Posted by noa on February 24, 2002, at 15:09:41
In reply to Re: Treatment resistant depression/Axis II disorders? » Anna Laura, posted by Dinah on February 18, 2002, at 9:47:13
I also think (based on what I've read from other Brittish posters here on Babble) that the Brittish psychiatric system is far behind in this regard--ie, bifurcating patients into treatable with medication and untreatable with medication due to personality disorder. Very rigid way of looking at it, still influenced by the Freudian psychoanalytic approach, not recognizing how experience and physiology have such intricately mutual patterns of influence--ie, it isn't nature vs. nurture--it's nature and nurture constantly feeding back to each other in a complicated way. (By the way, the 4th episode of that PBS special did a good job of illustrating how this works).
Here in the US, that used to be the norm, but now there seem to be increasing numbers of pdocs who see axis II disorders, like borderline personality disorder for example, as treatable with medication along with therapy, and possibly in the extended family of bipolar disorders, and/or having a hormonal basis (or as a contributing factor).
Remember, what is considered "typical" in the taxonomy of depression is based on years of research using male subjects. It is only recently that the way depression and anxiety and panic and cycling, etc. etc. has been seen as having many more variations that was earlier thought. Too bad the Brittish medicos haven't caught up---I hate to say it (because I have leanings toward universal welfare programs like universal health care coverage) but I think this delay in knowledge and practice could be due to the bureaucracy of the national health system.
poster:noa
thread:94483
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020222/msgs/95325.html