Posted by Cam W. on March 22, 2001, at 19:51:31
In reply to Re: hallucinogens are a joke for mental illness, posted by Eric on March 22, 2001, at 19:26:04
> > Lets throw some more water on the fire !
> >
> > Hallucinogens are so close to neurotransmitters
> > the difference is often one atom. It can be argued
> > that some hallucinogens are neurotransmitters,
>
> WRONG! Hallucinogenic drugs are not neurotransmitters! Hate to tell ya, but just that one atom makes them a lot different. What you are doing is rationalising hallucinogenic drug usage, which is a very common phenomenon among recreational drug users. Rationalisation is a sign of a person with a drug problem. You are trying to make hallucinogenic drugs sound benign and harmless, which they are not.
>
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> in the case of DMT. You body makes several hallucinogens in small amounts.
>
> Yeah? So what? That doesnt mean you should go around dropping acid.
>
> Given that NT's are not active when given through any route and
> > hallucinogens are, this makes hallucinogens a reasonable way to study neurochemistry.
>
> Hallucinogens are not a reasonable way to study neurochemistry and research mental illness. Except perhaps in lab animals like monkeys and rats. A safer, more reasonable way to study brain neurochemistry would be the kind of research touted by Dr. Amen using SPECT scans to study brain deficits or areas of hyperactivity in the brain. This kind of research approaches mental illness as if it were a brain disease and a neurological problem, which it is. As if it were a bonified medical disease, which is exactly what all severe forms of mental illness are. We need more research in brain neuroimaging for mental illness, such as that done by Dr. Amen or Dr. Mark George of the Medical University of South Carolina. That is the kind of reseach we need more of, not this psycho-voodoo research that is so risky it has to be done overseas...pathetic.
>
> By the way, I looked at that MAPS website Cam kept talking about. A pretty sick and twisted group of people there. Ecstasy for depression? LOL One doctor on there is quoted as saying that psychedelic drugs will be for psychiatry what the microscope is for other branches of medicine. LOL They should pull that guys medical license if he is a U.S. doctor. Psychiatric diseases are nothing but diseases of the brain, the central nervous system and the endocrine system. Arguably in an ideal world, neurologists should be treating the mentally ill and psychiatry should be done away with.
>
> I will give into you on one area though. I do agree there is nothing wrong with marijuana used medicinally. For severe chronic pain and cancer, etc. But that is more straightforward afterall. You have severe chronic pain. You smoke a joint. You get a buzz and relax. You are stoned. The pain eases. That is a lot simpler and a lot more straightforward than severe mental illness. Pot is also predictable. Hallucinogenics on the other hand, are not predictable.
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> Eric
I'm sorry Eric, but you are really out of touch with neuropsychopharmacology. I suggest a class in physiology would do a world of good. You have to have a basic unerstanding of how the body works (esp. neurotransmission) to see what Pat and I are REALLY talking about. You need to lighten up a bit when talking about chemicals and see thm for what they are...molecules (be they serotonin or LSD). They all act on neuroreceptors, hence, are neurotransmitters. There is nothing magic about them, they just stimulate different combinations of receptors. This whole arguement is inane. - Cam
poster:Cam W.
thread:56948
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010319/msgs/57214.html