Amoebistan
21-09-2005, 22:15
For those of you who have not heard of Peter Breggin, he is a psychiatrist who vigorously opposes what he sees as an overly mechanistic science of the mind. He points to abuses like lobotomy or the use of electroconvulsive therapy (aka, "electroshock") and neuroleptic medications as punishment for unruly inmates of both psychiatric hospitals, prisons, gulags for political detainees and so on. He also points to the general use of neuroleptic or otherwise mind-altering drugs as a problem in society.
His targets have included Ritalin, benzodiazepines, all the neuroleptic drugs (from chlorpromazine up to olanzapine), lobotomy, electrode implantation (for treating mental illness), transcranial magnetic stimulation, and numerous antidepressants.
Now, as someone who has had some experience dealing with the mental health professionals in this state (New Jersey), I can certainly say that many of them subscribe to the idea that treatment is handing someone a pill in hopes that it'll shut them up. And indeed, most pills like olanzapine can calm people's psychoses - but not because it stops them; rather, it induces a general fuzziness into the patient's brain, crippling it. It's like dealing with a kid who runs around to where he shouldn't not by teaching him where to go and where not to go, but by breaking his kneecaps.
However, it certainly is the case that there are some psychiatric (read: mechanistic, which means chemical or mechanical) treatments for various maladaptive mental states that actually work. A few antidepressants fit the bill, as does magnetic stimulation; to the extent that you might view neurodegenerative diseases as being mental health issues, you could say that Alzheimer's disease can also be treated by medication.
So I'm asking you folks. Where's the line between proper respect for drugs in a therapy regime, and an overreliance on them?
[As a side note: in a study of therapies for schizophrenia, comparing three groups - one which got cognitive-behavioural therapy (CGT), one which got medication, and one which got both, the group that received both therapies generally did the best in terms of recovered function and decreased rates of rehospitalization. For a variety of reasons, though, there may be self-selection in this profile so it should be taken with a grain of salt.]
His targets have included Ritalin, benzodiazepines, all the neuroleptic drugs (from chlorpromazine up to olanzapine), lobotomy, electrode implantation (for treating mental illness), transcranial magnetic stimulation, and numerous antidepressants.
Now, as someone who has had some experience dealing with the mental health professionals in this state (New Jersey), I can certainly say that many of them subscribe to the idea that treatment is handing someone a pill in hopes that it'll shut them up. And indeed, most pills like olanzapine can calm people's psychoses - but not because it stops them; rather, it induces a general fuzziness into the patient's brain, crippling it. It's like dealing with a kid who runs around to where he shouldn't not by teaching him where to go and where not to go, but by breaking his kneecaps.
However, it certainly is the case that there are some psychiatric (read: mechanistic, which means chemical or mechanical) treatments for various maladaptive mental states that actually work. A few antidepressants fit the bill, as does magnetic stimulation; to the extent that you might view neurodegenerative diseases as being mental health issues, you could say that Alzheimer's disease can also be treated by medication.
So I'm asking you folks. Where's the line between proper respect for drugs in a therapy regime, and an overreliance on them?
[As a side note: in a study of therapies for schizophrenia, comparing three groups - one which got cognitive-behavioural therapy (CGT), one which got medication, and one which got both, the group that received both therapies generally did the best in terms of recovered function and decreased rates of rehospitalization. For a variety of reasons, though, there may be self-selection in this profile so it should be taken with a grain of salt.]