Posted by Cam W. on March 3, 2000, at 6:47:02
In reply to musings on drugs, posted by juniper on March 3, 2000, at 1:10:14
Juniper - Well put. The way our medications work to treat disorders is like trying to fix a watch with an icepick. A note on the SSRIs - The first of the 'SSRI babies'; babies born to moms who were taking Prozac. So far no Charlie Mansons (or, at least no more than normal), but I'd like to see these kids turn 25 or 26 (when synaptic pruning is basically over) before rendering a decision on long-term effects. As with the tricyclics, I have seen some studies that say there is an increased risk of bipolar disorder in the children of mothers who were taking these, but the evidence isn't strong.William - As for neuroendocrine systems and mood. Yes, we don't know everything, but we are beginning to put the picture together. We know something of estrogen's neuroprotective effects, vasopressin's role is mood and stress, and a little on melatonin's role in serotonin regulation. The HPA axis is a major player in stress regulation in the body, with other neuroendocrine systems playing lesser (but still important) roles. Many of these systems are the body's checks and balances, so that gross deviations from the norm are minimized. When one or more of these systems is dysregulated, one may manifest a mental illness. By the way, mental illness are only a psychiatric problem until we figure out what causes them, then they become a medical problem (eg syphilis and pellagra were once psychiatric disorders). To say that we don't understand these system, therefore don't use medications is silly. Medications interfere with these dysregulations and allow the afflicted, in many cases, to have the ability to be able to alleviate many of their symptoms. This has led many people out of the dark recesses of depression (myself included) and has helped them return to society as productive members again. Medications do have their place in psychiatry; cognitive-behavioral therapy sometimes cannot do it all. Both methods have their place.
Medications alone are never the answer. There are no cures is pharmacy, only bandages. Talk therapy resulting in a change in mind-set is essential for recovery. The change in mind-set is changing the chemical mix of the body inducing remission or sometimes resolution.
Another $0.02 - Cam W.
poster:Cam W.
thread:25549
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000302/msgs/25703.html