“Orthomolecular Psychiatry: Treatment of Schizophrenia” (1973) by Hawkins and Pauling (tbc)
Orthomolecular Psychiatry by Hawkins and Pauling Orthomolecular Psychiatry: Treatment of Schizophrenia by David R. Hawkins and Linus Pauling (US) (Canada)
Almost Completed
This book is often a very technical manual on the treatment of schizophrenia using (mostly) natural therapies with large amounts of certain vitamins, including niacin (vitamin “B3”, or niacinamide), vitamin C and other vitamins. Different aspects of the treatment of schizophrenia are covered. The articles are written by different authors, including the late Canadian psychiatrist Dr. Abram Hoffer.
I’m interested in different sides of the story. One side is the effectiveness (or not) of megavitamin therapy for mental illness–and how psychiatric illnesses are treated. And the other side is the use of LSD in experiments on patients. Also, I’m interested the different organizations involved in the research. These orthomolecular researchers were mostly promoting natural therapies (to one extent or another) but on the other hand, they also seemed to have been part of the history of how mental disorders were more and more seen as something biological that needs to be treated with medicine of one kind or another.
Outside of this book, I’m also interested in the controversy about how some people dismiss the idea of mental illness altogether even though it seems logical to me that some abnormal states of mind are due to nutritional deficiencies.
And on the other hand, ironically, nowadays we face the prospect with the DSM-V manual of all kinds of normal human behaviors being considered mental disorders and potentially treated with drugs that are sold as cures when they’re not!
There is a definite Huxleyan Brave New World threat to our freedom from the use of drugs, and yet we also want to know what is the best natural way to maintain good health in body and mind. And we’re not getting that information from the mainstream in my opinion.
More Comments to follow
Existe en español este libro??
Donde pueso consultar una edición en español??
Hi Laura,
I don’t know if that 1973 book has been translated into Spanish (it includes at least one chapter by Abram Hoffer, Canadian psychiatrist). It is a very technical book.
Hoffer also wrote books for the public. On the topic of orthomolecular medicine, this Wikipedia article says that Abram Hoffer’s co-author Andrew Saul’s books have been translated into Spanish: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Saul_(nutrition) so I’m pretty sure you can find information on Orthomolecular treatments in Spanish.
Bookfinder.com has a list of the English titles: https://www.bookfinder.com/search/?keywords=Orthomolecular¤cy=CAD&lang=en&st=sh&ac=qr&submit=
There is a journal in English, maybe you can ask them if their material is translated: http://orthomolecular.org/library/jom/
Based on reading Abram Hoffer’s own words in his books, there is a good side and a bad side to him, because he was also engaged (as with other psychiatrists and institutions in Canada and the States) with LSD research. I’m sorry to have to say this, if anyone wants specifics, just ask me or read his books.
On the other hand, the idea of mega-dosing Niacin / B3 for treatment appears reasonable to me (pellagra was treated by adding niacin to flour) and is a matter of readers evaluating the evidence and trying out the use of B vitamins (found in green leafy vegetables) (especially mega doses of niacin/niacinamide/B3) with the help of naturopathic doctors possibly. Linus Pauling is famous for advocating mega-dosing Vitamin C, which would apply to other illnesses according to their research. An example of one of Andrew Saul’s/Abram Hoffer’s books is: “Orthomolecular Medicine for Everyone” which I’ve read and there are others specifically about schizophrenia. As Wikipedia indicates, some of Saul’s books are in Spanish.
Alan