NAMI 2007 Convention: Interview with E. Fuller Torrey

E. Fuller Torrey, M.D. 

This is number five in a series of blogs made possible by the encouragement and financial support of The HealthCentral Network. All represent interviews with senior officers of NAMI [National Alliance on Mental Illness] or other luminaries that attended the NAMI 2007 annual convention. These interviews cover a wide range of topics that should be of interest to everyone that is involved in one fashion or another with mental health issues.

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E. Fuller Torrey, M.D. is a psychiatrist and researcher investigating the causes and treatment of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. He is the Associate Director for Laboratory Research at the Stanley Medical Research Institute, President of the Treatment Advocacy Center, and Professor of Psychiatry at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. He is also an author or co-author of 20 books including "Surviving Schizophrenia: A Family Manual" and "Surviving Manic Depression: A Manual on Bipolar Disorder for Patients, Families and Providers". He has written hundreds of papers and book chapters on mental illness and has appeared on programs such as Oprah, 20/20, 60 Minutes, Dateline, and the PBS series "The Brain", among others.

In preparing for our interview, I learned that Dr. Torrey's sister was diagnosed with schizophrenia 50 years ago when she was preparing to enter college in 1957. Coincidently, in 1956, I received the same diagnosis at the age of 13. In those days, and for many years thereafter, the prevailing theory was that schizophrenia was a behavioral problem caused by neglect or psychological abuse by the parents or family, most especially the mother. The term schizophrenogenic mother was in common use. In my case, however, just 5 days after my symptoms first appeared, my mother took me to a psychiatrist who had been trained in Germany and Switzerland and believed that the causes of schizophrenia were biological. My doctor took a significant risk for that day and age and treated me with Thorazine ®, the first of the anti-psychotics.

"I did my training in medicine in Montreal at McGill [University] where Hans Leyman was," Dr. Torrey replied. "Hans Leyman was the first one in North America who used Thorazine ® in patients with schizophrenia. And he was one of the main lecturers in psychiatry in my freshmen course. I was introduced very early on to the whole history of the implementation and accidental discovery of the first generation anti-psychotics."

At both McGill University and later at Stanford University School of Medicine, where he did a residency in psychiatry, Dr. Torrey was exposed to the concept of a biological approach to treating mental illnesses.

"...I started out my first five years in an administrative job," Dr. Torrey said, "especially coordinating research that we were doing in other countries, and then I went on to the wards of St. Elizabeth's [Hospital in Washington, DC] where I worked for eight years with people with severe mental illnesses. During that time, I wrote the first edition of Surviving Schizophrenia, and was very actively advocating for people with severe mental illnesses. And that was back in the mid 70's, so it's been a while."