NARSAD

This is an outstanding organization, but not a perfect one. There probably isn't any perfect organization, but the Huxley Institute may be closer to perfection than NARSAD. Unfortunately NARSAD has had a blind spot when it comes to orthomolecular medicine, much like the Alliance for the Mentally Ill, which sponsors NARSAD. Also NARSAD has not done much about abuses and malpractice such as tardive dyskinesia. It is completely unnecessary to give people brain damage.
Another, less serious, complaint is about the name. There are many types of mental disease not covered under "schizophrenia" and "depression". Examples include hypochondria, general anxiety disorder, panic disorder, eating disorders, etc. These less common diagnoses are nevertheless related and important. Anorexia nervosa can lead to death. In this website it is discussed on the Affective Disorders page.

This photo from the NARSASD website, www.narsad.org, shows Dr. Francine Benes, a brilliant neuropathologist who is a professor at Harvard Medical School. She is shown holding a NARSAD award.

Shown here is Dr. William Bunney, who has been honored with a prize by NARSAD.

Shown here is the cover of a book by E. Fuller Torrey et al. The cover is from alibris.com. Torrey is very highly regarded by NARSAD.

This section of one of the cerebral hemispheres in the vicinity of the temporal lobe is taken from Yahoo! Reference. It is from a century old version of Gray's Anatomy. The thalamus is shown, which is inside of the temporal lobes. The thalamus, a subcortical area, has been long suspected in schizophrenia.

This is the corpus callosum viewed from above. The figure is from the same source. The corpus callosum connects the left half of the cerebral hemispheres to the right half.

This photo from the NARSAD website shows Dr. Judith Rapoport receiving a NARSAD award for her work on obsessive-compulsive disorders. She is a reknowned author.

Shown here is Dr. Solomon Snyder, an expert on neurotransmitters. He was awarded the Lieber Prize by NARSAD.

This Irving Gottesman book favors a genetic theory of schizophrenia. The cover is from alibris.com. Gottesman and Torrey have different views. Pauling had views similar to Gottesman. Pauling's views have been largely ignored by NARSAD, but NARSAD is open to genetic theory.

Shown here is the insula of the left side of the brain, seen by removing the opercula. The image is from Yahoo Reference, which took it from a very old version of Gray's Anatomy. There are theories of schizophrenia based on the fact that temporal lobe epilepsy often presents with psychiatric symptoms. There is probably some validity in these anatomical theories, but Heath blamed the septal area. The septal area is deep inside the brain near the midline. The septal area is subcortical (beneath the cortex). It is considered part of the "limbic system". Averback's neuropathology work supported Heath.

NARSAD firmly believes in the study of brain anatomy as an approach to psychiatry. Dr. E. Fuller Torrey has suspected the hippocampus, a structure implicated in Alzheimers' disease. Torrey feels that it is shrunken in schizophrenia due to cell loss. It could be that both Torrey and Heath are correct. Both the hippocampus and the septal area may be involved in schizophrenia. The hippocampus is thought to be involved im memory. The figure is from the same source mentioned above.