Overview
Per os is a research-based art project about the pharmaceutical companies' role in our society, psychiatry and healthcare. Using surveys I have conducted over the past three years and a large amount of anger at how wrong and corrupt the system is, I would like to interpret this research artistically in order to develop material for an exhibition. The aim of this exhibition is to highlight the research content of the project and to raise awareness. In the exhibition there will be direct references to existing research, studies and articles as well as my own activist surveys over the past three years that you can read more about below.
I am currently in the process of fleshing out the project's contextual framework through studies at Uppsala University and I have just finished studies at Malmö University that are now supporting the project in terms of business development. In addition, the project has several researchers, psychiatrists and experts that aid the project with their expert knowledge in their fields.
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How You Can Help & What I Can Offer
To allow me to produce content for this exhibition, I am aiming to raise €6200 in funding. This amount would only go towards the material costs of creating the content (please see specification below). However much I raise during this crowdfunding campaign, I will do what I can with the funds raised and continue working on the project until I have enough content for an exhibition, hence the flexible funding target. So, every little helps and everything will go towards the exhibition.
If you, like I do, think this is important, I would be grateful if you could support this project either by spreading the word about this project, purchasing the merch or by making a donation.
You will receive the merchandise you purchase (see below) as well as updates on my project. You can also give yourself a pat on the back for helping me create art work that raises awareness about an important topic that people need to know about.
The exhibition will include:
-3 large-scale objects................€3500
-1 light display.............................€1500
-Graphics/posters.....................€1000
-Indiegogo fees............................€200
Total:........................................€6200
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'Lilly', Duloxetine/Cymbalta, acrylic plastic, enamel laquer, Ongoing since 2017 © Markus Sjöborg
About the Per os Project
For the past 3 years, as part of my artistic practice, I have been researching the connection between pharmaceutical companies and our society, healthcare and psychiatry, predominantly in the US, the UK and Sweden. As some of us already know, this is a big – and sometimes dirty – business that capitalizes on people's illnesses, where paramount importance is often given to making money rather than to patients’ health or actual recovery.
When I read and studied existing research and carried out my own activist surveys, what I found out made me furious! For the past 3 years, I myself have been able to be prescribed antidepressants over the phone without even speaking to a doctor. I have not taken these but instead I use them in the object above, an ongoing process much like saving coins.
The majority of the information I found out during this work had me asking, "do people know about this?!" It also got me thinking “if they don’t know about it, they really need to know!”. People need to hear and see what is rarely talked about or made public. This is why all works in the exhibition will make direct reference to research articles, allowing the visitor to do their own investigations. I urge you not to believe what I say but to do your own research.
The research has been conducted based on:
-Available research such as scientific articles, lectures and news articles
-Correspondence with numerous researchers and experts in predominantly Sweden, the US and the UK that aid the project with their expert knowledge in their fields.
-Activist surveys
-Interviews
My aim is to make the art work and its research references as public as possible using different kinds of channels, methods and interventions.
Much of the actual art work is being created at Konstnärernas Kollektivverkstad Monumental, a collective workshop/studio in Malmö (as seen in the trailer above).
"Big Pharma" is impacting on us and our peers on a daily basis – whether we are aware of it or not – and as people we are the ones that can and will be able to change this injustice. Help me show people what is happening and give them choice in their lives again by highlighting this important topic and that a change of course is required.
For more information and references regarding the research articles please see the bottom of this page. I urge you to do your own surveys and research.
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The Merch
To donate to this project, you can buy merchandise that has all been designed by me specifically for the project. The pill brooches (see photo below) are all individually handmade by me in lacquered ceramics and are available in a limited edition of four sets of 50 each. As they are handmade small variations in appearance may occur.
Iintend to ship the merch as quickly as possible. The pill brooches are already made and therefore can be sent fairly quickly. For merch purchases below €170 I will use standard shipping. For merch costing €170 and above I will use a trackable service.
(You can change the currency at the bottom of this page)
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Other Ways You Can Help
If you like me, think this is an important message and the public needs to know about it, I'd be very happy and grateful if you could spread the word about the project e.g. by using the Indiegogo tools on this site. You can also contribute by making a donation at the top of the page by clicking "Back it".
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The Impact
Your contribution will make a difference! You will help me raise awareness through the artwork I will produce and exhibit.
In the past I have successfully used crowdfunding through Kickstarter to fund the 'KAMI' art project that I worked on for 4 years. This was presented at the largest photo festival in Scandinavia – Landskrona Foto – in 2018 and is now on permanent display exhibited at one of the most important art museums in Sweden, Ystad Konstmuseum.
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“It is simply no longer possible to believe much of the clinical research that is published, or to rely on the judgment of trusted physicians or authoritative medical guidelines. I take no pleasure in this conclusion, which I reached slowly and reluctantly over my two decades as an editor.
Marcia Angell (M.D), Harvard, New England Journal of Medicine
About
Markus Sjöborg runs a multidisciplinary art practice based in Malmö, Sweden. His practice focuses on self-initiated work as well as commissioned work. Recurring themes in the self-initiated work revolve around topics such as social issues, health, copyright issues and others. Media given precedence are graphics, artist’s books and objects in various materials which become vehicles through which Markus approaches, researches and expresses these recurring themes in addition to using non-verbal and intuitive approaches as well. You can find some of the work on Instagram.
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The survey
Overview of the topics
Below is a selection of the topics I've been looking into during my surveys - with an emphasis on the US, Sweden and the UK. Details of the actual scientific sources are shown further down on this page.
-The monoamine hypothesis - the hypothesis that depression is linked to a so called "chemical imbalance" and lack of serotonin (Schildkraut, 1965) - and how this hypothesis was marketed and disseminated in the 1980s by PR campaigns and Pharmaceutical companies such as Lilly (then Eli Lilly) promoting their psychiatric drug, Prozac.
-The evaluation and testing of psychiatric drugs by national agencies and how these agencies are funded and operated (FDA in USA and its equivalent in Sweden; Läkemedelsverket).
-Pharmaceutical companies' lobbying power and the politics of their link to our society/governments/authorities as well as healthcare and psychiatry in the USA, the UK and Sweden.
- The discontinuation/withdrawal of psychiatric drugs – specifically anti-depressants – and what information and help is provided or not provided by pharmaceutical companies, healthcare and psychiatry about this and the disconnect with the patient/peer perspective, what is and what is not recognized.
-Statistics on and the increase in diagnoses such as ADHD and depression and the related increase in the prescription of psychiatric drugs.
-Research/statistics on the side effects of psychiatric drugs such as (but not limited to): and the link between their use and suicide as well as out-of-character violence such as homicide.
“The truth is that the chemical imbalance story of mental illness was always a kind of a urban myth. It was never a theory seriously propounded by well-informed psychiatrists.
Ronald W. Pies (MD), American Psychiatric Association, Psychiatric Times 2019
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Stickers, merch
Details of the research articles
Below you can find some of the research that Per os is based on in addition to activist surveys. Most of these articles you can find on research databases such as Pubmed.
Scientific articles
-Selective Publication of Antidepressant Trials and Its Influence on Apparent Efficacy, Erick H. Turner, M.D., Annette M. Matthews, M.D., Eftihia Linardatos, B.S., Robert A. Tell, L.C.S.W., and Robert Rosenthal, Ph.D. New England Journal of Medicine
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMsa065779
-Industry-sponsored clinical research: a broken system. M. Angell (MD), Harvard
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/182478
-Prescription Drugs Associated with Reports of Violence Towards Others
Thomas J. Moore1, Joseph Glenmullen, Curt D. Furberg, Institute for Safe Medication Practices, Alexandria, Virginia, United States of America, Department of Psychiatry-Cambridge Hospital, Harvard Medical School
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3002271/
-Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors and Violent Crime: A Cohort Study.
Molero, Lichtenstein, Zetterqvist, Gumpert, Fazel, Center for Psychiatry Research, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden. Department of Psychiatry, Warneford Hospital, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26372359
-Pharmaceuticals, Political Money, and Public Policy: A Theoretical and Empirical Agenda, Paul D Jorgensen, The Journal of Law Medicine & Ethics
-Why Most Published Research Findings Are False, John P. A. Ioannidis, Stanford University School of Medicine
-Antidepressants and suicide risk, National Health Service, UK
https://www.nhs.uk/news/mental-health/antidepre...
-Against the stream: Antidepressants are not antidepressants – an alternative approach to drug action and implications for the use of antidepressants, Joanna Moncrieff, University College London, and an honorary Consultant Psychiatrist at North East London Foundation Trust
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC60...
-A systematic review into the incidence, severity and duration of antidepressant withdrawal effects: Are guidelines evidence based? James Davies, John Read, University of Roehampton, University of East London,
http://prescribeddrug.org/wp-content/uploads/20...
-Is Exercise a Viable Treatment for Depression?
James A. Blumenthal, Ph.D., Patrick J. Smith, Ph.D., and Benson M. Hoffman, Ph.D., Duke University Medical Center Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC36...
-Initial severity and antidepressant benefits: a meta-analysis of data submitted to the Food and Drug Administration , Kirsch I1, Deacon BJ, Huedo-Medina TB, Scoboria A, Moore TJ, Johnson BT. Department of Psychology, University of Hull, Hull, United Kingdom
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18303940
-Prescription Drugs Associated with Reports of Violence Towards Others
Thomas J. Moore , Joseph Glenmullen, Curt D. Furberg, Institute for Safe Medication Practices, Alexandria, Virginia, United States of America
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/autho...
-On the brain disease model of mental disorders.
Deacon, B. J., & Lickel, J. J. (2009). On the brain disease model of mental disorders. the Behavior Therapist
https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2009-18088-001
-Brain Zaps: An Underappreciated Symptom of Antidepressant Discontinuation.
Papp A, Onton JA, Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Dr, La Jolla, CA 92093
-The Inverse Benefit Law: How Drug Marketing Undermines Patient Safety and Public Health, Howard Brody, MD, PhD corresponding author & Donald W. Light, PhD, US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC30...
-Schildkraut JJ (1965) The catecholamine hypothesis of affective disorders: A review of supporting evidence. Am J Psychiatry 122: 509–522
-Jeffrey L Lacasse ”Serotonin and Depression: A Disconnect between the Advertisements and the Scientific Literature”
-David Healy. ”The structure of psychopharmacological revolutions”
-Moncrieff, J. & Cohen, D. (2005). Rethinking models of psychotropic drug action. Psychotherapy and psychosomatics, 74(3), 145–153.
-Asberg M (1976) ”Serotonin depression”- a biochemical subgroup within the affective disorders? Science. 1976 Feb 6;191(4226):478-80
-Joseph Mendels: ”Brain Biogenic Amine Depletion and Mood
-Campaigning persuades Royal College of Psychiatrists to change its position on antidepressant withdrawal, Council for Evidence-based Psychiatry
http://cepuk.org/2019/05/30/royal-college-psychiatrists-call-update-nice-antidepressant-guidelines-following-cep-campaign/
-White Matter by Diffusion MRI Following Methylphenidate Treatment: A Randomized Control Trial in Males with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Cheima Bouziane*, Olena G. Filatova*, Anouk Schrantee, Matthan W. A. Caan, Frans M. Vos, Liesbeth Reneman
-Dependence and withdrawal reactions to benzodiazepines and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. How did the health authorities react? Nielsen, Margrethe | Hansen, Ebba Holme. The Nordic Cochrane Centre, Department 7811, Rigshospitalet, Blegdamsvej, Copenhagen, Denmark
-Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: are we helping or harming? Rae Thomas, senior research fellow1, Geoffrey K Mitchell, professor of general practice and palliative care, Laura Batstra, assistant professor, Centre for Research in Evidence-Based Practice, Bond University, School of Medicine, University of Queensland, Australia, Department of Special Needs Education and Youth Care, University of Groningen, Netherlands
https://www.bmj.com/content/347/bmj.f6172.full
-Prescribed drugs associated with dependence and withdrawal, The British Medical Association
https://www.bma.org.uk/what-we-do/population-health/prescription-and-illicit-drugs/prescribed-drugs-associated-with-dependence-and-withdrawal
-A Randomised Controlled Trial Assessing the Use of Citalopram, Sertraline, Fluoxetine and Mirtazapine in Preventing Relapse in Primary Care Patients Who Are Taking Long-Term Maintenance Antidepressants, Larisa Duffy, Faye Bacon, Dee Mangin
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31159856/
-Trends in Antidepressant Use Among Children and Adolescents: A Scandinavian Drug Utilization Study, R Wesselhoeft, P B Jensen, A Talati, J Reutfors, K Furu, K Strandberg-Larsen, University of Southern Denmark, Columbia University, New York State Psychiatric Institute, Karolinska Institutet etc.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31618447/
Lectures & Talks
-Rethinking Psychiatry, Robert Whitaker, lecture, Karolinska instituet
https://www.artimus.se/whitaker/film1.php
-The truth about drug companies, Marcia Angell (MD), University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, lecture
http://videos.med.wisc.edu/videos/940
-Can Medical Science Be Trusted if its Authors are Ghosts?, Professor David Healy, Ryerson University
https://ryecast.ryerson.ca/110/Watch/10125.aspx
-Doing Good or Doing Well, Ethics in The Pharmaceutical Industry, Brown University, Dr. Marcia Angell and Dr. Mary Ruwart
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyHtyMkAsgs
-Psych-Drugs Risks and Alternatives, Professor John Read, University of East London
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQsYfLrrk6A
-Why few patients benefit and many are harmed, University of Roehampton, 2015, Professor Peter Gøtzsche (Cochrane)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9cfjKOmPF8
-The misadventures of the pharmaceutical regulation, University of Roehampton, 2015, Professor John Abraham (King's College)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qBd4KRbXNc
-The origins of the DSM, University of Roehampton, 2015, Dr. James Davies
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JPgpasgueQ
-Depression is a disease of civilization, Professor Stephen Iliardi, Tedtalk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drv3BP0Fdi8
-Does psychopharmacology have a future? Professor Nikolas Rose, Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at King's College London
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VF83oKPVYKM&t=736s
Other articles
-Debunking the Two Chemical Imbalance Myths, Again, Ronald W. Pies (MD), Psychiatric Times
https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/depression/deb...
-Big Drug Companies Should Secede From The Pharmaceutical Research And Manufacturers Of America. Forbes, John LaMattina
https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnlamattina/2017...
-Drug Companies & Doctors: A Story of Corruption, Marcia Angell (Harvard), New York Review of Books
https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2009/01/15/dru...
-Försummelse av barn – ett försummat problem, Läkartidningen
Steven Lucas, med dr, överläkare, institutionen för kvinnors och barns hälsa, Uppsala universitet, Carolina Jernbro, doktorand, fakulteten för hälsa, natur- och teknikvetenskap, institutionen för hälsovetenskaper, Karlstads universitet
https://lakartidningen.se/klinik-och-vetenskap-...
-Antidepressant Guidelines to tighten in the UK, Psychology Today, Christoffer Lane (Ph.D.)
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/side-ef...
-A Drumbeat on Profit Takers, Dr. Arnold S. Relman, Dr. Marcia Angell, The New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/20/science/a-dr...
-Johnson&Johnson companies used a ‘super poppy’ to make narcotics for America’s most abused opioid pills, Washington Post, Opiod files
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/business/opioid-crisis-johnson-and-johnson-tasmania-poppy/
-Johnson & Johnson boosted opioid sales via 'cynical brainwashing', The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/may/28/johnson-johnson-opioid-trial-oklahoma
-Mutor skulle bana vägen för Prozac, Läkemedelsvärlden (2007)
https://www.lakemedelsvarlden.se/mutor-skulle-bana-vagen-for-prozac/
Other sources
-Center for Responsive Politics, Opensecrets, Industry profile: Pharmaceutical companies,
https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/in...
-Health Care Reform Ethics and Politics, Timothy H. Engstroem and Wade L. Robison
-Trauma and Madness in Mental Health Services, Noel Hunter
-The Truth About the Drug Companies: How They Deceive Us and What to Do About It, Marcia Angell (M.D)
-The body keeps the score, Bessel Van Der Kolk (MD),
-Psychiatric Drug Withdrawal, Peter Breggin (MD)
-Pillret : en berättelse om depressioner och doktorer, forskare och Freud, människor och marknader, Ingrid Carlberg
-The anatomy of a pandemic, Robert Whitaker
-Conceptualising Public Health: Historical and Contemporary Struggles Over Key Concepts, Kananen, Johannes, Sophy Bergenheim, and Merle Wessel. , 2018.
-The myth of mental illness, Szasz, Thomas S. (MD), American Psychiatrists Association
-Talking back to Prozac, P. Breggin (MD)
-Angell on Big Pharma, Marcia Angell, (MD), Harvard Medical School, radio interview
https://www.econtalk.org/angell-on-big-pharma/
-The Whistleblower, CBS 60 minutes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hd-43K-rdQA
-Pharma execs broke FDA laws to boost sales, CBS 60mintues
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1jLVP156_E
Audits
Riksrevisionen (The Swedish National Audit Office), Läkemedelsverket, 2016, Rir 2016:9
https://www.riksrevisionen.se/download/18.78ae827d1605526e94b2dbf8/1518435509241/RiR_2016_9_LAKEM_ANPASSAD.pdf
Examples of Big pharma-art washing
-Maskine maskine, Janssen Nordic
-PurduePharma/Sackle family
Any many additional sources
“The only chemical imbalance in our brains is the one put there by the psychiatrists and their psychiatric drugs.
Peter Breggin (MD), Talking Back To Prozac
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Risks & Challenges
Art, movies, documentaries etc. are platforms that can and does have a powerful impact on society. My work on this topic is fuelled by powerful emotions at the many ways this is a corrupt and dysfunctional system. I'm prepared to face the resistance and challenges such a powerful project can evoke.
There seems to be a huge resistance and fear to bringing this to light. Oftentimes I hear things like "conspiracy theory". I've been asked by psychiatrists if I'm a member of the Scientology Church when I've addressed and talked about my project during the past year. I'm not. I would be more sceptical of the Pharmaceutical companies and psychiatrists than of those criticizing them.
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