Posted by manowar on January 10, 2002, at 20:47:45
In reply to Re: Old School nailed it, posted by OldSchool on January 9, 2002, at 21:20:41
>
> >
> > I agree with you. The problem is that too many politicians and citizens have an 'old school' view concerning mental health (sorry for the pun). Let's face it; I would venture to say that 75-90 percent of healthy Americans view most-if not all- mental health problems as 'psychological'. --Thanks Freud
>
> I totally agree. I try to point this out to so many people and most dont have a clue what Im even talking about. Most people just do not think of mental illness in terms of its a brain/CNS disease. It severely screws up your sleep, your appetite, your sexual drive and function...it screws up your cognition and ability to think clearly. These are all CNS controlled physiological bodily functions which in a normal healthy person they dont even think about and take for granted. In severe mental illness, these bodily functions get screwed up.
>
> To me thats hard evidence mental illness is neurological. Who studies sleep? Who runs the sleep labs? Neurologists. Good sleep is critical for good mental health. Sleep is a CNS controlled function and its PHYSICAL not "mental."
>
> >
> > The mental health parity measure in Congress failed--why? Ignorance! Until the American people are educated that mental health is not simply a 'psychological' problem or even a problem with 'a chemical imbalance in the brain', we'll continue to see millions and millions of people suffer and die because of this illness.
>
> Yep...lots of stupidity surrounding mental illness. More so than any other type of medical problem. Stupidity sums it up good.
>
> >
> > For the most part, I think depressions are neurologically based. I'll never understand why doctors continue to scan people's kidneys, livers, hearts, lungs, bones etc. and it practically takes an act of Congress to get a brain scan. Please tell me why this is? The human brain is the most complex organ in the known Universe, yet unless someone has a stroke, a Neurologist won't even consider a brain scan for someone with major depression.
>
> I totally agree. All severe forms of mental illness are basically neurological problems. There are no diagnostic tests in psychiatry, like brain scans. Well actually there is the functional neuroimaging thing but thats still experimental and hasnt filtered down to clinical psychiatry yet.
>
> Why are Neurologists ALREADY using brain scans like SPECT/PET and MRI to help diagnose Parkinsons, Alzheimers, dementia and other "mainstream" neurological disorders, but not severe mental illness? Answer? Stupidity.
>
> >
> > Most Psychiatrists don't seem to give a damn, and seem to be more like drug doctors. "Uh-let's see-you tried this-this and this, well let's try you on this--yea, here's a free trial to last you for a week". THEY'VE GOTTEN LAZY! (and fat too, from all the free dinners they get from drug reps.) I think most of them have sold out to drug reps that have them convinced that people that have depression have 'chemical imbalances in the brain'. –Like our brain is just a big sack of chemicals. B-S! It's not that simple.
> >
> > Psychiatry and Neurology (and Psychology for that matter) seem to overlap, yet the disciplines seem to have their own agendas and don't seem to work at all at joining forces.
>
> As far as Im concerned, Neurologists should be treating all severe forms of mental illness TODAY.
>
> >
> > Someday I think Psychiatry and Neurology will merge. But it won't be anytime soon, that's for sure.
>
> Agree...in reality its gonna be a long time before this ever happens. Sad
>
> Old School
************************************************
Old School,Don't be sad, be glad:)
Actually, there are some Psychiatrist that are beginning to 'see the light' and recommend scans for patients with 'treatment resistant' depressions. Luckily, I had a pdoc that referred me to the Amen Clinic in CA last summer. The scans were a wake up call for my physicians and me. I've already written about my experiences before, but Dr. Bob’s server is running very slowly, and I can’t find my posts (it could be a conspiracy:)
In brief:
I'm a firm believer in the viability in using modern SPECT equipment to HELP diagnose and treat depression and other psychiatric ailments. It's my humble opinion (I’ve had the scans done) that it really works in showing what areas of the brain are not functioning correctly. The fact is-- when certain parts of your brain are not functioning correctly it is FAIRLY predictable how a patient functions (i.e. Schizophrenia, Major Depression, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s)There are many on this board that disagree and think that its use is only for 'testing purposes'. --I dissent. Modern SPECT imaging is absolutely unreal. You really 'see' a three dimensional FUNCTIONAL image of your brain on a computer screen. And BTW: Changing your thought patterns during the tests have very little impact, if any, on the completed image- that’s baloney- Well maybe if you’re thinking of sex or of eating you’re favorite food. But who in the hell does that when he is in a tube that turns every 15 seconds and makes weird noises?
By using this type of technology, a pdoc can, in many cases, save a patient years of agony and frustration and actually 'target' treatment, instead of forcing a patient through endless trial and error with psychoactive drugs—which can in many cases makes problems worse, and can cause irreversible brain damage.
And yes, I do think that people with hard to treat psychiatric disorders should all have ‘their heads examined’. Why not? I think most people in America that have heart ailments get either an MRI, SPECT, or any number of imaging studies for it. Why should the brain be any different?
Again, I think most pdocs are fat and lazy. If they kept up with Neurology along with Psychiatry (which overlap-tremendously), we as patients would be much better off. I don’t think Psychiatrist and Neurologists mingle much at all. There are but a few exceptions. BTW: Dr. Amen is both a Psychiatrist and a Neurologist.
There is a growing number of pdocs that are beginning to use this technology in their practices. Most of them are on the West coast, though.
People, please don’t casually dismiss this argument, by saying, “Its just a scam”, or “Junk science” without putting effort into examining the information that’s out there! That’s just a cop out.
Take care,
--Tim
poster:manowar
thread:88953
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020110/msgs/89658.html