Psychologists hyping these studies have a professional interest in downplaying the effectiveness of psychiatric drugs. They are just as biased as the pharmas and should more forthcoming about their prejudices.
We are only in the beginning stages of understanding so-called mental illness. Therapy, as Peter Kramer says in Listening to Prozac, is as much a technology as medication and should be accorded equal respect.
In my case, it was only the combination of rigorous therapy and medication that saved my life. I was fiercely resistant to meds at the beginning and so had no "positive expectations" for them. And my treatment was only possible because I had loving relatives willing to pay for it even though I'd long given them every reason not to.
--- Miles Jackson <cqmv at pdx.edu> wrote:
>
>
> On Fri, 8 Aug 2003, Wojtek Sokolowski wrote:
>
> > Mondimore makes a very useful distinction between
> "ordinary" depression
> > and affective disorders. The former is usually a
> normal and expected
> > response to life circumstances, while affective
> (mood) disorders are
> > usually unrelated to such circumstances. Mood
> swings, esp. in bipolar
> > disorders, often occur without any circumstances
> (such as a personal
> > loss) that are normally associated with sadness or
> grief, although such
> > circumstances may sometimes trigger mood swings.
> Therefore, treating
> > the underlying causes of affective disorders does
> require changing brain
> > chemistry, whereas cognitive therapy, counseling,
> and support group can
> > only help (many of them quite effectively) coping
> with the symptoms and
> > their social consequences.
> >
>
> You need to do some more research. You've got it
> exactly
> backwards: drug therapies provide temporary relief
> of symptoms,
> they do not cure psychological disorders. Long term
> "cures"
> involve systematic changes in thought and behavior,
> not just
> brain chemistry.
>
> --And why do you assume cognitive therapy
> cannot produce changes in brain chemistry?
> Researchers have
> recently used MRI scans to demonstrate systematic
> changes in
> brain functioning for clients who participate in
> cog-beh
> therapy!
>
> I agree that reasoning should be based on careful
> analysis
> and data. I'll say it again: the notion that the
> most effective therapy for affective disorders is
> SSRIs is contradicted by many rigorous studies.
> Appealing
> to the authority of a psychiatrist is not going to
> change the facts here!
>
> Miles
>
>
> ___________________________________
>
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