Lieberman is or has been a member of the advisory committee for Neuropharmacologic and Psychopharmacologic Drugs of the Food and Drug Administration[citation needed], the Planning Board for the Surgeon General's Report on Mental Health[citation needed], the Committee on Research on Psychiatric Treatments of the APA[citation needed], the APA Work Group for the Development of Schizophrenia Treatment Guidelines[citation needed], the Brain Disorders and Clinical Neuroscience Review Committee[citation needed], the National Advisory Mental Health Council of the NIMH[citation needed], and currently[when?] chairs the APA Council of Research.[citation needed].
Research
Lieberman's research has focused on the neurobiology, pharmacology and treatment of schizophrenia and related psychotic disorders. His work has focused on understanding the natural history and pathophysiology of schizophrenia and the pharmacology and clinical effectiveness of antipsychotic drugs.[citation needed]
Lieberman served as principal investigator for Clinical Antipsychotic Trials of Intervention Effectiveness (CATIE) sponsored by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).[1] The investigators compared a "first-generation antipsychotic, perphenazine, with several newer drugs in a double-blind study".[5] "Probably the biggest surprise of all was that the older medication produced about as good an effect as the newer medications, three of them anyway, and did not produce neurological side effects at greater rates than any of the other drugs," Lieberman told The New York Times.[6]
On February 21, 2022, Lieberman posted on Twitter about Nyakim Gatwech, an Ethiopian-born American model of South Sudanese descent, stating that "Whether a work of art or freak of nature she's a beautiful sight to behold", leading to criticism from students and colleagues.[7][8] Following the backlash, Lieberman apologized, saying that the content of his post had been racist and sexist and that he was "deeply ashamed" of his “prejudices and stereotypical assumptions”.[9] He subsequently deleted his Twitter account.[10] The New York State Office of Mental Health (OMH) asked for his resignation as Director of the New York State Psychiatric Institute, and as of February 22, 2022, Lieberman was no longer affiliated with OMH or the State of New York.[8] Lieberman was suspended as Chair of the Department of Psychiatry at Columbia University and removed from his position as Psychiatrist-in-Chief at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center (NYP/CUIMC) on February 23, 2022.[7]
Psychiatrist Bandy X. Lee who worked with Lieberman described his Twitter post as part of a pattern of racist and sexist behavior.[8] Elwood Watson, a professor at East Tennessee State University, said the post fit within a centuries-long history of the dehumanization of people of African descent.[9] Lieberman's colleague Carl Hart wrote that racism and sexism need to be better defined as grounds for disciplinary action and that he was uncertain whether Lieberman was racist given his apologies afterwards.[11] In a New York Times op-ed, Columbia professor John McWhorter wrote: "It is unjust that someone’s life — and life’s work — be derailed because of a graceless way of putting something in an isolated instance."[12]
Publications
Lieberman has published over 500 research papers and edited or written ten books, including the textbook Psychiatry (currently in its second edition), Textbook of Schizophrenia, Comprehensive Care of Schizophrenia, Psychiatric Drugs and Ethics in Psychiatric Research: A Resource Manual on Human Subjects Protection.[4]
In 2015, he published the book Shrinks: the Untold Story of Psychiatry (Little Brown). A four-part series, tentatively titled "In Search of Madness: The Untold Story of Mental Illness," based on his book, Shrinks, is scheduled for broadcast on PBS in April 2022.[citation needed]
A new book by Lieberman on schizophrenia was published by Scribner in 2023.[13]
In 2015, in response to journalist Robert Whitaker's view that psychiatry suffers from a conflict of interest with pharmaceutical companies, Lieberman described Whitaker as a "menace to society".[22]
A review of Lieberman's 2015 book Shrinks in The Guardian criticized the book for focusing almost entirely on American psychiatry, for its "triumphalist" narrative, and for failing to discuss Lieberman's financial relationship with pharmaceutical companies.[23]
During the presidency of Donald Trump, Lieberman cited the American Psychiatric Association's Goldwater rule, which forbids psychiatrists from diagnosing public figures without having personally assessed them, as grounds to criticize a book edited by psychiatrist Bandy X. Lee that argued that Trump's mental condition made him dangerous.[24][25][26] Lieberman also published his and seven colleagues' analysis of the president's mental state based on public information; they ruled out a series of diagnoses as unlikely and said incipient dementia was "most plausible", but concluded that Trump would have to allow for a full medical examination for any conclusions to be drawn.[27] Lee argued that Lieberman was hypocritical for condemning her book but publishing his own analysis.[28] Joshua Kendall also criticized Lieberman's stance and said it was inconsistent with Lieberman having written his Vice article.[29]
