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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: LindyBill who wrote (124576)	7/11/2005 4:34:57 PM
From: Ish	Respond to of 793926

<<I spent ten years dealing with my ex's depression. She went though the entire regime, shock, hospitalization, and a $1000 dollar a month drug habit prescribed by her shrink.>> My wife is going through "the change". I'd pay a $1,000 a month for some peace and quiet.

To: LindyBill who wrote (124576)	7/11/2005 5:51:08 PM
From: Bridge Player	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793926

LB, I believe that the post on psychiatry by Jeffrey Schaler is very misleading. Let my tell you why, and explain, by commenting on specific portions. What Szasz objects to is forcing people to see (or not see) a psychiatrist, to reside or not reside in a mental hospital, to partake (or not partake) of drugs, and to believe (or not believe) in any specific set of ideas I have no real problem with what Szasz says here, and in fact tend to agree with it. But it is a huge, mammoth leap [unjustified IMO] from that, to this: The truth is there is no evidence to support the idea that anti-depressant drugs cure or restore chemical imbalances, even though they may certainly help people to feel better about themselves. I believe there is considerable evidence; more on this later. Why? Because only the body can be sick, not behavior. Is not the brain a part of the body? If there is a malfunction of the brain, is that not an illness? If a tumor forms on the brain that affects behavior, does it matter whether we call it a disease or not? If a person is cured of the affliction by removal of the tumor, isn't that what counts? And if there is a chemical imbalance in the brain which affects behavior, and balance is restored by appropriate dosage of an appropriate drug which in turn corrects the behavior, isn't that what counts? Now let me disclose some personal family information to support my point of view, as you did with your ex to support yours. I have an older sister who has spent the better part of her life battling the demons of clinical depression. The details are not particularly important. What is important is the fact that, once a proper dosage level of the right medication was determined, and *as long as she was motivated to stay on the medication without variation* , her behavior was drastically improved. Her life became manageable. And on the many occasions when, for a vast variety of reasons, that was not the case, it worsened. My wife had a grandson by a prior marriage. This young man was absolutely terrific, with a huge future. He was raised in a religious family, with the best values, home schooled, bright, engaging. After a year of college he joined the Marines. During his enlistment, he was diagnosed as having bi-polar disease, illness, whatever you wish to call it. After he left the service, his behavior vacillated enormously, from highs to lows. As is the case with my sister, his illness was treatable with medication. And again, with the right dosage, he was fine, able to hold a job, and be productive. If this kid had kept with the program, and gone back to school, he would very likely have had a tremendously successful life. For reasons that are not clear to his family, one day he stopped taking his prescription. His erratic behavior resumed. A week later, he took his own life. These personal family experiences are reason enough for me to be absolutely confident, in my mind, that there is such a thing as mental illness, which, certainly in many cases, can be corrected. I think Cruise has done a great disservice to the world.