffer in silence nothing to be ashamed off its mental health I have two beautiful nephews took their lives mental health stinks don't let it win your the winner you got this honestly you got this
I'm a psychology student and I'm really sad by the fact that my fellow classmates ignore the brain saying what we focus is behavior and not the nervous system. Well after all thinking and behavior are the outcomes of the brain.
The best TED Talk I think I've ever heard. Very well explained
Lmaooo is name is literally incel 💀🚶♀️
The Pathogenesis medical approach to understanding schizophrenia as what Thomas Insel describes as brain disease is fundamentally flawed. This presentation is based on the early diagnosis/early intervention response which is standard practice for physical diseases that psychiatry attempts to use as similes for looking at patients presenting with mental troubles. So they adopt the comparison between so-called ‘normal controls’ methodology to determine a medical condition that obviously has to be remedied by psychotropic drugs. That’s referred to as the gold standard model for treating say ‘schizophrenia’.
Is it successful in the majority of cases? No. Does it prevent suicide in the majority of cases? No. Does it have problematic side effects? Yes (heaps). Does the diagnostic terminology cause social stigma? Yes (heaps). Does treatment with psychoactive medications increase or decrease problems in the whole of life experience of patients? Mostly increased problems. Is there any reduction in the number of people diagnosed with mental illness/disorders? NO, it’s growing exponentially to the point where services are overwhelmed and many people are turned away.😮
Does the psychiatric profession acknowledge the systemic limitations of the medical model for mental health issues? No, it only wants to increase resources from government to keep the flawed system alive.
Putting a new spin on the theory of catching it before the behavioural changes take place is scientific fictionral concepts. Sounds positive, but it’s not really anything more than speculation. Dr Insel admits that the necessary instruments to bring the proposed new technology to fruition haven’t been developed yet.
Mental illness is the illness of the mind not the brain.. Its like a corrupted software of a computer . what psychiatry doing is changing hardware for a software issue..
It is commendable how Thomas R. Insel, M.D. has devoted his career to generating knowledge and advocating for better understanding, treatment, and prevention of mental disorders. This work reflects an ethical commitment to promoting the well-being and mental health of individuals and society as a whole. It's also important to note the significance of the NIMH as an entity charged with furthering this ethical mandate through the funding and support of research efforts aimed at improving mental health outcomes. Dr. Insel's significant contributions in research and scholarship, including publications and achievement awards, set an admirable standard for us all to pursue excellence and ethical practice in our work. His role within prestigious academic and scientific organizations further highlights the critical importance of collaboration and interdisciplinary work to advance medical ethics and drive progress in healthcare. Overall, Dr. Insel's legacy in the field of psychiatry and mental health reminds us of the ethical dimensions of healthcare and the crucial work that researchers and medical professionals undertake every day to improve the lives of others.
10 year's later and this revolutionary breakthrough has not happened yet.
Psychaitry sure is big on promises with no delivery.
Also last time i checked in science if you make the claim it's on you to back it up with evidence.
Psychaitry can just say problem's of thought are illnesses because they say so.
Got a quick question if schizophrenia is by definition psychotic symptoms like hallucinations and delusion's how do those thing's cause schizophrenia to come on?
Because literally around the 11:30 – 11:37 mark he brings this up.
The reason i ask is because this seem's to be the equivalent of a lightswitch turning itself on.
In that case the symptoms cause themselves and the symptoms would be the disorder schizophrenia.
This is the equivalent of saying the symptoms caused themselves and is not medically sound.
Also about the grey matter lose and the difference in the brain as he put's it with children diagnosed with schizophrenia he leaves one detail out.
Some studies have found that the antipsychotics actually cause all these differences in the brain he is mentioning.
I do not know if future studies have debunked this or not though.
ten years down the line…..people are still losing everything ..is there progress?.. some what yes, medicine,social awareness, but id still say the biggest failure is in resources,appointment waiting times,enough doctors,community out reach, a better safety net is needed, there isnt much between your local gp and hospital…and that is a tragedy
Just found this talk. You have to be kidding, he has drunk the Kool-Aid and believes in biological psychiatry and neuroscientific remedies 100%, in spite of the fact that the DSM is mostly anecdotal and made-up, generated by consensus by mainstream psychiatrists who were and still are paid by the drug industry to falsify research, and provide misinformation to both the government and public. All for profits, not the public good. And that there is no actual evidence that there are any biological markers for psychological states such as anxiety, depression, and even schizophrenia… and no "chemical imbalances" needing correction for supposed low Serotonin, high Dopamine, etc. No proof has ever been found. Please, before you buy into his disease model of looking at virtually every human manifestation, all these bogus "disorders," consider reading some of these authors: Robert Whitaker, Joanna Moncrieff, Peter Gotzsche, James Davies, Peter Breggin, and many more. The truth is that psychiatric conditions are almost never real diseases (unless there is organic damage) and the profession should not be based on the medical model. There is a huge epidemic of false or partial diagnoses, with chemical treatment plans which, when implemented long-term, almost usually cause the very symptoms (anxiety, depression brain fog, tremors, and many more) that they are supposedly treating. When the person tries to taper off the symptoms this is called "relapse" by the shrinks rather than withdrawal or discontinuation symptoms. Then… wait for it, the "patient'" is usually given higher doses of the same drug, or put on a cocktail of at least 3-4 drugs. And… wait for it, the "doctor" has almost no idea how they work physically and/or psychologically. Everything he knows comes from books and the drug companies. From perhaps a sponsored trip to a pharmaceutical conference in a nice location like Las Vegas, where he is given tons of freebies, and perhaps financial offers to become a consultant. Finally, there a numerous informative and inspiring videos and podcasts on YouTube with both experts and psychiatric survivors (e.g. Laura Delano) telling their stories and providing wisdom. As Peter Gotzsche repeatedly states in his books and talks, if you are having a psychological problem, the last person you want to see, at least at the beginning of your healing journey, is a psychiatrist. The last. Go to a good therapist or another kind of healer. And skip the "depression pills" and "psychosis pills" and benzo, and… unless you really, really, really need. them. And if you do, try to get off in a matter of weeks or months. Or not, the choice is yours!
10 years passed by but still no improvement in mental health crisis
As someone who spends all her time thinking about root cause approaches to developmental disorders, I love this TED Talk. I've probably sent the link to 5,000 people over the last 10 years. Dr. Insel is spot-on!
When he mentions the percentage of disability among mental health disorders is a huge issue. What is concerning is why there isn't more help available to individuals that it incapacitates. Yes, Mr. Insel, you should have been fired eleven years ago. You should have done more.
Manufactured diseases…dont be fools…
Hope schools and universities focus in teaching about how to believe in ourselfes and to have faith in god ( if you believe in god) or in the abilities…. ( for people who not believe in god…)and teach them in intilligent acceptable way
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