What Andrew Scull has said about Antipsychotic
2 quotes · 1 episode · Sep 17, 2026
Andrew Scull, British-American sociologist and historian of psychiatry, emeritus professor at UC San Diego, has been quoted on Antipsychotic 2 times in 1 episode of Lex Fridman Podcast, most recently on September 17, 2026. Each quote below is verbatim and links to the moment it was said.
In their words
Scull argues that current psychiatric drugs are symptomatic treatments rather than cures.
“What we have available to us are symptomatic treatments, not cures. We don't have a psychiatric penicillin for any of the conditions we're going to be talking about”
Lex Fridman Podcast: #502 – Psychiatry, Insane Asylums, Mental Illness, ECT, Lobotomies, Freud & Jung (Sep 17, 2026) · Listen from 8:45
Scull highlights the CATIE study finding that most patients dropped out of antipsychotic trials due to inefficacy or side effects.
“Between 67% and 82% of the patients, depending on which drug they were on, dropped out of the trial”
Lex Fridman Podcast: #502 – Psychiatry, Insane Asylums, Mental Illness, ECT, Lobotomies, Freud & Jung (Sep 17, 2026) · Listen from 3:15:17
Episodes
#502 – Psychiatry, Insane Asylums, Mental Illness, ECT, Lobotomies, Freud & JungLex Fridman Podcast · Sep 17, 2026
Historian Andrew Scull talks with Lex Fridman about the history of psychiatry, from asylums, eugenics, lobotomy and ECT to Freud, CBT, psychiatric drugs and psychiatry's current crisis.
Andrew Scull on other topics
- Electroconvulsive therapy · 2 quotes
- Psychiatric hospital · 2 quotes
- Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders · 2 quotes
- Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors · 1 quote
- Cognitive behavioral therapy · 1 quote
- Insulin shock therapy · 1 quote
- Focal infection theory · 1 quote
- Aktion T4 · 1 quote